''Thoongathey Thambi Thoongathey'' () is a 1983 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

-language

masala film Masala films of Indian cinema mix multiple genres into one work. Masala films emerged in the 1970s and are still created as of the 2020s. Typically these films freely mix action, comedy, romance, and drama or melodrama. They also tend to be ...

directed by S. P. Muthuraman, starring Kamal Haasan in a double role, supported by Radha and Sulakshana. It was a blockbuster and completed a 275-day run at the box office.

Plot

Gopi is an unemployed graduate from a middle class society and Vinod is a rich graduate from high society returning from abroad after his father's death. To claim the property of Vinod, the estate manager with his mob guys assaults him and make him a drug addict by repeated injections administered by a fake doctor. Gopi's lover Padmini's father, a family friend of Vinod's father, together with Padmini, come to the estate on an excursion. Due to her curiosity, she sees Vinod and finds out that he is in a dangerous state of health due to the drug addiction. Padmini later learns that Gopi and Vinod are twins separated at birth. With the help of the house's servant, Padmini replaces Vinod with Gopi and sends him to his mother's house to save him. Gopi takes it upon himself to save the estate and properties from the hands of Vinuchakravarthy, his accomplice and his assistant.

Cast

* Kamal Haasan as Gopi and Vinod * Radha as Padmini * Sulakshana as Jayanthi * Jamuna as Anu * K. A. Thangavelu as Chandrasekar (Padmini's father) *

Vinu Chakravarthy Vinu Chakravarthy (15 December 1945 – 27 April 2017) was an Indian actor, screenwriter and director who is known for acting in more than 1000 movies in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Badaga and Malayalam mostly as a comedian, supporting actor or i ...

as the estate manager *

Goundamani Subramaniyan Karuppaiya (born 25 May 1939), known by his stage name Goundamani, is an Indian actor and comedian who works in Tamil cinema. He is known for his comic duo partnership in Tamil films with fellow actor Senthil. The pair dominated t ...

as the assistant of the estate manager *

Janagaraj Janagaraj is an Indian actor who has appeared in over 200 films predominantly in Tamil cinema as a comedian or in supporting roles. He also starred in few Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi films. Early life Janagaraj was born to Vadivelu and Muthu ...

as the fake doctor *

Senthamarai Senthamarai may refer to: * Senthamarai (actor) Senthamarai was an Indian actor who acted in Tamil cinema and theatre. Career Senthamarai was born on 13 April 1935 at Kancheepuram. His family included his father Thiruvenkadam, his mother Vedamm ...

as the estate manager's accomplice *

Pasi Sathya Pasi Sathya is an Indian actress who has worked predominantly in Tamil cinema and television. She has worked in popular movies like ''Veedu'', '' Magalir Mattum'', ''Pudhupettai''. She made her debut in the National award-winning Tamil film, ' ...

* Bindu Ghosh as Padmini's friend * Dilip as Gopi's friend * Kuyili(actress) as Vinod's Dancer

Production

After the success of ''

Nadodi Mannan ''Nadodi Mannan'' () is a 1958 Indian Tamil-language action adventure film directed by M. G. Ramachandran in his debut as a filmmaker. He stars in dual roles alongside P. Bhanumathi, M. N. Rajam and B. Saroja Devi. P. S. Veerappa, M. N. N ...

'' (1958),

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

wanted his second directorial to be titled as ''Thoongathey Thambi Thoongathey'' named after the song from the film, however the project was shelved. In 1983, AVM Productions launched a film with the same name starring Kamal Haasan. Kamal portrayed two distinct roles, and the cinematographer Babu used mask shots to differentiate the roles. The song "Vaanam Keezhe" took 17 days to be completed, this song was taken at a cost of . The song "Summa Nikkathinga" was shot at Vijaya Gardens. To shoot an expensive climax involving helicopter chase, makers took inspiration from the climax of Hindi film '' Dil Kaa Heera'' at the insistence of journalist Manian by taking long shots of bursting helicopter from that film and matched along with the actors.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja and lyrics for all songs were written by Vaali. For the Malayalam-dubbed version ''Vasantholsavam'', all lyrics were written by Poovachal Khader, and

Rajasri Rajasree (Rajasree Thota Panchajanyam, Kusuma Kumari, born 31 August 1945), also known as Rajasri or Rajashri, is an Indian actress active from 1956 to 1979. She is particularly famous for her portrayal as a princess in several folklore Telug ...

wrote the lyrics for the Telugu-dubbed version ''Jalsa Rayudu''. The song "Naanaga Naanillai" was well received and it based on

Chandrakauns Chandrakauns is a raga in Hindustani classical music. It is also used in tail pieces and lighter presentations of Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with ...

raga which resembles

Hindolam Hindōḷaṃ is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is an ''audava'' rāgam (or ''owdava'' rāgam, meaning pentatonic scale). It is a ''janya'' rāgam (derived scale), as it does not have all the sev ...

. In early 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in India The COVID-19 pandemic in India is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). As of , according to Indian government figures, India has the second-highest n ...

, a version of "Varuthu Varuthu" with rewritten lyrics spreading awareness about

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

, became viral.

Release

''Thoongathey Thambi Thoongathey'' was released on 4 November 1983, and completed a 275-day run at the box office.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{AVM Productions 1980s masala films 1980s Tamil-language films 1983 films AVM Productions films Films directed by S. P. Muthuraman Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Films with screenplays by Panchu Arunachalam Twins in Indian films