''Velaikkaran'' () is a 1987 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, na ...

-language

action comedy Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre. Film The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of acti ...

film directed by

S. P. Muthuraman S. P. Muthuraman, also referred to as SPM, is an Indian film director who works in the Tamil film industry. He has directed 72 films in Tamil. He was one of the most successful commercial directors in Tamil cinema. Initially he worked mainly w ...

, starring

Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...

, Sarath Babu,

Amala Amala may refer to: People * Amala Akkineni, South Indian actress * Amala Chebolu, playback singer in the Telugu film industry, also known as Tollywood * Amala Paul (born 1991), South Indian actress * Amala Shankar (1919–2020), Indian dancer * ...

and

Pallavi A pallavi has multiple connotations in carnatic music. It is the first part of any formal composition (Krithi) which has three segments - Pallavi, Anupallavi and Charanam (which can be one or more). Pallavi is usually also an abbreviation of R ...

. It is a remake of the 1982

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

film '' Namak Halaal''. The film was released on 7 March 1987 and became a box office success.

Plot

Ragupathy was brought up by his paternal grandfather, Valayapathy. He decides to go to the city in search of a new job and life. In the city he meets Vaiyapuri, who guides him into an interview in a 5-star hotel owned by Rajkumar. While in the hotel, Ragupathy meets Kowsalya and falls in love with her, and Rajkumar falls in love with Nisha. During this time, many attempts are made to kill Rajkumar by his uncle and son Pounraj. The blame for this murder attaches to Rajkumar's mother Savithri, who is actually Ragupathy's mother. Realising all this, Ragupathy takes an oath that he will not let harm come to Rajkumar.

Cast

as Ragupathy * Sarath Babu as Rajkumar *

as Nisha *

as Kowsalya * K. R. Vijaya as Savithri *

Srikanth Srikanth or Sreekanth is a common Indian first name. * Srikanth (Tamil actor, born 1940), Tamil film actor active in films from 1965 * Srikanth (Tamil actor, born 1980), Tamil actor active in films after 2002 * Srikanth (Telugu actor), Telugu act ...

as Ragupathy's father *

Achamillai Gopi Gopalakrishnan (born 9 May 1955), known professionally as Achamillai Gopi, is an Indian actor, singer, dramatist, and a voice over & dubbing artist. He has acted in a number of films and TV serials and has also given his voice for various cine ...

as Kowsalya's blind brother * Nassar as Pounraj * R. N. Sudarshan * V. K. Ramasamy as Valayapathy *

Delhi Ganesh Delhi Ganesh is an Indian actor who mostly acts in supporting roles in Tamil cinema and serials. He has acted in more than 400 films from 1976 to present. Before films, he was a member of the Delhi-based theatre troupe, ''Dakshina Bharata Nata ...

Senthil Senthil (born 23 March 1951) is an Indian comedy actor who works in Tamil cinema. He is famous for his comedian roles along with fellow actor Goundamani. The pair dominated the Tamil industry as comedians in the 1980s and 90s.Shihan Hussaini Shihan Hussaini is an Indian karate expert, who has also worked as an actor in Tamil language films. His brother Ishaq Hussaini has also appeared in Tamil films. He has also been widely covered in Indian media for his acts of devotion towards p ...

A. Sakunthala Arunachalam. Sakunthala (C. I. D. Sakunthala) is an Indian actress. She has filled roles as a Heroine, Item number Dancer, and Villainess in over 600 Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam films. The first movie in which she performed as an act ...

*Bayilvan Ranganathan *

Pyramid Natarajan Pyramid Natarajan is a former Indian actor and producer, who has appeared in character roles in Tamil cinema. He made his breakthrough as an actor playing a role in Mani Ratnam's '' Alaipayuthey'' (2000) portraying the role of Madhavan's fath ...

Production

Rajinikanth acted without taking any remuneration, due to the losses the producers suffered from ''

Sri Raghavendrar ''Sri Raghavendrar'' is a 1985 Tamil-language Hindu mythological film directed by S. P. Muthuraman and was produced by Kavithalayaa Productions. The film stars Rajinikanth, portraying the title character, in his 100th film. Lakshmi, Vishnuvardh ...

'' (1985).

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one o ...

, with lyrics by

Mu. Metha Muhammed Metha (born 5 September 1945) is a Tamil poet and songwriter. He was born in Theni in 1945. He popularised modern poetry (''Pudukavithai'') in the 1970s and has written more than 30 books, including novels, short stories and essays. ...

. This is the first film where

Mano Mano may refer to: People * Mano people, an ethnic group in Liberia * Mano (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Mano (Mozambican footballer) (born 1984), real name Celso Halilo de Abdul * Mano (Portuguese footballer) (b ...

sang for Rajinikanth. The song "Vaa Vaa Kanna" is set in

Hamsadhvani Hamsadhvani (meaning "the cry of the swan"), is a rāga in Carnatic music (musical scale of Carnatic tradition of Indian classical music). It is an ''audava'' rāgam (or ''owdava'' rāga, meaning pentatonic scale). It is a ''janya'' rāga of the ...

raga.

Release and reception

''Velaikkaran'' was released on 7 March 1987. ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split be ...

'' called it "pretty run of the mill stuff". Jayamanmadhan of ''Kalki'' criticised the story. The film became a box office success. For his performance, Rajinikanth won the Sunflash Award for Best Actor.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{Kavithalaya Productions 1980s action comedy films 1980s Tamil-language films 1987 comedy films 1987 films Films directed by S. P. Muthuraman Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Indian action comedy films Tamil remakes of Hindi films