''Surieyan'' () is a 1992 Indian
Tamil-language
action film
Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include lif ...
written and directed by
Pavithran, and produced by
K. T. Kunjumon
K. T. Kunjumon (born 15 November 1953) is an Indian film producer and writer, politician active in Tamil and Malayalam films. He began his career co-producing several Malayalam films, often working with director P. G. Viswambharan. His first Ko ...
. The film, starring
Sarathkumar and
Roja, revolves around
IPS officer Surieyan who is forced to flee after being framed for shooting a minister. After reaching a new hamlet he shaves his hair and beard and pretends to have forgotten his past. What really happened to Surieyan and how he will prove his innocence forms the rest of the story.
''Surieyan'' was released on 14 August 1992. The film became the first major success for Sarathkumar as a hero. It won three
Cinema Express Awards
Cinema Express Awards are presented annually by Indian Express Group on behalf of Cinema Express film magazine to honour artistic excellence of professionals in the south Indian film industry which comprises Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam ...
, and was a trendsetter for further action films in the Tamil film itself.
Plot
One day, Chettiyar Amma finds a man shivering due to intense cold weather in Top Slip, Pollachi. She immediately rescues him and treats him like her own son. The man's original name in Surieyan, an IPS officer, but he hides his identity and prefers being called as Mottai. Surieyan gets employed as a driver to Usha, the only arrogant daughter of a rich landlord Koopu Konar (Rajan P Dev). Usha ill-treats Surieyan but upon realising his true identity, she feels confused. Surieyan tells his back story.
Surieyan, an IPS officer is employed in Security forces. During an international summit in Bangalore, the home minister of India urges Surieyan to devise a strategy to assassinate the Prime Minister of India promising him a few thousands of dollars in return. Surieyan gets furious and kills the home minister for which he is wanted by the police. Surieyan escapes from them and hides in Top Slip as he previously overheard home minister's conversation to his henchman Micky. Surieyan hides his identity and keeps monitoring the forest to trace the activities of Micky, so that he can prove his innocence.
Usha falls in love seeing Surieyan's dedication to nation. She elopes from her house and marries Surieyan contrary to her father's wishes. Meanwhile, Surieyan finds some suspicious activities in the forest and keeps track of them to gather evidence. Finally he finds out that Micky is under the protection of Koopu Konar and Micky plans to assassinate Prime Minister during his visit to Pollachi. Police trace the whereabouts of Surieyan and arrest him. Micky and Koopu Konar plan to kill Surieyan, so that they are saved. Koopu Konar secretly plants a bomb while visiting Surieyan in prison, but unfortunately, Koopu Konar himself gets killed in the attack. Surieyan escapes from prison and finds out Micky and kills him. In the end, the Prime Minister visits Surieyan and thanks him for his dedication.
Cast
*
Sarathkumar as Surieyan IPS / Mottai
*
Roja as Usha
*
Goundamani as Panikutti Ramasamy
*
Manorama as Chettiyar Amma
*
Omakuchi Narasimhan
Narasimhan (c. 1936 - 12 March 2009), popularly known as Omakuchi, was an Indian stage and film actor. He acted in over 1,500 films in 14 Indian languages, predominantly in Tamil.
Early life
Born in Kumbakonam in 1936, Narasimhan made his ...
*
Rajan P. Dev as Koopu Konar
*
Babu Antony
Babu Antony (born 22 February 1966) is an Indian-American actor and martial artist, who works primarily in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in several Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Sinhalese, Hindi and English films. He started his career doing a ...
as Micky
*
Kitty as CBI officer
*
Raju Sundaram in a special appearance
*
Prabhu Deva (special appearance in the song "Lalakku Dol Dappi Ma")
*
Pasi Narayanan as Ottavai Narayana
Production
After the success of ''
Vasanthakala Paravai'' (1991),
K. T. Kunjumon
K. T. Kunjumon (born 15 November 1953) is an Indian film producer and writer, politician active in Tamil and Malayalam films. He began his career co-producing several Malayalam films, often working with director P. G. Viswambharan. His first Ko ...
again collaborated with the lead actor and director of that film (
Sarathkumar and
Pavithran) in a new project titled ''Surieyan''. During the scene where the title character shaves his hair, Sarathkumar himself did so because the producers were unable to hire a barber. The film was shot at different locations including Top Slip and places in Rajasthan.
S. Shankar and
A. Venkatesh worked as associate directors.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was composed by
Deva, and the lyrics for the songs were written by
Vaali. The song "Pathinettu Vayadhu" is based on "
Kanda Shasti Kavasam", a Hindu devotional song. For the
Telugu
Telugu may refer to:
* Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India
*Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India
* Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language
** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode
S ...
-dubbed version ''Mande Suryudu'',
the lyrics were written by
Rajasri.
Release and reception
''Surieyan'' was released on 14 August 1992. On the same day, Ayyappa Prasad ''
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 Limited, Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, ...
'' wrote "''Sooriyan'' is a racy entertainer that keeps the viewers attention engaged till the end". On 22 August, K. Vijiyin of ''
New Straits Times
The ''New Straits Times'' is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print (though not the first), having been founded as ''The Straits Times'' on 15 July 1845. It was relaunched as the ' ...
'' praised the director, saying he "succeeds in keeping the viewers in suspense" but criticised the stunt sequences for being unconvincing. C. R. K. of ''
Kalki
Kalki ( sa, कल्कि), also called Kalkin or Karki, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is described to appear in order to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in the endless cycle of exis ...
'' praised the acting, comedy and cinematography. At the
13th Cinema Express Awards
The 13th Cinema Express Awards were held on 14 June 1993, and honoured the best of South Indian films released in 1992. The awards were announced in March.
Tamil
Telugu
Malayalam
Solidaire excellency awards
Awards in this field wer ...
, Goundamani won the Award for Best Comedian, M. Sundaram won for Best Dance Master, and Sarathkumar received an "extraordinary Special Award" for acting in the film.
Legacy
The film became a blockbuster and established Sarathkumar as a star.
Comedy track performed by Goundamani from the film became popular. His dialogue "Arasiyalla Ithellam Satharanampa" () became popular.
References
External links
*
{{Pavithran
1992 action films
1990s Tamil-language films
1992 films
Films scored by Deva (composer)
Films set in Bangalore
Films shot in Bangalore
Films shot in Pollachi
Films shot in Rajasthan
Indian action films