''Karakattakkaran'' () is a 1989 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

-language

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

dance film A dance film (also known as screen dance) is a movie in which dancing is used to reveal inspirational challenges and the central themes of the film, whether these themes be connected to narrative or story, states of being, or more experimental and ...

written and directed by

Gangai Amaran Gangai Amaran (born Amar Singh) is an Indian composer, playback singer, lyricist, actor, film director and a screenwriter in Tamil films. Personal life Gangai Amaran was born in Pannaipuram in Theni district, Tamil Nadu in December 1947, as ...

. The film stars

Ramarajan Kumaresan Ramaiyya better knows as Ramarajan (born 18 October 1960) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, actor and politician. He is referred as Makkal Nayagan for acting and directing films on village-based subjects. Career Ramarajan sta ...

and debutant Kanaka, while

Santhana Bharathi Santhana Bharathi is an Indian film director and actor who has primarily worked in Tamil cinema. He directed '' Gunaa'' (1991), which won third prize for the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film. He also directed '' Mahanadhi'' (1994), ...

, Chandrasekhar,

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 language, Tamil films with fellow actor Senthil. The p ...

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.Shanmugasundaram Shanmugasundaram was an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil films. He began his career as an actor by starring in '' Ratha Thilagam'' (1963) and '' Karnan'' (1964), and continued his career for seven decades. He is also a dubbing artist. He ...

, Raja Bahadur,

Gandhimathi Gandhimathi (30 August 1940 – 9 September 2011) was an Indian stage and film actress. She acted in over 500 films. Early life Kanthimathi was born in Manamadurai in what was then the Ramanathapuram district of India. She started acting in ...

and

Kovai Sarala Kovai Sarala is an Indian actress and comedian, who plays supporting roles in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. She has won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Comedian three times, for her performances in '' Sathi Leelavathi ...

play supporting roles. It revolves around two karakattam dancers who fall in love with each other, but circumstances prevent them from confessing their love for one another. How they overcome these forms the rest of the story. The soundtrack was composed by

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and playback singer popular for his works in Indian cinema, predominately in Tamil cinema, Tamil in addition ...

and all the songs were well-received, in particular, "Maanguyilae Poonguyile". The film was released on 16 June 1989 and was a major commercial success, running for over a year in theatres, and won two

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Cinema of Tamil Nadu, Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Governmen ...

. It was also Goundamani and Senthil's 100th film as a combo. Goundamani and Senthil's banana comedy sequence from this film remains one of their most popular acts.

Plot

Muthaiya is the lead performer of a karakattam troupe based out of a village. Muthaiya's mother was his dance guru. Similarly Kamakshi is also a karakattam dancer in the nearby village and she performs regularly during temple festival of that village. Chinnarasu is the village panchayat board president and he sets an eye on Kamakshi. But Kamakshi hates Chinnarasu. To take revenge on her, Chinnarasu invites Muthaiya's dance troupe to perform during temple festival instead of Kamakshi's performance. Muthaiya performs well and is widely appreciated by the villagers. Kamakshi also likes Muthaiya's performance. Kamakshi's father invites Muthaiya to his home. And to his shock, Kamakshi's father understands that Muthaiya is his nephew but does not reveal it to him. Muthaiya and Kamakshi fall in love with each other. Chinnarasu gets to know about Muthaiya and Kamakshi's love affair and plans to separate them. Balaraman is Kamakshi's innocent brother-in-law who works for Chinnarasu. Chinnarasu persuades Balaraman to challenge a dance competition between Muthaiya and Kamakshi for which both accepts. In the meantime, Chinnarasu plans to kill Muthaiya during the dance program. His assassin, a butcher, throws a knife at Muthaiya, but Kamakshi saves him, thereby getting stabbed in her leg after the dance. Muthaiya's mother gets furious upon realising that Kamakshi is her niece and takes Muthaiya along with her and also does not permit their wedding to happen. She reveals a flashback that Kamakshi's father is her own brother and he eloped with the jewels that were meant to be sold to meet the medical expenses of Muthaiya's father which led to his death. But Kamakshi's father arrives there and reveals the truth that while he went to sell the jewels, he was caught by the police suspecting him to be a smuggler following which he was jailed for a few years. Now Muthaiya's mother realises her mistake and unites with her brother. Also she agrees for wedding between Muthaiya and Kamakshi. Chinnarasu accuses that Muthaiya and Kamakshi misbehaved in the temple and orders them to walk on fire in the temple to prove that they are pure. Muthaiya and Kamakshi successfully walk on fire while Balaraman exposes Chinnarasu's true identity before of the villagers. Balaraman pushes Chinnarasu on to the fire but Muthaiya saves him which makes Chinnarasu remorseful. Muthaiya and Kamakshi marry.

Cast

Production

Development

wanted to do a film on the life of Karakattam dancers and their art Karagam. When producers Karumari Kandaswamy and J. Durai approached Amaran to do a project for them they agreed to do the film titled ''Karakattakkaran''. Amaran admitted that his film was reversal of ''

Thillana Mohanambal ''Thillana Mohanambal'' () is a 1968 Indian Tamil-language romantic musical dance film written, directed and produced by A. P. Nagarajan. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Padmini and T. S. Balaiah, with A. V. M. Rajan, Nagesh and Manorama ...

'' (1968) with a change of backdrop and it was

who suggested the story idea for the film while Amaran revealed he "didn't plan anything for the movie and went on scene by scene".

Casting

After achieving back-to-back successful films like '' Enga Ooru Pattukaran'' (1987) and '' Shenbagamae Shenbagamae'' (1988), Ramarajan was the director's only choice for the lead character and it was his 18th project as actor. For the lead actress, Kanaka, daughter of

Devika Devika Devadoss (born Prameela Devi; 25 April 1943 – 2 May 2002) was an Indian actress who worked in Tamil cinema, Tamil and Telugu cinema, Telugu along with a few Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi films. She was one of the popular lead actresse ...

made her acting debut with this film. It was Amaran's wife who suggested her for the role.

and

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. S. S. Chandran was the original choice for Goundamani's role. The comedy track was written by A. Veerappan. Since Amaran wanted a female dancer for Ramarajan's troupe,

was cast.

Filming

The filming was completed in 28 days. The crew found the village some distance off of Madurai Pandiyan hotel on the way to Alagar Kovil where the film was shot while the panchayat scene with the banyan tree and the climax were shot in Arunachalam Studios and Ambica Studios, respectively.

Music

The music composed by

. All lyrics were written by Gangai Amaran except "Paattaalae Buddhi", which was written by Ilaiyaraaja. The song "Maanguyilae Poonguyile" is set to the

Carnatic raga A Carnatic raga refers to ''ragas'' used in Carnatic music. It has several components: a primordial sound (''nāda''), tonal system (''swara''), pitch (''śruti''), scale, ornaments ('' gamaka''), and important tones. Origins and history Carnati ...

Gourimanohari Gourimanohari or Gaurimanohari is a ragam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 23rd ''Melakarta'' rāgam in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music. The 23rd ''melakarta'' rāgam as per Muthus ...

, "Mariyamma" is set to

Mayamalavagowla Mayamalavagowla (pronounced ) is a raga of Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is classified as 15th '' melakarta'' raga under Venkatamakhin's '' melakarta'' system. Originally known as ''malavagowla'', "maya" was p ...

, and "Ooru Vittu Ooru Vandhu" is set to

Shanmukhapriya Shanmukhapriya is a ragam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 56th ''melakarta'' rāgam (parent scale) in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music. It is called Chāmaram in Muthuswami Diksh ...

. The song "Nandhavanathil Oru" was adapted by Ilaiyaraaja's son

Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja (born 31 August 1979), is an Indian composer and playback singer. He mainly scores music for Tamil films along with few Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use o ...

as "Muttathu Pakkathile" in '' Kunguma Poovum Konjum Puravum'' (2009). "Ooru Vittu Ooru Vandhu" was remixed by Natarajan Sankaran in '' Kappal'' (2014). S. Shankar, the producer of that film, did not acquire permission to remix the song, leading to Ilaiyaraaja taking legal action against him. For the dubbed Telugu version ''Garagatta Gopaiah'', all lyrics were written by Rajashri.

Release and reception

''Karakattakkaran'' was released on 16 June 1989. The film became a major commercial success, running for over a year in Nadana Theatre at Madurai. ''

Ananda Vikatan ''Ananda Vikatan'' is a Tamil-language weekly magazine published from Chennai, India. History ''Ananda Vikatan'' was started by Late Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926 as a monthly publication. The issue for December 1927 was not publishe ...

'' rated the film 44 out of 100, calling it a simple, realistic village love story without much grandeur. At the

, ''Karakattakkaran'' won the Special Prize for Best Film, and D. K. S. Babu won for Best Choreographer.

Legacy

''Karakattakkaran'' became a cult film for bringing the art of Karagam into prominence. The car

Chevrolet Impala The Chevrolet Impala () is a full-size car that was built by Chevrolet for model years 1958 to 1985, 1994 to 1996, and 2000 to 2020. The Impala was Chevrolet's popular flagship passenger car and was among the better-selling American-made auto ...

, 1960's model used in the film became popular after the film's release. In an interview with ''The Hindu'' in 2002, Somasundaram, a real-life Karakattam dancer was critical of the film, stating that it was an "insult to the dance form". In a 2012 interview,

Venkat Prabhu Venkat Kumar Gangai Amaren (born 7 November 1975), better known by his stage name Venkat Prabhu, is an Indian film director, actor and playback singer in Tamil cinema. In addition, he also worked in Telugu cinema, Telugu Cinema. After completing ...

was asked if he would ever remake ''Karakattakkaran'', and said "it would be extremely difficult to do justice to the original". In May 2019, Amaran expressed interest in doing a sequel with the original cast, which Ramarajan opposed the following month.

In popular culture

In a comedy scene from ''

Thangamana Raasa ''Thangamana Raasa'' is a 1989 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed and co-written by V. Azhagappan. The film stars Ramarajan and Kanaka. It was released on 28 October 1989. The film was remade in Telugu as '' Muddula Menalludu'' (1990). ...

'' (1989), Goundamani who is jailed for a petty crime, dreams of singing under the music of Ilaiyaraja, he sings "Maanguyile" to

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 predominately in Tamil films mostly as a comedian, supporting actor or in a villainous role. ...

. '' Ooru Vittu Ooru Vanthu'' (1990) also directed by Gangai Amaran was named after a song from the film. The comedy sequence involving the banana joke still remains a cult classic. In the comedy sequence, Senthil goes to buy two bananas for one rupee. When he returns to Goundamani with one of the two bananas after eating the other one, Goundamani asks him where the other banana is, and Senthil replies to him by saying that the other banana is the one Goundamani is holding in his hand. The sequence was referred to in the films '' Puthu Paatu'' (1990), '' Ponnuketha Purushan'' (1992), '' Muthal Seethanam'' (1992), '' Pudhayal'' (1997), '' Seerivarum Kaalai'' (2001), and a

deleted scene A deleted scene is footage that has been removed from the final version of a film or television show. There are various reasons why these scenes are deleted, which include time constraints, relevance, quality or a dropped story thread, and can al ...

from ''

Thuppakki ''Thuppakki'' ( ) is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by AR Murugadoss. Produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu, the film stars Vijay and Kajal Aggarwal, with Sathyan, Vidyut Jammwal, Jayaram, Manobala and Z ...

'' (2012) where Vijay recreates the dialogues in Hindi. In '' Saroja'' (2008), when the friends witness the car which they are going to travel, the theme music of ''Karagattakaran'' is used as background music for the scene. The 2016 film ''

Jil Jung Juk ''Jil Jung Juk'' () is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language neo-Western post-apocalyptic black comedy film directed by Deeraj Vaidy as his debut film. The film was produced by Siddharth under Etaki Entertainment; Siddharth also acts in the film, along ...

'' reveals who had kept Soppanasundari, the previous owner of the pink 1960 Chevrolet Impala according to the ''Karakattakkaran'' plot.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* * {{Authority control 1980s dance films 1980s Indian films 1980s Tamil-language films 1989 films 1989 romantic comedy films Films directed by Gangai Amaran Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Films shot in Madurai Indian dance films Indian romantic comedy films Tamil-language Indian films Tamil-language romantic comedy films