''Maruthu Pandi'' is a 1990 Indian

Tamil language Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...

action drama The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

film directed by

Manoj Kumar Manoj Kumar (born Harikrishan Giri Goswami; 24 July 1937 – 4 April 2025) was an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter, lyricist and editor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most successful actors in t ...

. The film stars

Ramki Ramakrishnan (born 31 March 1962), better known by his stage name Ramki, is an Indian actor best known for his work in Tamil films. He made his debut in '' Chinna Poove Mella Pesu'' (1987). He was a lead actor from 1987 to 2004. He is well kn ...

Seetha Sita (; ), also known as Siya, Jānaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi. She is t ...

and

Nirosha Nirosha is an Indian actress. She is known for her works predominantly in Tamil film industry. She has also starred in a few Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and was popular in the 1990s. Filmography Tamil * '' Agni Natchathiram'' (1988) - Debut i ...

, with

Nassar Nassar (), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer, or Nacer. People with the surname include: People with th ...

, S. S. Chandran,

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.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 ...

, Raghavi and

Pradeep Shakthi Pradeep Shakthi (25 July 1954 – 20 February 2016) was an Indian Telugu actor, director and businessman. Pradeep Shakthi, born as Raja Vasireddy, was from the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. He was introduced to Telugu cinema by director ...

playing supporting roles. It was released on 27 April 1990 and became a major box office success. The film was remade in Kannada as ''

Kollur Kala ''Kollur Kala'' is a 1991 Indian Kannada-language action film, directed by Om Sai Prakash. The story was written by Thirunavukkarasu. The film stars Shashikumar and Malashri, with Vidyashri playing a key supporting role. The film's music was c ...

'' (1991) and in Hindi as '' Aag'' (1994).

Plot

In the village Ammapatti, Maruthu Pandi is a

coracle A coracle is a small, rounded, lightweight boat of the sort traditionally used in Wales, and also in parts of the west of Ireland and also particularly on the River Boyne, and in Scotland, particularly the River Spey. The word is also used for ...

operator in the day and the village protector at night. The villagers give him food in exchange for his work. Maruthu Pandi has a mentally ill sister Lakshmi who is pregnant and he takes care of Lakshmi like a mother. Kanagavalli is a dancer performing in a dance troupe. After performing their dance in Ammapatti, the dancers leave Kanagavalli alone. The villagers help Kanagavalli to stay in the village : they build a house for her. Kanagavalli slowly falls in love with Maruthu Pandi. Kanagavalli is, in fact, a police officer who wants to arrest Maruthu Pandi. Maruthu Pandi's real name is Manickam. In the past, Manickam was a poor tailor, where he lived happily with his only sister. Manickam was in love with Kavitha, daughter of a rich

zamindar A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal lord of a ''zamindari'' (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the official language; ''zamindar'' is the ...

. Her father Jagannathan refuses to let his daughter marry Manickam; instead he wants to get her married to a zamindar like him : Inspector of Police Thiagarajan. On the day of the wedding, Kavitha drinks poison and dies. That same night, Jagannathan, Thiagarajan and Thiagarajan's friend Pradeep beat up Manickam and abduct Lakshmi and she is brutally raped by Thiagarajan. Manickam manages to beat up them while Jagannathan, Kavitha's father is killed in the process and Lakshmi becomes mentally unstable. He flees the village with his sister from that village. Thiagarajan and his police team come to Ammapatti to arrest Manickam. What transpires later forms the crux of the story.

Cast

Production

The film was originally offered to

Sathyaraj Rangaraj Subbiah (born 3 October 1954), known professionally as Sathyaraj, is an Indian actor, film producer, film director and a media personality who appears predominantly in Tamil films. He also appears in works in Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam ...

who refused it.

Soundtrack

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 ...

Reception

P. S. S. of ''

Kalki Kalki (), also called Kalkin, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hinduism, Hindu god Vishnu. According to Vaishnavism, Vaishnava cosmology, Kalki is destined to appear at the end of the Kali Yuga, the last of the four ages i ...

'' wrote that the director managed to narrate a gripping screenplay out of an age old plot.

References

External links

* * {{Manoj Kumar (Tamil director) 1990 action drama films 1990 films 1990s Indian films 1990s Tamil-language films Films directed by Manoj Kumar (Tamil director) Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Indian action drama films Indian films about revenge Tamil films remade in other languages Tamil-language Indian films