''Thayagam'' ( ) is a 1996 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

action film 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 ...

directed by A. R. Ramesh. The film stars

Vijayakanth Vijayaraj Alagarswami (25 August 1952 – 28 December 2023), known by his stage name Vijayakanth, was an Indian actor, filmmaker, philanthropist and politician. He worked in Tamil cinema in a career spanning four decades. He ventured into politi ...

Ranjitha Ranjitha is an Indian actress. She has acted in a number of Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films during her film career. Since 2023, she is known to be serving as the Prime Minister of Kailaasa, a claimed micronation promoted by Nithyana ...

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

and

Mohini Mohini (Sanskrit: मोहिनी, ') is the Hindu goddess of enchantment. She is the only female avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. She is portrayed as a ''femme fatale'', an enchantress, who maddens lovers and demons, sometimes leading them ...

. It was released on 15 January 1996. Vijayakanth won

Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize Recipients Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won. * The year mentioned refers to the year in which the films released. This is the list of Winners of Jury's Special Award See also * Tamil cinema * Cinema of Indi ...

for this film.

Plot

Three death row prisoners escape from the jail and hijack a plane where Abdul Salim, a scientist, owns a miracle drug. The pilot, instead of listening to the hijackers' instruction, manages to land in the

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

mountain. There, Snobir, a sadistic terrorist leader threatens the passengers to recover the drugs. The pilot and the national boxing champion Pailwan plan to save the passengers and try to escape but they are caught during the plan and are taken as prisoners. Both attack and kill many terrorists; everyone escapes and everything goes smoothly until an ambush occurs on a bridge. The brave Pailwan sacrifices himself to save the pilot and the passengers. Elsewhere, the short-tempered Sakthivel who is a family friend of Abdul Salim, and Abdul Salim's daughter Shakeela plan to save everyone so they find their crashed plane and they enter as prisoners. Sakthivel also lies that he is the scientist and tells the terrorist head to release everyone. The film ends with Sakthivel single-handedly killing all the terrorists and saving the day.

Cast

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

Deva Deva may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Deva, List of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition monsters, an ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd edition monster * Deva, in the 2023 Indian film ''Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefir ...

, with lyrics written by

Piraisoodan Piraisoodan (6 February 1956 – 8 October 2021) was a Tamil poet and lyricist. He won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Lyricist for his songs in movies like '' Thayagam'', '' En Rasavin Manasile'' and ''Neeyum Naanum'' in 1996, 1991 a ...

. The song "En Kannil" is based on "In The Name of Love" by

Grover Washington Jr. Grover Washington Jr. (December 12, 1943 – December 17, 1999) was an American jazz-funk and soul-jazz saxophonist and Grammy Award winner. Along with Wes Montgomery and George Benson, he is considered by many to be one of the founders and le ...

from '' Winelight''.

Reception

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 ...

'' called dialogues, cinematography and grandeur as positives but felt Arun Pandian, Ranjitha and Napoleon were wasted and concluded saying what can one say and praise the director who has given a comedy film with an action coating with a serious subject like Kashmir. D. S. Ramanujam of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'' wrote, "''Thaayagam'', a costly movie made in the snowy regions, will offer visual thrill and action, despite the obvious flaws in narration and screenplay". He added, "Netaji's dialogue driving home this bitter truth. But his screenplay has lot of loopholes, which the director A. R. Ramesh has not corrected". . The film won the Tamil Nadu State Film Special Award for Best Actor (Vijayakanth) and Best Lyricist (Piraisoodan).

References

External links

*{{IMDb title 1990s Indian films 1990s Tamil-language films 1996 action films 1996 films Films about Islamic terrorism in India Films about jihadism Films directed by A. R. Ramesh Films scored by Deva (composer) Films set in Jammu and Kashmir Films set on airplanes Indian action films Indian Army in films Kashmir conflict in films Tamil-language Indian films