''Unarchigal'' () is a 1976 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 film co-written and directed by R. C. Sakthi in his directorial debut. The film stars

Kamal Haasan Parthasarathy Srinivasan (born 7 November 1954), known professionally as Kamal Haasan, is an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Considered as one of the most accomplished actors of Indian Cinema, Haas ...

and

Srividya Srividya (24 July 1953 – 19 October 2006), was an Indian actress best known for her work predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films, along with few Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films. In a career spanning for 40 years, she had acted in more t ...

. It is a highly sensuous film which deals with

sexually transmitted diseases A sexually transmitted infection (STI), also referred to as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and the older term venereal disease (VD), is an infection that is spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, oral ...

, and subsequently the film ran into trouble with the

censor board The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provisio ...

, prompting a delay in its release. The film was remade in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

as '' Raasaleela'' which released in 1975, before the original.

Plot

Muthu is an 18-year-old simpleton who works in a small village. He is sexually harassed by his landlord's sister, a widow. Unable to bear it any longer, Muthu goes to

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

. However, he is again harassed in a similar way by people whom he meets. He finds work at a hotel as a room boy where he meets Maragadham, a prostitute. He then rescues her once from a raid. After he saves her, she develops a soft spot towards him. He lives in Maragadham's house as a servant but later is thrown out of her home. In the end Muthu gets affected by an STD and is shown in a hospital being treated by a doctor and eventually dies.

Cast

as Muthu * L. Kanchana as Kamala *

as Maragadham *

Major Sundarrajan Srinivasan Sundarrajan (17 March 1935 – 28 February 2003), popularly known as Major Sundarrajan, was an Indian actor and film director who performed predominantly in Tamil language films and plays. He was well known for his sophisticated ...

as Doctor *

Lalithasree Lalithasree is an Indian actress best known for her work in Malayalam cinema. She has acted in more than 450 films. She acts mainly in supporting roles. She is known for her comedy roles with Jagathy Sreekumar. Personal life Lalithasree was ...

as a prostitute * S. V. Ramadas as Bhoopathy * V. Gopalakrishnan as Balu * K. K. Soundar as Police Inspector *

Vellai Subbaiah Vellai Subbaiah was an Indian actor who appeared in over than 1500 films and theatrical productions. He primarily played minor roles and comedic roles. Early life Subbaiah was born in Punjai Puliampatti village, Coimbatore in 1937 but ran a ...

as Subbiah

Production

The story was written by R. C. Sakthi and

. Additionally, Haasan worked as assistant director also. The film was initially supposed to be Haasan's first film as a lead actor after being launched in 1972, however delays meant that the film was only released 4 years later. The same film was later remade in

as '' Raasaleela'' and released in 1975, before the original had come out.

Soundtrack

All Songs are written by

Kannadasan Muthiah Sathappan Chettiar better known as Kannadasan (; 24 June 1927 – 17 October 1981) was a poet, film song lyricist, producer, actor, script-writer, editor, philanthropist, and is heralded as one of the greatest and most important l ...

, Pattukottai Dhandayuthapani, Velavendhan, Muthulingam.

Reception

Kanthan 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 ...

'' praised the performances of cast, called Sakthi's dialogues as thought provoking but felt the story died in the beginning itself. The critic also felt ''Raasaleela'' did not have any disease and questioned for adding this change in Tamil and concluded did makers thought that Tamil audience lack emotions.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=9244928 1970s Indian films 1970s Tamil-language films 1976 directorial debut films 1976 films Films about sexually transmitted diseases Films directed by R. C. Sakthi Films scored by Shyam (composer) Tamil films remade in other languages Tamil-language Indian films