''Naalai Manithan'' () is a 1989

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

-language

science fiction horror film This is a list of science fiction horror films. 0-9 *'' 4D Man'' (1959) *'' 9'' (2009) *'' 9'' (2019) A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O *''The Omega Man'' (1971) *'' Outland'' (1981) *''Outpost'': **'' Outpost'' (2008) ...

written and directed by

Velu Prabhakaran Velu Prabakaran is an Indian filmmaker, cinematographer and actor. He is known for his themes highlighting atheism and revolutionary subjects in his films. Career Velu Prabakaran began as a cinematographer before making his directorial debut w ...

. The film was produced by

Thakkali Srinivasan Thakkali Srinivasan is an Indian film director, musician and producer who has worked on Tamil films, often involving horror or murder mystery plotlines. Career Thakkali Srinivasan began his career off as a producer and made the science fiction ...

under the banner Perfect Productions. Premi–Srini composed the music for the film. It stars

Ajay Rathnam Ajay Rathnam is an Indian actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil films and serials. He is known for his supporting and negative roles and has acted in over 300 movies. Standing at 6 ft 4 in (193 cm), Rathnam is one of the tallest actors in ...

playing the titular role with

Prabhu ''Prabhu'' means master or the Prince in Sanskrit and many of the Indian languages; it is a name sometimes applied to God. The term is also used by devotees of the Hindu God Lord Krishna/Vishnu as a title and form of address. It is also appended ...

, Amala and

Jaishankar Jaishankar (12 July 1938 – 3 June 2000) was an Indian actor known for his work in Tamil cinema. He was a very popular lead actor in the 1960s and 70s. He was credited onscreen with title of ''Makkal Kalaingnar'' (people's artiste) or '' ...

playing the protagonist roles. The film was inspired from the American film ''

Silent Rage ''Silent Rage'' is a 1982 American action crime science fiction film directed by Michael Miller. It stars Chuck Norris as a sheriff who must stop a mentally ill man (Brian Libby) who goes on a rampage after being granted near-indestructibility i ...

'' directed by Michael Miller. The film was remade in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

as ''Manava 2022''.

Plot

In 2008 in Chennai, a doctor invents a drug which gives back life to the dead if injected within two hours of death. He works along with two other doctors. They experiment on the dead body of an orphan and succeed. Unknown to them, the drug induces side effects which makes the recipient immortal and, at the same time, feral and murderous. The orphan goes on a killing spree, and the city is soon flooded with murders. But he does not hurt the doctors as he trusts them, and returns to them every time he is wounded by bullets fired by the police. A police officer starts investigating the crimes and is soon on the trail of the orphan and the doctors after suspecting their research work. When the doctor' assistants suggest to their superior that they kill the orphan to end to the rampage, the orphan overhears it and later tracks down the assistants and kills them all. Later he kills the doctor as well. The police officer and his girlfriend finally track down the orphan, and after some intense bloodshed and fight, they roll him off a cliff in their car. Even after getting burnt, he comes back alive and attacks them. Finally, the police officer throws him into a deep watery pit, seemingly killing him, and leaves the place along with his girlfriend. However, the orphan comes out from the pit, having survived.

Cast

as the police officer * Amala as Prabhu's girlfriend *

as immortal john *

as the doctor *

as the doctor's assistant *

Jayashree Jayashree is an Indian name. People with the name include: *M. Jayashree, Indian actress * B. Jayashree, Indian actress, director and singer * Jayashree (actress), Indian actress *Jayashree Banerjee (born 1938), a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Pa ...

as Thakkali Srinivasan's wife *

Janagaraj Janagaraj is an Indian actor who has appeared in over 200 films predominantly in Tamil cinema as a comedian or in supporting roles. He also starred in few Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi films. Early life Janagaraj was born to Vadivelu and Muthu ...

as Sergeant Sekar *

Disco Shanti Santha Kumari (born 28 August 1965), famously known as Disco Shanti, is an Indian actress who was particularly famous in South India for her appearances in item numbers. She has appeared in more than 900 films in different languages of India, ...

as Dancer * J Livingston as TV Presenter guest appearance * Senthamarai (Guest appearance) as Amala's Father * Mohan as Host (Guest appearance) *

Jai Ganesh Jai Ganesh (1946 – 11 February 2001) was an Indian Tamil film actor. He had supporting roles in the films ''Aval Oru Thodar Kathai'' and ''Attukara Alamelu'', among others. His most popular roles have been as a supporting actor or as a villa ...

as Ramesh, another assistant of Jaishankar

Production

''Naalai Manithan'' marked the directorial debut of

, who also wrote the screenplay and served as cinematographer.

produced the film and also acted.

made his acting debut with this film.

Reception

N. Krishnaswamy of ''

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 Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split be ...

'' wrote on 20 January 1989, "The murderous hunt is what the film is about and such sequences are put together with crisp finesse. 2008 notwithstanding, ''Naalai Manithan'' is closer to what Cain did to Abel."

Soundtrack

Music was by Premi–Srini. The background music and re-recording was by

Manachanallur Giridharan Manachanallur Giridharan (born 15 April 1964) is a South Indian music director, lyricist, singer, and also an educationist. He is also the founder of '' EdServ Softsystems Limited''. He has founded his own music production house called ''Gaanan ...

Sequel

The sequel ''

Adhisaya Manithan ''Adhisaya Manithan'' () is a 1990 Tamil-language slasher film, produced by Thakkali Srinivasan and directed by Velu Prabhakaran. It is a sequel to ''Nalaya Manithan'' (1989). The film stars Gautami in the lead role, among others. Plot Gautam ...

'' was released in 1990, and was also directed by Prabhakaran.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 4168940 1980s action films 1980s science fiction action films 1980s science fiction horror films 1980s serial killer films 1980s Tamil-language films 1989 directorial debut films 1989 films 1989 horror films Films directed by Velu Prabhakaran Films set in Chennai Indian action horror films Indian remakes of American films Indian science fiction action films Indian science fiction horror films Indian serial killer films Mad scientist films