''Ulagam Sutrum Valiban'' () is a 1973 Indian

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, na ...

-language

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstel ...

directed and co-produced by

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

. The film stars Ramachandran,

Chandrakala Chandrakala was an Indian actress who appeared in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi films. Film career She debuted in Kannada films in 1963 and went on to pair with Dr. Rajkumar, Kalyan Kumar, Uday Kumar and Rajesh. In 1971, she ...

, Manjula and Latha. It revolves around a scientist who discovers an energy harnessing formula, and seeks to keep his research from being abused by a rival scientist. ''Ulagam Sutrum Valiban'' was released on 11 May 1973. It emerged a major box office success, with a theatrical run for over 200 days. Ramachandran won the Filmfare Special Award for Excellent Production Values.

Plot

Murugan is an Indian scientist who has recently discovered how to store a part of the energy unleashed from lightning. He reports this at a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

scientists' conference. He subsequently announces that he will not reveal his discovery, since the world is at the brink of

World War III World War III or the Third World War, often abbreviated as WWIII or WW3, are names given to a hypothetical worldwide large-scale military conflict subsequent to World War I and World War II. The term has been in use since at ...

and his research may be used for destructive purposes. Another scientist, Bairavan, claims Murugan is falsely claiming that his research is successful. Murugan thus conducts a demonstration and destroys the vital research notes, which upsets other scientists. Bairavan offers $100 million to persuade him to sell the research to a foreign country, which Murugan refuses. Murugan then departs with his girlfriend, Vimala for a world tour. He discloses to Vimala that he only pretended to destroy the research notes, and has actually kept them in a safe place. He indeed had plans of using them, to ensure that his research is used for productive purposes. Bairavan, who has been following them, overhears this and plans to steal the research notes. While in Singapore, Bairavan shoots Murugan with a special gun (not killing him). Vimala faints after witnessing the attack. Murugan, who seemingly suffers from a mental disorder, is subsequently taken into Bairavan's custody. Shortly, Vimala too is abducted by Bairavan. He expects her to cure Murugan, so that he could get information on the whereabouts of the research documents. Raju, a CBCID officer and Murugan's younger brother, arrives in Singapore in search of his brother. How he finds his brother and what happens to others forms the rest of the story.

Cast

;Male cast *

as Murugan and Raju * M. N. Nambiar as one of Bairavan's henchmen *

S. A. Ashokan S. A. Ashokan, born as Antony and often spelled Asokan, was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema and theatre. He was popular mainly for playing negative roles but was also a successful character actor. Early life Ashokan was bo ...

as Bairavan * R. S. Manohar as Lily's brother *

Nagesh Nagesh (born Cheyur Krishnarao Nageshwaran; (27 September 1933 – 31 January 2009) was an Indian actor, mostly remembered for his roles as a comedian in Tamil films during the 1960s. Nagesh was born in Dharapuram. He acted in over 1,000 fi ...

as Markandeyan * V. Gopalakrishnan as the doctor and the gunsmith of Bairavan *

Thengai Srinivasan Thengai Srinivasan (21 October 1937 – 9 November 1987) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil-language films and plays from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was given the prefix ''Thengai'' (coconut) after his role as a coconut-seller in th ...

as the driver and one of Bairavan's henchmen ;Female cast *

as Rathnadevi * Manjula as Vimala * Latha as Lily *Metta Roongrat as Metta (guest appearance)

Production

''Ulagam Sutrum Valiban'' is the second film directed by

, and was originally titled ''Mele Aagaayam Kizhe Bhoomi''. It was co-produced by

R. M. Veerappan R. M. Veerappan (also referred to as RMV or Rama Veerappan) is an Indian politician, an early Dravidian Leader, and a movie producer and screenwriter from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He is the founder and leader of the MGR Kazhagam party. ...

J. Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...

, in an interview with the media, said that Ramachandran owed his popularity to her; irked by this, Ramachandran fired her from ''Ulagam Sutrum Valiban'', and replaced her with Manjula. Filming began in 1970. The climax scene was shot at

Expo '70 The or Expo 70 was a world's fair held in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. Its theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese, Expo '70 is often referred to as . It was the first world's fai ...

. Ramachandran's brother

M. G. Chakrapani Maruthur Gopalan Chakrapani (13 January 1911 – 17 August 1986), commonly known as Ettan ("elder brother" in Malayalam), was an Indian actor and producer based in the Tamil film industry. He was the elder brother of actor-politician M. G. ...

served as production consultant.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by

M. S. Viswanathan Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan (24 June 1928 – 14 July 2015), also known as M.S.V., was an Indian music director, singer and actor who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry. He was popularly known as ''Mellisai Mannar''. He compose ...

. The first choice of Ramachandran for the soundtrack was Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan. Two songs, "Aval Oru Navarasa" and "Nilavu Oru", were originally intended for an shelved film of Ramachandran titled ''Inaindha Kaigal''.

Release

''Ulagam Sutrum Valiban'' was released on 11 May 1973. The film was a major commercial success, and ran for over 200 days in theatres. In 2005, Mohanlal listed ''Ulakam Sutram Valibhan'' in his list of top ten best Indian films of all time, stating "I was a kid when I first saw this Tamil film, and I simply loved it. It has all the ingredients needed to entertain people."

Accolades

* Best Film (''Sirandha Thiraipadam'') * Best Director (

) (''Sirandha Iyakkunar'') * Best Producer (

), under his ''Emgiyaar Pictures Limited'' (''Sirandha Thayaripalar'') * Filmfare Special Award for Excellent Production Values –

Cancelled sequels

Ramachandran intended to make a sequel to this film titled ''Kizhakku Africavil Raju'', but the project never came to fruition when he was alive. An animated sequel with the same title was planned by

Ishari K. Ganesh Dr. Ishari K Ganesh (pronounced as Ai-sari) is the founder, chairman and Chancellor of Vels University in Chennai, India. He founded the Vael's Educational Trust in 1992 in the memory of his late father Isari Velan, a former Member of Legisl ...

in the late 2010s, with a new script directed by M. Arulmoorthy. Sayyeshaa and

Akshara Gowda Akshara Gowda (born Harini Gowda in Bangalore, Karnataka) is an Indian actress who has appeared in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. Personal life In April 2011, Akshara Gowda was linked to Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh. However, Gowda ...

were signed on to star opposite a computer-generated Ramachandran. The film did not complete production.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0259699 1970s science fiction films 1970s Tamil-language films 1973 films Central Bureau of Investigation in fiction Fictional portrayals of the Tamil Nadu Police Films about World War III Films directed by M. G. Ramachandran Films scored by M. S. Viswanathan Films set in Hong Kong Films set in Osaka Films set in Singapore Films shot in Hong Kong Films shot in Malaysia Films shot in Osaka Films shot in Singapore Films shot in Thailand Indian post-apocalyptic films Indian science fiction films