''Bharathi'' is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docud ...

based on the life of

Subramania Bharati C. Subramania Bharathi Birth name: C. Subramaniyan, the person's given name: Subramaniyan, father's given name: Chinnaswami. (C. Subramaniyan by the prevalent patronymic initials as prefix naming system in Tamil Nadu and it is Subramaniyan C ...

starring Sayaji Shinde,

Devayani Devayani ( sa, देवयानी, translit=Devayānī) is a character in Hindu literature. She is described to be the daughter of Shukra, the acharya (preceptor) of the asuras, and his wife Jayanti, the daughter of Indra. She marries ...

and

Nizhalgal Ravi Ravichandran Samanna (born 16 April 1956), known professionally as Nizhalgal Ravi, is an Indian film, television and voice actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has performed in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films and television series. He s ...

. The film was directed by Gnana Rajasekaran and won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil for the year 2000.

Plot

It is a

based on the life of Tamil poet

Cast

* Sayaji Shinde as Subramania Bharathi ** Pushpaak Ramesh as Childhood Subramania Bharathi *

as Chellamal * Ramesh Kumar as Subramania Bharathi's friend *

S. P. Y. Surendranath Arya Sinhakulathipati Papanarya Yatiraj Surendranath Voegeli-Arya was an Indian independence activist from the Madras Presidency. Early life Surendranath Arya was born Ethiraj to Dhanakoti Raju Naidu in a Telugu-speaking family of the city of Madra ...

T. P. Gajendran T. P. Gajendran (1955 – 5 February 2023) was an Indian film director and actor who played minor roles. He directed more than 15 films and acted in more than 100 films. He was the son of Tuticorin MR.Perumal. Actress T. P. Muthulakshmi, his s ...

as Kuvalai *

Srikanth Srikanth or Sreekanth is a common Indian first name. * Srikanth (Tamil actor, born 1940), Tamil film actor active in films from 1965 * Srikanth (Tamil actor, born 1980), Tamil actor active in films after 2002 * Srikanth (Telugu actor), Telugu acto ...

* Junior Balaiah * Delhi Kumar *

Bala Singh Bala Singh (7 May 195227 November 2019) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil language films. After making his debut in Nassar's '' Avatharam'' (1995), he appeared as the antagonist in over a hundred films. Early life and career Bala Sin ...

* Ganesh Babu as Bharathi's son-in-law

Production

Gnana Rajasekaran had initially wanted to cast

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali f ...

in the lead role, but the film's budget did not allow it. So he chose Marathi actor Sayaji Shinde, who made his debut in Tamil films. The female lead role was initially offered to actress Suvalakshmi, whose refusal prompted the team to sign on

Soundtrack

Reception

Malathi Rangarajan of '' The Hindu'' said, "THE MAJESTIC GAIT, the intimidating, piercing eyes that sparkle with a mix of eccentricity, anger, defiance and passion – Shayaji Shinde is indeed a remarkable choice for the role of Bharati" and "It is another fantastic break for Devyani as Chellamma, the wife of Subramania Bharati. Her soft, vulnerable docility and her helpless effete submission to her husband's impractical way of life have been beautifully portrayed". ''

Rediff Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City. , it had more than 300 ...

'' said, "Sayaji Shinde as Bharati is simply splendid. His is an impressive performance, with nary an inkling of the trepidation that he is enacting Bharati's role -- he, a Maharashtrian and Tamil, an alien tongue". ''Thiraipadam.com'' said, "This is a good biography, but in the end, it seems like it's more a collection of stories than a continuous film. Which is unfortunate because the film had great potential to be absolutely stunningly excellent".

References

External links

* {{Sujatha 2000 films Indian biographical drama films Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja 2000s Tamil-language films 2000 biographical drama films Films whose production designer won the Best Production Design National Film Award Films that won the Best Costume Design National Film Award Best Tamil Feature Film National Film Award winners 2000 drama films Films directed by Gnana Rajasekaran