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 ...
Dharani
Dharanis (IAST: ), also known as (Skt.) ''vidyās'' and ''paritas'' or (Pal.) ''parittas'', are lengthier Buddhist mantras functioning as mnemonic codes, incantations, or recitations, and almost exclusively written originally in Sanskrit while Pa ...
under his real name V. C. Ramani. Produced by G. S. Madhu, the film stars
Mammootty
Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, ...
,
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 ...
,
Sangita
Sangita (Devanagari: , IAST: ), also spelled Samgita or Sangeeta, refers to "music and associated performance arts" in the Indian traditions. According to Guy Beck, the root "saṃ-" implies "combining, coming together, convergent wholesome ble ...
Goundamani
Subramaniyan Karuppaiya (born 25 May 1939), known by his stage name Goundamani, is an Indian actor and comedian who works in Tamil cinema. He is known for his comic duo partnership in Tamil language, Tamil films with fellow actor Senthil. The p ...
,
Senthil
Senthil (born 23 March 1951) is an Indian comedy actor who works in Tamil cinema. He is famous for his comedian roles along with fellow actor Goundamani. The pair dominated the Tamil industry as comedians in the 1980s and 90s.Nassar play supporting roles. The music was composed by Vidyasagar with editing by B. S. Nagarajan and cinematography by A. Karthik Raja. The film released on 4 March 1999, and won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Third Best Film.
Plot
Kannan is a sincere district collector. A female leader of a major political party is kidnapped by terrorist Veeraiyan, and he promises to return her back if his injured brother Arasappan is treated well and brought back safely. The government agrees to this condition and asks Kannan to look after Arasappan. At first, Arasappan hates Kannan and his family as Kannan works for the government against whom his brother's group is rebelling, but the kindness showed by Kannan's wife Selvi and mother change his attitude. Just when he was about to turn over a new leaf, a bad thing occurs. The police team, without taking the necessary orders from Kannan, go to the forest and attack Veeraiyan's gathering. This angers Arasappan, but he was restrained by Kannan. The police accuses Kannan of having links with the terrorists as Arasappan ran away from his house and Kannan condemned the police action; hence, they arrest Kannan's wife and mother (Kannan ran away to find Arasappan). Hearing this sad news, Arasappan himself surrenders to the police as he did not want them to suffer for him, but the police do not spare him despite his surrender.
Cast
Production
''Ethirum Puthirum'' is the directorial debut of Dharani. The film was initially titled ''Master'' and production delays postponed the film's release by a couple of years.
Soundarya
Sowmya Sathyanarayana (18 July 1972 – 17 April 2004), better known by her stage name Soundarya, was an Indian actress known for her works primarily in Telugu cinema. She was regarded as one of the greatest actresses in the history of Telugu ...
was the original choice for the female lead role, while the
item number
In Indian cinema, an item number or special song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films ( Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu c ...
done by Simran was initially offered to actress Rambha, who wanted better pay.
Soundtrack
Music was composed by Vidyasagar and the lyrics were penned by
Vairamuthu
Vairamuthu Ramasamy (born 13 July 1953) is an Indian lyricist, poet, and novelist working in the Tamil film industry. He is a prominent figure in the Tamil literary world. A master's graduate from the Pachaiyappa's College in Chennai, he firs ...
. The song "Thottu Thottu Pesum Sultana" became a chartbuster, and received renewed attention after featuring in '' Good Bad Ugly'' (2025).
Release and reception
The film was initially scheduled to release on 19 October 1998 to coincide with
Diwali
Diwali (), also called Deepavali (IAST: ''Dīpāvalī'') or Deepawali (IAST: ''Dīpāwalī''), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual v ...
, but was delayed by five months. Prior to the theatrical release of the film, pirated copies were released and streamed on television, which ultimately affected the profitability of the film. 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, "Though the crux of Maharajan's story is simple, the director, with his screenplay, ably supported by E. Ramdass's dialogue, has worked out enough absorbing situations." The film won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Third Best Film.