''Gayathri'' is a 1977 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

crime thriller film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as drama or gangster film, but al ...

directed by R. Pattabhiraman and written by

Panchu Arunachalam Panchanathan Arunachalam (22 March 1941 – 9 August 2016) was an Indian writer, director, producer and lyricist who worked in the Tamil cinema. He was mentored by poet Kannadasan who was his uncle. He also worked as a lyricist in the Tami ...

. The film stars Jaishankar,

Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 170 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, ...

and

Sridevi Sridevi Kapoor (née Shree Amma Yanger Ayyapan; 13 August 1963 – 24 February 2018), known mononymously as Sridevi, was an Indian actress who worked in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada language films. She is regarded as one of ...

. It is based on the novel of the same name by Sujatha. The film was released on 7 October 1977.

Plot

Rajarathnam is a rich man who lives with his sister Sarasu and a young house maid in

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 ...

. His sister arranges a marriage for him with Gayathri, a sixteen-year old who lives in

Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of T ...

. Soon after they marry, Gayathri moves to Rajarathnam's house and realises that the family has dark secrets. Rajarathnam is actually a blue-film producer – he secretly records himself and his new wife in their bedroom scenes without her knowledge, and sells the films on the black market. Gayathri initially gives Rajarathnam the benefit of the doubt, but later discovers that Rajarathnam is already married to another woman, who is now insane.

Ganesh Ganesha or Ganesh (, , ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped Deva (Hinduism), deities in the Hindu deities, Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in the Ganapatya sect. His depictions ...

, a friend of the writer Chellappa, tries to free Gayathri from the hands of Rajarathnam, without avail.

Cast

Production

''Gaayathri'' is based on Sujatha's novel of the same name, and was conceived during the Emergency. The screenplay was written by

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and playback singer popular for his works in Indian cinema, predominately in Tamil cinema, Tamil in addition ...

, with lyrics by Panchu Arunachalam.

Sujatha Mohan Sujatha Mohan is a renowned Indian playback singer known for her contributions to a wide range of Indian film industries, particularly in Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu cinema. Over her decades-long career, she has also recorded songs in other ...

made her debut as a

playback singer A playback singer, as they are usually known in South Asian cinema, or ghost singer in Western cinema, is a singer whose performance is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and the performers lip-sync the ...

through this film. The song "Kaalai Paniyil Aadum" is set to the raga Hamir Kalyani, and "Vaazhve Mayama" is set to Dharmavati.

Reception

''Film World'' wrote, "But for the wrong portrayal by Jaishankar, the movie would have maintained its pre-interval tempo. Yet, ''Gayatri'' is certainly off beat, contributing to salvage the losing face of Tamil Cinema".

References

Bibliography

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External links

* 1970s Indian films 1970s Tamil-language films 1977 crime thriller films 1977 films Films based on Tamil novels Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Films with screenplays by Panchu Arunachalam Indian black-and-white films Indian crime thriller films Tamil-language Indian films {{improve categories, date=December 2023