''Manithan'' () is a 1987 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, nati ...

-language

Political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...

action film directed by

S. P. Muthuraman S. P. Muthuraman, also referred to as SPM, is an Indian film director who works in the Tamil film industry. He has directed 72 films in Tamil. He was one of the most successful commercial directors in Tamil cinema. Initially he worked mainly wi ...

, starring

Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...

Rupini Komal Mahuvakar, better known by her stage name Rupini, is an Indian actress who has appeared in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Telugu language films during the late 1980s and early 1990s. She started as a child artist in the Hindi fil ...

and

Raghuvaran Raghuvaran Velayutham (11 December 1958 – 19 March 2008) was an Indian actor who predominantly acted in films made in South India. He has acted in more than 200 Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. According to the ''Hindustan ...

, with

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.Delhi Ganesh Delhi Ganesh is an Indian actor who mostly acts in supporting roles in Tamil cinema and serials. He has acted in more than 400 films from 1976 to present. Before films, he was a member of the Delhi-based theatre troupe, ''Dakshina Bharata Nat ...

and

Srividya Srividya (24 July 1953 – 19 October 2006), also known as Sreevidya, was an Indian actress best known for her work predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films, along with few Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films. In a career spanning for 40 years, ...

. It was released 21 October 1987, and emerged a silver jubilee hit.

Plot

The story revolves around Raja, who grows up in juvenile detention due to hitting his teacher by a table weight for falsely calling him a thief due to the only reason he was born on a No Moon Day. He was born to a superstitious father who believes that a person born on a No Moon Day will surely turn criminal. When his imprisonment years are over, he joins People Welfare Organization in a local community and helps the needy people. In due course, he gets enemies due to his good deeds. The rest of the story forms on how Raja succeeds over his enemies and disproves the false claims on him and the superstitions and prejudice that surrounded him.

Cast

as Raja *

as Ruba *

as Kumaravelu *

as Lakshmi, Raja's elder sister * Jai Ganesh as Sridhar * Madhuri as Indra *

Vinu Chakravarthy Vinu Chakravarthy (15 December 1945 – 27 April 2017) was an Indian actor, screenwriter and director who is known for acting in more than 1000 movies in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Badaga and Malayalam mostly as a comedian, supporting actor or in ...

as Rathnavelu *

Cho Ramaswamy Srinivasa Iyer Ramaswamy, better known as Cho Ramaswamy (5 October 1934 – 7 December 2016), was an Indian actor, comedian, character actor, editor, political satirist, playwright, film director and lawyer from Tamil Nadu. He was a p ...

as Ponnambalam *

Delhi Ganesh Delhi Ganesh is an Indian actor who mostly acts in supporting roles in Tamil cinema and serials. He has acted in more than 400 films from 1976 to present. Before films, he was a member of the Delhi-based theatre troupe, ''Dakshina Bharata Nat ...

as Marimuthu

Production

V. C. Guhanathan developed a story named ''Amavasayil Pirandha Oruvanin Kadhai'' () which Panchu Arunachalam expanded into a screenplay. With Rajinikanth cast in the lead role, AVM titled the film ''Manithan'' () as they felt Rajinikanth was a fantastic man. Distributors objected to the title as there was previously a play of the same name staged by TKS Brothers, but AVM refused to change the title of their film. Rupini accepted to star in ''Manithan'' after another film she was doing, ''Sir I Love You'', was shelved.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Chandrabose. Lyrics for this film were written 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 fi ...

Release and reception

''Manithan'' was released 21 October 1987,

Diwali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It i ...

day. Despite facing competition from ''

Nayakan ''Nayakan'' (; ) is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language gangster film written and directed by Mani Ratnam. Produced by Muktha Srinivasan, the film stars Kamal Haasan, Saranya (in her feature debut) and Karthika, with Janagaraj, Vijayan, M. V. Vas ...

'', released on the same day, it emerged more successful, and a silver jubilee hit. 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 Limited, Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, ...

'' wrote, "It is a no-holds-barred commercial film, but the formula works." Jayamanmadhan of ''

Kalki Kalki ( sa, कल्कि), also called Kalkin or Karki, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is described to appear in order to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in the endless cycle of exis ...

'', however, reviewed the film more negatively for being too formulaic.

Legacy

''Manithan'' was screened alongside other films of Rajinikanth like '' Murattu Kaalai'', '' Pokkiri Raja'', '' Paayum Puli'' at Albert theatre, on the occasion of his birthday on 12 December 2012. The film's title inspired that of a 2016 film.

References

Bibliography

External links

* * {{AVM Productions 1980s masala films 1980s Tamil-language films 1987 films AVM Productions films Films about superstition Films directed by S. P. Muthuraman Films scored by Chandrabose (composer) Films with screenplays by Panchu Arunachalam