''Naalai Manithan'' () is a 1989 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

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

action horror The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as ...

film directed by

Velu Prabhakaran Velu Prabakaran is an Indian filmmaker, cinematographer and actor. He is known for his themes highlighting atheism and revolutionary subjects in his films. Career Velu Prabakaran began as a cinematographer before making his directorial debut w ...

. The film stars

Prabhu ''Prabhu'' means ''master'' or ''prince'' in Sanskrit and many of the Indian languages; it is a name sometimes applied to God. Surname Prabhu is a surname among Gaud saraswat Brahmins, saraswat Brahmins and other Brahmins across the Ko ...

Ajay Rathnam Ajay Rathnam is an Indian actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil films and serials apart from few Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada films. He is known for his supporting and negative roles and has acted in over 300 movies. Standing at ...

, Amala and

Jaishankar Jaishankar may also refer to: * Jaishankar Prasad (1889 – 1937), Indian writer and playwright * Jaishankar (actor) (1938 – 2000), Indian actor * Jaishankar Menon (born 1956), Indian-American computer scientist * Jaishankar Bhojak (1889 – 1 ...

. It is a remake of the American film ''

Silent Rage ''Silent Rage'' is a 1982 American sci-fi action horror film directed by Michael Miller. It stars Chuck Norris as a sheriff who must stop a mentally ill man (Brian Libby) who goes on a rampage after being granted indestructibility in a medical ...

'' (1982). The film was remade in

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

as ''Manava 2022'' (1997). A sequel named ''

Adhisaya Manithan ''Adhisaya Manithan'' () is a 1990 Indian Tamil-language science fiction slasher film directed by Velu Prabhakaran. It is a sequel to '' Naalai Manithan'' (1989). The film stars Gautami, Ajay Rathnam, Anand, Kuyili, Kovai Sarala and Silk Smitha. ...

'' was released a year later.

Plot

In 2008,

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

, Dr. Shankar invents a drug which gives back life to the dead if injected within two hours of death. He along with Ramesh and Kanth, experiments the drug on the dead body of a man named John and finds it successful. Unknown to them, the drug induces side effects which makes the recipient immortal and, at the same time murderous. As such, John starts to kill people in the town, the city is soon flooded with murders. While murdering a group of youngsters at a resort, John is arrested by police officer Vijay and his deputy Shekar. But he breaks out of the handcuffs, overpowers the other officers, forcing the officers to shoot him. Severely injured John is again transported to the hospital. Kanth requests to Shankar to kill John, as he is a threat towards the society. Overhearing this, John escapes from the institute and follows Kanth to his home. John breaks into Kanth's home and the two fight. Despite shooting John several times and pushing him down a flight of stairs, Kanth is killed. Kanth's wife Shree returns home after shopping finds her husband's body and is killed by John as well. At the time, Shree's friend Preethi arrives there for a feast, which Shree had invited for Preethi's upcoming marriage with Vijay. Preethi discovers Shree and Kanth's corpses. But John flees as Vijay arrives at the place. Shekar takes Preethi to the institute, unaware that John has also returned there to get treat his wounds. Realizing that the situation is out of control, Ramesh attempts to kill John by injecting him with an acid. But being immortal John kills Ramesh and even Shankar, who comes to cure John. John chases to kill Preethi. Where Shekar saves Preethi. John kills Shekar and follows to kill Preethi too. Vijay returns in time but finds Shekar dying. He also rescues Preethi from John, by shooting him, which makes John fell off the balcony. But John revives and tries to kill Vijay. John hangs on to Vijay's car as Vijay and Preethi try to escape and climbs into its back window, forcing them to jump out. The car crashes and explodes, lighting John on fire. This burns him, but he jumps into a nearby lake and quickly recovers and attacks them. After some intense bloodshed and fight, Vijay defeats John by hitting him several times before throwing him into a nearby well. As John seems to be killed, Vijay leaves the place along with Preethi. However, deep in the well, John comes out from water, having survived.

Cast

as Inspector Vijay *

as John * Amala as Preethi *

as Dr. Shankar *

Jai Ganesh Jai Ganesh (1946 – 12 February 2001) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil plays and films. He had supporting roles in the films '' Aval Oru Thodar Kathai'' and '' Aattukara Alamelu'', among others. His most popular roles have been as a ...

as Dr. Ramesh *

Thakkali Srinivasan Thakkali Srinivasan is an Indian film director, musician and producer who has worked on Tamil films, often involving horror or murder mystery plotlines. Career Thakkali Srinivasan began his career off as a producer and made the science fiction ...

as Dr. Kanth *

Jayashree Jayashree is an Indian name. People with the name include: * M. Jayashree, Indian actress * B. Jayashree, Indian actress, director and singer * Jayashree (actress), Indian actress * Jayashree Banerjee (born 1938), a leader of the Bharatiya Janata ...

as Shree *

Janagaraj Janagaraj is an Indian actor who has appeared in over 240 films predominantly in Tamil cinema as a comedian or in supporting roles. He also starred in few Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi films. Early life Janagaraj was born to Vadivelu and Muth ...

as Sergeant Shekar *

Senthamarai Senthamarai may refer to: * Senthamarai (actor), an Indian actor * ''Senthamarai'' (film), a 1962 Indian film * N. K. Senthamarai Kannan, an Indian police commissioner * '' Thamilar Senthamarai'', a weekly newspaper {{DAB ...

as Preethi's Father Cameo appearances *

Disco Shanti Santha Kumari (born 16 April 1965),
Web.archi ...

as a dancer in the bar * J Livingston as himself, the TV presenter. * Mohan as himself, the chief guest

Production

''Naalai Manithan'' marked the directorial debut of

, who also wrote the screenplay and served as cinematographer.

produced the film and also acted.

made his acting debut with this film.

Soundtrack

Music was by Premi–Srini, with lyrics by Muthu Bharathi. The background music and re-recording was by Manachanallur Giridharan.

Release and reception

''Naalai Manithan'' was released on 14 January 1989. N. Krishnaswamy of ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...

'' wrote on 20 January 1989, "The murderous hunt is what the film is about, and such sequences are put together with crisp finesse. 2008 notwithstanding, ''Naalai Manithan'' is closer to what Cain did to Abel." P. S. S. of ''

Kalki Kalki (), also called Kalkin, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hinduism, Hindu god Vishnu. According to Vaishnavism, Vaishnava cosmology, Kalki is destined to appear at the end of the Kali Yuga, the last of the four ages i ...

'' gave a negative review, saying that though the final scene teases a sequel, enough was enough.

Sequel

The sequel ''

'' was released in 1990, and was also directed by Prabhakaran.

References

External links

* {{Velu Prabhakaran 1980s action horror films 1980s Indian films 1980s science fiction action films 1980s science fiction horror films 1980s serial killer films 1980s Tamil-language films 1989 directorial debut films 1989 films Films directed by Velu Prabhakaran Films set in 2008 Films set in Chennai Indian action horror films Indian remakes of American films Indian science fiction action films Indian science fiction horror films Indian serial killer films Mad scientist films Tamil films remade in other languages Tamil-language Indian films