Nallavanuku Nallavan
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''Nallavanukku Nallavan'' () is a 1984 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 action drama film, directed by S. P. Muthuraman and produced by
AVM Productions AVM Productions is an Indian film production studio founded by A. V. Meiyappa Chettiar. It is the oldest film studio in India. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai. It has produced over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, ...
. A remake of the 1983 Telugu film '' Dharmaatmudu'', it stars
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 Radhika, with Karthik, Thulasi, V. K. Ramasamy,
Major Sundarrajan Srinivasan Sundarrajan (17 March 1935 – 28 February 2003), popularly known as Major Sundarrajan, was an Indian actor and film director who performed predominantly in Tamil language films and plays. He was well known for his sophisticated ...
, Y. G. Mahendran and
Visu Meenakshisundaram Ramasamy Viswanathan (1 July 1945 – 22 March 2020), best known by his stage name Visu, was an Indian screenwriter, film director, stage, film and television actor and talk-show host. Visu initially worked as an assistant to ...
in supporting roles. The film revolves around a worker who is bequeathed his late boss's business, earning the wrath of the boss's son who believes he swindled his father's business. The screenplay of ''Nallavanukku Nallavan'' was written by Visu, who made minor changes to differentiate it from the Telugu original, which co-producer M. Saravanan noticed was very similar to the unsuccessful Tamil film '' Hitler Umanath'' (1982). The music of the film 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 ...
, cinematography was handled by Babu, and editing by R. Vittal. ''Nallavanukku Nallavan'' was released on 22 October 1984,
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 ...
day and became a major commercial success, running for over 150 days in theatres. For his performance, Rajinikanth won numerous awards, including the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil.


Plot

Manickam is a well-meaning rogue. Uma, an orphaned woman, enters his house for safety from criminals who were chasing her. After he saves her from other criminals, he learns that she is a missing woman and drops her at her house. But upon seeing the abusive nature of her uncle Sadhasivam, he saves her and they marry. Manickam promises Uma he will not engage in violence, and surrenders to police inspector Azhagarsamy for his earlier acts. Manickam is released from prison in time to see his newborn daughter Priya. Gangadharan, a friend of Azhagarsamy, gives Manickam employment at his factory, Victory Industries. When Gangadharan becomes bankrupt, he plans to close Victory Industries as he is unable to repay his debts to money lenders. Manickam persuades him to give him a chance to revive it and with hard efforts he repays all debts. As a token of gratitude, Gangadharan gives all his wealth to Manickam before dying. Several years later, Manickam has been running Victory Industries to everyone's satisfaction. He also controls the financial affairs of Gangadharan's family. But Gangadharan's spoilt son Vinod dislikes Manickam, believing he swindled his father's business. Vinod tries to avenge Manickam by luring Priya. He brainwashes and marries her, much to the agony of Manickam and Uma, and Priya becomes estranged from them. Uma later dies of cardiac arrest. Manickam donates all his wealth and properties to Vinod, and tells him that he did not swindle his father's business. Sadhasivam later tries to kill Vinod so that he can usurp his wealth. Priya informs Manickam of this, so he arrives and defeats Sadhasivam's thugs, saving Vinod in the process, while his friend Thakkali ties up Sadhasivam to be taken by the police. Manickam makes amends with Vinod and Priya, and plans to return to his old house, but is dissuaded by Priya, who reveals she is pregnant with Vinod's child.


Cast


Production


Development

After watching the Telugu film '' Dharmaatmudu'' (1983), director A. C. Tirulokchandar told M. Saravanan of
AVM Productions AVM Productions is an Indian film production studio founded by A. V. Meiyappa Chettiar. It is the oldest film studio in India. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai. It has produced over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, ...
about his desire to remake it in Tamil; he wanted
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, ...
to play the male lead. Producer K. Balaji had earlier attempted a remake with
Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram. Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001), better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, was an Indian actor and film producer. He was mainly active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th centur ...
, but dropped the project after feeling it was not suitable for Ganesan. Saravanan and others saw ''Dharmaatmudu'', and noticed how similar it was to the Tamil film '' Hitler Umanath'' (1982). Screenwriter
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 ...
objected to remaking ''Dharmaatmudu'' since ''Hitler Umanath'' was unsuccessful, but Saravanan and director S. P. Muthuraman knew there was something responsible for ''Dharmaatmudu''s success. They called
Visu Meenakshisundaram Ramasamy Viswanathan (1 July 1945 – 22 March 2020), best known by his stage name Visu, was an Indian screenwriter, film director, stage, film and television actor and talk-show host. Visu initially worked as an assistant to ...
who, after watching the film, said it could be remade well with minor changes. He was soon finalised as the screenwriter for the remake which was titled ''Nallavanukku Nallavan''. The film was directed by Muthuraman, produced by Saravanan and his brother M. Balasubramanian, with M. S. Guhan receiving an "associate producer" credit. Babu was hired for cinematography, and R. Vittal for editing.


Casting and filming

Rajinikanth was cast Manickam and Radhika as Uma. Radhika was cast after the producers were impressed with her performance in the Telugu film ''Bava Maradallu'' (1984). Muthuraman believed it would be innovative to see a heroic actor play a negative character, so he approached Karthik for the role of Vinod. He initially refused as he was not interested in portraying a negative character, but after Saravanan promised to cast him in a heroic role in a later film (which would become 1985's '' Nalla Thambi''), he agreed. Visu, in addition to working as screenwriter, also appeared as Vinod's father Gangadharan. The song "Vechukkava" was shot on a set resembling a five-star hotel with 200 television sets used. The song "Unnaithane" was intended to be shot at Kerala, but could not due to heavy rain there. Instead, it was shot at Muttukaadu due to its atmosphere resembling that of Kerala. One scene in the film involving a strike was based on a real incident which happened at
TVS Motor Company TVS Motor Company is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Chennai. It is the third-largest motorcycle company in India by revenue. The company has annual sales of three million units and an ...
. For another scene, picturised on Rajinikanth and Karthik and shot at AVM Studios, Babu lied on a bed-sheet spread over the floor to film it from a new angle. The climax was initially very sentimental and, according to Saravanan, a poetic finish. While watching the double positive, he was dissatisfied since ''Nallavanukku Nallavan'' was primarily an action film and felt a gentle climax would not be suitable. Both Rajinikanth and Muthuraman preferred the sentimental climax, but Saravanan remained adamant. The film was already cleared by the Censor Board with the sentimental climax, but it was decided to reshoot the film with an action-packed climax and submit that too to the Board, then decide which one to keep based on audience reactions; the audience preferred the action-packed climax. The climax fight scene was shot at Kallikottai, Kerala.


Themes

S. Rajanayagam, author of ''Popular Cinema and Politics in South India: The Films of MGR and Rajinikanth'', notes that Rajinikanth tries through his films to convey the message that he becomes a
Tamilian The Tamils ( ), also known by their endonym Tamilar, are a Dravidian ethnic group who natively speak the Tamil language and trace their ancestry mainly to the southern part of the Indian subcontinent. The Tamil language is one of the longest- ...
by marital alliance, citing ''Nallavanukku Nallavan'' as an example. S. P. Muthuraman has stated that the film shows two polarising personalities of Manickam: the first half of the film has "commercial" elements and shows him as a ''dada'' (); the second half shows him as a "rich man". Rajanayagam and film critic Naman Ramachandran note that the scene where Gangadharan asks Manickam if he has heard about a bus conductor who became a
superstar A superstar is someone who has great popular appeal and is widely known, prominent, or successful in their field. Celebrities referred to as "superstars" may include individuals who work as actors, musicians, athletes, and other media-based profe ...
through hard work, is a reference to Rajinikanth's early life as a bus conductor before he became an actor.


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 ...
. The song "Unnaithane" was originally intended for a film to be directed by V. C. Guhanathan, but could not be used there. After obtaining a No Objection Certificate from Guhanathan, Saravanan was able to use the song in ''Nallavanukku Nallavan''. It is set in Shivaranjani, a
Carnatic raga A Carnatic raga refers to ''ragas'' used in Carnatic music. It has several components: a primordial sound (''nāda''), tonal system (''swara''), pitch (''śruti''), scale, ornaments ('' gamaka''), and important tones. Origins and history Carnati ...
, and marked playback singer Manjula Gururaj's debut in Tamil cinema. "Vechukkava" is set in the raga
Sankarabharanam Sankarabharanam may refer to: * ''Sankarabharanam'' (1980 film), an Indian Telugu-language musical drama film * ''Sankarabharanam'' (2015 film), an Indian Telugu-language crime comedy film * Sankarabharanam (raga), a rāga in Carnatic music ...
. It was remixed by
Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja (born 31 August 1979), is an Indian composer and playback singer. He mainly scores music for Tamil films along with few Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use o ...
in '' Silambattam'' (2008).


Release and reception

''Nallavanukku Nallavan'' was released on 22 October 1984,
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 ...
day. Jayamanmadhan 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 ...
'' praised the performances of the actors and Visu's writing. On 26 October 1984, ''
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 ...
'' in its review wrote, "Muthuraman has a large hand in embellishing the dramatic elements with deft touches and polished handling". Despite facing competition from other Diwali releases such as '' Vaidehi Kathirunthal'' and the Tamil-dubbed version of the
Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
-language '' My Dear Kuttichathan'', the film was a major commercial success, running for over 150 days in theatres. According to a 2014 estimate by Sunita Raghu of ''
The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naidu ...
'', it grossed .


Accolades


Notes


References


Bibliography

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External links

* {{AVM Productions 1980s action drama films 1980s Indian films 1980s Tamil-language films 1984 films AVM Productions films Films about father–daughter relationships Films about father–son relationships Films directed by S. P. Muthuraman Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Films with screenplays by Visu Indian action drama films Tamil remakes of Telugu films Tamil-language Indian films