''Pavithra'' is a 1994 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

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written, produced and directed by K. Subash under his home banner, Dhanooja Films. The film stars

Radhika Radhika may refer to: * Radha, a Hindu goddess and eternal consort of Krishna * Radhika (given name), an Indian given name * Radhika (Malayalam actress) * Radhika (choreographer), in South Indian films * Kalamandalam Radhika, Indian dancer and ...

Nassar Nassar (), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer, or Nacer. People with the surname include: People with th ...

Ajith Kumar Ajith Kumar Subramaniam (born 1 May 1971) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. To date, he has starred in over 63 films, and won four Vijay Awards, three Cinema Express Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and three Ta ...

and Keerthana. It was released on 2 November 1994,

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 won two

National Film Awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

: Best Male Playback Singer (

P. Unnikrishnan Parakkal Unnikrishnan (born 9 July 1966) is an Indian Carnatic vocalist and playback singer. Early life and background Unnikrishnan was born to K. Radhakrishnan and Dr. Harini Radhakrishnan in Palakkad, Kerala. The family home, Kesari Kuteer ...

) and Best Lyrics (

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 ...

Plot

Ashok R. is an 18 year-old cancer patient, and Pavithra is a nurse in the hospital where he is being treated. Ashok and 18 year-old Chitra have been in love, which started a few months before his diagnosis. Ashok believes himself to be an orphan. On reading Ashok's medical records Pavithra sees that Ashok's initial is R, which means (in Tamil Nadu) that his father's name starts with the same letter. Raghunathan "Raghu" is Pavithra's husband. Since Ashok's age and date of birth are the same as her child (which was seemingly

stillborn Stillbirth is typically defined as fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without signs of life. A stillbirth can often result in the feeling of guilt or grief in the mother. T ...

, and she is childless), Pavithra showers maternal affection on him. Raghu mistakes this maternal affection as something else because of a rogue doctor. This doctor unsuccessfully lusts for Pavithra and is hated by her. Confusion ensues, and Pavithra misunderstands Ashok. In the end, Ashok dies without the film revealing whether he was actually Pavithra and Raghu's biological son (initially thought to be stillborn) or not. Pavithra adopts a baby boy as her own child.

Cast

Production

Ajith's voice was dubbed by

Sekar Manokaris a male given name in India. Sekar may refer to: *Sekar Ayu Asmara, Indonesian songwriter and director * Sekar Ayyanthole (born 1954), Indian painter *Sekhar Basu (born 1952), Indian scientist *Sekhar Das (born 1954), Indian film director ...

. Comedy actor Amirthalingam made his debut through this film.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...

. The song "Sevvaanam" is based on "Mamboove", composed by Rahman for 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 ...

film '' Yoddha'' (1992). The song "Uyirum Neeyae" is set in the

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 ...

Khamas.

Release and reception

''Pavithra'' was released on 2 November 1994,

day. Malini Mannath 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 ...

'' said, "The writer-director should be commended for giving importance to the story line and the scenes in some places are really touching. But certain crucial episodes have been shoddily treated". K. Vijiyan of ''

New Straits Times The ''New Straits Times'' is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print (though not the first), having been founded as a local offshoot of Singapore-based ''The Straits Ti ...

'' said the story, though unusual to Tamil cinema, was not well developed or brought across effectively, and "The director's inexperience in tackling sentimental subjects shows. Radhika may be a good actress but she needs a good director". Thulasi 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 ...

'' applauded the performances of Radhika and Nassar, the music by Rahman and the cinematography, but criticised the inclusion of a dance sequence. The film went on to win two

: Best Male Playback Singer (Unnikrishnan) and Best Lyrics (Vairamuthu). Furthermore, the film won third prize in the

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film is given by the Government of Tamil Nadu as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil ( Kollywood) films. It includes prizes for three top places. Key List of winners Referenc ...

winners list. According to Ajith, the film changed the course of his life "to a certain extent".

References

External links

* * {{Improve categories, date=March 2024 1990s Indian films 1990s Tamil-language films 1994 drama films 1994 films Films directed by K. Subash Films scored by A. R. Rahman Films set in Chennai Films set in hospitals Indian drama films Indian films about cancer Tamil-language drama films Tamil-language Indian films