''Rajakumaran'' () 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

action drama film 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 ...

directed by R. V. Udayakumar. 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 ...

Meena Meena () is a tribe from northern and western India which is sometimes considered a sub-group of the Bhil community. It used to be claimed they speak Mina language, a Spurious languages, spurious language. Its name is also transliterated as ' ...

and Nadhiya. It was released on 14 January 1994, during Pongal. The film was Prabhu's 100th film and was produced by

Sivaji Productions Sivaji Productions was an Indian film production and Film distribution company, distribution company based in Chennai. Established in 1956, it was involved mainly in Tamil language, Tamil and Hindi-language films until 2010. History Sivaji P ...

Plot

The kindhearted Rajakumaran is the son of the village chief in Sundharapuri. Selvi and Vaidehi are in love with their cousin Rajakumaran but he chooses Vaidehi and Selvi decides to sacrifice her love. During a

jallikattu Jallikattu (or Sallikkattu), also known as Eru Taḻuvuṭal and Manju-virattu, is a traditional event in which a zebu bull ('' Bos indicus''), such as the Pulikulam or Kangayam breeds, is released into a crowd of people, and many people attemp ...

spectacle in Sundharapuri, Yuvaraj, who is from the neighbouring village Palipattu, insults the villagers of Sundharapuri for not being able to tame his bull. A brave Rajakumaran then tames his bull and he humiliates him back. Selvi's father Selvaraj refuses to give his property to the village people as promised. To give away the property, his only request is that Rajakumaran marry his daughter Selvi. Selvi convinces Rajakumaran to lie for the good of all, so he lies to her father and acquires the property. Vaidehi, who learns about it, is heartbroken and decides to kill herself by jumping into a well. Later, Vaidehi is found dead when Rajakumaran finally reveals his lie. One day, some goons decide to put a bomb in Sundharapuri but Rajakumaran beats up the goon and saves the village. The villagers think that the culprit was Selvi's brother Thangaraj because he wanted to take revenge on Rajakumaran for his lie. An angry Thangaraj then insults Rajakumaran's father in a wedding function and Rajakumaran's father dies of a heart attack due to the humiliation. Yuvaraj asks the permission of Selvaraj and Thangaraj to marry Selvi, and they accept. On the day of the marriage, the villagers are against the marriage and beg Rajakumaran to save Selvi from the heartless Yuvaraj. A man then says that a deaf-mute girl was the witness of Vaidehi's murder by Yuvaraj. Yuvaraj cancels the marriage and decides to humiliate Selvi in his village. Rajakumaran saves her and decides to marry her.

Cast

Production

''Rajakumaran'' is the 100th film of

as an actor. Since it is the 100th film of Prabhu,

decided to produce this film by themselves and chose R. V. Udayakumar to direct the film. Nadhiya who took a break from films after marriage made her acting comeback with this film.

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 the lyrics written by the director Udayakumar. The song "Chinna Chinna Sol Eduthu" is set in Pahadi raga.

Release and reception

''Rajakumaran'' was released on 14 January 1994 coinciding with Pongal. The film received negative reviews and became a

box-office bomb A box-office bomb is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the combined production budget, marketing, and distribution costs exceed the revenue after release has te ...

. ''

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, "Udayakumar seems to have exhausted his stock of ideas ..''Rajakumaran'' is nothing but a rehash of his earlier film '' Ejaman''". R. P. R. 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 ...

'' felt this is Prabhu's 100th test match, but no one seems to have acted with that responsibility.

References

External links

* 1990s Indian films 1990s Tamil-language films 1994 action drama films 1994 films Films directed by R. V. Udayakumar Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Indian action drama films Tamil-language Indian films {{Improve categories, date=February 2024