''Sivappu Malli'' () is a 1981 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 film directed by

Rama Narayanan Rama Narayanan (3 April 1949 – 22 June 2014) was an Indian film director and film producer. In the 1980s, he was known as a director who specialized in shooting commercial films in which animals played vital roles, while in the 1990s, several ...

for

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, ...

, starring

Vijayakanth Vijayaraj Alagarswami (25 August 1952 – 28 December 2023), known by his stage name Vijayakanth, was an Indian actor, filmmaker, philanthropist and politician. He worked in Tamil cinema in a career spanning four decades. He ventured into politi ...

, Chandrasekhar,

Shanthi Krishna Shanthi Krishna is an Indian actress known for her leading roles in Malayalam and Tamil films. As a star in the 1980s and 1990s, she won many accolades including the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress for her performance as Sharadammini i ...

, Aruna and S. S. Chandran. A remake of the

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

film '' Erra Mallelu'' (1981), it revolves around two men starting a revolution against their village chiefs and the owner of a factory in the neighbouring village. The film was released on 15 August 1981.

Plot

Sathyanathan, Punyakodi and their partners are an atrocious lot. They keep suppressing the villagers and do not even allow them to get proper education due to fear of losing control over the village. On the other hand, Ranga and Tyagu are honest factory workers who lead the fight against the factory owner for the labourers' rights. The clash between the two sections of society reaches a level where Sathyanathan and a gang plot to eliminate Ranga and Tyagu. They manage to do away with Tyagu; however, Ranga is too smart for them. How Ranga manages to punish the wrong doers is what the second half of the film is all about.

Cast

Production

K. Veerappan, a production executive at

, saw the

film '' Erra Mallelu'' (1981) and told AVM insiders it was very good; having faith in his words, M. Saravanan bought the remake rights without watching the film. However, Saravanan did not produce the remake, titled ''Sivappu Malli'' directly under AVM, but the subsidiary Balasubramaniam & Company. Saravanan wanted

Kamal Haasan Parthasarathy Srinivasan (born 7 November 1954), known professionally as Kamal Haasan, is an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Considered as one of the most accomplished actors of Indian Cinema, Haas ...

to portray the lead role, but he declined due to unavailability of dates; the role went to

. The film's puja was held on 20 July 1981, and principal photography was completed within 35 working days, well before the already fixed 15 August release date. Though Vijayakanth was already acting in '' Saatchi'' (1983) when he accepted ''Sivappu Malli'', despite both films being shot in different towns, he would film for ''Sivappu Malli'' in the evening at

Maduranthakam Madurantakam () is the southernmost suburb of Chennai city and a municipality in Chengalpattu district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The town is known for the artificial and second largest lake in Tamil Nadu, the Madurantakam lake. It is ...

after filming for ''Saatchi'' in Salem. Editing was handled by Vellaichami. While discussing about crediting lead actors' names, Chandrasekhar's brother Pandian was insistent about having his brother's name to be placed first in opening credits; due to this reason both Vijayakanth and Chandrasekhar were left uncredited. The makers wanted Vijayakanth's voice to be dubbed by a voice artist; however Vijayakanth insisted to dub for himself, he attended dubbing session during the shoot of '' Jadhikkoru Needhi''.

Themes

''Sivappu Malli'' revolves around the themes of

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

and marxism.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Shankar–Ganesh, with lyrics by Vairamuthu.

Release and reception

''Sivappu Malli'' was released on 15 August 1981. Sindhu and Jeeva, reviewing the film for ''Kalki (magazine), Kalki'', appreciated Lokesh's cinematography and Vellaichami's editing, especially Lokesh's use of slow motion shots.

Legacy

The song "Erimalai Eppadi Porukkum" became the theme for Vivek (actor), Vivek's character in ''Singam'' (2010).

References

Bibliography

External links

* * 1980s Indian films 1980s Tamil-language films 1981 films AVM Productions films Films about communism Films directed by Rama Narayanan Films scored by Shankar–Ganesh Tamil remakes of Telugu films Tamil-language Indian films {{Authority control