''Suriya Paarvai'' () is a 1999 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 crime 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 D ...

directed by

Jagan Jagan is an Indian actor and comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foo ...

in his directorial debut. The film stars Arjun and newcomer Pooja. It was released on 14 January 1999. The film is an unauthorised remake of the 1994 French film '' Léon: The Professional''.

Plot

Vijay is a hitman who works for Sundaramoorthy. He kills anybody for a price, other than women and children, and he lives alone in an apartment. Pooja, a young girl, studies in a boarding school and comes to her father's house for the holiday. Between her abusive father, selfish stepmother and an arrogant step-aunt, Pooja feels rather badly, but she treasures her lovely little brother Dinesh. Pooja tries to befriend Vijay, but Vijay is not interested. Her father is a drug smuggler. One day, a corrupt police officer Jayanth, kills Pooja's family, including her brother. Vijay decides to accommodate Pooja, and Pooja compels him to teach her his skills as a hitman. What transpires later forms the crux of the story.

Cast

Production

The film's story and screenplay were written by Arjun's assistant

, who also made his directorial debut. Pooja Priyanka, daughter of actress

Subhashini Subhashini is an Indian actress who works in South Indian films and television. Career Her notable films include '' Sivaranjani'' (1978), '' Johnny'' (1980), '' Doctor Cine Actor'' (1982), '' Meghasandesam'' (1982), and '' Arundhati'' (20 ...

and niece of

Jayasudha Jayasudha Kapoor (born Sujatha Nidudavolu), known mononyomusly as Jayasudha is an Indian actress and politician known for her works predominantly in Telugu and Tamil cinema. She has also worked in few Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi films. Known ...

, was cast in the lead role opposite Arjun, while she was still at school.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by S. A. Rajkumar, with lyrics written by

Palani Bharathi Palani Bharathi or Pazhani Bharathi ( or ) is an Indian writer and lyricist who works in Tamil cinema. Early life Palani Bharathi was born in Karaikudi to Sami Palaniappan, a poet, and Kamala. He has a brother and four sisters. Palaniappan w ...

Critical reception

Reviewing 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 ...

version ''Hello Friend'', a critic from ''

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 ...

'' wrote, "Though the storyline is thin, the chock-n-block fisticuffs and slam-bang shoot-outs, along with the riveting performances by Arjun and Raghuvaran, keep you hooked onto a cinematic roller-coaster action ride. By hardly leaving any room for sentiment, it is quite obvious that Director Jagan seems to be influenced by the Hollywood action flicks. Even the action scenes are canned in that typical Hollywood style." Reviewing the same version, Griddaluru Gopalrao of ''

Zamin Ryot ''Zamin Ryot'' is an Indian Telugu-language weekly newspaper published from Nellore. It was started by N. Venkatrama Naidu in . It has been called the longest continuously running Telugu newspaper. It is one of the notable district newspapers ...

'' wrote that the director Jagan enhanced the scope of the story with action scenes and song scenes to make the film appealing to the audience. The Tamil film was released in Malaysia under the title ''Kaavalan'' (). K. N. 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 ...

'', reviewing this version, called the story subpar but believed it would satisfy Arjun fans.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title 1990s crime action films 1990s gangster films 1990s Indian films 1990s Tamil-language films 1999 action thriller films 1999 crime thriller films 1999 directorial debut films 1999 films Films about contract killing in India Films about corruption in India Films about organised crime in India Films about orphans Films about the illegal drug trade Films scored by S. A. Rajkumar Films set in apartment buildings Indian action thriller films Indian crime action films Indian crime thriller films Indian films about revenge Indian gangster films Indian remakes of French films Tamil-language action thriller films Tamil-language crime thriller films Tamil-language Indian films Unofficial film adaptations Films based on works by Luc Besson