''Thaai Mookaambikai'' is a 1982 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

devotional film This is a list of genres of Literary genre, literature and entertainment (Film genre, film, Television show, television, Music genre, music, and Video game genre, video games), excluding :Visual arts genres, genres in the visual arts. ''Genre'' ...

directed by

K. Shankar Kannan Shankar (17 March 1926 - 5 March 2006) was an Indian film editor, screenwriter and director. He directed more than 80 films in South Indian languages including Tamil language, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu language, Telugu and Kannada as well ...

, starring

K. R. Vijaya Deivanayaki, better known by her stage name K. R. Vijaya, is an Indian actress who has featured in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films. She started her career in 1963 and has been acting for more than six decades in South Indian cinema. ...

Jaishankar Jaishankar may also refer to: * Jaishankar Prasad (1889 – 1937), Indian writer and playwright * Jaishankar (actor) (1938 – 2000), Indian actor * Jaishankar Menon (born 1956), Indian-American computer scientist * Jaishankar Bhojak (1889 – 1 ...

Sivakumar Palaniswamy Gounder (born 27 October 1941), better known by his stage name Sivakumar, is an Indian visual artist and former actor who has appeared in Tamil cinema and television. He made his acting debut in '' Kaakum Karangal'' (1965) and has ...

, Sujatha and other leading actors. The film was released on 9 July 1982.

Plot

A devotional story revolves around a musician who dedicates his life to singing praises of Thai Moogambigai at her temple.

Cast

Soundtrack

Music 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 lyrics by Vaali. The song "Janani Janani" is set in Kalyani raga, "Isai Arasi" is set in Sallabam, also known as Surya, and the title track is set in Vasantha Sri. Ilaiyaraaja mentioned that he "was running out of time" while composing the tune for "Janani Janani". He explained that he was "under hectic pressure from the film producer, who had planned to perform the ‘ puja’ for the film the next day with the song". The initial tune that Ilaiyaraaja composed did not suit the character

Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (8th c. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya (, ), was an Indian Vedanga, Vedic scholar, Hindu philosophy, philosopher and teacher (''acharya'') of Advaita Vedanta. Reliable information on Shankara's actual life is scant, and h ...

. He said with a chance to have a glimpse of the portrait of Shankara, he was inspired to compose the tune which was similar to Bhaja Govindam. "Janani Janani" was initially to be sung by

K. J. Yesudas Kattassery Joseph Yesudas ( /jeːʃud̪aːs/; born 10 January 1940) is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely considered one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian m ...

, but Ilaiyaraaja sang the album version due to Yesudas' other commitments; his version was also selected to be used as the film version.

Release and reception

''Thaai Mookaambikai'' was released on 9 July 1982. Thiraignani 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 the audience who expected to watch the history of goddess Mookambika and the stories of their devotees will feel disappointed panning certain subplots. He however praised Jagadeesan's dialogues and Karthik's performance and concluded the film's director K. Shankar is responsible for the crime of not seeing completion in Darshan.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{K. Shankar 1980s Indian films 1980s Tamil-language films 1982 films Films directed by K. Shankar Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Hindu devotional films Tamil-language Indian films