''Thaayin Manikodi'' is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Arjun, who also starred in the lead role. It stars him alongside an ensemble cast including Tabu and

Nivedita Jain Nivedita Jain (9 June 1979 – 10 June 1998) was a beauty contestant and an actress who appeared in Kannada films. She was crowned Miss Bangalore in 1994. She made her debut as actress in the 1996 film ''Shivaranjini''. Career Jain started her ...

. The film narrates the tale of a sincere police officer who thwarts the plans of a major terrorist by saving some highly confidential documents from falling into the wrong hands. Featuring music by Vidyasagar, the film began production in late 1997 and was released on 29 August 1998.

Cast

* Arjun as Arjun * Tabu as Anjali *

as Asha * Vijayakumar *

Goundamani Subramaniyan Karuppaiya (born 25 May 1939), known by his stage name Goundamani, is an Indian actor and comedian who works in Tamil cinema. He is known for his comic duo partnership in Tamil films with fellow actor Senthil. The pair dominated ...

as Shilpa Kumar * Chandrasekhar *

Vennira Aadai Moorthy Vennira Aadai Moorthy (born 25 July 1936) is an Indian actor and comedian in Tamil cinema. He has starred in many Tamil films and television serials as a comedian and also played supporting roles. He is a lawyer by education, and holds a B.L. ...

Charle Velmurugan Thangasamy Manohar (born 6 March 1960), professionally credited as Charle, is an Indian actor who works in Tamil cinema. He has acted in more than 800 Tamil films as a comedian and supporting actor. He was named after the English co ...

Chinni Jayanth Chinni Jayanth (born Krishnamurthy Narayanan on 26 July 1960) is an Indian film director, producer, comedian, actor and mimicry artist who has appeared in many main, character and supporting roles in Tamil films. He is also a popular television ...

Sowcar Janaki Sankaramanchi Janaki (born T. Janaki; 12 December 1931), popularly known as Sowcar Janaki (Tamil) or Shavukaru Janaki (Telugu) or Sahukar Janaki (Kannada), is an Indian actress who has appeared in over 300, films, predominantly in Tamil, Telu ...

* Annapoorna * Rallapalli *

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as Politician *

Baby Shamili Shamlee, also known as Baby Shamili/Shamlee, (born 10 July 1987), is an Indian actress who has worked in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam films. Her roles include the mentally challenged child Anjali in the 1990 film '' Anjali'', for whic ...

as Rosie *

Baby Jennifer Nancy Jennifer, previously credited as Baby Jennifer, is an Indian actress who has appeared in Tamil language films. After making her debut as a child artiste, Jennifer has also featured in supporting and lead roles. Career Nancy Jennifer bega ...

*Rajesh Babu *Baby Annie * Alphonsa in a special appearance

Production

The film was first announced in January 1996, with director and lead actor Arjun initially casting

Vijayashanti Vijayashanti (born 24 June 1966) is an Indian actress, producer and politician. In a film career spanning 40 years, she has acted in 187 feature films in a variety of roles in various languages predominantly in Telugu, Tamil, in addition to H ...

in a leading role. However the actress later left the project after she had creative differences with the film's producer, Sudhakar Raju. The film began production in October 1996 and took over a year to complete. Hindi actress Tabu and model

were cast in key roles, with the latter subsequently making her debut in Tamil films. The film was named after a popular song from Arjun's previous film, ''

Jai Hind Jai Hind (, , ) is a salutation and slogan that originally meant "Victory to Hindustan", and in contemporary colloquial usage often means "Long live India" or "Salute to India". Coined by Champakaraman Pillai and used during India's independence ...

'' (1994), which had a similar patriotic theme. The film was shot extensively in foreign locations, with scenes filmed in locations in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

and Switzerland, which the team had to settle for after their visas for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

were rejected. Further scenes were also shot in

Madanapalle Madanapalle is a town in Annamayya Rajampeta district and Rajampet Lok Sabha constituency of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is one if the largest city in the District. It is a Selection Grade Municipal City Council and located in Mada ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to t ...

, with art director

Thotta Tharani Thota Tharani is an Indian film art director and production designer who has predominantly worked in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam cinema and Bollywood. As of 2013, he has won two National Film Awards, two Filmfare Awards South and four Tam ...

constructing sets for the film. Production was delayed as a result of the FEFSI strike of 1997.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features 6 songs composed by Vidyasagar.

Release

The film was initially scheduled to release in November 1997 coinciding with the Diwali season, but was subsequently put on hold for several months. The film was later released in August 1998, with the title card of the film including a tribute to the film's lead actress

, who died before the film's release. The film received a good commercial response at the box office. Four years after the original release, the film was later dubbed and released in Telugu during November 2002 as ''Jaatiya Pattaakam''.

References

{{Arjun Sarja 1998 films 1990s Tamil-language films Films about terrorism in India Films directed by Arjun Sarja Films scored by Vidyasagar Fictional portrayals of the Tamil Nadu Police Indian action films 1998 action films