''Thanga Pappa'' () is a 1993 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

supernatural horror film Supernatural horror film is a film genre that combines aspects of supernatural film and horror film. Supernatural occurrences in such films often include ghosts and demons, and many supernatural horror films have elements of religion. Common them ...

directed by R. Aravindraj. The film stars

Shamili Shamlee (born 10 July 1987), is an Indian former 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 which she won the National Film Aw ...

Ramki Ramakrishnan (born 31 March 1962), better known by his stage name Ramki, is an Indian actor best known for his work in Tamil films. He made his debut in '' Chinna Poove Mella Pesu'' (1987). He was a lead actor from 1987 to 2004. He is well kn ...

M. N. Nambiar Manjeri Narayanan Nambiar (7 March 1919 – 19 November 2008) was an Indian actor who predominantly worked in Tamil cinema, renowned for his portrayals of villainous characters. With a career spanning over eight decades, he became a notable fig ...

Thalaivasal Vijay Thalaivaasal Vijay (born A. R. Vijayakumar) is an Indian actor and dubbing artiste. He has acted predominantly in Tamil and Malayalam films. Career Vijay's debut film was '' Thalaivaasal'' (1992), which became part of his stage name in Tamil ...

, Aishwarya and

Sreeja Sreeja is an Indian actress who was active in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films from 1989 to 1994. Her lead roles in ''Indrajaalam'' (1990) as Mohanlal's heroine and ''Cheriya Lokavum Valiya Manushyarum'' (1990) are well noted. She had acted o ...

, with Chandrasekhar,

Keerikkadan Jose Mohanarajan (13 November 1955 – 3 October 2024), professionally credited as Mohan Raj, also known as Keerikkadan Jose, was an Indian actor and assistant enforcement officer. He primarily worked in Malayalam, Telugu language, Telugu, and Tam ...

, Thyagu, Raviraj, Murali Kumar and Prabhakaran playing supporting roles. The film, produced by the film editor G. Jayachandran, and

Deva Deva may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Deva, List of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition monsters, an ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd edition monster * Deva, in the 2023 Indian film ''Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefir ...

, was released on 2 July 1993.

Plot

Ravi, his wife Gowri and their little daughter Abhirami move in an abandoned house. Ravi starts to work as an export manager in Ananthu and Swamy's company. Ravi is helped in his work by the police officer Rajasekhar, the customs officer Ameer, and Ananthu's son Balaji. That night, strange things happen in their house. Abhirami often meets the old man Adaikalam after the school in secret. One day, Ameer, scared of something, accidentally falls off the ship and dies. The next day, Balaji is set on fire and dies from severe burns. Adaikalam then confesses to Gowri that Abhirami is in fact possessed by the spirit of his granddaughter Angela. Four years ago, Adaikalam's son Assistant Commissioner of Police Lawrence got a transfer in a harbour city. He and his pregnant wife Thulasi moved to the city and eagerly waited for the birth of their baby. The scanning had revealed that the baby is a girl, so they named her Angela. From the very earliest days of his posting, Lawrence became well known by the local criminals. The smuggler Ananthu, his brother Swamy, and Balaji even threatened Lawrence and his wife, but Lawrence continued to seize Ananthu's illegal loads. Lawrence became friends with the Deputy Superintendent of Police Rajasekhar, his colleague. One night, Lawrence arrested Ananthu, Swamy, Balaji, and Ameer. They were all locked in the local police station. Rajasekhar released them and betrayed Lawrence's trust. Later that night, Lawrence was brutally killed and Thulasi was severely beaten up by the criminals in their house, resulting in abortion which left her mentally ill. Ananthu, Swamy, and Rajasekhar also realise that Abhirami is possessed by the spirit. They are urged to kill the little girl. What transpires next forms the rest of the story.

Cast

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

, with lyrics written by the director Aravindraj.

Reception

Malini Mannath of ''

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 ...

'' called it a "fairly watchable film", she praised Deva's background score and Shamili's acting. At the

14th Cinema Express Awards The 14th Cinema Express Awards Cinema Express Awards are presented annually by Indian Express Group on behalf of Cinema Express film magazine to honour artistic excellence of professionals in the south Indian film industry which comprises Ta ...

, Shamili won the Best Child Artist award.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title 1990s Indian films 1990s supernatural horror films 1990s Tamil-language films 1993 films Films about spirit possession Films directed by R. Aravindraj Films scored by Deva (composer) Indian supernatural horror films Tamil-language Indian films