''Thappida Thala'' ( ) is a 1978 Indian

crime drama film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as drama or gangster film, but al ...

directed by K. Balachander, starring

Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 170 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, ...

and

Saritha Saritha is an Indian actress who has acted in more than 150 films and provided voice for many actress for more than 200 films in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu languages. She was one of the popular and critically acclaimed lead actresses ...

in her film debut. It was simultaneously shot in

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

and

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 ...

with the latter version titled as ''Thappu Thalangal'' ( ). The film was remade in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

as '' Kazhukan'' (1979). The film was widely appreciated for the performances of Rajinikanth and Saritha.

Plot

Devu, a local thug whose weapon of choice is a bicycle chain he sports casually around the neck. Devu charges 30 to slice a finger, 300 to chop a hand, 3000 for the leg, and ten times as much to dispose off the whole body. On one of his nightly rounds, Devu is pursued by a cop and seeks refuge at a sex worker house run by a prostitute Sarasu. Despite her vehement protests, he stays put and leaves only at daybreak, but her persistent cough stays with him. At a theatre, Devu watches an advertisement for Glycodin Cough Syrup and proceeds to buy her a bottle. Devu and Sarasu bond over the cough syrup and philosophise late into the night, exchanging notes on their immoral lifestyles. Devu's assault on a trade union leader delivering medicine to a critically ill worker leads to a mishap. Watching the wailings of the widow of the worker, Devu is traumatised and breaks down at Sarasu's place. In an inspired moment, he suggests they remap their lives and chart a moral course. Sarasu is attracted by the notion of giving up prostitution and leading a normal life as Devu's wife, though she wonders if they'll be able to pull it off. The couple go to great lengths to secure a job for Devu and lead a normal life, but there are too many skeletons in the closet. Devu is no longer feared for his might, and Sarasu's past clientele continue to haunt the joint. Sarasu gets a loan for Devu from his evil brother Soma, who continues to harass her on that pretext. In a particularly traumatic sequence of events, Sarasu is raped by Soma as a helpless Devu watches, pinned down by Soma's henchmen. The couple resolve to repay Soma's loan, and Devu undertakes a botched robbery attempt. Devu is imprisoned and in his absence, Sarasu has an abortion. The couple's plans for normality never attain fruition. The inevitable return to lives of vice is especially tragic and heartbreaking. Devu's inherent goodness is contrasted with his "evil twin", a stepbrother Soma who thwarts his every attempt at morality and finally succumbs at Devu's hands.

Cast

as Devu *

as Sarasu *

Sundar Raj Sundar Raj is an Indian actor who works predominantly in the Kannada film industry, apart from a few Tamil films. Some of his notable films include ''Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane'', ''Ondanondu Kaladalli'', ''Chandanada Gombe'', ''Kurigalu Saar Kur ...

as Soma * M. S. Umesh *

Pramila Joshai Pramila Joshai is an Indian actress in the Kannada film industry. Some of the films of Pramila Joshai as an actor include ''Saheba (film), Saheba'' (2017), ''List of Kannada films of 2008, Thayi'' (2008), ''Apthamitra'' (2004). She was credited ...

as Soma's wife *

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 ...

as Amrit Lal (uncredited)

Soundtrack

All songs were written by

Hunsur Krishnamurthy Hunsur Krishnamurthy (9 February 1914 – 13 February 1989) was an Indian playwright, film director, producer, actor, screenwriter and lyricist in Kannada cinema. He worked with noted theatre personalities early in his career; Gubbi Veeranna, ...

in Kannada and

Kannadasan Muthiah Sathappan Chettiar better known as Kannadasan (; 24 June 1927 – 17 October 1981) was a poet, film song lyricist, producer, actor, script-writer, editor, philanthropist, and is heralded as one of the greatest and most important l ...

in Tamil, and composed by

Vijaya Bhaskar Vijaya Bhaskar (; 1924 – 3 March 2002) was an Indian music director and composer who composed music for several mainstream and experimental feature films in the Kannada film industry. Scoring music for over 720 films, Bhaskar worked in Tamil ...

Reception

Although ''Thappida Thala'' was a box office success, ''Thappu Thalangal'' was not. Reviewing the latter version, ''

Ananda Vikatan ''Ananda Vikatan'' is a Tamil-language weekly magazine published from Chennai, India. History ''Ananda Vikatan'' was started by Late Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926 as a monthly publication. The issue for December 1927 was not publishe ...

'' rated the film 52 out of 100.

References

External links

* {{K. Balachander 1970s Indian films 1970s Kannada-language films 1970s Tamil-language films 1978 crime drama films 1978 films 1978 multilingual films Films about prostitution in India Films directed by K. Balachander Films scored by Vijaya Bhaskar Films set in Bengaluru Films with screenplays by K. Balachander Indian black-and-white films Indian crime drama films Indian multilingual films Kannada films remade in other languages Tamil films remade in other languages Tamil-language Indian films