''Thodarum'' () 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

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Ramesh Khanna Ramesh Khanna (also spelt as Ramesh Kanna) is an Indian actor and film director who has worked in Tamil cinema. He has acted in a number of supporting and comedian roles. Early life Ramesh Khanna was born on 30 November 1955 in Chennai and th ...

, starring

Ajith Kumar Ajith Kumar Subramaniam (born 1 May 1971) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. To date, he has starred in over 63 films, and won four Vijay Awards, three Cinema Express Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and three Ta ...

Devayani Devayani () is a character in Hindu literature. She is described to be the daughter of Shukra, the acharya (preceptor) of the asuras, and his wife Jayanti, the daughter of Indra. She marries King Yayati, and gives birth to two sons — Ya ...

and Heera. The supporting cast includes

Manivannan Manivannan (31 July 1953 – 15 June 2013) was an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter, voice artist, playback singer and social activist who worked in Tamil cinema. In a career spanning three decades, he went from being a story and ...

Vadivelu Kumaravadivel Natarajan (born 12 September 1960) known professionally as Vadivelu, is an Indian actor, comedian and occasional playback singer, having acted mainly in Tamil cinema. He has at least 290 credits to his name. He was a recipient of ...

and

Gemini Ganesan Ramasamy Ganesan (17 November 1920 – 22 March 2005), better known by his stage name Gemini Ganesan, was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema. He was referred as Kaadhal Mannan (King of Romance) for his romantic roles in films. G ...

. It is a remake of the 1996

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 ...

film ''

Maavichiguru ''Maavichiguru'' () is a 1996 Indian Telugu-language drama film written and directed by S. V. Krishna Reddy. The film is produced by P. Usharani under Chandra Kiran Films and presented by Sri Sravanthi Movies. It stars Jagapathi Babu, Aamani ...

'', and was released on 14 January 1999.

Plot

Seetha is a possessive wife who suspects that all the women are throwing themselves at her husband Jayaram. Things get a little interesting after Meera enters the picture and ends up hugging Jayaram right in front of Seetha's eyes. Seetha is diagnosed with a deadly heart condition and decides to have Meera tie the knot for the sake of a good life for Jayaram and their young son. She even goes as far as getting a divorce from Jayaram to make him hate her. In the end, Seetha dies, Jayaram and Meera get married, and they name their baby Seetha.

Cast

Production

Actor

made his debut as a director with the film after working as an apprentice to

K. S. Ravikumar K. S. Ravikumar (born 30 May 1958) is an Indian film director, film producer, screenwriter and actor who primarily works in Tamil cinema and few Telugu films. He is one of the most commercially successful directors of Indian cinema. He has won m ...

. Ravikumar was meant to remake the Telugu film ''

'' (1996) into Tamil for Sridevi Movie Makers, but his busy schedule meant that he recommended Ramesh Khanna to the producers. The remake was initially titled as ''Maa Vilakku'' and was supposed to star

Jayaram Jayaram Subramaniam, (born 10 December 1965), is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, in addition to Tamil cinema, Tamil, Telugu cinema, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Sanskrit, and Bhojpuri language films. He is also a chenda ...

and

Meena Meena () is a tribe from northern and western India which is sometimes considered a sub-group of the Bhil community. It used to be claimed they speak Mina language, a Spurious languages, spurious language. Its name is also transliterated as ' ...

, but went through cast changes. Jayaram's falling popularity meant that

was signed to replace him, while the actor requested a change of lead actress. The film was revived under new title ''Thodarum'' with new cast involving Ajith, Heera and

Soundtrack

The soundtrack is 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 ...

. The song "Oru Thulir" is set to the

Carnatic raga A Carnatic raga refers to ''ragas'' used in Carnatic music. It has several components: a primordial sound (''nāda''), tonal system (''swara''), pitch (''śruti''), scale, ornaments ('' gamaka''), and important tones. Origins and history Carnati ...

Keeravani, and "Sernthu Vaazhum" is set to Sindhu Bhairavi.

Release and reception

The film released on 14 January 1999. ''

The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naidu ...

'' gave the film a critical review citing that "the director tries hard to avoid small puddles of cliches, but unfortunately falls into an ocean instead" but claims that Devayani gives a "wonderfully controlled performance", while Heera and Ajith are just "adequate". ''

Deccan Herald ''Deccan Herald'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper published from the Indian state of Karnataka. It was founded by businessman K. N. Guruswamy and launched on 17 June 1948. It is published by The Printers Mysore, a privately hel ...

'' wrote "Thodarum is a family melodrama, which on its own is not too bad, but .it falls completely flat." ''

Dinakaran Dinakaran is a Tamil daily newspaper distributed in Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded by K. P. Kandasamy in 1977 and is currently owned by media conglomerate Sun Group's Sun Network. ''Dinakaran'' is the second largest circulated Tamil dai ...

'' wrote, "The storyline of the picture starts as a mirthful family comedy. But in the end it turns out to be a harsh affair with such developments like sudden sacrifice and deadly disease and so on". D. S. Ramanujam of ''

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 ...

'' gave the film a positive review, praising the cast performances, the comedy and cinematography.

References

Bibliography

External links

* * 1990s Indian films 1990s Tamil-language films 1999 directorial debut films 1999 drama films 1999 films Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Indian drama films Tamil remakes of Telugu films Tamil-language drama films Tamil-language Indian films {{Improve categories, date=June 2024