''Ulagam Sutrum Valiban'' () is a 1973 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

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses Speculative fiction, speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as Extraterrestrial life in fiction, extraterrestria ...

directed and co-produced by

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 – 24 December 1987), popularly known by his initialism M.G.R. and as Makkal Thilagam/Puratchi Thalaivar, was an Indian actor, politician, and philanthropist who served as the chief minister of ...

. The film stars Ramachandran, Chandrakala, Manjula and Latha. It revolves around a scientist who discovers an energy harnessing formula, and seeks to keep his research from being abused by a rival scientist. ''Ulagam Sutrum Valiban'' was released on 11 May 1973. It emerged as a major box office success, with a theatrical run lasting over 250 days. Ramachandran won the Filmfare Special Award for Excellent Production Values.

Plot

Murugan is an Indian scientist who has recently discovered how to store a part of the energy unleashed by

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

. He reports this at a

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

scientists' conference. He subsequently announces that he will not reveal his discovery, since the world is on the brink of

World War III World War III, also known as the Third World War, is a hypothetical future global conflict subsequent to World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). It is widely predicted that such a war would involve all of the great powers, ...

and his research may be used for destructive purposes. Another scientist, Bairavan, claims Murugan is falsely claiming that his research is successful. Murugan thus conducts a demonstration and destroys the vital research notes, which upsets other scientists. Bairavan offers $100 million to persuade him to sell the research to a foreign country, which Murugan refuses. Murugan then departs with his girlfriend, Vimala, for a world tour. He discloses to Vimala that he only pretended to destroy the research notes, and has actually kept them in a safe place. He indeed had plans to use them, to ensure that his research was used for productive purposes. Bairavan, who has been following them, overhears this and plans to steal the research notes. While in Singapore, Bairavan shoots Murugan with a special gun (not killing him). Vimala faints after witnessing the attack. Murugan, who seemingly suffers from a

mental disorder A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

, is subsequently taken into Bairavan's custody. Shortly after, Vimala is also abducted by Bairavan. He expects her to cure Murugan, so that he can get information on the whereabouts of the research documents. Raju, a CBCID officer and Murugan's younger brother, arrives in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

in search of his brother. How he finds his brother and what happens to others form the rest of the story.

Cast

;Male cast *

as Murugan and Raju * M. N. Nambiar as one of Bairavan's henchmen * S. A. Ashokan as Bairavan * R. S. Manohar as Lily's brother *

Nagesh Nageshwaran Rao (born Cheyur Krishnarao Nageshwaran; (27 September 1933 – 31 January 2009) was an Indian actor and comedian mostly remembered for his comic roles in Tamil films during the 1960s. Nagesh was born in Dharapuram. He acted in ov ...

as Markandeyan * V. Gopalakrishnan as the doctor and the gunsmith of Bairavan * Thengai Srinivasan as the driver and one of Bairavan's henchmen ;Female cast * Chandrakala as Rathnadevi * Manjula as Vimala * Latha as Lily *Metta Roongrat as Metta (guest appearance)

Production

''Ulagam Sutrum Valiban'' is the second film directed by

, and was originally titled ''Mele Aagaayam Kizhe Bhoomi''. It was co-produced by

R. M. Veerappan R. M. Veerappan (9 September 1926 – 9 April 2024), also referred to as RMV or Rama Veerappan, was an Indian film producer, screenwriter and politician from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He was the founder and leader of the MGR Kazhagam par ...

. J. Jayalalithaa, in an interview with the media, said that Ramachandran owed his popularity to her; irked by this, Ramachandran fired her from ''Ulagam Sutrum Valiban'', and replaced her with Manjula. Filming began in 1970. The climax scene was shot at

Expo '70 The or Expo '70 was a world's fair held in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, between 15 March and 13 September 1970. Its theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese, Expo '70 is often referred to as . It was the first world's fair ...

. Ramachandran's brother M. G. Chakrapani served as production consultant.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by M. S. Viswanathan. The first choice of Ramachandran for the soundtrack was Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan. Two songs, "Aval Oru Navarasa" and "Nilavu Oru", were originally intended for a shelved film of Ramachandran titled ''Inaindha Kaigal''. The song "Aval Oru Navarasa" is set in

Harikambhoji Harikambhoji (pronounced harikāmbhōji) is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 28th ''Melakarta'' rāgam (parent scale) in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system. One of the first scales employed ...

raga.

Release and reception

''Ulagam Sutrum Valiban'' was released on 11 May 1973. The film was a major commercial success, and ran for over 200 days in theatres. ''

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 ...

'' wrote Ramachandran had already produced great films like '' Nadodi Mannan'' and '' Adimai Penn'', but he surpassed them and rose to an unattainable height through this film; viewers could give as many kudos as they want to Ramachandran, who had achieved a great achievement that the Tamil film world could be proud of. In 2005,

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (; born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor and filmmaker who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hin ...

listed ''Ulagam Sutrum Valiban'' in his list of top ten best Indian films of all time, stating "I was a kid when I first saw this Tamil film, and I simply loved it. It has all the ingredients needed to entertain people."

Accolades

* Best Film (''Sirandha Thiraipadam'') * Best Director (

) (''Sirandha Iyakkunar'') * Best Producer (

), under his ''Emgiyaar Pictures Limited'' (''Sirandha Thayaripalar'') * Filmfare Special Award for Excellent Production Values –

Cancelled sequels

Ramachandran intended to make a sequel to this film titled ''Kizhakku Africavil Raju'', but the project never came to fruition when he was alive. An animated sequel with the same title was planned by Ishari K. Ganesh in the late 2010s, with a new script directed by M. Arulmoorthy. Sayyeshaa and Akshara Gowda were signed on to star opposite a computer-generated Ramachandran. Despite a trailer being launched, the film did not complete production.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{M. G. Ramachandran 1970s Indian films 1970s Tamil-language films 1973 films 1973 science fiction films Apocalyptic films Central Bureau of Investigation in fiction Fictional portrayals of the Tamil Nadu Police Films about World War III Films directed by M. G. Ramachandran Films scored by M. S. Viswanathan Films set in Hong Kong Films set in Osaka Films set in Singapore Films shot in Hong Kong Films shot in Malaysia Films shot in Osaka Films shot in Singapore Films shot in Thailand Indian science fiction films Tamil-language Indian films Films about physicists Lightning Indian science fiction action films Films about brothers Japan in non-Japanese culture Films about energy Films about kidnapping in India Films about mental disorders