Oorkavalan
| Oorkavalan | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Manobala |
| Written by | A. L. Narayanan (dialogues) |
| Screenplay by | Rama Veerappan |
| Story by | Rama Veerappan |
| Produced by | G. Thyagarajan V. Thamilazhagan |
| Starring | Rajinikanth Radhika |
| Cinematography | B. S. Lokanath |
| Edited by | K. R. Krishnan |
| Music by | Shankar–Ganesh |
Production company | Sathya Movies |
Release date |
|
Running time | 137 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Oorkavalan (transl. Village Guard) is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by Manobala, starring Rajinikanth and Radhika. The film, released on 4 September 1987, did average business at the box-office.[1]
Plot
The story describes the struggle of a young villager Kangeyan to receive justice for his brother's murder. Manickam falls in love with Mallika, the daughter of Pannaiyar. Mallika's marriage is arranged with Durai, but she refuses and declares her love for Manickam. Kangeyan gets them married in the village. The priest pretends to have divine powers and uses the superstitious beliefs of the villagers to kill Manickam. Kangeyan, not wanting to see Mallika as a widow, decides to get her married again to Pandiyan, a cart driver who was her childhood friend. Durai intervenes again proceeding to use superstition again and Kangeyan learns about truth behind his brother's death exposing the priest and Durai losing his lover in the process.
Cast
- Rajinikanth as Kangeyan
- Radhika as Vadivu
- Pandiyan as Pandiyan
- Raghuvaran as Rajadurai
- Sangili Murugan as Swami
- Malaysia Vasudevan as President
- Manoj Krishna as Manickam
- Vennira Aadai Moorthy as Kanakku Pillai
- Y. G. Mahendran as Rajadurai's friend
- Chithra as Mallika
- Kumarimuthu as Kangeyan's friend
- Sethu Vinayagam
- S. N. Parvathy
Production
After the success of Sirai Paravai, Manobala was approached by Poompuhar Productions to direct a film for them (Palaivana Rojakkal), and separately by Rajinikanth for Sathya Movies for another film (Oorkavalan). This presented him with a dilemma of which film to choose, thus he spoke to Murasoli Selvam and M. Karunanidhi who advised him to direct the Rajinikanth film which would boost his career to which he agreed.[2][3] The filming was held at Mysore and was completed within 46 days.[4]
Soundtrack
The music was composed by Shankar–Ganesh.[5][6] Manobala initially wanted debutant Narayan (who would later be known as Sirpy) to compose the music; however Veerappan felt it would be tough for him to handle songs for a film of a star, hence replaced with Shankar–Ganesh.[3][7]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Maasi Maasam Than" | Vaali | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra | 5:10 |
| 2. | "Muthamma" | Pulamaipithan | Malaysia Vasudevan | 4:32 |
| 3. | "Malligai Poovukku" | Pulamaipithan | Malaysia Vasudevan, Vani Jairam | 4:47 |
| 4. | "Melam Kotti Aadu" | Muthulingam | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra | 4:30 |
| 5. | "Pattu Chattaikaran" | Na. Kamarasan | S. Janaki | 3:54 |
| 6. | "Edutha Sabadam" | Vairamuthu | K. J. Yesudas | 4:00 |
| Total length: | 26:53 | |||
Release and reception
Oorkavalan was released on 4 September 1987.[8] N. Krishnaswamy of The Indian Express wrote, "Some of the characters get a lifelike quality because of good performances and a helpful screenplay."[9] Jayamanmadhan of Kalki wrote no one is going to go to the film with high expectations as the title Oorkavalan goes by it has too many masala so no one is going to be disappointed.[10]
References
- ^ "Boxoffice Database based on Number of Days". Rajinifans. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
- ^ "Manobala: 'ரஜினியின் ஹேர் ஸ்டைலுக்கு சொந்தக்காரர் மனோபாலா' தெரியுமா இந்த ரகசியம்?". Hindustan Times (in Tamil). 4 May 2023. Archived from the original on 14 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ^ a b "நான் உங்கள் ரசிகன்: மனோபாலா". Kungumam (in Tamil). 23 November 2015. Archived from the original on 15 January 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ^ "பெரிய ஹீரோக்களுக்கு ரஜினி அட்வைஸ்!". Kungumam (in Tamil). 7 March 2016. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ^ "Oorkkavalan Tamil Film LP Vinyl Record by Shankar Ganesh". Mossymart. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- ^ "Oorkavalan". Gaana. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- ^ "நான் உங்கள் ரசிகன் 10". Kungumam (in Tamil). 30 November 2015. Archived from the original on 21 February 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ^ "Oorkaavalan". The Indian Express. 4 September 1987. p. 5. Retrieved 23 November 2019 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ "Mosaic". The Indian Express. 11 September 1987. p. 5. Retrieved 23 November 2019 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ ஜெயமன்மதன் (18 October 1987). "ஊர்க்காவலன்". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 53. Archived from the original on 6 August 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2024 – via Internet Archive.
External links
- Oorkavalan at IMDb
