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Polladhavan (1980 film)

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Polladhavan
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMuktha Srinivasan
Screenplay byMuktha Srinivasan
Based onPremada Kanike
Produced byS. Ravi
StarringRajinikanth
Lakshmi
Sripriya
CinematographyM. Karnan
Edited byV. P. Krishnan
Music byM. S. Viswanathan
Production
company
Vidhya Movies
Release date
  • 6 November 1980 (1980-11-06)
Running time
135 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Polladhavan (/poʊllɑːðəvən/ transl. The Ruthless Man) is a 1980 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film produced by S. Ravi, written and directed by his father Muktha Srinivasan. A remake of the 1976 Kannada film Premada Kanike, it stars Rajinikanth, Lakshmi and Sripriya. The film revolves around a wealthy merchant who keeps his daughter's nanny, an eyewitness to a murder committed by him, captive in his house.

Rajinikanth initially wanted to star in a Tamil remake of the Hindi film Vishwanath (1978), but as Ravi did not like the film, they decided to collaborate on a different project, eventually choosing to remake Premada Kanike. The film was shot mainly in Bangalore, with additional shooting taking place in Madras, Shimla and Kashmir. It was photographed by M. Karnan and edited V. P. Krishnan, with music by M. S. Viswanathan.

Polladhavan was released on 6 November 1980, Diwali. The film became a commercial success, and was one of many films which helped Rajinikanth to carve out a niche for himself in vendetta roles.

Plot

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Seetha, a young woman, is travelling via train with her nephew Raju to an estate to attend her job interview as a nanny to the estate merchant Manohar's daughter. Her co-passenger tries to rape her, but suddenly he is shot dead. Seetha sees the murderer's face, and later reports the murder to Moorthy, a police inspector. Once she is appointed for the nanny position, she and Manohar's daughter Shoba grow fond of each other.

Manohar, who is extremely fond of his daughter, returns from his journey. Seetha meets him, only to realise that he is the murderer she saw on the train. Manohar threatens Seetha not to tell anyone and makes sure to prevent her from leaving his estate as she is keen on reporting him to the police.

Seetha tries many times to escape but is always caught. She does not even tell the police when she meets them, as Manohar threatens to kill Raju if she did. Later, Seetha somehow sees beneath the rough, mean Manohar and grows fond of him but is confused why such a nice man is acting so arrogantly.

In flashbacks, Manohar and a woman named Kumudha fell in love and married; shortly thereafter, their daughter, Shoba, was born. However, Kumudha's uncle Chandru, who was eager to marry Kumudha but who was sent to jail by Manohar as he tried to kill him, was released from jail after completing his term. When Manohar was out of the house, Chandru raped Kumudha; due to this, she commits suicide, and Manohar wants to die with her, but she makes him vow that he will get revenge on Chandru for separating them and to take care of Shoba.

Manohar reveals that the man he killed on the train was Chandru. Seetha now understands his acts and vows not to tell anyone. Moorthy's colleague is curious about Seetha; she said that she remembered the face and was eager to find the murderer, but now she had told him she has forgotten the face, hence he suspects Seetha to be the murderer, and Moorthy agrees with his belief. On Shoba's birthday, Manohar is to announce that he is to hand over all his wealth to Seetha and surrender to the police, but before this, the police arrive and try to arrest Seetha. Manohar saves her by confessing to the murder, leading to his arrest.

A few years later, Manohar is released and reunites with Seetha and Shoba.

Cast

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Production

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Rajinikanth initially wanted to star in a Tamil remake of the Hindi film Vishwanath (1978), with S. Ravi producing. Ravi watched the film, but did not like it; Rajinikanth and Ravi then decided to remake a different film. K. Balaji gave Ravi a video cassette of the Kannada film Premada Kanike (1976), and told him to tell Rajinikanth to watch it. Rajinikanth told Ravi he had already watched the film multiple times and liked it, so it was decided to remake the film in Tamil as Polladhavan.[4] The film was directed by Ravi's father Muktha Srinivasan (who also wrote the screenplay) and produced by Ravi under Vidhya Movies.[3] The film was made in CinemaScope.[5] Cinematography was handled by M. Karnan,[4] and editing by V. P. Krishna.[3] Srinivasan cast Delhi Ganesh after seeing his performance in the play Thuppariyum Saambu.[6] Shooting for the film took place primarily at Bangalore,[7] with additional shooting taking place in Chennai, Shimla and Kashmir.[4] The eyes shown in the beginning of the film were of a poet Ilangai Vijayendran.[8]

Soundtrack

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The soundtrack was composed by M. S. Viswanathan, with lyrics by Kannadasan.[9][10] The song "Chinnakkannane" is set in the Hindustani raga known as Brindavani Sarang.[11] The song "Adho Vaarandi" is set in Sivaranjani raga.[12] The song "Naan Polladhavan" also briefly features in the 2023 Tamil film Leo.[13]

Track listing
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Naan Polladhavan"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam4:27
2."Chinnakkannane"P. Susheela4:32
3."Atho Vaarandi"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Vani Jairam4:36
4."Naanae Endrum Raja"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam4:41
Total length:18:16

Release and reception

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Polladhavan was released on 6 November 1980, Diwali.[14][15] Nalini Sastry of Kalki wrote that the director, by taking an ordinary story and transforming it, was himself a ruthless man.[16] Despite facing competition from other Diwali releases such as Varumayin Niram Sivappu and Nizhalgal,[17] the film was a commercial success,[18][19] and cemented Rajinikanth's "hold over the box office".[20] Rajinikanth also managed to carve out a niche for himself in vendetta roles such as that in Polladhavan.[21] The film was, however, less successful in Malaysia.[22] Rajinikanth's bearded appearance with sunglasses later served as an inspiration for his looks in Baashha (1995).[23][24]

References

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  1. ^ a b Ramachandran 2014, p. 104.
  2. ^ "Pollathavan (Tamil)". Tribune. Vol. 26, no. 29–40. Sri Lanka. 1982. p. 39.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Polladhavan (motion picture) (in Tamil). Vidhya Movies. 1980. Opening credits, from 0:00 to 3:13.
  4. ^ a b c Pandian, A.T.S (6 December 2015). "கடன்காரன் ஆக்கிய ரஜினி!" [Rajini turned debtor!]. Patrikai (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 20 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  5. ^ "சூப்பர் ஸ்டார் ரஜினியின் துளிகள்..." [Super Star Rajinikanth's drops]. Dinakaran (in Tamil). 12 December 2013. Archived from the original on 15 November 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  6. ^ "Obituary | 'A people's person': Tamil film fraternity remember late director Muktha Srinivasan". The New Indian Express. 30 May 2018. Archived from the original on 20 March 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  7. ^ Mathrubootheswaran 2007, p. 128.
  8. ^ சலன் (15 March 1981). "ரஜினிகாந்தின் கண்கள்!" [Rajinikanth's eyes!]. Kalki (in Tamil). p. 3. Archived from the original on 17 August 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  9. ^ "Polladhavan". JioSaavn. 11 June 1980. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  10. ^ "Pollathavan Tamil Film EP Vinyl Record by M S Viswanathan". Mossymart. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  11. ^ ராமானுஜன், டாக்டர் ஜி. (29 June 2018). "ராக யாத்திரை 11: நீ சின்ன நி! நான் பெரிய நி!!". Hindu Tamil Thisai (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 5 November 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  12. ^ "ஏழிசை எம்எஸ்வி | பயோகிராபி". Dinamalar (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 26 June 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  13. ^ Rajendran, Sowmya (19 October 2023). "Leo review: Lokesh, Vijay's action thriller roars plenty but isn't fully satisfying". The News Minute. Archived from the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  14. ^ ராம்ஜி, வி. (5 November 2019). "80-ம் ஆண்டு தீபாவளியில் பாலசந்தர் - பாரதிராஜா; 'வறுமையின் நிறம் சிகப்பு' – 'நிழல்கள்' ஒரே சப்ஜெக்ட்" [Balachander and Bharathiraja in Diwali 1980; Varumaryin Niram Sivappu and Nizhalgal had the same subject]. Hindu Tamil Thisai (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 5 November 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  15. ^ L, Shyam Sundar (31 January 2017). "ஒரே டைட்டில்... வேற கதை.... மாற்றான் சினிமாஸ்!" [Same title... Different story.... Alternate cinemas!]. Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 20 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  16. ^ சாஸ்திரி, நளினி (7 December 1980). "பொல்லாதவன்". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 59. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  17. ^ Dhananjayan, G. (14 July 2017). "Similar storylines need to show new tricks to hook fans". DT Next. Archived from the original on 7 December 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  18. ^ Mathrubootheswaran 2007, p. 120.
  19. ^ "Tamil director-producer Muktha Srinivasan dies at 88". Hindustan Times. 30 May 2018. Archived from the original on 5 February 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  20. ^ "Veteran Tamil filmmaker Muktha Srinivasan dies at 88". The Indian Express. 30 May 2018. Archived from the original on 30 November 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  21. ^ Maderya, Kumudan (2010). "Rage against the state: historicizing the "angry young man" in Tamil cinema". Jump Cut. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  22. ^ Vijiyan, K. (24 October 1981). "The problems of local Tamil film distributors". New Straits Times. p. 18. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2021 – via Google News Archive.
  23. ^ Ramachandran 2014, pp. 104–105.
  24. ^ Ramachandran 2014, p. 159.

Bibliography

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