| Sigappu Rojakkal | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Bharathirajaa |
| Written by | Bharathirajaa |
| Dialogue by | Bhagyaraj |
| Produced by | J. Padmavathi |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | P. S. Nivas |
| Edited by | P. Bhaskaran |
| Music by | Ilaiyaraaja |
Production company | K. R. G. Productions |
Release date |
|
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Sigappu Rojakkal (pronounced[siɡappuɾoːdʑaːkkaɭ]transl. Red Roses) is a 1978 IndianTamil-languagepsychological thriller film co-directed and co-written byBharathirajaa. The film starringKamal Haasan andSridevi, withGoundamani,Bhagyaraj andVadivukkarasi in supporting roles. It revolves around Dileep, a seemingly humble man who secretly kills women after having sex with them.
Sigappu Rojakkal was inspired by serial killerRaman Raghav's crimes, and another serial killer who was based inBombay but hailed fromTirunelveli. It was deliberately meant to be different from Bharathiraja's earlier ventures, which were set in villages. The dialogues were written by Bhagyaraj, and cinematography was handled byP. S. Nivas, and the music was composed byIlaiyaraaja.
Sigappu Rojakkal was released on 28 October 1978, three days beforeDiwali, and completed a 175-day in most theatres in Tamil Nadu. It won twoFilmfare Awards in theBest Actor andBest Director categories. The film was later remade by Bharathiraja himself inHindi asRed Rose (1980).
Dileep is an industrialist who runs a company named Minerva Exports & Imports. Despite his humble exterior, he has a dark side; he preys on nubile girls, has sex with them, and kills them. These proceedings are filmed and watched by his adoptive father and mentor, another derangedwoman-hater who, as with Dileep, had a disillusioning experience with women in his past. The man stays holed up in a far corner of Dileep's mansion, watching his adopted son carry out what he is too infirm to do. The victims are buried in Dileep's garden, and a red rose bush grows above each of them.
Dileep meets a garment saleswoman, Sarada, and develops a romantic attraction for her. The romance proceeds, but conservative Sarada insists that Dileep must marry her if he wants a life with her. On their first night after marriage, Dileep rushes away to tackle a witness who had seen him taking Chitra, an employee of Minerva, to a restaurant; Chitra was subsequently killed by Dileep. After offering the witness, a waiter at the restaurant, some money, the waiter counters with a demand for more money to remain silent. Dileep kills him.
Meanwhile, Sarada, who has been waiting for Dileep, notices several odd situations at home. Dileep's cat licks Sarada's blood after she accidentally cuts her finger. The cat chases her, and she ends up in a secret room where the entire story of Dileep is written on a wall by him.
Dileep, born Muthu, was an orphan who was taken in to do odd jobs by a caring family. The daughter of the family begins to lust after Muthu and tries to seduce him, but her parents come home. The girl accuses Muthu of assaulting her, causing the parents to throw him out of the house. He ends up with another couple four days later and becomes their helper. When the husband leaves on a business trip, the wife goes out for the night and drunkenly brings home another man. The husband's flight is delayed, and he returns home to the scene where, overwhelmed with rage, he kills his wife. Muthu has a mental breakdown, encouraging the husband to stab her, and that all women are this way. This only endears him to his new father.
In the present, a frightened Sarada rushes out and stumbles into the room of Dileep's adoptive father (whom Dileep had told her was mentally ill and not to be disturbed) and gets shocked seeing him watching films of Dileep having sex with girls and killing them. Sarada screams, catching his attention, but manages to lock him in his room. She tries to escape, but Dileep returns.
When Dileep goes to park his car, Sarada rushes out of the house. After freeing his adoptive father and realising that his cover has been blown, Dileep chases Sarada. The chase culminates in a graveyard where Dileep accidentally gets impaled by across. When he continues to chase Sarada while staggering, he is caught by the police. Dileep is imprisoned but becomes mentally imbalanced. He keeps chanting and writing Sarada's name on the wall as it is the only coherent thought that remains; all other memories have been erased from his mind. Sarada, instead of remarrying, regularly visits Dileep in jail, confident that their marriage will be saved and Dileep will be released soon.
After directing two films –16 Vayathinile (1977) andKizhakke Pogum Rail (1978) – which were set in villages,Bharathiraja chose to set his third film, thethrillerSigappu Rojakkal in the city to circumvent criticism that he could only make village-based films.[1][2] The film was inspired by serial killerRaman Raghav's crimes,[3] and another serial killer who was based inBombay but hailed fromTirunelveli.[4] It was produced by J. Padmavathi under K. R. G. Productions.[5]K. Bhagyaraj worked as an assistant director.[6]
Bharathirajaa wanted actorSivakumar to act in the lead role of Muthu / Dileep, over his assistant directors' objections. But after he narrated the story, Sivakumar rejected the offer, feeling it was not suitable for him despite liking the story.Kamal Haasan was eventually cast.[1][7] He claims to have known the story of the film six years before shooting began.[8] For his character's looks, Haasan wore "fitted suits with button-up shirts, ties" and flaredbell-bottoms, in addition to "bright printed button-up shirts with enlarged collars and leather jackets".[9] Haasan's looks in the film were inspired by the American serial killersTed Bundy andAlbert DeSalvo, while his "black leather jacket" was inspired by the one worn byAlan Arkin inWait Until Dark (1967).[10]Sridevi was cast as Sarada, collaborating with Bharathirajaa for the second time after16 Vayathinile.[11] Bharathirajaa initially castGoundamani as a waiter and Bhagyaraj as the manager of Dileep's export company, but the actors later switched their roles.[1] This was the feature film debut ofVadivukkarasi, who played Chitra.[12][13] Bharathirajaa got a cat from his friend R. C. Prakash to portray Dileep's cat.[14]
Haasan had told Bharathirajaa that his character, a psychopathic killer, should not be singing and dancing but Bharathiraja deflected Haasan's objection, saying that the song "Ninaivo Oru Paravai" was a dream sequence, shot from the heroine's point of view.[15] One of the shooting locations was a bungalow called Kamakoti House inT. Nagar.[16][17] Filming was completed within 30 days.[14]
The music was composed byIlaiyaraaja.[18][19] When Haasan was singing an English song at a concert, Ilaiyaraaja who witnessed this observed that he sang the higher notes well, and thus provided him to sing "Ninaivo Oru Paravai".[20][21] A remixed version of the song was later included on M. Rafi's albumAasaiyae Alaipolae.[22]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Minminikku Kannil Oru" | Kannadasan | S. Janaki,Malaysia Vasudevan | 4:28 |
| 2. | "Ninaivo Oru Paravai" | Vaali | Kamal Haasan, S. Janaki | 4:45 |
| Total length: | 9:13 | |||
Sigappu Rojakkal was released on 28 October 1978, three days beforeDiwali.[23] In a review dated 19 November 1978, the Tamil magazineAnanda Vikatan rated the film 53 out of 100.[24] Sivasankari, writing forKalki, lauded virtually every aspect of the film including the direction, editing, camerawork, music and cast performances.[25] Despite facing competition from other Diwali releases, the film became a commercial success.[26] It won twoFilmfare Awards in theBest Actor andBest Director categories.[27] Naagai Dharuman ofAnna praised the acting, Ilayaraja's music, Bhagyaraj's dialogues, Nivas's cinematography and concluded saying Bharathiraja deserves praise for directing the film in a way that is enjoyable despite the lack of a strong story and events, and despite the flaws.[28]
Sigappu Rojakkal was remade in Hindi by Bharathiraja himself asRed Rose (1980).[29] By 2010, Bharathiraja's sonManoj was revealed to be making his directorial debut by remakingSigappu Rojakkal. After his stint as an assistant director inS. Shankar'sEnthiran, Manoj continued fine-tuning the script and stated it was not a full remake and only drew inspiration from the original. He also revealed that directorRam had also helped with the script.[30] The film began production in Chennai during November 2014, with a publicity poster revealing that debutant actor Vishagan Vanangamudi would portray the lead role.[31] Bharathiraja revealed that he would play himself during the film's first half and stated that filming would take place in India and abroad in Switzerland.[32] He also revealed that the film would not be a sequel, but would tell the story of a youngster who is affected to commit crimes after watching the original film.[33] In January 2016, Manoj stated that work on the film had been postponed.[34] Prior to the release of his directorial debutMargazhi Thingal in October 2023, Manoj noted that the remake was dropped and that "it felt like someone had cursed the project".[35] Manoj died in 2025, precluding the project from ever being made.[36]
The success ofSigappu Rojakkal inspired more films in Tamil about psychopathic killers such asMoodu Pani (1980),Kaadhal Kondein (2003),Manmadhan (2004) andNadunisi Naaygal (2011).[37][38] Footage fromSigappu Rojakkal was also used inYugam (2012).[39] The line "Kuththunka esamaan Kuththunka, Intha Ponnunkale Ippadithaan Kuthunka" from the song "Ivaluka Imsai Thaanka Mudiyala" inKalakalappu (2012) was named after the dialogue of the same name inSigappu Rojakkal.[40]
