| Surya Vamsam | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | Vikraman |
| Written by | Vikraman |
| Produced by | R. B. Choudary |
| Starring | R. Sarathkumar Devayani |
| Cinematography | S. Saravanan |
| Edited by | V. Jaishankar |
| Music by | S. A. Rajkumar |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 156 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Surya Vamsam (transl. Solar dynasty) is a 1997 IndianTamil-languagedrama film written and directed byVikraman. The film starsR. Sarathkumar andDevayani, withRadhika,Manivannan,Priya Raman,Nizhalgal Ravi, Tharini,Ajay Ratnam,Jai Ganesh, Shiva andAnandaraj in supporting roles. It revolves around a traditional father and his illiterate son, following their tense relationship and shows how the strict patriarchy causes a drift between them.
Surya Vamsam was released on 27 June 1997 and emerged one of the most successful Tamil films of the year.[1] The film won sixTamil Nadu State Film Awards, includingBest Film,Best Director (Vikraman) andBest Actress (Devayani), while Sarathkumar won theFilmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. It was remade intoTelugu asSuryavamsam (1998), inHindi asSooryavansham (1999), inKannada asSuryavamsha (1999) and inBhojpuri asDulha Milal Dildar (2005).[2]
Sakthivel Gounder is a rich, influential, and one of the most educated men in his village nearPollachi. He has a wife, Latha, three sons, and a daughter. Sakthivel hates his youngest son, Chinnarasu. Sakthivel's daughter's wedding is fixed, and Nandini is the groom's sister. She meets Chinnarasu during her brother's wedding and wonders why Sakthivel dislikes him. Chinnarasu's sidekick, Rasappa, tells a flashback to Nandini.
Chinnarasu was weak in studies since childhood. He was in love with his relative Gowri, and the elders decided to get them married. However, Gowri is educated, and she attempts suicide, thinking that Chinnarasu is not a perfect match for her, as he is uneducated and illiterate. Chinnarasu saves Gowri and cancels the marriage proposal, but blames himself and does not reveal the truth. This angers Sakthivel, thinking that Chinnarasu did not respect his words and stopped talking to him.
Nandini gets impressed by understanding Chinnarasu's kind heart and develops an affection towards him. Nandini proposes to Chinnarasu, for which he does not agree. Later, he too understands her true love and accepts. Both get their marriage registered, but Sakthivel gets angry knowing about this and asks the couple to vacate the home. Chinnarasu and Nandini move to a small house on the outskirts, and he secures a job in a bus transport company. With the help of Nandini's uncle, Chinnarasu purchases a bus and starts a transport company. Over time, he develops his business and becomes a rich man. Also, Nandini clears the civil services and gets posted as theCoimbatore district collector.
Sakthivel gets surprised seeing his son and daughter-in-law's growth in life. Gowri's husband suffers losses in his business, which is later closed down, and she comes to meet Chinnarasu, requesting him to provide the job of Marketing Manager in his sugar factory, for which he accepts. Sakthivel meets Chinnarasu's son, Sakthivel Jr., at school and develops a bond with him. Chinnarasu gets to know this and feels happy. Sakthivel realises his mistake of not understanding his son. Meanwhile, Dharmalingam Gounder has a rivalry with Sakthivel, as the latter punished Dharmalingam for misbehaving with a woman in the past, and plans to kill him and blame Chinnarasu. Dharmalingam adds poison to the sweet given to Sakthivel by Chinnarasu, but Sakthivel is saved after getting rushed to the hospital, and Dharmalingam gets beaten up by the people. In the end, everyone gets united and lives as a joint family.
The story ofSurya Vamsam was written by directorVikraman in 1988 planning to cast actorVijayakumar andKarthik in lead roles, but after 10 years the film got its venture.[3] In 1996, following the success ofPoove Unakkaga, producerR. B. Choudary asked Vikraman to direct once again under hisSuper Good Films banner. This time Vikraman came with a relationship between elder brother and younger brother which later becameVaanathaippola (2000). After writing the story, he immediately narrated the story to Choudary. He was so inspired by story and he decided to produce the film, but he had put one demand to Vikraman to direct this story withSarathkumar and give dual role for the character of Vellaichamy and Muthu like twin brothers but Vikraman did not accept to make this character with Sarathkumar because he thought ofJanagaraj for Vellaichamy character andVijay for Muthu character. After many arguments, Vikraman decided to make the film with Sarathkumar with a different story and Choudary did not accept this at first but later he was convinced with half heart to acceptSurya Vamsam which Vikraman had scripted.[3][4]
The soundtrack is composed byS. A. Rajkumar.[5]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Rosappu Chinna Rosappu" (male) | Ra. Ravishankar | Hariharan | 4:12 |
| 2. | "Kadhala Kadhala" | Palani Bharathi | Hariharan,Swarnalatha | 4:35 |
| 3. | "Chalakku Chalakku" | Ra. Ravishankar | Arunmozhi,Sujatha | 4:04 |
| 4. | "Rosappu Chinna Rosappu" (female) | Ra. Ravishankar | Sujatha | 3:58 |
| 5. | "Natchathira Jannalil" | Mu. Metha | Mano,Sunandha | 4:56 |
| 6. | "Thirunalu Thaerazhaga" | Kalaikumar | S. A. Rajkumar, Sujatha | 3:21 |
| Total length: | 25:06 | |||
Surya Vamsam was released on 27 June 1997.[6] Ji ofKalki called it a truly decent, well-structured story with unprompted dialogues while praising the performances of Sarathkumar in dual roles, Devayani and Priyaraman but called the climax as logical loophole and concluded if only the tempo in the second half had been sufficient, there would have been no objection to call it a super good film.[7] K. N. Vijiyan ofNew Straits Times wrote, "The story seems common enough and not that interesting. But under Vikraman's direction, it has been turned into an entertaining movie".[8]
| Event | Category | Recipient | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Filmfare Awards South | Best Actor – Tamil | R. Sarathkumar | [9] [10] |
| Cinema Express Awards | Best Film – Tamil | Surya Vamsam | [11] [12] |
| Best Director – Tamil | Vikraman | ||
| Best Actor – Tamil | R. Sarathkumar | ||
| Best Female Playback Singer | Sujatha Mohan | ||
| Best Music Director – Tamil | S. A. Rajkumar | ||
| Tamil Nadu State Film Awards | Best Film | Surya Vamsam[a] | [13] |
| Best Actress | Devayani | ||
| Best Director | Vikraman | ||
| Best Music Director | S. A. Rajkumar | ||
| Best Sound Recordist | Iyappan | ||
| Best Villain | Anandaraj | ||
| Dinakaran Cinema Awards | Best Film | Surya Vamsam | [14] |
| Best Actor | R. Sarathkumar | ||
| Best Actress | Devayani | ||
| Screen Awards | Best Director | Vikraman | [15] [16] |
| Best Actor | R. Sarathkumar |
Surya Vamsam was remade intoTelugu asSuryavamsam (1998),[17] inHindi asSooryavansham (1999),[18] and inKannada asSuryavamsha (1999).[19]
In 2022, Sarathkumar announced a sequel to the project, titledSurya Vamsam 2.[20] In 2023, he reiterated that the project was still in development.[21][22]
