| 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 IndianTamil-languageaction drama film directed byManobala, starringRajinikanth andRadhika. The film, released on 4 September1987, was a super hit at the box office.[1]
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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 the truth behind his brother's death exposing the priest and Durai losing his lover in the process.
After the success ofSirai 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 toMurasoli Selvam andM. 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]
The music was composed byShankar–Ganesh.[5][6] Manobala initially wanted debutant Narayan (who would later be known asSirpy) 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 | Vani Jairam, Malaysia Vasudevan | 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 Sabatham" | Vairamuthu | K. J. Yesudas | 4:00 |
| 7. | "Aathukulley" | Pulamaipithan | K. S. Chithra,Uma Ramanan,Mano | 4:57 |
| Total length: | 31:50 | |||
Oorkavalan was released on 4 September 1987.[8] N. Krishnaswamy ofThe Indian Express wrote, "Some of the characters get a lifelike quality because of good performances and a helpful screenplay."[9]Jayamanmadhan ofKalki wrote no one is going to go to the film with high expectations as the titleOorkavalan goes by it has too many masala so no one is going to be disappointed.[10]
