Director: Kasturiraja; Writer: Kasturiraja; Producer: Kasturiraja; Cinematographer: Kichaas; Cast: Khushboo, Manorama, Sivakumar
Summary: 1995’s surprise hit in Tamil was a low-budget
ruralist ‘folk’ movie extensively featuring
traditional narrative and performative forms
including the karagam, kavadi, oyil, nayandi,
komali etc., mounted in deliberate contrast to
the post-Mani Rathnam emphasis on glossy
technologically driven spectacles. Parijatham
(Khushboo), a popular karagam dancer, wants
to continue dancing even after her marriage to
Pazhanisamy (Sivakumar), a noted performer.
When Parijatham returns to the stage, in order
to pay her husband’s debts, her insecure
husband throws her out, forcing her to return
to her mother (Manorama). The husband later
wins custody of their son Velusami. When the
son grows up and learns the truth, he
abandons his father. Pazhanisamy, faced with a
biitter feud with the village headman, later
appeals to his estranged wife to help him in a
climactic dance-duel, which she eventually
wins after her husband’s death. Billed after a
long gap as an Ilaiyaraja solo, the film’s earthy
folk music - notably the song Othe roova
tharen (‘I shall give you a rupee’) - proved the
most successful of the year in Tamil film.
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