Manithan
Theatrical release poster
Directed byS. P. Muthuraman
Screenplay byPanchu Arunachalam
Story byV. C. Guhanathan
Produced byM. Saravanan
M. Balasubramaniam
StarringRajinikanth
Rupini
Raghuvaran
CinematographyT. S. Vinayagam
Edited byR. Vittal
S. B. Mohan
Music byChandrabose
Production
company
Release date
  • 21 October 1987 (1987-10-21)
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Manithan (transl. Human) is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language masala film[1] directed by S. P. Muthuraman, starring Rajinikanth, Rupini and Raghuvaran, with Senthil, Delhi Ganesh and Srividya. It was released 21 October 1987, and emerged a silver jubilee hit.

Plot

The story revolves around Raja, who grows up in juvenile detention due to hitting his teacher by a table weight for falsely calling him a thief due to the only reason he was born on a No Moon Day. He was born to a superstitious father who believes that a person born on a No Moon Day will surely turn criminal. When his imprisonment years are over, he joins the People Welfare Organisation in a local community and helps the needy people. In due course, he gets enemies due to his good deeds. The rest of the story forms on how Raja succeeds over his enemies and disproves the false claims on him and the superstitions and prejudice that surrounded him.

Cast

Production

V. C. Guhanathan developed a story named Amavasayil Pirandha Oruvanin Kadhai (transl. The story of a man born on Amavasya) which Panchu Arunachalam expanded into a screenplay.[2] With Rajinikanth cast in the lead role, AVM titled the film Manithan (transl. Human) as they felt Rajinikanth was a fantastic man. Distributors objected to the title as there was previously a play of the same name staged by TKS Brothers, but AVM refused to change the title of their film.[3] Rupini accepted to star in Manithan after another film she was doing, Sir I Love You, was shelved.[4]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Chandrabose. Lyrics for this film were written by Vairamuthu.[5][6] The title song was not originally intended to be added in the film as the film did not have right situation for this song to be placed; however Rajinikanth who was impressed with this song wanted to have this song in the film so it was picturised and placed in title credits.[7][8]

SongSingersLength
"Kaalai Kaalai"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and S. P. Sailaja04:23
"Manithan Manithan"Malaysia Vasudevan04:24
"Muthu Muthu Pennai"Vani Jairam04:19
"Vanaththai Parthen"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam04:32
"Vanaththai Parthen" (Sad)S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Vanitha and Kovai Murali05:20
"Yedho Nadakkirathu"K. J. Yesudas and K. S. Chithra04:44

Release and reception

Manithan was released 21 October 1987, Diwali day. Despite facing competition from Nayakan, released on the same day, it emerged more successful,[9][10] and a silver jubilee hit.[11] N. Krishnaswamy of The Indian Express wrote, "It is a no-holds-barred commercial film, but the formula works."[12] Jayamanmadhan of Kalki, however, reviewed the film more negatively for being too formulaic.[1] The film's silver jubilee function was held at Rajeshwari Marriage Hall in late April 1988.[lower-alpha 1]

Legacy

Manithan was screened alongside other films of Rajinikanth like Murattu Kaalai, Pokkiri Raja, Paayum Puli at Albert theatre, on the occasion of his birthday on 12 December 2012.[15] The film's title inspired that of a 2016 film.[16]

Notes

  1. ↑ In his column for Hindu Tamil Thisai, Cinema Eduthu Paar, Muthuraman said the event was held on 20 April 1988.[13] However, in his memoir AVM Thandha SPM, he said it was celebrated on 24 April and erroneously mentioned 1998 as the year.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 ஜெயமன்மதன் (6 December 1987). "மனிதன்". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 2. Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  2. ↑ Saravanan 2013, pp. 308–309.
  3. ↑ Saravanan 2013, pp. 309–310.
  4. ↑ NSK (20 August 1988). "How Roopini graduated to stardom". The Indian Express. p. 18. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  5. ↑ "Manithan (1987)". Raaga.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  6. ↑ "Manithan Tamil Film LP Vinyl Record by Chandrabose". Mossymart. Archived from the original on 3 November 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  7. ↑ Muthuraman 2017, pp. 315–316.
  8. ↑ முத்துராமன், எஸ்.பி. (12 October 2016). "சினிமா எடுத்துப் பார் 79: எவன்தான் மனிதன்?". Hindu Tamil Thisai (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  9. ↑ "Before Annaatthe, five successful Deepavali releases of Rajinikanth". The Times of India. 3 November 2021. Archived from the original on 3 November 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  10. ↑ "Mani Ratnam reacts to Rajinikanth's Manithan beating Kamal Haasan's Nayakan at box office". The Indian Express. 2 June 2022. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  11. ↑ "Rajinikanth donates eyes". The Indian Express. 25 April 1988. p. 3. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  12. ↑ Krishnaswamy, N. (30 October 1987). "Formula works". The Indian Express. p. 5. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  13. ↑ முத்துராமன், எஸ்.பி. (26 October 2016). "சினிமா எடுத்துப் பார் 81: கண் தானத்தை ஊக்குவித்த ரஜினி". Hindu Tamil Thisai (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  14. ↑ Muthuraman 2017, p. 318.
  15. ↑ "Rajini fans watch their matinee idol's films". The Hindu. 14 December 2013. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  16. ↑ Rangan, Baradwaj (29 April 2016). "Manithan: Court of the day". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 19 January 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2020.

Bibliography

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