Naan Mahaan Alla (1984)

Naan Mahaan Alla (transl. I am not a saint) is a 1984 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by S. P. Muthuraman. The film stars Rajinikanth, Radha and M. N. Nambiar. It is a remake of the Hindi film Vishwanath (1978). The film was released on 14 January 1984, Pongal day and emerged a commercial success.

Plot

Viswanath, a famous lawyer, stays with his widowed mother and physically handicapped sister. He sends Jagan, a rich magnate's son and Lokaiya, two criminals to jail on the charge of rape and murder of an innocent girl. Jagan's father GMK uses his influence and starts creating trouble in Viswanath's life. GMK succeeds in getting Viswanath imprisoned on a trumped up charge. His heartbroken mother dies. Once out of jail, Viswanath sets out to punish the culprits when he temporarily loses his eyesight.

Cast

Rajinikanth as Viswanath

Radha as Geetha

M. N. Nambiar as G.M.K

V.K.Ramasamy as Dhanakodi

Cho Ramaswamy as A. R. Chandran/Reddy

Senthamarai as Eshwaran

Sathyaraj as Jagan

Sangili Murugan as Doctor

Leo Prabu as Logu

K. Kannan as Ramesh

A. R. S. as Saravanan's father

S. N. Lakshmi as Kalpana's mother

C. R. Vijayakumari as Viswanath's mother

Uma Bharani as Shanthi

Peeli Sivam as Gopinath

S. R. Veeraraghavan as Judge

K. Natraj as Henchman of G.M.K

Oru Viral Krishna Rao as Henchman of G.M.K

Ennatha Kannaiya as Assistant of A. R. Chandran

Pasi Narayanan as Chettiyar

LIC Narasimhan as Eye Doctor

Kullamani as Group dancer

Omakuchi Narasimhan as Group dancer

Srilekha Rajendran

Production

Rajinikanth initially wanted to star in a Tamil remake of the Hindi film Vishwanath (1978) with S. Ravi producing, but as Ravi did not like the film, they decided to collaborate on a different project, eventually choosing to remake the Kannada film Premada Kanike (1976) as Polladhavan (1980). Nonetheless, Vishwanath would still be remade in Tamil, with S. P. Muthuraman directing and Rajinikanth starring. The remake was originally titled Naan Gandhi Alla but, following a court order, was retitled Naan Mahaan Alla. As a result, the lead character's final dialogue was changed to match the new title, although the lip syncing to the original dialogue "Naan Gandhi Alla" was not changed.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja and lyrics were written by Vaali.

1. "Maalai Soodum Vaelai" - S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki

2. "Um Mele Oru Kannu" - Malaysia Vasudevan, S. Janaki

3. "Kalyanam Vaipogum" - S.P. Balasubrahmanyam & S. Janaki

NAAN MAHAAN ALLA - KALKI REVIEW

(12.02.1984 தேதியிட்ட கல்கி இதழிலிருந்து . .  .)