Aravindhan

Aravindhan is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language film written and directed by newcomer T. Nagarajan and produced by T. Siva. The film stars Sarathkumar, Parthiban, Nagma, and Oorvasi in the lead roles, while Visu, Prakash Raj, Anandaraj, and Thilakan play supporting roles. The film marks the debut of noted music composer Yuvan Shankar Raja, musician Ilaiyaraaja's youngest son, and the debut of cinematographer R. Rathnavelu. The film is based on the 1968 Kilvenmani massacre, in which 44 people were burnt alive.^[1]

Aravindhan
VCD cover
Directed by	T. Nagarajan
Written by	T. Nagarajan Liyakath Ali Khan (dialogues)
Produced by	T. Siva
Starring	Sarathkumar Parthiban Nagma Oorvasi
Cinematography	R. Rathnavelu
Music by	Yuvan Shankar Raja
Production company	Amma Creations
Release date	16 February 1997 (1997-02-16)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

Aravindhan is preparing to clear IPS to become a police officer. But after he sees Thamizhvannan, shown as a Naxalite, being shot dead by police, Aravindhan starts a fight against police and corrupt politicians. Aravindhan gets supported by the people for his strict fight against corruption. Anu loves Aravindhan, but her father does not accept the relation. The police wants to put Aravindhan in jail for the politicians, so Aravindhan goes into hiding. On the way, he hides in Gayathri's home. The police tries to catch Aravindhan but at the same time, thinks Gayathri tried to give shelter to Aravindhan, so Gayathri's father dies. Now Aravindhan understands that he has to save Gayathri, so he takes her with him to a factory area to stay. Aravindhan works in the factory, and life goes along smooth for him as he marries Gayathri and has a child. Once in the factory, the manager does not give a fair price to the workers, which Aravindhan protests, so he beats the manager very poorly. The factory people now identify Aravindhan's true identity as a Naxalite. The police comes in search of Aravindhan, who finally surrenders in court. In jail, Aravindhan writes many anti-corruption articles. This gives Aravindhan wide public support to get elected as a minister. The corrupt politicians want to avoid this uprising and hire a gunman to shoot Aravindhan. During a stage speaking with many people around, the gunman shoots and kills Aravindhan, thus precluding him from becoming minister.

Cast

• Sarathkumar as Aravindhan
• Parthiban as Thamizhvannan
• Nagma as Anu
• Oorvasi as Gayathri
• Visu
• Prakash Raj as Rama Ganapathy
• Anandaraj as Ramanathan
• Thilakan as Gopalakrishnan Naidu
• Thalaivasal Vijay as Muthukrishnan
• Delhi Ganesh
• Vichithra
• Ponnambalam
• Hemanth Ravan
• Vijay Krishnaraj
• Sembuli Jagan
• Liaqath Ali Khan
• Jayanth
• Madhan

Production

Some of the scenes were shot at Neyveli Coal Mining and at NLC.^[2]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja's youngest son, Yuvan Shankar Raja, who made his debut in this film. T. Siva, the producer of the film, after hearing some of Yuvan's tunes, asked him to compose a trailer music and after being impressed of it, gave Yuvan the assignment to compose the entire film score including a soundtrack for that film.^[3] Yuvan was 16 years old at the time of the release and one of the youngest composers ever in the industry.^[4]

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"All The Best"	Palani Bharathi	Bhavatharini, Hariharan	5:40
2.	"Hey Ponnamma, Un Lovvu Yaaru Sollamma"	Palani Bharathi	Yuvan Shankar Raja, Mano, Sumangali, Yogi	4:58
3.	"Thanga Sooriyan"	Kadhal Mathi	Swarnalatha, Mano	4:15
4.	"Sutrum Bhoomi"	Paarthi Bhaskar	P. Jayachandran, Chorus	2:52
5.	"Pothum Idhu Pothum"	Palani Bharathi	P. Unnikrishnan	2:35
6.	"Poovattam"	Kadhal Mathi	T. L. Maharajan, Swarnalatha	4:48
7.	"Eera Nila"	Palani Bharathi	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Mahanadi Shobana	4:53
Total length:				30:01

Release and reception

The film released on 16 February 1997,^[5] and failed at the box-office.^[6] R. P. R. of Kalki found Rathnavelu's cinematography and Yuvan's music as the only positives and concluded that the director tried to convey a message of non-violence but for the commercial needs he sacrificed the whole film for the violence.^[7]

References

1. Muralidharan, Kavitha (25 December 2018). "Fifty Years of Keezhvenmani Massacre, in Literature and Film". The Wire. from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
2. "தபுவுக்குக் கல்யாணம்?" [Marriage for Tabu?] (PDF). Kalki (in Tamil). 22 September 1996. pp. 53–55. Retrieved 15 May 2023 – via Internet Archive.
3. . SS Music. Archived from the original on 23 June 2008. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
4. "Did you know Yuvan Shankar Raja debuted as music composer at 16". The Times of India. 30 January 2021. from the original on 18 June 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
5. "அரவிந்தன் / Aravindhan (1997)". Screen 4 Screen. from the original on 9 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
6. [From Arunachalam to V.I.P]. Indolink. Archived from the original on 31 March 2009. Retrieved 22 March 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
7. ஆர். பி. ஆர் (2 March 1997). "அரவிந்தன்". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 80. Archived from the original on 19 May 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2023 – via Internet Archive.

External links

• Aravindhan at IMDb