Alaigal Oivathillai

Alaigal Oivathillai
Promotional Poster
Directed by	P. Bharathiraja
Produced by	R. K. Bhaskar
Written by	Manivannan (dialogues)
Screenplay by	P. Bharathiraja
Story by	Manivannan
Starring	Karthik Radha Thiagarajan Silk Smitha Kamala Kamesh
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja
Cinematography	B. Kannan
Edited by	R. Bhaskaran
Production company	Pavalar Creations
Distributed by	Pavalar Creations
Release dates	18 July 1981
Running time	139 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Alaigal Oyivathillai (English: Waves don't cease) is a 1981 Indian Tamil language film directed by P. Bharathiraja. The film stars debutant actors Karthik and Radha in the lead roles.^[1][2] The movie was a blockbuster and Ilaiyaraja's music and songs were highly praised. The story and dialogues written by veteran writer and director Manivannan. The film became a cult classic. The film received eight Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.

Plot

The character played by Karthik belongs to a poor Hindu family in coastal Tamil Nadu. His mother, played by Kamala Kamesh, teaches music to Radha, who belongs to a relatively rich Christian family. The characters fall in love with each other but belong to different religions. The rest of the story is about how they deal with the society and vice versa.

The movie also conveys subtle hints of power-play in villages and class/caste/religious barriers that divide and even oppress those deemed lower in status. A rapist cleanly gets away with raping his maid and his victim and his wife knowing his power and influence in the village, realized that it was futile to confront him, quietly left without making a scene. Nothing more was said about the rape and the rapist even preached morality and Christian values in attempting to prevent his sister (Radha) from marrying the Hindu Boy Karthik.

Cast

• Karthik as Vichu
• Radha as Mary
• Thiagarajan
• Silk Smitha
• Kamala Kamesh
• Renu Chandra
• Deepak
• Yunes
• Ranga
• Ramesh
• Purushothaman
• Periya Karuppu Thevar
• Vellai Subbiah

Production

Karthik, son of actor Muthuraman and newcomer Radha made their acting debuts with this film.^[3][4] Suresh was initially approached for the lead role but he opted to do Paneerpushpangal.^[5][6] Thiagarajan, who worked as regional manager of Polydor made his acting debut with the film.^[7]

The script for the film was written by Manivannan, one of the assistants in the film. Manobala who was one of the assistants in the film recalled that director Bharathiraja asked assistants to make a set with swaying lotuses for the song ‘Ayiram Thamarai'. He and Manivannan ran from pillar to post to get it ready. They peeled off a plantain sheath and stuck lotus stems to it then both of them raised and swayed the lotus flowers from underwater. As no instruction was given, they remained in the water and finally when they came out, the crew had already left.^[8]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja while he wrote the lyrics alongside Vairamuthu and Gangai Amaran. The songs from the film remains famous till date. The song "Putham Pudhu Kaalai" was not used in the film, the song was later included in Megha (2014).^[9][10] The song was also reused as "Halke Se Bole" in Hindi film Paa (2009).^[11] Also, that tune was directly lifted for making the song 'Vellichillum Vithari', in a Malayalam film named Ina (1982). The song "Kadhal Oviyam" was reused as "Meri Zindagi" in Hindi film Aur Ek Prem Kahani (1996).^[12] The song "Aayiram Thamarai" was reused in Vaigai (2009).^[13][14] The song "Vaadi En" was remixed by Dhina in Sandai (2008).^[15]

Awards

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards

• Best Film (first prize) - R. K. Bhaskar
• Best Director – P. Bharathiraja
• Best Music Director – Ilaiyaraaja
• Best Lyricist – Vairamuthu
• Best Cinematographer – B. Kannan
• Best Story Writer – Manivannan
• Best Debut Actor (Male) – Karthik
• Best Debut Actor (Female) – Radha

Popular culture

The film was included by Behindwoods in the list "Top 20 Best Love Stories in Tamil".^[16] In a comedy scene from Chinna Pasanga Naanga (1992), Goundamani sings "Vaadi En" in gibberish lyrics trying to pass off as his own tune but Senthil identifies the song.^[17] In Saroja (2008), when Premji Amaren dreams about any girl he meets, the song "Aayiram Thamarai" will be running in background.^[18]

Remakes

The film was remade in Telugu as Seethakoka Chiluka by Bharathiraaja himself with Karthik and Aruna Mucherla in the lead. It was also remade in Hindi as Lovers with Kumar Gaurav and Padmini Kolhapure. For the Hindi remake, music was provided by RD Burman.

References

External links

• Alaigal Oivathillai at the Internet Movie Database