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Avatharam (1995 film)

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Avatharam
VCD cover
Directed byNassar
Written byNassar
Produced byVaithyanathan
StarringNassar
Revathi
CinematographyP. S. Dharan
Edited byM. N. Raja
Music byIlaiyaraaja
Production
company
Kamalam Movies
Release date
  • 9 June 1995 (1995-06-09)
Running time
125 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Avatharam (transl. Avatar) is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Nassar, making his directorial debut. The film stars him and Revathi. It was released on 9 June 1995 and failed at the box office, but won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Third Best Film.

Plot

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Kuppusamy, an innocent man, dreams about performing in Paandi's folk theatre troupe, which performs in Hindu festivals in rural Tamil Nadu. Baasi is expelled from the troupe for his bad behaviour. Finally, Paandi accepts Kuppusamy into his troupe Ponnamma and Paandi's blind daughter, falls in love with him.

Due to change in leadership of the temple committee, the festival's organisers prefer female dancers over Paandi's troupe. Paandi's troupe is abused by Baasi and the new temple chairman. Paandi pleads with them to perform, since the troupe used to perform regularly at village temple festival. Thereafter, Paandi dies during the stage performance, and the troupe splits up after argument over their inability to fend for themselves in life due to their dependency on folk drama as an occupation.

Kuppusamy leaves the village to Chennai with Ponnamma to become a film actor. They come across an advocate who allows them to stay for the night in her house for shelter and advises Kuppusamy to move back to the village. Kuppusamy tries one last chance and comes across Baasi, and he accommodates them. Baasi then rapes and kills Ponnamma. Kuppusamy is framed for rape and murder of Ponnamma and is branded as a lunatic by the judge in the court and is sent to a mental hospital, but he manages to escape. Kuppusamy is determined to take revenge on Baasi.

Baasi, fearing for his life, seeks protection from the police in order to catch Kuppusamy. Kuppusamy first kills the policemen. A fight ensues between Kuppusamy and Baasi, in which Kuppusamy kills Baasi.

Cast

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Production

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Avatharam marked the directorial debut of Nassar.[1][2] To portray Therukoothu authentically, he observed Therukoothu artistes for a year and completed writing the script within four months. Nassar revealed he was forced to include a revenge angle into the script for the sake of commercial viability.[3]

Soundtrack

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The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja.[4][5] The song "Arithaaratha Poosikolla Aasai" is set to Keeravani raga,[6] "Thendral Vanthu Theendumbothu" is set to Jaunpuri,[7] and "Oru Gundu Mani Kulunguthadi" is set to Harikambhoji.[8] "Thendral Vanthu Theendumbothu" was later reused in the Telugu film Yevade Subramanyam (2015) as "Challa Gaali".[9]

All lyrics are written by Vaali, except where noted

Track listing
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Arithaaratha Poosikolla Aasai"Ilaiyaraaja, S. Janaki5:53
2."Chandirarum Sooriyarum"Ilaiyaraaja6:09
3."Kanni Randil Etri Vaikkum"Chorus2:53
4."Oru Gundu Mani Kulunguthadi"Ilaiyaraaja5:01
5."Thendral Vanthu Theendumbothu"Ilaiyaraaja, S. Janaki, Ganesh Manivannan5:24
6."Thondru Thottu Indru Varai" (Muthu Koothan)Malaysia Vasudevan5:32
Total length:30:52

Release and reception

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Avatharam was released on 9 June 1995.[10] Since no distributors were willing to take up this film due to lack of commercial elements, the film's producer had to distribute the film by himself throughout Tamil Nadu.[3] K. N. Vijiyan of New Straits Times lauded the film, saying its only flaw was the cinematography: "Some scenes look blurry and dark".[11] R. P. R. of Kalki praised Nassar's direction while also praising for portraying the life of Therukoothu artistes with authenticity and realism while also praising Ilaiyaraaja's songs and re-recording.[12] However the film failed at the box office.[13][14] It won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Third Best Film.[15]

References

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  1. ^ Krishna, Sandya. "Mookkan's many years of success". Indolink. Archived from the original on 27 April 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ Bharat, U. (21 March 2001). "From humble beginnings to stardom – it was a long road for Nassar". India4u. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  3. ^ a b துளசி (2 July 1995). "அவதாரம் தந்த பாடம்! - நாசர் பேட்டி". Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 26–27. Archived from the original on 12 August 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2024 – via Internet Archive.
  4. ^ "Avatharam (1995)". Raaga.com. Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  5. ^ "Avatharam-Ponnuthayie Tamil Film Audio CD by Ilayaraaja". Macsendisk. Archived from the original on 4 December 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  6. ^ Sundararaman 2007, p. 124.
  7. ^ Sundararaman 2007, p. 162.
  8. ^ Sundararaman 2007, p. 150.
  9. ^ Karthik (25 February 2015). "Yevade Subramanyam (Music review), Telugu – Radhan & Ilayaraja". Milliblog. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  10. ^ "avadharam ( 1995 )". Cinesouth. Archived from the original on 29 October 2006. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  11. ^ Vijiyan, K. (26 June 1995). "Actor Nazer makes mark as director with Avathaaram". New Straits Times. p. 29. Archived from the original on 7 June 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  12. ^ ஆர். பி. ஆர். (2 July 1995). "அவதாரம்". Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 24–25. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ^ Rajitha (1 September 1997). "'Direction is challenging, acting is soul-satisfying'". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2009. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  14. ^ "Pop-carn". Sify. Archived from the original on 17 November 2003. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  15. ^ "TAMIL CINEMA | I997-- YEAR HIGHLIGHTS". Dinakaran. 1997. Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 25 January 2023.

Bibliography

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  • Sundararaman (2007) [2005]. Raga Chintamani: A Guide to Carnatic Ragas Through Tamil Film Music (2nd ed.). Pichhamal Chintamani. OCLC 295034757.
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