Agni Natchathiram

Agni Natchathiram (transl. Scorching Star) is a 1988 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Mani Ratnam. The film stars Prabhu, Karthik, Amala and newcomer Nirosha, with Vijayakumar, Jayachitra, Sumithra, Tara, S. N. Lakshmi and G. Umapathy in supporting roles. It revolves around two half-brothers who come into conflict with each other in their claim for legitimacy as sons of a common father.

Agni Natchathiram
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMani Ratnam
Produced byG. Venkateswaran
Written byMani Ratnam
StarringPrabhu
Karthik
Amala
Nirosha
Music byIlaiyaraaja
CinematographyP. C. Sreeram
Edited byB. Lenin
V. T. Vijayan
Production
company
Release date
  • 15 April 1988 (1988-04-15)
Running time
155 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Ratnam intended for Agni Natchathiram to be his next film after Mouna Ragam (1986) and completed the script, but chose to prioritise Nayakan. Despite shooting some scenes during a break from that film, production on Agni Natchathiram was stalled for nearly a year and resumed only after Nayakan's release in Diwali 1987. The film was produced by Ratnam's brother G. Venkateswaran, filmed by P. C. Sreeram and edited by B. Lenin and V. T. Vijayan.

Agni Natchathiram was released on 15 April 1988 and became a box office success, running for over 200 days in theatres. The film won two Filmfare Awards South, three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and five Cinema Express Awards. It became a trendsetter in Tamil cinema for its setting of a new standard in the use of lighting, and was remade in Hindi as Vansh (1992) and West Bengal as Rakta Bandhan(2003).

Plot

Ashok is the son of a senior government official Vishwanath and his second wife Kamala. Vishwanath has another son, Gautham, a trainee police officer, whose mother is Susheela. Both Ashok and Gautham inappropriately take out their anger at their father on others, and they display open antipathy towards each other.

Gautham meets the Commissioner's daughter, Anjali, and they slowly become a couple. Upon graduating, Gautham is appointed as Assistant Commissioner. Around the same time, Ashok meets a mysterious girl and they too slowly become a couple. Meanwhile, Vishwanath is appointed the head of an inquiry commission to probe a nefarious factory owner Chidambaram.

One night, Ashok and his friends run into Gautham and Anjali, and one of Ashok's friends teases Gautham. Gautham soon arrests Ashok's friend on a trumped up charge, abusing his police authority. Outraged, Ashok and his gang throw stones at Gautham's house, accidentally injuring Susheela. The next day, Gautham arrests Ashok after provoking him into attacking him. As Vishwanath is out of town, Susheela helps Kamala bail Ashok, but then offers snide unsolicited advice about raising her children to be law-abiding. Meanwhile, Chidambaram tries to bribe Vishwanath multiple times, but is rebuffed. Irked, he orders a hit on Vishwanath.

On the day when Ashok's sister Mallika is meeting a prospective groom's family for a matchmaking ceremony, Vishwanath fails to turn up which causes the groom's family to question the seriousness of the marriage between Kamala and Vishwanath. Enraged, Ashok goes to Vishwanath's house and creates a scene only to realise that his paternal grandmother has died; Gautham throws him out. Later, Ashok learns that his girlfriend too comes from a broken family. The Commissioner learns of Gautham's romance with Anjali and doubts his monogamy, based on his father's behaviour.

Mallika runs into Gautham and Anjali on the same commuter train. Gautham ends up protecting her from a bunch of ruffians harassing her (hired by Chidambaram), and he and Anjali accompany her home safely. Mallika addresses Gautham as her elder brother, but before he can respond, Ashok arrives and throws him out. Another altercation occurs at a wedding in which both exchange words. The next day, they get into a huge brawl in public. Vishwanath berates them both, lamenting his public humiliation at his sons' behaviour.

While Vishwanath is leaving his office, he gets run over by a truck driven by one of Chidambaram's thugs and goes into a coma. Mutual fear brings the families closer as both Susheela and Kamala wait by his bedside. Chidambaram arranges for Vishwanath's murder in the hospital. When his thugs attack, Gautham and Ashok work together to foil the assassination attempt by switching the ambulance that Vishwanath was in. The next day, a bandaged Vishwanath is brought into the commission's office by the brothers to submit evidence of Chidambaram's crimes. Chidambaram is arrested, and the brothers high five each other, implying that they both have made peace.

Cast

Production

After Mouna Ragam (1986), the next script that Mani Ratnam wrote was Agni Natchathiram. Despite this, when he was approached by Muktha Srinivasan to make a film for Kamal Haasan (which eventually became Nayakan), he agreed. In January 1987, after two weeks of shooting on Nayakan, Ratnam resumed work on Agni Natchathiram, shooting scenes on Prabhu and Amala such as the song "Ninnukkori Varnam". However, Ratnam could not manage shooting two films at the same time, so work on Agni Natchathiram was stalled for nearly a year,[6] resuming only after Nayakan's release in Diwali 1987.[7] The film was produced by Ratnam's brother G. Venkateswaran, filmed by P. C. Sreeram and edited by B. Lenin and V. T. Vijayan.[1]

Agni Natchathiram is the feature film debut of Raadhika's sister Nirosha. According to Nirosha, she was not initially interested in pursuing an acting career, having previously declined an offer to act in Nayakan, but at Raadhika's suggestion, joined this film.[8] Vijayakumar, who had quit films and was settled in the United States, had come to India for a different purpose, when assistant director K. Subash met and offered him to act in Agni Natchathiram. Vijayakumar initially refused, but Subash remained adamant; when Ratnam narrated the script, Vijayakumar was impressed with the character and agreed to act, making his comeback to film.[9] To make the film more commercially viable, a comedy subplot was created, involving a middle-aged man (V. K. Ramasamy) and his chauffeur (Janagaraj) trying to cavort with a prostitute (Disco Shanti) without their wives' knowledge.[3][10]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, and the lyrics were written by Vaali.[11] Many of the songs are set in Carnatic ragas; "Vaa Vaa Anbe Anbe" is in Shivaranjani,[12] "Thoongatha Vizhigal" is in Amritavarshini,[13] and "Ninnukkori Varnam" is set in Mohanam.[14] For "Raaja Raajathi", Ilaiyaraaja used no string instruments and composed the opening stanza with only two notes.[15][16]

Tamil
No.TitlePerformer(s)Length
1."Thoongatha Vizhigal"K. J. Yesudas, S. Janaki4:41
2."Ninnukori Varanam"K. S. Chithra4:37
3."Oru Poonga Vanam"S. Janaki4:25
4."Raaja Raajathi"Ilaiyaraaja4:42
5."Roja Poo Adivanthathu"S. Janaki4:27
6."Vaa Vaa Anbe Anbe"K. J. Yesudas, K. S. Chithra4:40
Telugu[17]
No.TitlePerformer(s)Length
1."Kurisenu Virijallule"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Vani Jairam4:40
2."Neeve Amara Swarame"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra4:40
3."Ninnukori Varanam"K. S. Chithra4:44
4."Oka Brundavanam Soyagam"Vani Jairam4:29
5."Raaja Raajadi Raajadi"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam4:32
6."Rojalo Letha Vannele"Vani Jairam4:30

Release

Agni Natchathiram was released on 15 April 1988, Puthandu.[18] The film ran for over 200 days in theatres, thereby becoming a silver jubilee film.[19]

Critical reception

S. Shivakumar, writing for Mid Day, called it "Mani's loosely scripted work to date" but "What emerges on the screen is frothy and cracks like fresh pop corn".[20] N. Krishnaswamy of The Indian Express wrote, "There's more light than heat."[21] Ananda Vikatan wrote that Ratnam proved that he could make an interesting and engaging film with just a small thread of script, adding that he had imagined each scene differently and presented them interestingly, giving the film a rating of 45 out of 100.[22]

Awards
Event Award Awardee Ref.
Filmfare Awards South Best Film – Tamil G. Venkateswaran [23]
Best Actor – Tamil Karthik [24]
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Best Film G. Venkateswaran [24]
Special Prize for Best Actor Karthik
Best Female Playback K. S. Chithra
Cinema Express Awards Best Tamil Film G. Venkateswaran [25]
Best Director Special Award Mani Ratnam
Best Actress Special Award Amala[lower-alpha 1]
Best New Face Nirosha[lower-alpha 2]
Best Music Director Ilaiyaraaja[lower-alpha 3]

Legacy

Agni Natchathiram became a trendsetter in Tamil cinema for setting "a new standard in the use of lighting". Additionally, Lakshmipathy's dialogue "En pondatti orrukku poittaa" (My wife has gone to her town) in excitement when his wife leaves for her hometown, entered Tamil vernacular.[26] The film was remade in Hindi as Vansh (1992).[27]

Notes
  1. For Illam as well.
  2. For Senthoora Poove as well.
  3. For Soora Samhaaram and Dharmathin Thalaivan as well.

References
  1. Rangan 2012, p. 290.
  2. Rangan 2012, p. 76.
  3. "'ஹாஹாஹா... தெய்வீக சிரிப்பய்யா உமக்கு!' – வி கே ராமசாமி நினைவு தின பகிர்வு". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). 23 December 2016. Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  4. "Who else is in it? The cameos are as interesting as the leads in Mani Ratnam's movies". Scroll.in. 10 February 2018. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  5. Anantharam, Chitra Deepa (20 August 2018). "I taught Salman Tamil, says Prabhu Deva". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  6. Rangan 2012, pp. 44–45.
  7. Rangan 2012, p. 70.
  8. "Evergreen Stars: 'Sets Of Agni Natchathiram Was More Like A Vacation'". Iflicks. 9 April 2018. Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  9. "அக்னி நட்சத்திரம் மூலமாக விஜயகுமார் வாழ்க்கையில் திருப்பம்". Maalai Malar (in Tamil). 20 August 2017. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  10. Rangan 2012, p. 28.
  11. "Agni Natchathram (1988)". Raaga.com. Archived from the original on 7 August 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  12. Ganesh, Deepa (8 March 2017). "Does absence heighten presence?". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  13. Mani, Charulatha (30 March 2012). "A Raga's Journey — Appealing Amritavarshini". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 September 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  14. Mani, Charulatha (16 September 2011). "A Raga's Journey — Magical Mohanam". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 23 August 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  15. "Happy birthday Ilaiyaraaja and Mani Ratnam!". Deccan Herald. 2 June 2018. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  16. "Happy Birthday Ilaiyaraaja: 10 mind-blowing facts about the music maestro". India Today. 2 June 2018. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  17. "Gharshana (1988) (1988)". Raaga.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  18. "Agni Natchathiram". The Indian Express. 15 April 1988. p. 3.
  19. Selvaraj, N. (20 March 2017). "வெள்ளி விழா கண்ட தமிழ் திரைப்படங்கள்" [Tamil films that completed silver jubilees]. Thinnai (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 29 March 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  20. Shivakumar, S. (22 July 1988). "Images more eloquent than words". Mid Day. p. 17. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  21. Krishnaswamy, N. (22 April 1988). "Agni Nakshatram". The Indian Express. p. 5.
  22. Dhananjayan 2011, p. 118.
  23. "Films". Vidura. Vol. 26. C. Sarkar. 1989. p. 54.
  24. Ramachandran, Naman (2014) [2012]. Rajinikanth: The Definitive Biography (2nd ed.). New Delhi: Penguin Books. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-14-342111-5. OCLC 295034757.
  25. "Cinema Express readers choose Agni Nakshathiram". The Indian Express. Express News Service. 11 March 1989. p. 4.
  26. KR, Manigandan (17 April 2018). "Agni Natchathiram needed an unknown level of energy, recalls PC Sreeram – 30th anniversary special". Cinestaan. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  27. Rangan 2012, p. 118.

Bibliography
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.