Thai Meethu Sathiyam

Thai Meethu Sathiyam (transl. I swear upon my mother) is a 1978 Indian Tamil-language Curry Western film directed by R. Thyagarajan and produced by Chinnappa Thevar. The film stars Rajinikanth and Sripriya in the lead roles. It focuses on a shepherd who vows to avenge the murder of his parents by hunting down the criminals responsible. The film, which was Thevar's last to be produced, was released on 30 October 1978, Diwali day and became a commercial success.

Thai Meethu Sathiyam
Theatrical release poster
Directed byR.Thyagarajan
Produced byChinnappa Thevar
Story byChinnappa Thevar
StarringRajinikanth
Sripriya
Mohan Babu
Prabhakar
Music bySankar Ganesh
CinematographyV. Ramamurthy
Edited byM. G. Balu Rao
Production
company
Dhandayuthapani Films
Release date
  • 30 October 1978 (1978-10-30)
Running time
137 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

Babu is a shepherd with a dog named Ramu. When criminals Balu and Johnny murder his parents, he swears upon his mother that he will have revenge. Babu trains under the local zamindar, and is revealed to be naturally skilled at marksmanship. After dressing himself like a cowboy, equipping himself with the zamindar's guns and a horse, and with Ramu as his aide, he fulfils his promise by killing the criminals.[1][2]

Cast

Production

Thai Meethu Sathiyam, directed by R. Thyagarajan, was Rajinikanth's first film in the Western genre, and the plot took inspiration from several Curry Westerns starring Jaishankar.[4] Sripriya was cast as Sivakami, the love interest of Rajinikanth's character Balu.[5] Ambareesh was cast as the zamindar Balu trains under, while Mohan Babu and Tiger Prabhakar were cast respectively as Johnny and Balu, the criminals who murder Babu's parents.[2] Thai Meethu Sathiyam was the last film produced by Chinnappa Thevar to be released; he died on 8 September when the film was still in production.[6]

Themes

Thai Meethu Sathiyam deals with one of the most recurrent themes in Tamil cinema: revenge. Like most Thyagarajan films, this has an animal playing a prominent character. The Economic Times likened the relationship between Babu and his dog Ramu to that of Wallace and Gromit.[7]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film was composed by the duo Sankar Ganesh.[8]

All lyrics are written by MA.RA. Barani.

No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Babu Babu Enge"P. Susheela3:22
2."Neram Vandhachu"P. Susheela, T. M. Soundararajan3:55
3."Porapududah"T. M. Soundararajan3:51
4."Sathiyathin"T. M. Soundararajan3:51
5."Uvavum Undu"P. Susheela3:56

Release and reception

Thai Meethu Sathiyam was released on 30 October 1978,[9] Diwali day. Despite facing competition from many other Diwali releases,[10] the film became a commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres,[11] and Rajinikanth "carved out for himself a niche in vendetta roles".[1]

References
  1. Maderya, Kumuthan (2010). "Rage against the state: historicizing the "angry young man" in Tamil cinema". Jump Cut. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  2. Ramachandran 2012, pp. 85–86.
  3. Thai Meethu Sathiyam (motion picture) (in Tamil). 1978. Opening credits, from 0:00 to 2:29.
  4. Ramachandran 2012, p. 85.
  5. Ramachandran 2012, p. 86.
  6. "எம்.ஜி.ஆரை நெகிழ வைத்த சாண்டோ சின்னப்ப தேவர்! ( நூற்றாண்டு விழா சிறப்பு பதிவு)". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). 27 June 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  7. "Avenging cowboy in rural TN". The Economic Times. 15 December 2007. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  8. "தாய் மீது சத்தியம் தமிழ் திரைப்படம்" [I swear upon my mother – Tamil feature film]. Spicyonion (in Tamil). Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  9. Sreekanth 2008, p. 369.
  10. "மேல் நாடுகளில் இந்தியாவின் மானம் பறந்தன!". Dinamalar (in Tamil). Nellai. 14 August 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  11. "சூப்பர் ஸ்டார் ரஜினிகாந்த் வாழ்க்கை வரலாறு 19" (PDF). Canada Uthayan (in Tamil). Canada. 5 December 2014. p. 24.

Bibliography
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