Athisaya Piravi
| Athisaya Piravi | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | S. P. Muthuraman |
| Screenplay by | Panchu Arunachalam[1] |
| Produced by | A. Poorna Chandra Rao |
| Starring | Rajinikanth Kanaka Sheeba Akashdeep |
| Cinematography | T. S. Vinayagam |
| Edited by | R. Vittal S. P. Mohan |
| Music by | Ilaiyaraaja |
Production company | Lakshmi Productions |
Release date |
|
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Athisaya Piravi (transl. Extraordinary Being) is a 1990 Indian Tamil-language fantasy film directed by S. P. Muthuraman and written by Panchu Arunachalam. It is a remake of the Telugu film Yamudiki Mogudu (1988).[2] The film stars Rajinikanth, Kanaka, and Sheeba Akashdeep, while Nagesh, Jai Ganesh, Chinni Jayanth, Cho Ramaswamy, and Vinu Chakravarthy, among others, play supporting roles. It was released on 15 June 1990, and became a box office failure.
Plot[edit]
 | This article needs an improved plot summary. (June 2022) |
Kaalaiyan lives a poor lifestyle with his widowed mother. He falls in love with a girl called Sumathi, but because of his poor background, Sumathi's wealthy father Murukesh is not ready to accept him. Kaalaiyan also gets into hot water with Murukesh as he opposes his men who were planning to demolish some huts. Murukesh and his partner devise a plan to kill Kaalaiyan by tricking him into believing that he was going to marry him to Sumathi. The plan works, and they eventually succeed in killing him. Kaalaiyan's spirit goes to the underworld and meets the Lord of Death himself, Yama. Kaalaiyan explains to Yama the whole ordeal and that his death was a mistake, so Yama transports him back to an identical body of a mild-mannered villager, Balu, whose life is threatened by his paternal uncle and aunt, who are trying to kill him.
Reborn as Balu, he soon adapts to his new life, along with his new widowed mother and a sweetheart, Gauri. He also sets out to teach his uncle, Chinnasamy, aunt, and cousin Periyasaamy a lesson for their ill-treatment to him and his (new) mother. Life goes on, and he has no memories of his old life until one day Murukesh, who was an old friend of Chinnasamy, comes to visit them. Seeing him, Balu remembers his previous life and immediately goes to his previous place, where he finds Murukesh's goons attacking the area. Upon seeing him alive, they all are astounded and flee from the place. He then explains to his biological mother and Sumathi the whole story of how he was killed and reincarnated. Meanwhile, Gauri comes searching for Balu to Chennai, and hilarity ensues as Balu/Kaalaiyan struggles to manage both lovers. Balu, with help of Chitragupta, plans his revenge on Murukesh and his partner by outdoing him in wealth and humiliate them, but when Balu's relatives also arrive to Chennai, the whole confusion is revealed, and Murukesh captures both the families of Kaalaiyan and Balu and tries to kill him, but Balu/Kaalaiyan thwarts his plans and ultimately succeeds in his revenge.
Cast[edit]
- Rajinikanth as Kaalaiyan and Balu[3][4]
- Kanaka as Gauri
- Sheeba Akashdeep as Sumathi
- Nagesh as Murukesh
- Jai Ganesh as Murukesh's partner
- Vijayalalitha
- Achamillai Gopi
- Sudhakar as Murukesh's partner's son
- Senthamarai as Chinnasaamy
- Chinni Jayanth as Periyasaamy
- Cho Ramaswamy as Vichitra Gupta[5]
- Vinu Chakravarthy as Yamadharmaraja[2]
- V. K. Ramasamy as Chitragupta[2]
- Kamala Kamesh as Balu's mother
- Madhavi as Rambha (Guest appearance)[2]
- S. N. Parvathy as Kaalaiyan's mother
- King Kong as Kaalaiyan's friend
- Omakuchi Narasimhan as Jai Ganesh's servant
- Manik Irani as father
- S. V. Ranga Rao as Balu's father (portrait)
Soundtrack[edit]
The soundtrack has six songs composed by Ilaiyaraaja.[6][7]
| Songs | Singers | Lyrics |
|---|---|---|
| "Annakiliyae" | Malaysia Vasudevan | Vaali |
| "Idhalengum" | Malaysia Vasudevan, S. Janaki | Pulamaipithan |
| "Paattukku Paattu" | Malaysia Vasudevan, K. S. Chithra | Gangai Amaran |
| "Singari Pyari" | Malaysia Vasudevan, S. Janaki | Vaali |
| "Thanananthan" | Malaysia Vasudevan, S. Janaki | Piraisoodan |
| "Unna Partha" | K. S. Chithra, Malaysia Vasudevan | Vaali |
Reception[edit]
N. Krishnamswamy of The Indian Express wrote, "Directed by S. P. Muthuraman, who keeps the action from sagging, Panju Arunachalam redoes his Kalyanaraman idea and provides the dialogues, even as Cho keeps lighting crackers with dialogues loaded with political innuendo."[8] P. S. S. of Kalki wrote that whenever doubt arises whether such things happen, Rajinikanth turns around and says he is there, is that not enough.[9] Cinema Express appreciated the film for its comedy, saying Rajinikanth continued to show his prowess in that genre after Guru Sishyan (1988).[10] According to Muthuraman, Athisaya Piravi underperformed at the box office, in contrast to the Telugu original, as the concept of life after death and reincarnation did not go down well with Tamil audiences.[11]
Legacy[edit]
Many years after the release of the film, a viral video entitled "Little Superstar" became very popular on the internet. The clip features the scene with Rajinikanth watching dwarf Indian actor King Kong dancing to "Holiday Rap" by MC Miker G & DJ Sven.[12][13]
References[edit]
- ^ Ramachandran 2014, p. 154.
- ^ a b c d Ramachandran 2014, p. 129.
- ^ Ramachandran 2014, pp. 129–130.
- ^ Ayyagari, Sushmita (9 March 2018). "Pop-culture: Relive the fizzy pop of goli soda this summer". Indulge Express. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
- ^ Narayanan, Sujatha (7 December 2016). "Timeless...cho". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
- ^ "Athisaya Piravi". Gaana. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
- ^ "Athisaya Piravi Tamil Film LP Vinyl Record by Ilayaraja". Mossymart. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
- ^ Krishnaswamy, N. (22 June 1990). "Adhisaya Piravi". The Indian Express. p. 7. Retrieved 14 December 2019 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ பி. எஸ். எஸ். (1 July 1990). "அதிசய பிறவி". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 64. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
- ^ "அதிசயப்பிறவி". Cinema Express (in Tamil). 15 July 1990. p. 1. Archived from the original on 3 December 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023 – via Rajinifans.com.
- ^ முத்துராமன், எஸ்.பி. (18 January 2017). "சினிமா எடுத்துப் பார் 92: எம்.ஜி.ஆர் பெயரை பயன்படுத்தி ஓட்டு கேட்பவர்கள்!". Hindu Tamil Thisai (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
- ^ Raman, Sruthi (23 October 2020). "I find great joy in incorporating shoutouts to Superstar Rajinikanth in my music: Yung Raja". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 9 December 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
- ^ Bowman, Jordan (23 October 2017). "Here's the YouTube video that inspired 'SNL' to make David S. Pumpkins". Mashable. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
Bibliography[edit]
- Ramachandran, Naman (2014) [2012]. Rajinikanth: The Definitive Biography. New Delhi: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-342111-5.
