Urimaikural
Theatrical release poster
Directed byC. V. Sridhar
Written byC. V. Sridhar
Produced byY. Kannaiah
StarringM. G. Ramachandran
Latha
Anjali Devi
V. S. Raghavan
CinematographyN. Balakrishnan
Edited byN. M. Shankar
Music byM. S. Viswanathan
Production
company
Chitralaya
Release date
  • 7 November 1974 (1974-11-07)
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Urimaikural (transl. Voice for Rights) is a 1974 Indian Tamil-language action drama film, written and directed by C. V. Sridhar. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran, Latha, Anjali Devi and V. S. Raghavan. It was released on 7 November 1974, and became a silver jubilee hit.[1]

Plot

Gopinath and his elder brother Sundaram Pillai are very close, live under the same roof, and are very respected farmers. Gopi is happy-go-lucky and has fun while also working hard on their farm. Radha is his love interest. Duraisamy, Gopi's rival for Radha's love, wants to eliminate Gopi so that he can marry her. He arranges events such that Radha gets betrothed to Gopi. He also loans money to Sundaram and extracts word from him that Gopi won't interfere in the marriage which Gopi agrees to ratify.

However, Radha and Gopi meet one last time and are caught by Duraisamy and Sundaram. One thing leads to another and Gopi and Radha are married while being excommunicated by Sundaram from their family. They even have a partition. Duraisamy now wants revenge and he arranges to make it look like Sundaram has swindled money belonging to the village. They give him a year to return the money failing which all his property would be confiscated. At this juncture, Gopi works hard, fights off Duraisamy's henchmen and returns the money while also exposing him as the original thief.

Cast

Production

M. G. Ramachandran and Sridhar earlier were supposed to work in a film called Andru Sindhiya Ratham which got shelved. According to Sridhar, the reason for Ramachandran backing out may have been that, since Sridhar launched both Kadhalikka Neramillai (1964) and Andru Sindhiya Ratham at the same time, he promoted Kadhalikka Neramillai as the first contemporary colour film in Tamil but did not do the same for Andru Sindhiya Ratham, which may have made Ramachandran upset, causing him to leave.[2] Sridhar, who was reeling under financial problems due to failure of his previous film Alaigal and also his other film Vaira Nenjam was getting delayed due to call sheet issues of Sivaji Ganesan,[3] as per the advice of his friend, the Hindi actor Rajendra Kumar, decided to collaborate with Ramachandran who agreed to act under his direction.[4][5] Sridhar revealed that Urimai Kural was inspired from the Telugu film Dasara Bullodu (1971); he took only the basic plot from that film and made changes for Tamil version.[6] When Gopu saw the film he suggested Sridhar to do this film with Ganesan however Gopu was shocked when Sridhar said he would make this film with Ramachandran. Gopu who received opportunities as director after the success of his debut directorial Kasethan Kadavulada (1972) wanted to concentrate on directing films, which led both of them to part ways professionally but still remained friends.[7]

The cinematography for the film was handled by N. Balakrishnan; however the climax portions were shot by Thambu as Balakrishnan had to shoot the climax for another film.[8] The film was predominantly shot at a village Mugalivakkam near the garden belonging to Ramachandran while the climax portions were shot at land belonging to actor-producer K. Balaji and the songs were shot at Mysore.[9][10]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by M. S. Viswanathan.[11][12] The song "Vizhiye Kadhai Ezhudhu" is set to Kambhoji raga.[13] This song and "Aambalaingala" were penned by Kannadasan, it was added by Sridhar when political issues led to a widening rift between Ramachandran and Kannadasan.[6] But Sridhar could not get a satisfactory response to the situation.[14] So Sridhar and Viswanathan decided to convince Ramachandran to have Kannadasan's song and Ramachandran accepted the proposal as he bore no personal grudge against the lyricist.[15][16]

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Aambilaingala Ninga"KannadasanL. R. Eswari4:03
2."Kalyana Valayosai"VaaliT. M. Soundararajan, P. Susheela4:33
3."Mattikittaradi"VaaliL. R. Eswari4:59
4."Nethu Poothaley"VaaliT. M. Soundararajan5:16
5."Oru Thai Vayitril"VaaliT. M. Soundararajan4:45
6."Ponna Porandha"VaaliT. M. Soundararajan4:32
7."Vizhiye Kathai Ezhudhu"KannadasanK. J. Yesudas, P. Susheela5:38
Total length:33:46

Release and reception

Ananda Vikatan favourably reviewed the film, particularly the climax for its pace.[17] The film became a blockbuster at box-office.[16]

References

  1. ^ செல்வராஜ், என். (20 March 2017). "வெள்ளி விழா கண்ட தமிழ் திரைப்படங்கள்". Thinnai (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  2. ^ Sri Kantha, Sachi (6 June 2014). "MGR Remembered – Part 18 | A review of two MGR-related books". Ilankai Tamil Sangam. Archived from the original on 21 December 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  3. ^ ஸ்ரீதர், டைரக்டர் (27 September 1992). "பெருந்தன்மைக்கு ஒரு எம்.ஜி.ஆர்!". Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 56–57. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  4. ^ Rangarajan, Malathi (21 July 2016). "The director's fine cut". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  5. ^ Veeravalli, Shrikanth (2013). MGR: A Biography. Rainlight. p. 45. ISBN 9788129129062.
  6. ^ a b ஸ்ரீதர், டைரக்டர் (18 October 1992). "விழியே, கதை எழுது". Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 49–50. Archived from the original on 17 March 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  7. ^ நரசிம்மன், டி. ஏ. (15 November 2018). "சி(ரி)த்ராலயா 42: நண்பர்களின் பிரிவு!". Hindu Tamil Thisai (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  8. ^ ஸ்ரீதர், டைரக்டர் (4 October 1992). "காமிரா தம்பு தூக்கிப்போட்ட வெடிகுண்டு!". Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 59–60. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  9. ^ ஸ்ரீதர், டைரக்டர் (11 October 1992). "எம்.ஜி.ஆர் விட்ட சவால்!". Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 14–16. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  10. ^ ராம்ஜி, வி. (8 November 2022). "உள்ளம் கவர்ந்த 'உரிமைக்குரல்': இன்னும் நம்மை இழுக்கும் 'விழியே கதை எழுது!'". Kamadenu. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  11. ^ "Urimaikural Tamil Film EP Vinyl Record by MS Viswanathan". Mossymart. Archived from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  12. ^ "Urimaikkural (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) – EP". Apple Music. 7 November 1974. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  13. ^ Sundararaman (2007) [2005]. Raga Chintamani: A Guide to Carnatic Ragas Through Tamil Film Music (2nd ed.). Pichhamal Chintamani. p. 168. OCLC 295034757.
  14. ^ Sri Kantha, Sachi (27 December 2019). "MGR Remembered – Part 54 | An Overview of the Final 31 movies of 1970s". Ilankai Tamil Sangam. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  15. ^ Sri Kantha, Sachi (15 March 2021). "MGR Remembered – Part 60 | Tackling rivals Karunanidhi – Kamaraj and tending Sridhar". Ilankai Tamil Sangam. Archived from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  16. ^ a b ஸ்ரீதர், டைரக்டர் (25 October 1992). "உரிமைக்குரலின் வெற்றி!". Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 73–74. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  17. ^ "சினிமா விமர்சனம்: உரிமைக் குரல்". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). 8 December 1974. Archived from the original on 16 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.

External links

Films directed by C. V. Sridhar
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