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Pokkiri Raja (1982 film)

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Pokkiri Raja
Theatrical release poster
Directed byS. P. Muthuraman
Screenplay byPanchu Arunachalam
Based onChuttalunnaru Jagratha
Produced byM. Kumaran
M. Saravanan
M. Balasubramaniam
StarringRajinikanth
Sridevi
Radhika
CinematographyBabu
Edited byR. Vittal
Music byM. S. Viswanathan
Production
company
Release date
  • 14 January 1982 (1982-01-14)
Running time
138 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Pokkiri Raja (transl. Rogue King) is a 1982 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film directed by S. P. Muthuraman and written by Panchu Arunachalam. A remake of the Telugu film Chuttalunnaru Jagratha (1980), it stars Rajinikanth, Sridevi and Radhika. The film revolves around a man who was framed for murder, and a lookalike who aids him in finding the true killers. It was released on 14 January 1982 and became a commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres.

Plot

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Ramesh is the manager of the office of Paranthaman, an industrialist. Paranthaman strongly suspects his relatives to be looting him. Ramesh finds the culprit and keeps a tight leash on everything happening in the office, thereby earning the wrath of the industrialist's relatives. Ramesh and Vanaja (Paranthaman's daughter) initially find themselves at loggerheads, but eventually fall in love with each other. Paranthaman is happy about this development until he sees Ramesh cheating on his daughter. He fires Ramesh the very same day.

Paranthaman is murdered and Vanaja also sees Ramesh in her house that same night. Ramesh is dragged to court and, based on Vanaja's testimony, declared guilty and arrested, though he realises she was threatened into committing perjury. A month into prison, Ramesh meets Raja, a soon-to-be-released convict who looks exactly like him. Raja is a petty thief who had been arrested for breaking into Paranthaman's house, and was mistaken by Vanaja to be Ramesh. Together, Ramesh and Raja plan to bring the culprits to book.

With Raja's permission, Ramesh masquerades as him for three days. Venkatachalam initially attempts to have him arrested for escaping, but fails after Raja's lover Rakkayi identifies him as Raja, and takes him. Venkatachalam approaches "Raja", not knowing it is Ramesh, and tells him about Vanaja's impending marriage to Chandran. Ramesh rescues Vanaja from her forced marriage, tells her about Raja, how she and her father mistook him for Ramesh, and keeps her safe at his mother's house. Venkatachalam and Chandran suspect Vanaja. Ramesh marries Vanaja at his mother's request. At the end of three days, he returns to prison and switches places with Raja, who reunites with Rakkayi and tells her about Ramesh taking his place. Ramesh eventually attains bail, courtesy Vanaja.

Chandran later reveals himself and Venkatachalam as the murderers of Paranthaman, but Raja records the entire statement on tape; after Ramesh and Raja subdue Chandran and Venkatachalam's thugs, the tape is played in the court, and both killers are arrested.

Cast

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Production

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Pokkiri Raja is a remake of the Telugu film Chuttalunnaru Jagratha (1980),[3] and was Rajinikanth's first film opposite Radhika.[4] M. Saravanan of AVM Productions expressed a desire to remake it in Tamil; he wanted Rajinikanth to play the male lead.[5] Rajinikanth initially refused as he was unimpressed with the Telugu film and character but later relented after Saravanan requested him to act.[6][7] Saravanan called Visu who, after watching the film, said it could be remade well with minor changes and further developed Radhika's character.[8][7] The film was colourised using Eastmancolor.[9] It was R. Muthuraman's final film as actor and he portrayed a negative role.[10] Since he died before the film's release, the crew brought in a dubbing artist to imitate his voice.[2]

Soundtrack

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The soundtrack was composed by M. S. Viswanathan.[11][12]

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Kadavul Padachan"KannadasanS. P. Balasubrahmanyam5:35
2."Pokkirikku Pokkiri Raja"Gangai AmaranMalaysia Vasudevan, S. Janaki4:42
3."Vaada En Machigala"Gangai AmaranS. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki4:59
4."Vidiya Vidiya Solli"KannadasanS. P. Balasubrahmanyam, P. Susheela4:54
Total length:20:16

Release and reception

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Pokkiri Raja was released on 14 January 1982, Pongal day.[5][13] It was previously scheduled for release in December 1981.[14] The film became a commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres.[2] Along with Murattu Kaalai (1980), it was responsible for establishing Rajinikanth as a full-fledged action hero.[15] Nalini Sastry of Kalki wrote S. P. Muthuraman has prepared the story as an old-fashioned masala pitch with the intention of drawing the match.[16]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Pokkiri Raja". Apple TV. Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Saravanan 2013, p. 250.
  3. ^ Ramachandran 2014, p. 104.
  4. ^ The Hindu 2012, p. 53.
  5. ^ a b Saravanan 2013, p. 245.
  6. ^ Saravanan 2013, pp. 246–249.
  7. ^ a b சரவணன், ஏவி.எம் (12 June 2005). "ஆண்டவன் போட்ட பிச்சை!" (PDF). Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 44–47. Retrieved 22 March 2024 – via Internet Archive.
  8. ^ Saravanan 2013, p. 249.
  9. ^ "In the Foot-steps of the Father". Kisan World. Vol. 9. Sakthi Sugars, Limited. 1982. p. 68. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  10. ^ Majordasan. "Potpourri of titbits about Tamil cinema – Muthuraman". Kalyanamalai. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  11. ^ "Pokkiri Raja Tamil Film EP Vinyl Record by M S Viswanathan". Mossymart. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  12. ^ "Pokkiri Raja (1984) [sic]". Raaga.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  13. ^ "Baashha to Darbar: Here is a list of Rajinikanth's Pongal releases that turned super hits". Asianet News. 8 January 2020. Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  14. ^ "போக்கிரி ராஜா". Anna (in Tamil). 10 November 1981. p. 3. Retrieved 24 May 2024 – via Endangered Archives Programme.
  15. ^ "Box-office badshah". The Times of India. 24 August 2005. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  16. ^ சாஸ்திரி, நளினி (31 January 1982). "போக்கிரி ராஜா". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 63. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2023.

Bibliography

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