Palaivana Rojakkal

Palaivana Rojakkal is a 1986 Indian Tamil-language political satire film written by M. Karunanidhi and directed by Manivannan. It is a remake of the Malayalam film Vartha, released earlier the same year. The film stars Sathyaraj, Lakshmi, Nalini and Prabhu. It focuses on a journalist, his lover and his friend as they fight a corrupt system to expose unscrupulous politicians. Palaivana Rojakkal was released on 1 November 1986 and became a commercial success.

Plot

Journalist Sabarathnam, his lover and his friend fight a corrupt system to expose unscrupulous politicians. == Cast ==

Production

Politician M. Karunanidhi's production company Poompuhar Productions, after a layoff, sought to raise both political and financial capital. They chose to remake the 1986 Malayalam film Vartha in Tamil with the title Palaivana Rojakkal. Karunanidhi wrote the screenplay, while Manivannan directed the film, which was produced by Murasoli Selvam. Cinematography was handled by A. Sabapathi, and editing by P. Venkateswara Rao. == Themes ==

Themes

Palaivana Rojakkal is about the freedom of the press, and the "struggle between corrupt politicians and angry heroes". Writing in the Economic and Political Weekly, historian Kanakalatha Mukund noted that, in contrast Parasakthi (1952) and Manohara (1954) where Karunanidhi "virtually blasted the audience with extremely dramatic, alliterative dialogues", he used a "far more subdued and sophisticated style to convey his political message" in this film. Film critic Baradwaj Rangan compared Palaivana Rojakkal to Parasakthi for the way they "took on the times". == Soundtrack ==

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, while the lyrics were written by Gangai Amaran. == Release ==

Release

Palaivana Rojakkal was released on 1 November 1986, during Diwali day, and distributed by N. M. T. Raman Agencies. Despite facing competition from other Diwali releases such as Maaveeran, Punnagai Mannan, and Aruvadai Naal, the film emerged a commercial success, and was instrumental in establishing Sathyaraj as a "mass hero". It also led to a slew of political films being made, mainly those which spoke against MLAs and ministers, depicting them as womanisers, drunkards and wheeler dealers. == Critical reception ==

Critical reception

In a review dated 7 November 1986, N. Krishnaswamy of The Indian Express wrote, "One sees [Karunanidhi's] stamp in the hyperbolic references to the pen being mightier than the sword, and in certain needless allusions, but these however are not too long or too frequent to detract from the value of the film. The main strength of [Palaivana Rojakkal] is that it has some lively characters." == References ==

Source: Wikipedia ↗

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