Neethikku Thandanai

Neethikku Thandanai
Title card
Directed by	S. A. Chandrasekhar
Written by	M. Karunanidhi
Produced by	S. S. Neelakantan Shoba Chandrasekhar
Starring	Radhika Nizhalgal Ravi Charan Raj
Cinematography	Indu Chakravarthi
Edited by	D. Shyam Mukherjee
Music by	M. S. Viswanathan
Production company	Lalithanjali Fine Arts
Release date	1 May 1987 (1987-05-01)
Running time	143 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Neethikku Thandanai (transl. Punishment for Justice) is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language film, directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar and written by M. Karunanidhi. The film stars Radhika, Nizhalgal Ravi and Charan Raj. It was released on 1 May 1987. The film was remade in Hindi as Kudrat Ka Kanoon (1987) and in Telugu as Nyayaniki Siksha (1988).^[1][2]

Plot

Cast

• Radhika as Chithra and Sindhuja
• Nizhalgal Ravi as the doctor
• Charan Raj as the minister
• Senthil
• S. S. Chandran
• Senthamarai as the panchayat leader
• S. N. Vasanth
• Karnan (debut)
• Charuhasan
• V. Gopalakrishnan
• Senapathi
• Amjath Kumar
• Suruli Vel
• Nagaraja Chozhan
• LIC Narasimhan
• Omakuchi Narasimhan
• Kutty Padmini
• Kovai Sarala
• Sulochana
• Sri Asha (debut)
• Ravichandran
• Srividya as the lawyer
• S. A. Chandrasekhar
• S. Shankar as Reporter

Production

In the late 1980s, politician and writer M. Karunanidhi was arrested and S. A. Chandrasekhar thought the law was wrong to do so; this inspired the title for their next film Neethikku Thandanai.^[3] Karunanidhi wrote the script while in prison.^[4][5] The original title was Idhu Nyayama (transl. Is this fair?), but Chandrasekhar changed it to Neethikku Thandanai.^{[6]: 17:40–17:50}

Soundtrack

The music was composed by M. S. Viswanathan.^[7] Swarnalatha, who made her playback singing debut with the song "Chinnanchiru Kiliye", based on the poem by Subramania Bharati, was chosen to sing the song by Viswanathan after he was impressed with her rendition of his composition "Paal Polave" from Uyarndha Manithan (1968), which he had asked her to sing during the song's audition.^[8] The film's "Chinnanchiru Kiliye" is set in Harikambhoji raga.^[9]

Song	Singers	Lyrics	Length
"Chinnachiru Kiliye"	K. J. Yesudas, Swarnalatha	Subramania Bharati	04:50
"Paavai Meethu Parijatham"	Janaki		04:18
"Neethane Maharani"	Shoba Chandrasekhar, P. Susheela		06:14
"Chinna Chiru Kiliye" (Slow)	Shoba Chandrasekhar		01:54
"Manithargale O Manithargale"	Surendran	Bharathiyar	04:09

Release and reception

Neethikku Thandanai was released on 1 May 1987.^[10][11] N. Krishnaswamy of The Indian Express wrote that the "story and narration are so thoroughly mired in preposterous situations". He went on to say, "M. S. Viswanathan has tuned a Bharathi song to good effect, but how come Bharathi agreed to write a song for this film?".^[12]

Controversy

The film became controversial as the dialogues were by the former chief minister Karunanidhi. The then ruling party AIADMK, led by the incumbent chief minister M. G. Ramachandran, tried to halt the release by filing a case that the film may disrupt law-and-order situation in Tamil Nadu, but Chandrasekhar overcame the case.^{[6]: 22:00–23:25 [13]}

References

1. Sri (10 February 2006). Nachaki (ed.). "Interview : Director Tatineni Rama Rao". Telugucinema.com. Archived from the original on 15 May 2006. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
2. Tripathi, Salil; Venkatramani, S. H. (15 June 1988). "Censorship: Wide disparities exist between censor boards". India Today. Archived from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
3. "Up close and personal with late DMK chief Kalaignar Karunanidhi". The New Indian Express. 12 August 2018. Archived from the original on 1 February 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
4. "Karunanidhi's tryst with tinsel town". The Hindu. 29 July 2018. slide 2. Archived from the original on 19 February 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
5. Naig, Udhav (30 November 2014). "'Politicians do not want actors to enter the fray'". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 19 February 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
6. எம்.ஜி.ஆர் அழைத்தார் - கலைஞர் ஜாக்கிரதையாக போய் வா என்றார் | Chai With Chithra | S.A.C | Part 2 (in Tamil). Touring Talkies. 7 July 2019. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2021 – via YouTube.
7. "Neethikku Thandanai". Gaana. Archived from the original on 19 February 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
8. Ashok Kumar, S.R. (8 May 2009). "My first break – Swarnalatha". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 May 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
9. "ஏழிசை எம்எஸ்வி | பயோகிராபி". Dinamalar (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 26 June 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
10. Rathinagiri 2007, p. 67.
11. "திரையுலகில் கலைஞர்". Dinamalar (in Tamil). 27 July 2018. Archived from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
12. Krishnaswamy, N. (8 May 1987). "Law in the dock". The Indian Express. p. 12. Retrieved 17 December 2018 – via Google News Archive.
13. Maderya, Kumuthan (2010). "Rage against the state: historicizing the "angry young man" in Tamil cinema". Jump Cut. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2021.

Bibliography

• Rathinagiri, R. (2007). Time Capsule of Kalaignar. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. OCLC 233030854.

External links

• Neethikku Thandanai at IMDb 
• Neethikku Thandanai at Rotten Tomatoes