Ram Lakshman (film)

This article is about the 1981 film. For similar uses, see Ram Laxman.

Ram Lakshman
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	R. Thyagarajan
Story by	Devar Films Story Department
Produced by	C. Dhandayuthapani
Starring	Kamal Haasan Sripriya
Cinematography	V. Ramamoorthy
Edited by	M. G. Balurao
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja
Production company	Devar Films
Release date	28 February 1981 (1981-02-28)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Ram Lakshman is a 1981 Indian Tamil-language film directed by R. Thyagarajan. The film stars Kamal Haasan and Sripriya. It was released on 28 February 1981,^[1] and remade in Telugu as Rama Lakshmanulu the same year.^{[citation needed]}

Plot

Ram and his pet elephant Lakshman have grown up together and are very emotionally attached to one another. They share such a strong bond that Ram refuses to marry his sweetheart Meena when her father refuses to sanction their marriage unless Ram leaves Lakshman. Meanwhile, in a very cunningly planned plot, an employee of Meena's father kills him and implicates Ram and Lakshman for the murder. How the two friends stand by each other in the hour of need and how they prove themselves innocent forms the rest of the plot.

Cast

• Kamal Haasan as Ram
• Sripriya as Meena
• M. N. Nambiar as Chandrasekar
• Pandari Bai as Meenakshi (guest appearance)
• Asokan as Paranthaman
• Raveendran as Raja
• Sivachandran as Kumar
• Suruli Rajan
• Thengai Srinivasan
• Major Sundarrajan
• V.Gopalakrishnan

Production

Like Devar Films' previous ventures, this film features an animal in a prominent role, in this case an elephant.^[2] Filming took place at Ooty.^[3]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja.^[4] The song "Nandhaan Ungappanda" was selected to be played at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics.^[5]

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Nandhaan Ungappanda"	Vaali	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
2.	"Nadakkattum"	Vaali	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
3.	"Valibame Va"	Vairamuthu	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. P. Sailaja
4.	"Vizhiyil En Vizhiyil"	Vaali	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, P. Susheela
5.	"Onnan Onu"	Vaali	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Malaysia Vasudevan

Reception

Nalini Sastry of Kalki felt Kamal Haasan's attempts at comedy failed and the film and story lacked something but praised Ilaiyaraaja's music and climax fight.^[6]

References

1. "Ram Lakshman (1981)". Screen 4 Screen. Archived from the original on 19 November 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
2. "From MGR-Devar Films' Nalla Neram to Yogi Babu's Gurkha and Gorilla, a look at Tamil films that featured animals as star attractions". Cinema Express. 10 July 2019. p. 9. Archived from the original on 12 April 2024. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
3. "புதுமை! புதுமை!". Kalki (in Tamil). 7 December 1980. pp. 32–33. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023 – via Internet Archive.
4. "Raam Lakshman Tamil Film EP Vinyl Record by Ilayaraja". Mossymart. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
5. "Lesser-known Ilayaraja number at Olympics opener". The Hindu. 20 June 2012. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
6. சாஸ்திரி, நளினி (15 March 1981). "ராம் லக்ஷ்மன்". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 49. Archived from the original on 23 March 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2023 – via Internet Archive.

External links

• Ram Lakshman at IMDb