1981 Indian film
| Kadal Meengal | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | G. N. Rangarajan |
| Screenplay by | Panchu Arunachalam |
| Story by | T. Damodaran |
| Produced by | R. Shantha |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | N. K. Viswanathan |
| Edited by | K. R. Ramalingam |
| Music by | Ilaiyaraaja |
| Production company | K. R. G. Art Productions |
| Release date |
|
| Running time | 137 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Kadal Meengal (transl. Sea Fishes) is a 1981 Indian Tamil-language masala film directed by G. N. Rangarajan, starring Kamal Haasan, Sujatha, Nagesh and Swapna. It is a remake of the 1980 Malayalam film Meen, and also draws inspiration from the Hindi film Trishul (1978). The film revolves around a man seeking revenge on his father for abandoning the former's mother. It was released on 5 June 1981.
Plot
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Selvanayakam alias is a poor but hard-working fisherman who is in love with Bhagyam from the same fishing hamlet. After a tiff with the locals, Selvam moves to a neighbouring village for fishing and is feared dead during a cyclone. Selvam returns alive after a while and unable to find Bhagyam, marries another woman. Bhagyam has borne his child but lives in isolation away from the life of Selvam who has grown to be a rich businessman. After several years, Bhagyam's son Rajan finds out about his father whom he despises for having deserted his mother. He vengefully joins his father's rivals and enters into a long confrontation with his father in business and in personal life as well.
Cast
- Kamal Haasan as Selvanayakam and Rajan (dual role)
- Sujatha as Bhagyam
- Nagesh as Peter
- Swapna as Nisha
- Ambika as Selvanayakam's daughter
- Suman as Sekhar
- K. A. Thangavelu as Mudhaliyar
- Sangili Murugan as Dhanakodi
- Thengai Srinivasan as Sivaanandham
- Sukumari as Annaporani
- Nizhalgal Ravi as Ravi
- G. Srinivasan as Nachimuthu
- K. Kannan as Vadivelu
- V. Gopalakrishnan
- A. R. Srinivasan
- Pandu as Vadivelu's colleague
Production
The makeup for old look of Kamal Haasan was done by R. Sundaramoorthy who revealed the look is inspired from a character from the 1980 film Babylon.
Soundtrack
The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Madini Madini" | Gangai Amaran | P. Susheela, Malaysia Vasudevan & Chorus | |
| 2. | "Thaalattudhe Vaanam" | Kannadasan | P. Jayachandran, S. Janaki | |
| 3. | "Endrendrum Anandhame" | Panchu Arunachalam | Malaysia Vasudevan | |
| 4. | "Kalai Maane" | Kannadasan | P. Susheela |
Reception
Sindhu-Jeeva of Kalki praised Kamal Haasan's acting, Viswanathan's cinematography and Ilaiyaraaja's music but felt unit who worked a lot in the idea of taking gold and making jewellery not realising it is just clay and concluded Meen (fish) in Malayalam, Karuvadu (dried fish) in Tamil.
References
- Pandian, Avinash (30 June 2015). "The Malabar influence on Tamil superstars". Behindwoods. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- Iyengar, Shriram (5 May 2018). "40 years of Trishul: Revisiting two Tamil remakes of Yash Chopra's classic drama". Cinestaan. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- "Kadal Meengal (1981)". Screen 4 Screen. Archived from the original on 31 December 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
- Rangarajan, Malathi (9 April 2011). "We will miss you, Sujatha". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
- "மேக்அப் - கலை" (PDF). Kalki (in Tamil). 2 August 1981. pp. 9–10. Retrieved 20 October 2023 – via Internet Archive.
- "Kadal Meengal Tamil Film EP Vinyl Record by Ilayaraja". Mossymart. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- "Kadal Meengal (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) – EP". Apple Music. 5 June 1981. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
- சிந்து; ஜீவா (28 June 1981). "கடல் மீன்கள்". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 19. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2023 – via Internet Archive.
External links
| Films directed by G. N. Rangarajan | |
|---|---|
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