Pagal Nilavu

Pagal Nilavu
Directed by Mani Ratnam
Produced by G. Saravanan
Written by Mani Ratnam
A. L. Narayanan (dialogues)
Starring Murali
Revathi
Sathyaraj
Sarath Babu
Raadhika
Music by Ilaiyaraaja
Cinematography Ramachandra Babu
Edited by B. Lenin
V. T. Vijayan
Production
company
Sathya Jyothi Films
Distributed by Sathya Jyothi Films
Release dates
 5 June 1985
Running time
 141 mins
Country India
Language Tamil

Pagal Nilavu (Tamil: பகல் நிலவு; English: Moon at Noon) is a 1985 Tamil film directed by Mani Ratnam, featuring Murali, Revathi and Sathyaraj in the leading roles. It is about a carefree youth caught between his loyalty to a mafia don and his love for a cop's sister. The film's score and soundtrack were composed by Ilaiyaraaja, while the cinematography of the film was handled by Ramachandra Babu. Pagal Nilavu marked Mani Ratnam's entry into Tamil cinema, though the film became a failure at the box office.

Plot

Pagal Nilavu is in essence the story of Selvam (Murali) an aimless youth in Muttam, Kanyakumari who out of a sense of deep gratitude ends up joining the gang of Devaraj aka Periyavar (Sathyaraj) and the complications which arise when he falls in love with Jyothi (Revathi), the sister of Robert Manohar (Sarat Babu) an honest and committed police inspector who is newly posted to the town. Periyavar pretty much runs the town and though he helps people in need, he is a diabolical kingpin who will not compromise on his hold of the town for anything. He wins Selvam’s undying loyalty when he helps him with money and power at a critical juncture to save his mother.

In this backdrop Robert takes charge and moves into the town with his sister and daughter. Being uncompromising in his morals, Robert is automatically drawn into a game of oneupmanship with Periyavar and his gang. He also consequentially cannot stand Periyavar’s chief henchman Selvam, and is consequentially drawn into continuous verbal and physical duels with him. Selvam meanwhile falls hook line and sinker to Jyothi (Revathi) and tries every trick in the book to woo her and eventually wins.

Cast

Production

Mani Ratnam and Thyagarajan of Sathya Jyothi Films were childhood friends and after the latter became a producer, he was keen to make a film directed by Ratnam. Like with the producers of Unaru (1984), Ratnam initially narrated the script of Mouna Raagam (1986), then under the title of Divya, but Thyagarajan wanted an action film in the commercial mould and the pair began work on Pagal Nilavu.[1] The producer suggested that Sathyaraj should play a character, while Murali and Revathi were also signed on for the lead roles in the film. Sarath Babu and Raadhika were also selected to portray supporting roles. As the film was set in a small town milieu, Ratnam felt that he could not do justice to the local dialogues and A. L. Narayanan was drafted in to help work on the dialogues.[1]

Pagal Nilavu was the first Mani Ratnam film to have standalone songs, which had to be picturised and he shot the videos of "Maina Maina" and "Nee Appothu", one after another. In order to include more commercial elements, Thyagarajan included a comedy tack written by Livingston and Kumar, featuring Goundamani as a Malayali.[1]

Soundtrack

The music composed by Ilaiyaraaja.[2]

No. Song Singers Lyrics Length (m:ss)
1 Maina Maina Ilaiyaraaja Gangai Amaran 04:23
2 Nee Appothu Malaysia Vasudevan, S. P. Sailaja 04:24
3 Poo Maalayae Ilaiyaraaja, S. Janaki 04:21
4 Poovilae Medai P. Jayachandran, P. Susheela 02:39
5 Vaarayo Vaanmathi Ramesh, Usha Srinivasan 04:33
6 Vaidhegi Raman S. Janaki 04:22

References

  1. 1 2 3 Rangan 2012, pp. 12-16.
  2. ↑ "Pagal Nilavu Songs". raaga. Retrieved 2013-12-21.

Bibliography

External links

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