Urimaikural (transl. Voice for Rights) is a 1974 Indian Tamil-language action drama film, written and directed by C. V. Sridhar. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran, Latha, Anjali Devi and V. S. Raghavan. It was released on 7 November 1974, and became a silver jubilee hit.
Plot
Gopinath and his elder brother Sundaram Pillai are very close: they live under the same roof, and are very respected farmers. Gopinath is unconcerned for his future and has fun while also working hard on their farm. He has a love interest named Radha, but she is also the interest of Duraisamy. He wants to get rid of Gopinath's rivalry for Radha, so that he can marry her. He arranges events leading to Radha's engagement to Gopinath, and he also loans money to Sundaram, making him promise that Gopinath won't interfere in their marriage, which Gopinath agrees to.
However, Radha and Gopinath meet one last time, and they are caught by Duraisamy and Sundaram. One thing leads to another[further explanation needed] and Gopinath and Radha get married, are excommunicated by Sundaram from their family. Duraisamy now wants revenge and he arranges to make it look like Sundaram has swindled money belonging to the village. They give him a year to return the money failing which all his property would be confiscated. At this juncture, Gopinath works hard, fights off Duraisamy's henchmen and returns the money while also exposing him as the original thief.
Cast
M. G. Ramachandran as Gopinath "Gopi"
Latha as Radha
Anjali Devi as Parvathi
M. N. Nambiar as Duraisamy
S. V. Sahasranamam as Sundaram Pillai
V. K. Ramasamy as Kozhaidhar Pulai
C. K. Saraswathi
V. S. Raghavan as Sabapathy
Nagesh as Sadhasivam
Thengai Srinivasan as Paramasivam
Pushpalatha as Muthamma
Sachu as Sachu/Sarasa
Typist Gopu as Bai
Samikannu as Villager
Karikol Raju
Usilai Mani
Gemini Mali as Iyer
Production
M. G. Ramachandran and Sridhar earlier were supposed to work in a film called Andru Sindhiya Ratham which got shelved. According to Sridhar, the reason for Ramachandran backing out may have been that, since Sridhar launched both Kadhalikka Neramillai (1964) and Andru Sindhiya Ratham at the same time, he promoted Kadhalikka Neramillai as the first contemporary colour film in Tamil but did not do the same for Andru Sindhiya Ratham, which may have made Ramachandran upset, causing him to leave.[1] Sridhar, who was reeling under financial problems due to failure of his previous film Alaigal and also his other film Vaira Nenjam was getting delayed due to call sheet issues of Sivaji Ganesan,[2] as per the advice of his friend, the Hindi actor Rajendra Kumar, decided to collaborate with Ramachandran who agreed to act under his direction.[3][4]
Soundtrack
The music was composed by M. S. Viswanathan.[10][11] The song "Vizhiye Kadhai Ezhudhu" is set to Kambhoji raga.[12] This song and "Aambalaingala" were penned by Kannadasan, it was added by Sridhar when political issues led to a widening rift between Ramachandran and Kannadasan.[5] But Sridhar could not get a satisfactory response to the situation.[13] So Sridhar and Viswanathan decided to convince Ramachandran to have Kannadasan's song and Ramachandran accepted the proposal as he bore no personal grudge against the lyricist.[14][15]
Track listing
No. Title Lyrics Singer(s) Length
1. "Aambilaingala Ninga" Kannadasan L. R. Eswari 4:03
2. "Kalyana Valayosai" Vaali T. M. Soundararajan, P. Susheela 4:33
3. "Mattikittaradi" Vaali L. R. Eswari 4:59
4. "Nethu Poothaley" Vaali T. M. Soundararajan 5:16
5. "Oru Thai Vayitril" Vaali T. M. Soundararajan 4:45
6. "Ponna Porandha" Vaali T. M. Soundararajan 4:32
7. "Vizhiye Kathai Ezhudhu" Kannadasan K. J. Yesudas, P. Susheela 5:38
Total length: 33:46
Release and reception
Ananda Vikatan favourably reviewed the film, particularly the climax for its pace.[16] The film became a silver jubilee hit.[17]
References
Sri Kantha, Sachi (6 June 2014). "MGR Remembered – Part 18 | A review of two MGR-related books". Ilankai Tamil Sangam. Archived from the original on 21 December 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
ஸ்ரீதர், டைரக்டர் (27 September 1992). "பெருந்தன்மைக்கு ஒரு எம்.ஜி.ஆர்!". Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 56–57. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2022 – via Internet Archive.
Rangarajan, Malathi (21 July 2016). "The director's fine cut". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
Veeravalli, Shrikanth (2013). MGR: A Biography. Rainlight. p. 45. ISBN 9788129129062.
Directed by C. V. Sridhar
Written by C. V. Sridhar
Produced by Y. Kannaiah
Starring M. G. Ramachandran
Latha
Anjali Devi
V. S. Raghavan
Cinematography N. Balakrishnan
Edited by N. M. Shankar
Music by M. S. Viswanathan
Production
company
Chitralaya
Release date
7 November 1974
Country India
Language Tamil
Midia Old