Amaidhi Padai

Amaidhi Padai (transl. Peacekeeping Force) is a 1994 Tamil-language political satire film, written and directed by Manivannan, who also acted in the movie. Sathyaraj played a dual role as father and son in the film, with Ranjitha playing the female lead. The story revolves around an ordinary man who builds his political career through short routes. This film is touted as one of Sathyaraj's best performances till date. It's loosely based on the story of the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Dr. M. Karunanidhi. The film was followed by the sequel Nagaraja Cholan MA, MLA in 2013, also starring Naam Tamilar Katchi's Seeman. It went on to run more than 25 weeks and was declared a blockbuster. Over the recent years, this film developed a strong cult following and is regarded as an ingenious visionary political satire film.[2][3]

Amaidhi Padai
Poster
Directed byManivannan
Produced byK. Balachandran
U. K. Senthikumar
K. N. Ilamurugan
Written byManivannan
StarringSathyaraj
Manivannan
Ranjitha
Sujatha
Kasturi
Music byIlaiyaraaja
CinematographyD. Shankar
Camera Operator:
U. K. Senthil Kumar
Edited byP. Venkateshwara Rao
Production
company
M. R. Films International
Release date
  • 13 January 1994 (1994-01-13)
[1]
Running time
160 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

Amavasai (Sathyaraj), a homeless but egotistical man, gets acquainted to politician Manimaran (Manivannan), then MLA of the Palladam constituency, near Tirupur. Amavasai helps Mani with some petty tasks during election campaign and meetings. Amavasai grows into a well-acclaimed helper and becomes Mani's associate. Meanwhile, Amavasai lusts after Thayamma (Kasthuri). One day, he drugs her and then rapes her. Mani instructs Amavasai to stand for the MLA election as an independent candidate in the upcoming general election with his support as Mani was not given his party ticket. Amavasai wins by a huge margin and becomes the MLA. He abandons the now pregnant Thayamma. Thayamma and her parents move out of the village to avoid humiliation. Soon, Thayamma gives birth to a boy and dies. Amavasai forgets Mani's help and forces him to become his crony. He changes his name to Nagaraja Cholan to gain social status. He marries the only daughter of the rich local landlord Sivakami (Sujatha) and cheats him out of his palace. Over the years, Amavasai grows into a highly influential and corrupt politician with high criminal affluence. He builds a strong political empire through shortcuts. His ego and pride to remain in power make him kill many. He wins and remains as MLA of Palladam in all the general elections for next 20 years.

Amavasai and Thayamma's son, Thangavel (Sathyaraj), becomes a CRPF constable who is deputed in Amavasai's constituency. Thangavel is betrothed to a girl studying in +2, Kuyili (Ranjitha). They fall in love, but during their engagement, a dispute arises as people ask about Thangavel's father's identity, and the wedding is cancelled. He asks his grandparents about his father, but they remain silent. He accuses his mother of being characterless, his grandfather slaps him and tells him about Ammavasai. Thangavel now comes to know of his real father, about the betrayal of his mother and also his father's corruption. The state assembly is about to be dissolved prior to general elections. The ruling party leadership does not wish to give a seat to Amavasai, as he has minimal chances of winning due to his corruption and illegal activities as MLA. He creates a caste riot in his constituency and pretends to stop it, so he is given the ticket again. Thangavel is posted as the riot police's head constable to stop riots and protect Ammavasai. Thangavel saves Ammavasai from an assassination attempt, then goes to Ammavasai's house and reveals his identity. He challenges his father that he will stop all of his illegal activities. Thangavel gets posted as a Sub-Inspector in the same area. The story proceeds to show Amavasai and Thangavel's battle and who wins in the end.

Cast

Production

Sathyaraj was enjoying good success as a lead actor, when his friend Manivannan narrated the script of "Amaidhipadai" to him. He initially rejected the script as he was not interested in playing a negative role. But after being impressed by the narration, he accepted to play the role.[4][5]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, while the lyrics were written by Vaali, Pulamaipithan and Ponnadiyan.[6]

Track#SongArtist(s)
1 "Sollividu Velli Nilave" Mano, Swarnalatha
2 "Enakku Unnai Ninaicha" Swarnalatha
3 "Ada Naan Aatchu" Mano
4 "Muthumani Ther Irukku" Mano, S. Janaki
5 "Vetri Varuthu" Mano, S. N. Surendar, Deepan Chakravarthy
6 "Amma Thaaye" Ilaiyaraaja

Reception

Amaidhi Padai emerged victorious among the Pongal releases of 1994, winning the race against other successful films like Kamal Haasan's Mahanadi and Vijayakanth's Sethupathi IPS. It was praised by film critics who declared the film an Asathal Padai. Malini Mannath of The Indian Express praised Sathyaraj's character and his performance.[7] K. Vijiyan of New Straits Times wrote "A pretty much straight-forward story but it is Manivannan's super handling and interesting dialogues that place this movie above the average".[8]

Sequel

Manivannan directed the sequel of the film titled Nagarajan Cholan MA MLA (2013) with Sathyaraj reprising his role. However the sequel failed to repeat the success of original film.[9]

Remakes
Year Film Language Director Ref
1994 M. Dharmaraju M.A. Telugu Raviraja Pinisetty [10]
1995 Jallaad Hindi T L V Prasad
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References
  1. Shivakumar, Vivek (13 January 2019). "25 Years Of Amaidhi Padai: The Politican As The 'Anti Hero'". Film Companion. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  2. "25 years of Amaidhi Padai: Everything you need to know about the Tamil political satire film; see pics | Entertainment News". www.timesnownews.com. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  3. "A sequel to Amaidhi Padai? - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  4. "மணிவண்ணனின் `அமைதிப்படை' மீண்டும் வில்லனா?: நடிக்க மறுத்தார், சத்யராஜ்" [Sathyaraj initially refused to play negative character in Amaidhi Padai]. Maalai Malar. 7 December 2013. Archived from the original on 7 December 2013.
  5. Rao, Subha (4 May 2013). "Many Shades of grey". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 September 2019.
  6. http://www.starmusiq.com/tamil_movie_songs_listen_download.asp?MovieId=1539
  7. Mannath, Malini (28 January 1994). "Best as villain". The Indian Express. p. 6.
  8. Vijiyan, K. (12 February 1994). "Sathyaraj plays double role in political movie". New Straits Times. p. 13.
  9. Rao, Subha (11 May 2013). "Fifty and counting". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 September 2019.
  10. "Director Manivannan returns with 'Amaidhipadai' sequel". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
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