Natpukkaga
Natpukaaga (English: For Friendship) is a 1998 Tamil drama film directed by K. S. Ravikumar. It starred R. Sarathkumar, Simran, Vijayakumar and Sujatha in the lead roles. It became a blockbuster upon release. The film won the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil. Sarath Kumar won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor and K. S. Ravikumar, the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film.
| Natpukaaga | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | K. S. Ravikumar |
| Produced by | A. M. Rathnam |
| Written by | K. S. Ravikumar |
| Story by | Jyothi Krishna |
| Starring | R. Sarathkumar Simran Vijayakumar Sujatha Manorama |
| Music by | Deva |
| Cinematography | Ashok Rajan |
| Edited by | K. Thanikachalam |
Production company | Sri Surya Movies |
| Distributed by | Sri Surya Movies |
Release date |
|
Running time | 162 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
It was remade into Telugu as Sneham Kosam which starred Chiranjeevi with K. S. Ravikumar directing the version. Later remade in Kannada as Diggajaru (2000).
Plot
Chinnayya (Sarath Kumar) works for a rich man named Karunakaran (Vijayakumar) in a village. Chinnayya has great respect and affection towards Karunakaran and Karunakaran too takes care of Chinnayya and looks after him as his own son. Karunakaran hates his first daughter Gowri (Sithara) and her husband Perusu (Mansoor Ali Khan). Prabhavathy (Simran), Karunakaran's younger daughter, arrives at the village after completing her education from the US. Prabhavathy loves Chinnayya but he does not reciprocate, thinking that this would be a betrayal of Karunakaran's trust in him. Later, Chinnayya too understands Prabhavathy's love and accepts it.
One day, suddenly, Prabhavathy accuses that Chinnayya tried to rape her. This angers Karunakaran, and he beats Chinnayya and sends him away from his home. At this time, Muthaiya (also Sarath Kumar), Chinnayya's father, is released from jail and comes to meet Karunakaran. Muthaiya also worked under Karunakaran before and had won his trust, but Prabhavathy gets angry on seeing Muthaiya and asks him to leave the house because he had been jailed for murdering Karunakaran's wife Lakshmi (Sujatha) a few years back. Prabhavathy also reveals the truth that she staged a drama to send Chinnayya away from her father. Karunakaran is shocked knowing the truth and feels bad that he misunderstood Chinnayya, believing his daughter's deception.
Chinnayya also hates his father Muthaiya since childhood as he was accused of killing Lakshmi. The story moves to a flashback. Muthaiya was a loyal servant in Karunakaran's home. Perusu is Lakshmi's brother, and his wedding was arranged with Gowri. On the day of marriage, Lakshmi got to know about Perusu's affair with another woman and decided to cancel the wedding, but Perusu injured Lakshmi badly, hid her in a room, and the marriage was completed. However, Muthaiya found Lakshmi and got to know the truth about Perusu. Before he could go and stop the marriage, it was already finished, and so he did not want Perusu to go to jail as that would impact Gowri's life. Lakshmi died from her injuries, and Muthaiya accepted that he had murdered her for money and was arrested by police. This made Gowri and Prabhavathy hate him and his family.
Karunakaran did not believe this, so he went to jail to meet Muthaiya and asked him the truth. Muthaiya told the truth to Karunakaran and got a promise that Karunakaran would not reveal this truth to anyone else as Gowri would be alone then. Karunakaran agreed but sent Perusu away from his home. Gowri also left his home without knowing the truth and understanding her father. The story comes to present, and the wedding is planned between Prabhavathy and Perusu's brother Sirasu (Ranjith). Since Chinnayya hates his father so much, Karunakaran was forced to reveal the truth. On the wedding day of Prabhavathy and Sirasu, Perusu's mistress comes back with her brother saying that he wishes to marry Perusu's daughter. During this event, the truth about Lakshmi's death is revealed which was witnessed by Gowri. Perusu tries to kill Gowri so that the wedding would not stop and they can take all of Karunakaran's properties. Somehow, Muthaiya comes to Gowri's aid. Soon, a fight erupts in which Perusu tries to stab Gowri but Muthaiya saves her by coming in between. Gowri reveals the truth to everybody during the wedding. Perusu is killed by Sirasu after knowing the truth that he killed his own sister Lakshmi. Muthaiya hands over Prabhavathy to Karunakaran and succumbs to his fatal wound. Karunakaran then cries in front of Muthaiya's dead body and also dies. The movie ends with the marriage of Chinnayya and Prabhavathy.
Cast
- Sarathkumar as Chinnaiya and Muthaiya (Dual role)
- Simran as Prabhavathi
- Vijayakumar as Karunakaran / Ayya (Prabhavathi, Gowri Father)
- Sujatha as Lakshmi (Prabhavathi, Gowri Mother)
- Sithara as Gowri
- Mansoor Ali Khan as Gajapathy (Gowri Husband, Lakshmi First Brother)
- Ranjith as Pasupathy (Lakshmi Second Brother)
- R. Sundarrajan as (Karunakaran Kanakku Pillai)
- Senthil as Kannan (Karunakaran's home servant)
- Manorama as Aatha (Muthaiya's mother, Chinnaiya Grandmother)
- Manobala as Madurai (Gajapathy Kanakku pillai)
- Anu Mohan as Anu (Karunakaran's home car driver)
- Idichapuli Selvaraj as Selvaraj (Karunakaran's servant)
- Pallavi as Gajapathy's wife
- Crane Manohar as Village Farmer
- Anitha as Kamakshi (Kannan's lover)
- Sridevi as Selvi, Gowri's Daughter
- Kovai Senthil as Iyer
- Mahendran as Young Chinnaiya
- Hemalatha as Young Prabhavathi
- Kavithalaya Krishnan as Auto Driver (guest role)
- K. S. Ravikumar as Nondi Samiyar (guest role)
Production
Director K. S. Ravikumar initially approached Mammootty to play the lead role.[1] For reasons unknown, he declined the offer. Sarath Kumar was then chosen to play the lead. The team had initially considered Soundarya, Meena and then Keerthi Reddy to play the leading female role, their unavailability led to Simran being cast.[2] The film's story was written by Jothikrishna, son of producer AM Rathnam.[3]
Remakes
| Year | Film | Language | Cast | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Sneham Kosam[4] | Telugu | Chiranjeevi, Meena | K. S. Ravikumar |
| 2000 | Diggajaru | Kannada | Vishnuvardhan, Ambareesh | D. Rajendra Babu |
Soundtrack
There are 6 songs composed by Deva. Lyrics by Kavignar Kaalidhasan [5] Sarathkumar and Vijayakumar made their singing debut with this film, performing "Namma ayya romba nallavarungo".[6]
| S:No | Song's | Singer's | Lyric's |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Namma Aaya Nallvarungo | Mano, Malaysia Vasudevan, Sarathkumar, Vijayakumar | Kaalidhasan |
| 2 | Adikkira Kai Anaikkuma | Harini | |
| 3 | Chinna Chinna Mundhiriya | Mano, K. S. Chithra | |
| 4 | Garuda Garuda | Krishnaraj, Sujatha | |
| 5 | Meesaikkaara Nanbaa | Deva | |
| 6 | Meesakkaara Nanbaa (Sad) | Krishnaraj |
References
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XElsAGpbb7U&t=273
- http://chandrag.tripod.com/sept98/
- Kamath, Sudhish (28 December 2003). "Filmmaker with a difference". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 23 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
- https://m.rediff.com/movies/1998/oct/13ss.htm
- Natpukkaga Songs - Natpukkaga Tamil Movie Songs - Tamil Songs Lyrics Trailer Videos, Preview Stills Reviews
- https://web.archive.org/web/20010112113500/http://www.dinakaran.com/cinema/english/highlights/01-01-99/yearhig2.htm