Engirundho Vandhan (transl. He came from nowhere) is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language comedy film directed by Santhana Bharathi. The film stars Sathyaraj, Roja and Aamani, with Vijayakumar, Janagaraj, Kalyan Kumar, Vinu Chakravarthy, R. Sundarrajan, Bhanu Chander and Thyagu playing supporting roles. It was released on 15 January 1995. The composer duo Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy collaborated after a 30-year hiatus and it eventually became their last collaboration. The film was a remake of the Malayalam film Chithram (1988).[1][2]
| Engirundho Vandhan | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | Santhana Bharathi |
| Written by | Crazy Mohan (dialogue) |
| Screenplay by | Santhana Bharathi |
| Story by | Priyadarshan |
| Produced by | V. Sundaran |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | M. S. Prabhu |
| Edited by | N. P. Sathish |
| Music by | Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy |
Production company | VSR Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 130 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Plot
editRadha (Roja) is the daughter of the wealthy NRI Viswanathan (Kalyan Kumar) who resides in the United States. Radha is brought up in Chennai by her father's friend Manikandan (Janagaraj) and is in love with another man Gautham (Bhanu Chander). Her father finds a groom in the US for her and wants his daughter to marry him, but Radha decides to marry her lover Gautham against the wishes of her father. Manikandan supports her will and helps them get married. When her boyfriend finds out that she will be disinherited, he ditches her at the marriage registrar office.
Shortly after her father decides to retract his disapproval and to spend a fortnight's vacation with his daughter and his new son-in-law in his estate near a tribal community where Sundaram (R. Sundarrajan) is the chief. Because her father is already ill and because this may be his last vacation, Radha and Manikandan want to make it as happy for him as possible. They decide to conceal the fact that her boyfriend dumped her.
Manikandan hires the small-time crook Kannan (Sathyaraj) to play the part of the husband for a fortnight. What transpires next forms the rest of the story.
Cast
edit- Sathyaraj as Kannan
- Roja as Radha
- Aamani as Janaki
- Vijayakumar as Police Commissioner
- Janagaraj as Manikandan
- Kalyan Kumar as Viswanathan
- Vinu Chakravarthy as Tribal Chief
- R. Sundarrajan as Sundaram
- Bhanu Chander as Gautham
- Thyagu as Sundaram's son
- R. S. Shivaji
- Kambar Jayaraman as Pandian, Janaki's father
- Kavithalaya Krishnan as Shiva
- S. V. Shanmugam
- Mohan Raman
- Bharani as Sundaram's daughter
- C. R. Saraswathi as Meenakshi, Sundaram's wife
- Ponvannan in a guest appearance
Soundtrack
editThe soundtrack was composed by the duo Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy. They collaborated after 30 years (last being Aayirathil Oruvan in 1965) and it eventually became their last collaboration.[3] The lyrics were written by Vaali.[4]
| Song | Singer(s) | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| "Nilave Vaa" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra | 4:46 |
| "Nandhavana" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra | 5:25 |
| "Oru Kootil" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra | 5:28 |
| "Andha Sriraman" | Mano, Swarnalatha | 5:09 |
| "Engirundho Vandhan" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | 8:21 |
| "Mounam Enbadhu" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki | 4:56 |
Reception
editThulasi of Kalki praised the film for having a natural, poignant ending and also noted the elegance with which the foundation was built from the beginning to the last-minute tragedy was awe-inspiring but felt there should have been more depth with the way flashback was setup and called few songs as speed breakers. She however concluded that director Santhana Bharathi has broken the argument of succeeding only with Kamal Haasan and called it a complete film.[5] The film failed at the box office.[6]
References
edit- ^ Kolappan, B. (14 July 2015). "Veteran musician M.S. Viswanathan passes away". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 6 November 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
- ^ "மோகன்லாலும், பின்னே தமிழ் ரீமேக்கும்..." Dinamalar (in Tamil). 5 July 2015. Archived from the original on 19 May 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
- ^ சரண்யா, அருண் (15 January 1995). "பொங்கல் ரிலீஸ் – பம்பர் அறுவடை!". Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 62–63. Archived from the original on 9 September 2023. Retrieved 29 February 2024 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Engirundho Vandhan (0)". Raaga.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2024. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
- ^ துளசி (12 February 1995). "எங்கிருந்தோ வந்தான்". Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 11–12. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Vandhana (14 July 2015). "Music Composer MS Viswanathan Dead". Silverscreen.in. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
