Kallazhagar

Kallazhagar is a 1999 Indian Tamil action drama film directed by Bharathi featuring Vijayakanth and Laila in the lead roles. Nassar, Sonu Sood and Manivannan play other supporting roles, while Deva composed the score and soundtrack for the film.[1] This is the Tamil debut of Laila. It was later dubbed in Telugu as Mathrudesham.[2]

Kallazhagar
Poster
Directed byBharathi
Produced byHenry
Written byBharathi
J. Mahendran
StarringVijayakanth
Laila
Music byDeva
CinematographyThangar Bachan
Edited byPeter Pappiah
Production
company
Pangaj Productions
Release date
6 February 1999
Running time
141 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

The song Vaararu Vaararu Azhagar Vaararu is played every year at the Chithirai fest in Madurai. The song in the movie also takes place in the Chithirai festival.

Cast

Production

Laila, who had appeared in other regional Indian films, opted to make her debut in Tamil films with Kallazhagar after she had famously rejected a string of other Tamil offers including VIP (1997).[3] The actress also turned down a role in Ajith Kumar's Unnai Thedi (1999), insistent that Kallazhagar should be her first release.[4] Early reports had suggested that Hindi actor Dilip Kumar would also be a part of the cast, but he eventually did not feature.[5]

An elephant called Appu was brought in from Thrissur in Kerala, where the elephant formed one of a stable maintained by the famed Paaramekaavu temple, which forms the venue of the yearly Thrissur Pooram festival.[6] A few scenes from the film were filmed at the Kallazhagar temple in Madhurai, but crowd trouble meant that the makers chose to finish the shoot in sets. For a particular song in the film, Russian dancers imported to dance alongside Laila. As the film marked music composer Deva's 250th album, the film industry felicitated him with a ceremony at the Kamarajar Arangam.[7]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Deva.

No.SongSingersLyrics
1Azhaga KallazhagaArundhatiVairamuthu
2Chinna VayasuleK. J. YesudasNandalala
3Oh ManaleaS. P. B. Charan, Anuradha Sriram
4Thoonda ThoondaK. S. Chithra, KrishnarajThamarai
5Vaararu VaararuDeva, S. A. RajkumarVairamuthu

Release

The film was initially scheduled to release on 14 January 1999 coinciding with the festival of Thai Pongal though became delayed due to problems at the censor. The film was rejected by Indian censors, because of its potential to spark religious conflicts - with particularly a scene in which some Muslim extremists masquerade themselves as religious Hindus and join in the celebration of a major festival in a temple - being highlighted as a concern. The team subsequently had to adapt the concept partially.[3]

The success of the film prompted the producer Henry to sign Vijayakanth for his next film. The film also created demand for Laila as a lead heroine and she shortly after signed on to appear in a role in Mudhalvan (2000).[3]

References
  1. "டோடோவின் ரஃப் நோட்டு — Tamil Kavithai -- தமிழ் கவிதைகள் - நூற்று கணக்கில்!" [Dodo's Rough Note – Tamil Kavithai – Tamil Poems – Hundreds of Things!]. டோடோவின் ரஃப் நோட்டு (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 22 July 2012.
  2. "YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017.
  3. Chandra Gobichetipal (February 1999). "Vasanth to direct Vijayakanth". chandrag.tripod.com.
  4. Chandra Gobichetipal (November 1998). "Glamour dolls". chandrag.tripod.com.
  5. https://web.archive.org/web/20041023123535/http://www.dinakaran.com/cinema/english/gossip/25-5-98/dileep.htm
  6. Rajitha (10 November 1998). "Appu returns". www.rediff.com.
  7. Rajitha (16 January 1999). "And the Pongal windfall..." m.rediff.com.
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