Neethi (1972 film)

Neethi (transl. Justice) is a 1972 Indian Tamil-language film produced by Sujatha Cine Arts and directed by C. V. Rajendran. It is a remake of the Hindi film, Dushman (1971). The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Jayalalithaa and Sowcar Janaki. V. Nagaiah, and Chandrababu play supporting roles.[1]

Neethi
Theatrical release poster
Directed byC. V. Rajendran
Produced byK. Balaji
Written byA. L. Narayanan
Story byVirendra Sinha
StarringSivaji Ganesan
Jayalalithaa
Sowcar Janaki
Music byM. S. Viswanathan
CinematographyMasthan
Edited byB. Kanthasamy
Production
company
Sujatha Cine Arts
Release date
7 December 1972
Running time
159 mins
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

Raja is a truck driver. He is a rash driver and more than usually also driving while drunk. One night he stops at a prostitute's House, spends the night with her, and gets up late the next morning. He drives at breakneck speed in thick fog to make up for lost time while again drinking. He inevitably ends up running over and killing a farmer Ramu. But despite the opportunity to hit and run, he decides to stay and face the consequences. He is arrested by the police, charged, and brought before the courts.

Sivaji Ganesan acknowledges his guilt to the Judge (Major Sundarrajan) who in-turn knows that he should send him to prison for two years. But moved by the plight of the farmer's family (which include his widow (Sowcar Janaki), his sister (), two young childrens; a crippled father (S. V. Subbaiah), and his blind mother (Ganthimathi), and his inherent belief that imprisonment does not serve the good of the victim or the perpetrator, the Judge resolves to try a novel experiment of forcing Sivaji Ganesan to live with the farmer's family and looking after their financial needs. A horrified Ganesan attempts in vain to convince the Judge to change his ruling. He is transported to his new "prison" under police protection (J. P. Chandrababu), where he is met by hostile villagers. The farmer's family detest his presence, and call him Murderer. Sivaji Ganesan attempts to escape on the first night, but is apprehended and brought back to serve his time.

He gradually comes to terms with the twist of fate that has forced him to become a subsistence farmer and live under the ever unforgiving eyes of the farmer's family. Over time he starts sincerely working for the family and its interests. He meets Radha Jayalalithaa, a happy-go-lucky girl who operates a small bi-scope machine to entertain the village kids. They take an instant liking to each other, which blossoms into love. He also finds friends amongst the previously hostile villagers Ponnamma(Manorama). He works hard on the family plot while also protecting it from the clutches of a local landlordR.S.Manohar who has ill intentioned designs on the land and also on the farmer's sister.

Surmounting many obstacles, Raja is able to arrange the marriage of the sister with her childhood sweetheart. With the help of a benevolent police force and the Judge, he is also able to thwart the many attempts of the landlord to seize the family's land, and that of other villagers who have mortgaged their land with the same landlord. The farmer's widow however (Sowcar Janaki), is unable to forgive Raja Sivaji Ganesan for having killed her husband.

Things take a dramatic turn for the worse when Raja Sivaji Ganesan is framed and arrested for the accidental death of Radha Jayalalithaa's drunk grandfather. At the same time, the landlord has the lush harvest produced by Sivaji Ganesan and other villagers covertly set ablaze, and has RadhaJayalalithaa kidnapped, primarily to punish Raja Sivaji Ganesan. Sowcar Janaki, who has been working in one of the landlord's Ice Factory thinking he is an honourable man, witnesses his misdeeds, and finally realises her mistake. She is able to rescue Radha Jayalalithaa but gets trapped by the landlord instead, who attempts to rape her. Meanwhile,Raja Sivaji Ganesan stages an escape from his holding cell and with the help of RadhaJayalalithaa, is able to come to Sowcar Janaki's rescue in the nick of time. He confronts the landlord and violently assaults him as payback. The police show up and arrest the landlord for his role in defrauding the villagers and destroying their harvest.

The deceased farmer's family finally accept Raja Sivaji Ganesan as one of their own, and arrange his marriage to Radha Jayalalithaa. In a final twist though, his two years' imprisonment is complete, and the Police arrive to escort him back to town. He pleads with the Judge to let him serve a life sentence, and the Judge smiles, vindicated that his experiment has been successful.In The End Four Frames Are Shown Where Villagers Welcome Raja And Celebrate Him in First Frame And In second frame childrens and dog reunite with Raja.In The Third Frame Family Members Of Farmer Ramu And Ponnamma Seen Reunite And In Fourth Frame Radha And Raja Had United.

Cast

Soundtrack
NoTitleSinger(s) Lyrics
1 "Engaladhu Bhoomi" T. M. Soundararajan, & P. Susheela Kovai Soundararajan, VeeramaniKannadasan
2 "Naalai Mudhal Kudikka" T. M. Soundararajan
3 "Mappilaiya Paathukkadi Maina" T. M. Soundararajan
4 "Odudhu Paar" P. Susheela
5 "Kalyanathula Melam" P. Susheela

References
  1. Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (1998) [1994]. Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema (PDF). Oxford University Press. p. 409. ISBN 0-19-563579-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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