Nandhaa

<p>The plot opens with a mother and her children arriving at . The elder child, Nandhaa, is sent to a for murdering his father after witnessing his father’s illicit affair with a prostitute and abuse towards Nandhaa’s mother when she finds out about it. He returns home to his mother, who is , and his younger sister, who are still in a state of shock after what has happened to their family. Nandhaa decides to start life afresh by trying to study in a college. Having the record of being an ex-convict, he finds it difficult to get a seat in the college. He then meets Periyavar, a rich disciplinarian who runs an arts and science college with an iron hand. Periyavar’s forefathers were the kings of the kingdom and fell in line in with the . After , all of their palaces and titles were taken by , but a lot of other material wealth was in their hands. He still thinks himself a guardian of people and helps many poor people. He even goes to the extent of providing justice when the law and police cannot or will not. Periyavar develops a soft corner for Nandhaa and guides him like his own son. Kalyani, a from , meets Nandhaa, and both fall in love. Meanwhile, Durai asks Periyavar, who currently helps the students in his college a lot to aid an antisocial element, to but Periyavar refuses outright. One of Periyavar’s betraying sidekicks agrees to help Durai. Meanwhile, Periyavar falls sick and gets admitted in the hospital. Nandhaa stays around to look after his mentor and guide. Fearing what he has done might be out in the light, Durai pulls out Periyavar’s oxygen tube in the hospital when Nandhaa is not around and blames Nandhaa for murdering his father-in-law. Nandhaa, having to deal with the pain of losing the only man who gave him a second chance to live, struggles the fray of being convicted of murder once again and chooses to kill Durai in the court campus. However, the case is dismissed due to the lack of evidence. Finally, Nandhaa is acquitted as there are no eyewitnesses to the murder. After being acquitted for Durai’s murder, Nandhaa returns home. However, his paranoid mother, thinks that her son still has murder instincts, so she waits at home to feed him a meal, which she has poisoned herself for him. Nandhaa finds out that the food is poisoned when he eats it, but continues to do so with a satisfaction that he is being fed by his mother. Little does his mother know that it will mean her own death. Nandhaa dies in his mother’s lap and when his friend Lodukku Pandi, his sister, and Kalyani come out to see what has happened, they realise that both Nandhaa and his mother are dead, and the former three mourn the latter two’s deaths. The title role was initially offered to , who rejected the film citing that had not fully developed the story and screenplay before narrating the terms to him. Ajith’s departure meant that the film’s proposed producer, , also backed out. was selected as his replacement instead. The director tried to cast for a character role in the film, but his unavailability led to being cast. was signed on as the lead actress. Because she portrays a , cinematographer shot her scenes under “normal lighting” to depict her as less glamorous than some of her other Tamil films. It is the acting debut of , previously a singer and musician. Saravanan, who would later be known as Saravanan made his debut through this film. The role required Suriya to undergo physical change, so production was delayed until Suriya had finished filming for (2000) and (2001). The first look of the film created media anticipation, with both Suriya and Rajkiran sporting looks which they had not portrayed before. Post-release, Suriya stated, “when happened, everything changed. I became a serious actor, and director Bala instilled in me the discipline to work without committing errors.” In an interview, Bala mentioned that the Malayalam film ‘s climax inspired him a lot and based on this climax, the story of was written backwards. The soundtrack was composed by . It was released on 21 October 2001 at , by actor and director . The songs “Amma Endrale” and “Orayiram” are based on the raga , and “Mun Paniyaa” is set to Keeravani. The lyrics of five songs were written by five different lyricists, while “Maayane Andha”‘s lyrics were derived from the written and sung by . S. R. Ashok Kumar from noted that “powerful performance by the lead artists, a neat screenplay and narration without any deviations in the form of dance or song make worth watching. Bala’s direction makes viewing a gripping experience.” He added that “Surya as the young rustic man has reached a new milestone in acting. Rajkiran shines in the role of Periyavar. A surprise, however, is Rajashri, who reveals great histrionic skills.” In comparison, Tulika of stated the film failed to live up to expectations, likening it to (2001) and stated that “the screenplay is smooth and incident-driven. In the final analysis, it is the climax that may be the main reason why the audience does not lap up this film.” criticised the film’s ” hangover”, but praised the performances of Suriya, Laila and Rajkiran, concluding, “Hankies will not be sufficient, take a towel if you are in the mood to watch “. Visual Dasan of wrote the director, who has proved that he can deliver a vibrant film without the masala fragrance, is keeping the faith of the fans he earned with with . K. N. Vijiyan of wrote “This is a moving story from director Bala who gave the runaway hit . If you liked , you’ll probably enjoy this new venture”. Malini Mannath of wrote “Director Bala re-establishes his credentials again as a film-maker who moves away from the beaten track, and tries to bring in freshness by way of concept and narrative style. His ‘Nandha’ like ‘Sethu’, before it, is different from the routine films. The artistes are chosen well, irrespective of their market rating, and the locations have a freshness too. But the director could have avoided repetition of scenes and ambience, which give a sense of deja vu”. In 2004, was to be remade in starring and , but the film was later dropped. Instead it was dubbed and released in the language at least twice; as (2006) and as . This version was released by Nagamalla Shankar in 2011, shortly after the release of Bala’s . Karunas’ character in the film, “Lodukku Pandi”, inspired the title of a 2015 film starring him.</p>