Captain Prabhakaran | |
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Directed by | R. K. Selvamani |
Produced by |
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Screenplay by | R. K. Selvamani |
Story by | R. K. Selvamani |
Dialogues by | Liyakath Ali Khan |
Starring | Vijayakanth |
Cinematography |
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Edited by | G. Jayachandran [1] V. Udhayashankar |
Music by | Ilaiyaraaja |
Production company | |
Release date |
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Running time | 162 minutes |
Country | India |
Language | Tamil |
Captain Prabhakaran is a 1991 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by R. K. Selvamani. It stars Vijayakanth in the lead role. It also features Mansoor Ali Khan, Rupini, Livingston and Ramya Krishnan, while R. Sarathkumar appears in a cameo role. It was Vijayakanth's 100th film, and popularised the sobriquet "captain" for him. [2]
The character of the antagonist Veerabhadran, played by Mansoor Ali Khan, is loosely based on the forest brigand Veerappan. [3] The title of the film was inspired fro?v=aPgw32Gpi7U |title=R. url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608055218/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPgw32Gpi7U |archive-date=8 June 2023 |url-status=live |via=YouTube}}</ref> [4] Upon its release, the film became a blockbuster at the box office. [5]
Captain Prabhakaran is an IFS officer (Indian Forest Service) sent to Sathyamangalam to nab Veerabhadran, who tortures the people of that place. Prabhakaran is not only going to nab Veerabhadran, but also avenge the death of his friend Rajaraman IFS, who was a forest officer killed by Veerabhadran. The police commissioner and the district collector are corrupt and also support Veerabhadran. In the climax, Veerabhadran kidnaps Prabhakaran's wife and son. Prabhakaran arrives at the right time and saves his wife and son. He then nabs Veerabhadran. Poongkodi was Rajaraman's lover. She dies while giving birth to his child. Veerabhadran is shot dead by the corrupt inspector and collector. Prabhakaran kills both of them. He is then dragged to court for killing the police inspector and the collector. Prabhakaran tells the truth that they were corrupt, and the film ends with Prabhakaran being released from the court.
After the success of Pulan Visaranai , Rowther decided to make another project with Vijayakanth and R. K. Selvamani titled Captain Prabhakaran, the plotline of the film was based on the forest brigand Veerappan. The film also was the 100th project of Vijayakanth. The filming was held at Chalakudy for 60 days. [6] [7] Many scenes were also filmed at Athirappilly Falls. [8] The film had Mansoor Ali Khan in his first major role, [9] for which Karikalan was the initial choice. [10] During the shoot, a rope to which Vijayakanth was bound snapped and his shoulder got dislocated. With both his hands tied he screamed in pain, but this was mistaken for acting, and as a result, there was a delay in getting medical assistance. [11] Saranya Ponvannan was originally cast as Poongudi, but left the film as the role was glamorous; [12] the role went to Ramya Krishnan. [8]
The soundtrack has only two songs, both composed by Ilaiyaraaja while the lyrics were written by Gangai Amaran and Piraisoodan. The song "Aattama Therottama" is set in the Carnatic raga known as Sindhu Bhairavi. [13] [14] It was later remixed by Prasanna Sekhar in Singakutty (2008). [15]
No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Paasamulla Paandiyare" | Gangai Amaran | Mano, K. S. Chithra | 5:09 |
2. | "Aattama Therottama" | Piraisoodan | Swarnalatha | 5:12 |
Total length: | 10:21 |
On 19 April 1991, The Indian Express wrote, "The strength of the film is its visual vibrancy and the narrative line too has a great measure of cohesion, despite it being an action film all the way". [16] On 26 April, The Hindu wrote, "Vijayakanth doing his rough stuff with his known felicity, particularly the fights on top of the moving train, the horse riding horde of Veerabadran's men in Sholay fashion trying to stop him". [17] Unlike other Tamil actors who did not face success with their 100th film, Vijayakanth was considered by N. Kesavan of The Hindu to have broken that jinx. [5] Rajarajan won the Cinema Express Award for Best Cameraman. [18]
Koose Munusamy Veerappan was an Indian poacher, smuggler, domestic terrorist and bandit who was active for 36 years, and kidnapped major politicians for ransom. He was charged with sandalwood smuggling and poaching of elephants in the scrub lands and forests in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. He was wanted for killing approximately 184 people, about half of whom were police officers and forest officials. He was also responsible for poaching approximately 500 of the 2000 elephants killed in the peninsular region where he was active and for smuggling ivory worth US$2.6 million and about 65 tons of sandalwood worth approximately US$22 million.
Vijayaraj Alagarswami, known by his stage name Vijayakanth, was an Indian actor, film director, film producer, philanthropist and politician. He worked in Tamil cinema in a career spanning four decades. He ventured into politics in the later part of his career and founded his own party Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam.
R.K. Selvamani is an Indian former film director. He is known to make films in the police or whodunit genres.
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Chembaruthi (transl. Hibiscus) is a 1992 Indian Tamil-language teen romantic drama film written and directed by R. K. Selvamani and produced by Kovaithambi. The film stars Prashanth and Roja, while Mansoor Ali Khan, Nassar, Radha Ravi, and Bhanumathi play supporting roles. It was partially re-shot in Telugu as Chamanti with Satyanarayana replacing M. N. Nambiar. The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, while editing was done by V. Udhayashankar and cinematography by Ravi Yadav. The film was released on 17 April 1992 and was a major box office success. It was remade in Hindi as Aao Pyaar Karen (1994).
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Senthoora Poove is a 1988 Indian Tamil-language romantic action film, directed by P. R. Devaraj, starring Nirosha, Vijayakanth, and Ramki, while Chandrasekhar, Sripriya, C. L. Anandan, Vijaya Lalitha, Anandaraj, Senthil, and Charle play supporting roles. The story is about how a young girl is ill-treated by her stepmother and how her brother's friend saves her and her husband. It was released on 23 September 1988, and grossed ₹2.5 crore. Vijayakanth became popularly known by the sobriquet "Captain" for playing one in the film. It was remade in Kannada in 1992 as Mallige Hoove.
Mansoor Ali Khan is an Indian actor, composer, screenwriter and film producer. He has predominantly appeared in Tamil films, mostly in antagonistic and supporting roles.
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Asuran (transl. Demon) is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language science fiction action horror film, photographed and direction by Velu Prabhakaran and written and produced by R. K. Selvamani. The film stars Arun Pandian and Roja, while Radha Ravi and Senthil play supporting roles. The film became a box office failure. Mansoor Ali Khan reprised his role of Veerabhadran from Captain Prabhakaran. The film is an unsanctioned amalgamation of the various Hollywood films including Predator (1987).
Rajali is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language action-adventure film directed by Velu Prabhakaran, and written by R. K. Selvamani. The film stars Ramki and Napoleon, while Roja and Mansoor Ali Khan play supporting roles. It was released on 17 April 1996, and did not perform well at the box office.
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