Singaravelan

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Singaravelan
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	R. V. Udayakumar
Screenplay by	R. V. Udayakumar
Story by	Panchu Arunachalam
Produced by	R. D. Bhaskar
Starring	Kamal Haasan Khushbu
Cinematography	Abdul Rehman
Edited by	B. Lenin V. T. Vijayan
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja
Production company	Pavalar Creations
Release date	13 April 1992 (1992-04-13)
Running time	150 minutes[1]
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Singaravelan is a 1992 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film^[2] written and directed by R. V. Udayakumar from a story by Panchu Arunachalam. The film stars Kamal Haasan and Khushbu. It revolves around a villager who is tasked with locating his urbanite cousin and marrying her, with the intention of reuniting their separated family.

Singaravelan was produced by R. D. Bhaskar under the production company Pavalar Creations. The film's soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja. Abdul Rahman handled cinematography, while B. Lenin and V. T. Vijayan handled editing respectively.

Singaravelan was released on 13 April 1992 and became successful at the box office. Though the film attained cult status in Tamil cinema, it received criticism in later years for glorifying misogyny, sexism and stalking.

Plot[]

Singaravelan "Velan" lives with his widowed mother Parvathy in a village. Velan's father died heartbroken that his marriage with Velan's mother was not accepted by her sister-in-law and they had broken all links. Further, they believe that it was Parvathy's curse that killed her brother and sister-in-law in a car accident and they get a promise from the guardian that their daughter should not be married to Parvathy's son. Velan's mother reveals that it is Velan's duty to marry her brother's daughter Sumathi to bring the separated family back together. Armed with only a picture of the girl when she was four, he leaves for Madras to fulfill his mother's wishes.

Velan arrives at his friend Mano's house to implement his mission. Mano lives with three more roommates: Mani, Subha, and Ramasamy. Velan explains his mission, and all of them offer to help him.

The next day, they visit a computer centre where the clerk generates an image of the teenage Sumathi. Velan and his friends visit the beach to think for a plan, but luckily, they find a woman playing tennis to be Sumathi. When Sumathi goes to fetch the ball from the sea, Velan goes to help her. He accidentally drowns her but manages to pull her out of the water despite her being unconscious. When she becomes conscious, she blames him for drowning her and did not need any help as she was a trained long-distance swimmer. Despite his friends' advice to drop the love for Sumathi due to her arrogant nature, Velan proceeds with next step of his mission as a challenge.

Later, Velan and his friends follow Sumathi to a 5-star restaurant. On the stage in the dining hall, a flautist is performing. Once the performance ends, Sumathi gets up and kisses the old flautist's hand. Velan too offers his hand to be kissed, wherein he is asked whether he knows anything about music. To prove her wrong, Velan dresses up in a fancy leather suit, adorned with various musical instruments, singing "Pudhu Cheri Katcheri". However, Sumathi insults the performance. Velan on his part teases with harmless intention, which also earns Sumathi's dislike.

Velan meanwhile attempts to attract Thaiamma, the guardian of Sumathi by visiting her house daily. Thaiamma is attracted by Velan's entertaining nature. Velan lies by saying his mother's name as Mahalakshmi. Though Thaiamma certifies Velan as a good chap, Sumathi continues to hate him. Sumathi's uncle Natesan, who is a retired IG of police visits Velan to warn him to stop teasing his niece. There he comes to know about his father is Kaliannan Gounder, an industrialist who has disowned him due to his passion for music. Unfortunately, he manages to meet Kaliannan to verify Velan's family background and finds everything true via Kaliannan. However, Velan and his friends have already visited Kaliannan and convinced him to lie to the general to help them out.

Then Velan managed to attract Sumathi gradually through a series of events, which makes Sumathi realise her femininity. Their love becomes strong when Sumathi hears that Velan is very serious at hospital as he was attacked by some men hired by her uncle as he lied that he was the son of an industrialist. She finds Velan dressed up with full bandages on his body (a drama by Velan who counterattacked the men sent by the uncle and instructs them to convey that the men attacked Velan, to Sumathi as part of the love mission). Velan's mother is informed about her son's hospitalisation by a person from Madras and immediately rushes to see him. There she understands that facts are not true and feels easy. Velan and Sumathi's love grows steadily, and they decide to get engaged.

On the day of engagement, through 'Sincere' Sivamani, the manager at Sumathi's factory, Sumathi come to know that Velan is, in fact, the son of Parvathy, cancels the engagement and refuses to speak to him. In the meantime, the general finds that Sivamani is a crook who has been using Sumathi's premises to print counterfeit bills. Sivamani kills the general and frames Velan. Velan escapes the police and goes on the run. His friends, mother and Kaliannan are arrested as accomplices. Sivamani decides to kill Velan and marry Sumathi for her wealth and tricks Thaiamma to accept his proposal to marry Sumathi. He also uses one of his men to bring Velan in and to kill him, but Velan beats up all the bad guys and calls the police.

Together with the police, Sivamani's ally, mother, and friends go to the wedding hall and prove that Sivamani was the real killer. Sivamani then gets arrested. Sumathi realises the true love of Velan and requests his mother to marry them. Velan and Sumathi then marry. The story ends with the happiness of all members reunited at Velan's house.

Cast[]

Soundtrack[]

Singaravelan
Soundtrack album by Ilaiyaraaja
Released	1992
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	30:18
Language	Tamil
Label	Eknaath Audio
Ilaiyaraaja chronology
Maappillai Vandhaachu (1992) Singaravelan (1992) Innisai Mazhai (1992)
External audio Audio Jukebox on YouTube

The soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja.^[6][7] The song "Innum Ennai Enna" is set in the Carnatic raga Nata,^[8][9] "Pudhu Cheri Katcheri" is set in Sankarabharanam,^[10][11] and "Thoodhu Selvadharadi" is set in Charukesi.^[12][13] For the Telugu-dubbed version Manmathude Naa Mogudu, all songs were written by Rajashri.^[14]

Release and rception[]

Singaravelan was released on 13 April 1992, in the week of Puthandu.^[15] The Indian Express wrote, "The script betrays an episodic approach, but [Kamal Haasan] carries himself with poise in a role that does not make much demands on him, except for some spirited dancing and singing, and the pack of comedians made up of Goundamani, Charlie, Vadivelu and Manorama, despite some ridiculous attempts at humour off and on, make a generally good impression."^[16] Singaravelan did well at the box office.^[17]

Legacy[]

Singaravelan attained cult status in Tamil cinema.^[4] The scene where the title character and his friends visits a computer centre to digitally visualise what Sumathi would look like in present-day gained popularity for its comedy.^[18][19] Despite its cult status, the film drew criticism in later years for glorifying misogyny, sexism and stalking.^[20][21][22]

References[]

Bibliography[]

• Sundararaman (2007) [2005]. Raga Chintamani: A Guide to Carnatic Ragas Through Tamil Film Music (2nd ed.). Pichhamal Chintamani. OCLC 295034757.

External links[]

• Singaravelan at IMDb