Thalai Nagaram (transl. Capital city) is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language gangster action film written and directed by Suraj and produced by V. Ravichandran. The film stars Sundar C in his lead acting debut and Jyothirmayi, while Vadivelu, Prakash Raj, Judo. K. K. Rathnam, K. S. Ravikumar, and Bose Venkat play supporting roles. This film was a low-budget production but enjoyed huge success. The soundtrack, composed by D. Imman, was a great hit, and the song "Yedho Ninaikiren" charted at the top position for a week. The film also has cinematography by K. S. Selvaraj and editing by Mu. Kasi Viswanath.
| Thalai Nagaram | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Tamil | தலைநகரம் |
| Directed by | Suraj |
| Screenplay by | Suraj |
| Story by | T. Damodaran |
| Based on | Abhimanyu by Priyadarshan |
| Produced by | V. Ravichandran |
| Starring | Sundar C Jyothirmayi |
| Cinematography | K. S. Selvaraj |
| Edited by | Mu. Kasi Viswanath |
| Music by | D. Imman |
Production company | Aascar Film Pvt. Ltd |
Release date |
|
Running time | 156 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
The film is a remake of the Malayalam film Abhimanyu,[1] directed by Priyadarshan and starring Mohanlal. The film tells the story of a man who sacrifices his life to kick out gangsters who ruin other's lives.
The film was followed by Naai Sekar Returns (2022), a comedy spin-off of Vadivelu's character in the film, and a standalone sequel Thalainagaram 2 (2023).
Plot
editSubramaniam alias Right (Sundar C) is a rowdy in North Chennai. He runs a separate gang and also works as a sidekick and right-hand man to a big time don named Qaasim Bhai (Judo. K. K. Rathnam) who resides in North Chennai. Qaasim Bhai uses Right and his gang as professional killers whenever required. ACP Ravikumar (K. S. Ravikumar) believes in his own type of law by eliminating criminals instead of wasting time by the court and other procedures. Divya (Jyothimayi) a student, surprisingly enters into Right's life and takes shelter in his house. However, things change after she enters his life; both of them fall in love. At a situation, there arises a clash between Right and Qaasim Bhai. Right's friend Balu (Bose Venkat) kills Qaasim Bhai's son Nassir (Vikas Rishi) for ordering a trucker who rams a convoy which killed innocent children instead of only killing the intended _target. Unfortunately, Balu is killed by Qaasim Bhai for killing Nassir. After seeing Balu's death, Right decides to change his lifestyle.
Parallel narration is the comedy track of Naai Shekar (Vadivelu), Divya's supposed uncle who wants to become a criminal.
For Right's surprise enters a corrupt ACP named Gopinath (Prakash Raj). He is on a hell bent quest to eradicate crime. He dislikes Right's attitude to leave the underworld and threatens Divya, who is molested in prison. After coming to know of this, Right decides to eliminate all of his foes once and for all. He hatches a plan and orders a sniper shooter (Vichu Vishwanath) to kill the police inspector of the station. He also orders a trucker (G. K.) and kills the lady inspector. Right kills Gopinath and then plans to kill Qaasim Bhai for Balu's death. Qassim Bhai arrives at the hotel, where he sees his wife Vaani's (Bhuvaneswari) wristwatch in the bedroom, which was previously gifted to him by the corrupt MLA (Delhi Ganesh). Qassim Bhai mistakenly kills the MLA for having an affair with Vani. Right then strangulates Qassim Bhai when he arrives at the basement to board his car. Finally, Right arrives at the dock for a getaway with Divya only to be killed by a battalion of police officers due to the betrayal by Sashi (Sashikumar), his own fellow gang member who mistakenly thinks that Right was behind his sister's suicide.
Cast
edit- Sundar C as Subramaniam alias Right
- Jyothimayi as Divya
- Prakash Raj as ACP Gopinath
- Vadivelu as Naai Sekar
- Judo. K. K. Rathnam as Qassim Bhai
- K. S. Ravikumar as ACP Ravikumar
- Bose Venkat as Balu
- Uday Mahesh as Rathnavel
- Manobala as Police Inspector
- Subbaraju as Thambidurai
- Bhuvaneswari as Vaani, Qassim Bhai's trophy wife
- Delhi Ganesh as Corrupt Minister
- Sashikumar as Sashi
- Mime Gopi as Jagannathan
- Sonia as Balu's wife
- Mayilsamy as Naai Sekar's assistant
- Vichu Vishwanath as Sniper Shooter
- Imman Annachi as Right's gang member
- Munnar Ramesh as Right's gang member
- Besant Ravi as Right's gang member
- M. J. Shriram as Police Officer
- Ganja Karuppu as Arivu
- Babilona as Sashi's sister
- Vikash Rishi as Nassir
- G. K. as Truck Driver
- Ilavarasu as Govindarajan
- Vaiyapuri as Neethirajan
- A. C. Murali Mohan as police officer
- Singamuthu as MLA
- Nellai Siva as Kothandam
- Halwa Vasu as Kothandam’s sidekick
- Maran[2]
- Chelladurai
- Jasper
- Ponganesh
- Supergood Lakshmanan
- Funky Shankar
- Master Sachin as Balu's son
- Mumaith Khan as an item number
- Vengal Rao
Production
editThalainagaram marked Sundar C's acting debut as a lead actor. Since the story is based in Chennai, it was shot in and around places like Ayodhyakuppam and Royapuram.[3]
Soundtrack
editThe music is composed by D. Imman.[4]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "City of Sings" | P. Vijay | Vasu, Naveen, Vijay, Rahul Nambiar | |
| 2. | "Flames of Victory" | D. Imman | D. Imman, Mathangi | |
| 3. | "Madi Madi" | Na. Muthukumar | Balram, Srilekha Parthasarathy | |
| 4. | "Naan Valargirena" | Palani Bharathi | Anuradha Sriram | |
| 5. | "Soo Manthrakaali" | P. Vijay | Sujeetha Menon, Funky Shankar, Sangeetha Sajith | |
| 6. | "Yedho Ninaikiren" | Na. Muthukumar | Manjari, Devan |
Reception
editSify wrote "On the whole Thalainagaram lacks substance and is worth a skip."[1] Cinesouth wrote "Even though director Suraaj makes many mistakes, his attempt to make a time worn story line into a commercial film must be commended."[5] Lajjavathi of Kalki wrote they have moved the film without any loss of vivacity from scene to scene. Even though it is a story that has already been handled by many people, there is a freshness to it while praising Vadiveli's humour, Jyothirmayi's acting but felt Sundar's innocent face didn't suit the gangster's role and passed muster in the role.[6]
Box office
editThe film collected a distributor share of Rs 4 to 5 crores at the box office.[7]
Legacy
editVadivelu's dialogue "Trisha illana Divya" (transl. If Not Trisha, Then Divya) inspired the title of a 2015 film Trisha Illana Nayanthara.[8] The film was remade in Telugu with the title Nagaram (2008).[9]
Spin-off
editThe character Naai Sekar performed by Vadivelu attained cult status. Suraj, who directed this film, made a spin-off film on the character titled Naai Sekar Returns, which released in 2022 and had Vadivelu reprising his role as Naai Sekar.[10]
Sequel
editA sequel titled Thalainagaram 2, directed by V. Z. Durai, was released in 2023.[11]
References
edit- ^ a b "Thalainagaram". Sify. 19 May 2006. Archived from the original on 26 February 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
- ^ Sivasankar K (12 May 2021). ""அட அது நான் இல்லப்பா.. நடந்தது இதுதான்!".. பிரபல நடிகர் 'லொள்ளு சபா' மாறன் Exclusive!". Behindwoods (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
- ^ Mannath, Malini (10 May 2006). "Thalainagaram". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 30 November 2006. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
- ^ "Thalainagaram (2006)". MusicIndiaOnline. Archived from the original on 30 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
- ^ "Thalainagaram". Cinesouth. Archived from the original on 25 August 2006. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
- ^ லஜ்ஜாவதி (4 June 2006). "தலைநகரம்". Kalki. p. 80. Archived from the original on 26 March 2024. Retrieved 25 March 2024 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Year of the dark horse". The Hindu. 7 July 2006. Archived from the original on 8 December 2007. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
- ^ லீ, தார்மிக் (16 May 2017). "வடிவேலுவின் ஃபேமஸ் டயலாக்குகள்தான் இந்தப் படங்களின் டைட்டில்ஸ்!". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- ^ "Of thrills, spills and an item number!". Rediff.com. 5 March 2008. Archived from the original on 18 November 2024. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
- ^ "First-look poster of Vadivelu's Naai Sekar Returns is out". The News Minute. 8 October 2021. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
- ^ "Sundar C's Thalainagaram 2 gets a release date". The Times of India. 15 June 2023. Archived from the original on 19 June 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
