Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1999
Kallazhagar
Buy Kallazhagar now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'Kallazhagar' is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by Bharathi starring Vijayakanth and Laila. Nassar, Sonu Sood and Manivannan play other supporting roles, while Deva composed the score and soundtrack for the film. This is the Tamil debut of Laila and Sonu Sood.
The song 'Vaararu Vaararu Azhagar Vaararu' is played every year at the Chithirai fest in Madurai. The song in the movie also takes place in the Chithirai festival.
Cast
*Vijayakanth as Kamaluddin /Kamalakannan
*Laila as Aandaal
*Manivannan
*Nassar as Peter
*Major Sundarrajan as Iyer
*Thilakan as Kamal's father
*Sonu Sood as Narayana
*Ashwini (Rudra)
*Sumithra as Kamal's mother
*S. N. Lakshmi as Aandaal's grandmother
*Melanie
*Riyaz Khan as Jamal
*Vaiyapuri as Govindankutti
*Crane Manohar
*R. N. R. Manohar
*Scissor Manohar
*Sarath
*Napoleon
*Saravanan
*John Babu
*R. R. Sheela
*Bharathi
*Rocky Rajesh
*V. M. Mani
*Mohandass
*Kripa
Production
Laila, who had appeared in other regional Indian films, opted to make her debut in Tamil films with 'Kallazhagar' after she had famously rejected a string of other Tamil offers including 'VIP' (1997). The actress also turned down a role in Ajith Kumar's 'Unnai Thedi' (1999), insistent that 'Kallazhagar' should be her first release. Early reports had suggested that Hindi actor Dilip Kumar would also be a part of the cast, but he eventually did not feature.
An elephant called Appu was brought in from Thrissur in Kerala, where the elephant formed one of a stable maintained by the famed Paaramekaavu temple, which forms the venue of the yearly Thrissur Pooram festival. A few scenes from the film were filmed at the Kallazhagar temple in Madhurai, but crowd trouble meant that the makers chose to finish the shoot in sets. For a particular song in the film, Russian dancers imported to dance alongside Laila. As the film marked music composer Deva's 250th album, the film industry felicitated him with a ceremony at the Kamarajar Arangam.
Soundtrack
The music was composed by Deva.
Release
The film was initially scheduled to release on 14 January 1999 coinciding with the festival of Thai Pongal though became delayed due to problems at the censor. The film was rejected by Indian censors, because of its potential to spark religious conflicts - with particularly a scene in which some Muslim extremists masquerade themselves as religious Hindus and join in the celebration of a major festival in a temple - being highlighted as a concern. The team subsequently had to adapt the concept partially.
The success of the film prompted the producer Henry to sign Vijayakanth for his next film. The film also created demand for Laila as a lead heroine and she shortly after signed on to appear in a role in 'Mudhalvan' (1999).
References
Category:1999 films
Category:Films shot in Madurai
Category:1990s Tamil-language films
Category:Films with screenplays by Mahendran (filmmaker)
Buy Kallazhagar now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 1999