Manithan

Directed by S. P. Muthuraman, Manithan is an action romantic film from 1987 in Tamil cinema. It features Rajinikanth, Rupini, Raghuvaran and Srividya. The film centres on Raja, who is sent to a juvenile prison for attacking a teacher who falsely accuses him of theft. Upon release, he uses the wealth to alleviate the suffering of the poor. His altruism spurs the growing jealousy of rivalistic noblemen who see their power diminished by his popularity.

Raja is a young boy who finds himself in a juvenile home after he strikes his teacher with a table weight. The teacher had charged him with theft, unjustly, just because Raja was born on a No Moon Day. His father, an extremely superstitious man, thinks that anybody born on such a day must be a criminal from birth. Raja becomes marginalised and victimised, punished for crimes he didn’t commit. Though the experience of being placed in juvenile detention is deeply traumatic and presents a huge barrier in his formative years, it does not break Bean’s spirit or quell his desire to lead an honest life.

Having served his sentence, Raja is re-entering society and rebuilding his life as a member of the People Welfare Organisation, which helps provide for the poor and needy in Raja’s community. Everyone is inspired by his heart and his vision to make a change, he has been made the target by those who do not want to see him succeed. Raja continues to be undeterred by threats and adversity. He chooses to meet that violence with compassion, bravery and creativity rather than more violence. Ultimately, he can overcome his adversaries and show the world that your date of birth does not determine your destiny. Through compassion and perseverance, Raja rises above the prejudice, gaining respect from her community and breaking the chains of superstition.

Manithan is an exhilarating mix of humour, action and romantic exuberance as well as emotional depth and rigour of social reasoning, Rozario’s lively characterisations and stirring themes of personal exploitation, dogged perseverance and the struggle against societal injustice. It’s just that it does this in such a powerful way, balancing drama and idealism to both lay bare the odds lined up against our heroes by both fate and society at large, while ultimately conveying a message of hope and determination.