Panakkaran (1990)

Panakkaran Directed by P. Vasu, 1990. One of the best commercial movies in Tamil cinema. It stars Rajinikanth, Gautami, Vijayakumar and Sumithra. The movie tells the story of a young man, the product of a clandestine union between a rich man and an opera singer, who is raised by an impoverished drunk. As he falls in love, he retreats from commitment until he learns the shocking truth of who his real parents are and who he is. Bhuvana, a popular playback singer, is in love with businessman Vishwanathan, who pressures her to abort the child. Bhuvana eloped with her brother, Rao Bahadur, without his knowledge. She later delivers a baby boy, but Rao abducts the baby and gives it to Aarumugam, a local drunkard, who deceives Bhuvana into believing that the baby was stillborn. Aarumugam plans to raise the child, who’s given the name Muthu, to profit from her. Muthu works in a factory owned by Shankar, the son of Vishwanathann and Pushpa. Vishwanathan, guilt at having betrayed Bhuvana, convinces him to use this opportunity for enrichment. Muthu’s activism against low pay, organized from within Shankar’s factory, falls under the watchful eyes of Shankar and Rao Bahadur. Rao Bahadur’s daughter Latha soon becomes enamoured with Muthu, unaware of who he is. Muthu encounters Vishwanathan in his plantation and prevents him from being murdered by Saranraj. Bhuvana, brought back from death and living in an ashram, rescues Vishwanathan from Shankar and Rao Bahadur. Muthu rescues her, and the two are joined. With the consent of Bhuvana and Vishwanathan, Pushpa marries Vishwanathan to Bhuvana. Panakkaran is such a powerful action-romantic drama that it overtures emotion, conflict, and social commentary and creates it into an old-school entertainer. Centring issues of identity, community, justice and family, the film wraps these important themes up in tremendous emotional power and commercial appeal. Through its unique storytelling and unforgettable scenes, it has cemented itself in a special place in Tamil cinema. A remake of the 1981 Hindi film Laawaris, it transposes the original plot to a Tamil cultural context, which touches the hearts of its Tamil target audience.