karthik_dravidian

To begin with in this film Nasser has really come up with a sterling performance ,ilaiyaraaja's music is incomparable it gives everyone a feeling of the rural conditions .Sivaji was also good .Despite all this the film 'Thevar Magan' many consider to be a classic and is one of the best in Tamil cinema .But i pity on their sense of understanding this film. Thevar magan is the first film to my knowledge in Tamil to have introduced a kind of subculture where the caste pride comes into fore. The song 'potri paadadi ponnae'is not at all needed in the film but still to show the caste pride a genealogical eulogy takes place.The story is such that Kamal who is an urban educated 'Modern'youth who comes back to village after his studies .He is fed up with the kind of tradition and related incidents that happen in the village where antagonism between two families leads to bloodshed and the whole village is suffering because of the two supposedly bigwigs in the village..The problem to me with this film is the way the frames were produced for instance mythical ancestry claims made and linking Netaji with their caste proving their mettle for valour and taking to international level and how the song created troubles in southern districts seems to worry me. Kamal who speaks in terms of modernity becomes pre modern self by changing his attire to Veshti and having a big moustache showing signs of stiffness and finally finally takes up arms.

This film Jaganmohini which came first in Telugu and then in Tamil became a major hit because of Jayamalini first and then for its wizardry which was then unknown in south Indian cinema.Jagan Mohini became a major hit and even outwitted a film starring both big guns of Telugu NTR and ANR .Jayamalini was stunningly beautiful and i always wonder why she became a vamp i consider her to be more beautiful than most heroines ,she is tall ,fair complexioned and has great physical features and whatever chances she had did act well in some films but any way its a million dollar question that only she can answer.Vittalacharya then made quite a number of films in this genre with Jayamalini as lead star but i don't think other film did well as this one. Jayamalini became very famous because of this film and went on to act in many films and was ruling the roost until Smitha (Silk) came to the fore.