Indru Poi Naalai Vaa — 50 Tamil movies to watch before you die — 22
Disclaimer: I didn’t choose this movie after watching Kanna Laddu Thinna Aaasaiya (2013)
There are only a few movies in India that have portrayed coming of age with style and not treading into vulgarity. Although there were movies that had storylines similar to Indru Poi Naalai Vaa, what differentiated this movie was the way script was handled.
Indru Poi Naalai Vaa (1981)
Indru Poi Naalai Vaa was a story about three friends Pazhanisamy (K.Bhagyaraj), Venkat (Pazhanisamy) and Rajendran (Ramli). Their primary objective in life is to love a girl and get married. They all set their eyes on Jaya (Radhika) who arrives in the house opposite to Pazhanisamy’s. They make a secret pact to woo the girl and whoever succeeds should be helped by the other two. While Pazhanisamy enters her house by helping her mom, Rajendran enters her home to learn Hindi from her father and Venkat joins as a boxing student with her Grand Father. The movie revolves around who finally impresses the girl and how they get married.
Indru Poi Naalai Vaa was written and directed by Bhagyaraj. Irani of Silad productions produced the movie. Ilaiyaraaja composed the music while MC Sekar wielded the camera. Muthulingam and Gangai Amaren wrote the lyrics.
Why is it special?
- Indru Poi Naalai Vaa was a refreshing movie at that time. It showed the coming of age comically and without going into the dreaded path of vulgarity.
- A comedy movie needs more care when it comes to the screenplay because it might go wrong horribly and there are many examples in Tamil cinema. Bhagyaraj’s was already a master in screenplays at that time (it was his 5th movie as a writer). Indru Poi Naalai Vaa is a master class for all writers who want to write a comedy. The dialogues are so memorable that they are being quoted even now. Who can forget Raghuthatha?
3. Although Bhagyaraj and Radhika were brilliant, the movie was great because of the supporting characters — especially Pazhanisamy and Ramli who were introduced in this movie. Kallapatti Singaram, Gandhimathi, VR Thilagam, VK Padmini and John Amirtharaj were aptly cast.
4. Ilaiyaraaja’s music was experimental with a comical touch. Check out Mathana Mohana and Meri Pyari; you will understand why I say it. The most important part was the background score in the movie. Maestro’s masterclass makes its majestic appearance when Pazhanisamy (Bhagyaraj) comes to Jaya’s home after his two friends disappoint her.
Why is it on the list?
- It was the first movie to handle a coming of age story deftly. Yes, there were other movies but this one out scores everything else in this genre.
- One of the first independent movies without a big producer or big actors. The prominent promotion was Ilaiyaraaja’s music. It solely relied on the screenplay and performance of the actors.
- For becoming a pioneer for this kind of stories, I am not able to count the number of movies that came with a similar storyline. The recent and more blatant example is Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasaiya that directly copied the cinema.
Trivia
- Indru Poi Naalai Vaa was the 5th movie for Bhagyaraj as a director. In fact, 1981 was a prime year for him. He released four films in the same year (Indru Poi Naalai Vaa, Vidiyum Varai Kaathiru, Mouna Geethangal and Antha Ezhu Naatkal) apart from writing Tik Tik Tik for his guru Bharathiraja.
- Bhagyaraj was known as the “King of screenplays” because of his storytelling capabilities. Most of his movies were remade in Hindi and became super hits. The most famous examples are Woh Saath Din (Andha Ezhu Naatkal), Aakhri Raasta (Oru Kaidhiyin Diary) and Beta (Enga Chinna Rasa).
- One interesting fact about Indru Poi Naalai Vaa was Ilaiyaraaja’s name appears after Bhagyaraj’s name in the credits followed by producer’s name.
- This was Radhika’s fifth movie as a lead actress after she got introduced to Kizhakke Pogum Rail (1978). She is the daughter of the famous actor, MR Radha. Radhika got her first role in Kizhakke Pogum Rail (1978) accidentally when Bharathiraja found her while visiting her neighbour’s house. It was interesting to note that she acted as a village girl while she was raised as a tomboy. Bhagyaraj wasn’t happy about the choice and called her a ‘Pumpkin’ when she arrived to act. But after seeing her acting skills, he was the one who made her to dub for her role. Radhika and Bhagyaraj acted in three other movies Bama Rukmini (1980), Indru Poi Naalai Vaa (1981) and Dhavani Kanavugal (1984). She recalls that Indru Poi Naalai Vaa is her favourite movie of the four. [4]
- Kallapatti Singaram (Grandfather of Radhika in this movie) is an excellent comedy actor who became a regular feature in Bhagyaraj movies. Although he had done small roles in films like Motor Sundaram Pillai (1966), Athai Magal (1969) etc., his career graph took a different turn in Suvarillatha Chithirangal (1979). Bhagyaraj called it as a debut, and it was rightly so. He did memorable roles in Oru Kai Osai (1980), Indru Poi Naalai Vaa (1980), Darling…Darling…Darling (1982), Kaakhi Sattai (1985) etc., Kallapatti didn’t come from the cash box but could have come from a small village near Madurai. His last movie was Periya Veetu Pannakaran (1990). [2]
- Pazhanisamy was a close friend of Bhagyaraj. He produced films and acted in a few of them.
- Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasaya copied the story of Indru Poi Naalai Vaa and Bhagyaraj filed a case against the producers for credit. Indru Poi Naalai Vaa was remade in Kannada, Telugu and Hindi. In Hindi, the Hindi teacher role was changed as a music teacher, and Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasaya used it in their copied version.[3]
Read the entire 50 Tamil Movies to watch before you die list from this link https://medium.com/sylvianism/50tamilmovies/home
