Senthoora Poove (transl. Saffron Flower) is a 1988 Indian Tamil-language romantic action film, directed by P. R. Devaraj, starring Nirosha, Vijayakanth, and Ramki, while Chandrasekhar, Sripriya, C. L. Anandan, Vijaya Lalitha, Anandaraj, Senthil, and Charle play supporting roles. The story is about how a young girl is ill-treated by her stepmother and how her brother's friend saves her and her husband. It was released on 23 September 1988, and grossed ₹2.5 crore. Vijayakanth became popularly known by the sobriquet "Captain" for playing one in the film.[1] It was remade in Kannada in 1992 as Mallige Hoove.[2]
| Senthoora Poove | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | P. R. Devaraj |
| Written by | Aabavanan |
| Produced by | Aabavanan |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | M. M. Rengasamy |
| Edited by | R. T. Annadurai |
| Music by | Manoj–Gyan |
Production company | Tamil Ponni Arts |
Release date |
|
Running time | 165 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
| Box office | ₹2.5 crore |
Plot
editCaptain Soundarapandian, a terminally ill convict, hospitalised and nearing death, evades police security and escapes from the hospital. He arrives in Nilambur and confronts a couple, Ashok and Ponni, who are running away from someone. As they board a train, Soundarapandian gets a massive headache and faints. Seeing a train speeding towards him, Ashok dismounts the train to rescue him. While taking him away from the track, Ponni is abducted by some goons pursuing them. The rest of the goons engage in a fight with Ashok, who is almost defeated when Soundarapandian regains consciousness and subdues them. Ashok and his confidante Gopal take Soundarapandian to the former's shelter, where Gopal hints to have seen Soundarapandian somewhere but does not reveal much due to Soundarapandian's gestures. Meanwhile, Dr. Sundaramurthy, who treats Soundarapandian, decides to find his patient on his own due to the police forces' inefficiency.
Ashok reveals the reason why the goons were following them. Ashok arrived in Nilambur as a field officer. He fell in love with Ponni after hearing her sing a song. Ponni is the daughter of a henpecked landlord Rajavelu. Rajavelu, after his wife's death, married an ambitious woman, Ponnamma, who tortures Ponni for her wealth. As a child, Ponni's marriage was conducted by the evil Ponnamma. After her husband's death, she is forced to live the life of a widow. Ponnamma did this all for amassing Ponni's wealth. The only person who used to be kind to her was Oomaiyan, Ponnamma's son. However, after picking a fight owing to an unfortunate incident with his mother, he left the village, promising to return soon. As soon as Ponni begins to have feelings for Ashok, Ponnamma discovers the truth and swears to separate them.
Soundarapandian's tale is also revealed in a nonlinear way (as his memories). Soundarapandian was a soldier, who, along with a young teacher Radha, jailed a local thug Udayappan. Soundarapandian later married Radha. Gopal was from Soundarapandian's village. Years later, a young man joins their family as a servant. Udayappan, upon escaping from prison, murders Soundarapandian's wife, son, and the servant. Soundarapandian manages to kill Udayappan but not before the latter severely beats him. The servant was Ponni's stepbrother, who, before his death, had requested Soundarapandian to save Ponni from his evil mother, Ponnamma. This was the reason behind his arrival. After failing to negotiate with Ponnamma, Soundarapandian plots to secretly take Ponni away from her house. However, the plan fails, and a nearly killed Soundarapandian is saved by Sundaramurthy.
After learning about Soundarapandian's condition, Ashok decides to leave his love and the village to make Soundarapandian continue his treatment. He later drops the plan after thinking more about it. Soundarapandian, Ashok, and Sundaramurthy make one last attempt to save Ponni. Having enough of his wife, Ponni's father helps her escape and later asks his wife to consume poison before he commits suicide. Ponnamma and her husband both die. Although Ponnamma's goons follow them, Ashok, Ponni, Sundaramurthy, and Soundarapandian manage to escape in a train with Soundarapandian almost dead.
Cast
edit- Nirosha as Ponni (Senthoora Poove)
- Vijayakanth as Captain Soundarapandian
- Ramki as Ashok
- Chandrasekhar as Dr. Sundaramurthy
- Sripriya as Radha
- C. L. Anandan as Rajavelu, Ponni's father
- Vijaya Lalitha as Ponnamma
- Anandaraj as Udayappan
- Senthil as Gopal
- Charle as Pacchi
- Muralidharan as Oomaiyan
- Azhagu as Parameshwaran
- Pasi Narayanan as Annakaavadi
- Kullamani
- Karuppu Subbiah
- Vellai Subbaiah
- Pakoda Kadhar
- Sivaraman
Production
editSathyaraj was the initial choice for the role that Vijayakanth later played.[3]
Soundtrack
editThe soundtrack was composed by Manoj–Gyan.[4][5] For the dubbed Telugu version Sindhura Puvvu, all lyrics were written by Rajasri.[6]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Kiliye Ilangkiliye" | Vairamuthu | Malaysia Vasudevan, S. P. Sailaja | 5:05 |
| 2. | "Sothanai Theeravillae" | Vairamuthu | P. Jayachandran | 4:37 |
| 3. | "Sendhoora Poove" | Muthulingam | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, B. S. Sasirekha | 4:41 |
| 4. | "Chinna Kannan" | Muthulingam | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra | 4:12 |
| 5. | "Vaadi Pula" | Muthulingam | Malaysia Vasudevan | 4:18 |
| 6. | "Varape Thalaiyaane" | Aabavanan | T. S. Raghavendra, B. S. Sasirekha | 4:16 |
| 7. | "Muthu Mani Pallaaku" | Aabavanan | B. S. Sasirekha | 4:50 |
| 8. | "Aathukulle Yelelo" | Aabavanan | Raghavendar, B. S. Sasirekha | 1:31 |
| Total length: | 33:30 | |||
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sindhura Puvva" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra | 4:35 |
| 2. | "Chilaka Rachilaka" | Mano, S. P. Sailaja | 5:04 |
| 3. | "Kanivini Yerugani" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra | 4:06 |
| 4. | "Ninu Yevaro Kottarata" | Mano, S. P. Sailaja | 1:22 |
| 5. | "Thurupamma Mudda" | Mano | 2:04 |
| 6. | "Yetilona Yelleti" | Mano, S. P. Sailaja | 1:28 |
| Total length: | 18:40 | ||
Reception
editThe Indian Express wrote "[..] the knot on which Senthoora Poove bases [..] cooks up another cinematic stew and serves it in style".[7] Jayamanmadhan of Kalki criticised the story.[8] Vijaykanth won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor,[9] and the Cinema Express Award for Best Character Actor.[10] K. Sampath was awarded Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Audiographer.[11]
Legacy
editSenthoora Poove is one of only two films directed by P. R. Devaraj, the other being Ilaya Ragam (1995) before his death in May 2016.[12][13] After the film's release, Vijayakanth earned the title and nickname "Captain", which was further popularised with the release of Captain Prabhakaran in 1991.[14][15] Following Vijayakanth's death in December 2023, Film Companion included the film in their list "7 Vijayakanth Films That Left an Indian Cinema Legacy".[16]
References
edit- ^ S, Karthikeyan (23 September 2023). "35 Years of Senthoora Poove: மறுத்த சத்யராஜ்..கேப்டனை உச்சத்தில் நிறுத்திய 'செந்தூரப்பூவே' - 35 ஆண்டுகள் நிறைவு!". Hindustan Times (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 6 January 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ^ "Best films of 'mass' actor Vijayakanth and where you can watch them". The Federal. 28 December 2023. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- ^ Chitra (21 March 2021). "செந்தூரப்பூவே, விஜயகாந்த் இடத்தில் நடிக்கயிருந்தது யார் தெரியுமா? கதை எழுதியதே அவருக்காகத் தானாம்!". Cinemapettai (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
- ^ "Senthoora Poove". AVDigital. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ^ "Senthoora Poove (1988)". Raaga.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
- ^ "Sindhura Puvvu". Gaana. Archived from the original on 6 January 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ^ "Senthoora Poove". The Indian Express. 30 September 1988. p. 5. Retrieved 16 January 2019 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ ஜெயமன்மதன் (9 October 1988). "செந்தூர பூவே". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 17. Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
- ^ "Vijayakanth (1952–2023): Tamil Nadu loses its Captain". The Indian Express. 28 December 2023. Archived from the original on 28 December 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
- ^ "Cinema Express readers choose Agni Nakshathiram". The Indian Express. Express News Service. 11 March 1989. p. 4. Retrieved 19 February 2021 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ Saravanan, T. (23 June 2016). "Sound knowledge". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
- ^ "SENIOR DIRECTOR PASSES AWAY!". Behindwoods. 23 May 2016. Archived from the original on 6 November 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
- ^ Ramanujam, D. S. (1 December 1995). "Cinema: Aayudha Pujai/Ilayaragam". The Hindu. p. 31. Archived from the original on 21 December 1996. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
- ^ Cinemapatti [@cinemapatti] (4 January 2024). "Late #Vijaykanth didn't get CAPTAIN name from CAPTAIN PRABHAKARAN movie. It came much earlier through one of his movie called SENTHOORA POOVE. 1988 movie. In that movie his name was 'Captain Soundarapandian'.. post that movie's release only, people started to call him by that name.. and CAPTAIN PRABHAKARAN movie released after that in the year 1991" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 3 February 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ Rohini (28 December 2023). "கேப்டன் பிரபாகரன் படத்தில் நடிச்சதால கேப்டன் பேர் வரல! உண்மையான காரணம் கேட்டா ஆச்சரியப்படுவீங்க". CineReporters (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 23 April 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
- ^ "7 Vijayakanth Films That Left an Indian Cinema Legacy". Film Companion. 28 December 2023. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
