Ratchagan
Encyclopedia
Ratchagan is a 1997 Tamil
action film
, directed by Praveen Gandhi, starring Nagarjuna
and Sushmita Sen
in the lead role. It also starred Raghuvaran
, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
, Vadivelu
and Girish Karnad
. The soundtrack was composed by A. R. Rahman
. It held the record as the most expensive Tamil film until the release of Jeans
(1998).
) is an unemployed youth who always gets into trouble because of his temper. This loud and angry young man gets heated up when he encounters anyone committing a crime; he takes the law into his own hands, beats them up and then gives them some free advice. Ajay’s father (S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
), who works for a insurance firm, is very unhappy with his son’s attitude, and tries his best to change Ajay's attitude through a meditation expert but he fails in this matter as the expert suggests that Ajay's anguish is reasonable. Ajay meets Soniya (Sushmita Sen
) through his father, and Soniya falls in love with him. What Soniya likes about Ajay is his temper and anger when he encounters anything which is against law. Soniya gets Ajay’s father's help to get Ajay to love her. Still, Ajay is not interested in her and seriously rejects her at first; but he later changes his mind after going through some unusual situations, and love blossoms between them.
Soniya’s father Sriram (Girish Karnad
) is an industrialist who owns a big automotive manufacturing facility. He has no objection to his daughter’s relationship with Ajay, but has one condition: Ajay must become employed in his factory, control his temper for three months, and not get into any fight whatsoever, even if he encounters a crime happening in front of his eyes. If Ajay cannot do this he will not be allowed to marry Soniya. With a heavy heart Ajay agrees to the condition; Soniya's love for Ajay deepens and Sriram offers Ajay a job in his factory. Sriram actually has his own problems with his factory in loss; ten of his workers are working with his rival and younger stepbrother Easwar (Raghuvaran
), and they hamper the progress of his factory with frequent, pre-planned mishaps. This leads to the factory's property loss. Easwar is the son of Sriram's stepmother who gets deceived by Sriram and loses his share of his father's common business empire. Further, in unusual circumstances, Easwar spends some years in jail and returns with a planned conspiracy and vengeance on his stepbrother Sriram. Easwar is now trying to put Sriram out of business, so his ten men create havoc in the factory by killing old workers and ragging new workers. So when Ajay comes to work in Sriram’s factory, these ten men do the same to Ajay. Ajay keeps cool, trying to keep his promise to Sriram. But Sriram hopes otherwise; he wants Ajay to break the promise and beat up the ten men and throw them out of the factory. At the same time, Sriram hopes that the imminent marriage between Ajay and Soniya will be cancelled, since he does not want his daughter to get married to an angry street fighter like Ajay. So Sriram keeps on hoping that Ajay will somehow burst out.
When Ajay's father is murdered, he banishes the ten men from the factory. Meanwhile, Easwar kidnaps Soniya and blackmails Ajay and Sriram that Soniya is going to kill herself (to save Ajay from Easwar) and destroy Sriram's factory by bombarding it with a truck armed with a powerful Russian explosive. The rest of the film concerns the manner in which Easwar spends his time in jail and develops his own business empire to crush Sriram, how Sriram's criminal deeds and false motives are exposed to his daughter, what happens to Easwar and Sriram's business empire, and how Soniya is rescued by Ajay.
. The lyrics were written by Vairamuthu
and Vaali
.
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema is the film industry based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, dedicated to the production of films in the Tamil language. It is based in Chennai's Kodambakkam district, where several South Indian film production companies are headquartered...
action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
, directed by Praveen Gandhi, starring Nagarjuna
Akkineni Nagarjuna
Akkineni Nagarjuna is an Indian film actor in Tollywood and Bollywood. He is a producer and one of the lead actors in Telugu cinema.- Early life :...
and Sushmita Sen
Sushmita Sen
Sushmita Sen is an Indian actress who appears in mainly Bollywood films. A former model, Sen was crowned Miss Universe in 1994. She was the first Indian woman to win the contest.-Personal life:Sen was born on 19 November 1975....
in the lead role. It also starred Raghuvaran
Raghuvaran
Raghuvaran was an Indian actor who predominantly acted in movies made in South India. He became famous for his portrayal of villain and character roles in Tamil films. He has acted in more than 150 Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films...
, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam is a multilingual Indian playback singer, actor, music director, voice actor and a film producer. He is referred to as S. P. B. or Balu by the media. He has won the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer six times closely following K. J. Yesudas...
, Vadivelu
Vadivelu
Vadivelu , often referred to as Vadivel, is a Tamil film actor,comedian and playback singer. Since 2000, he has acted as a comedian in various Tamil films. During his career, Vadivelu has won several Filmfare Awards and Tamil Nadu State Film Awards...
and Girish Karnad
Girish Karnad
Girish Raghunath Karnad is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language...
. The soundtrack was composed by A. R. Rahman
A. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
. It held the record as the most expensive Tamil film until the release of Jeans
Jeans (film)
Jeans is a 1998 Tamil musical romance film. Directed and written by Shankar and produced by Ashok Amritraj and Murali Manohar, it stars Prashanth, Aishwarya Rai and Nassar in the lead roles. Raju Sundaram and Lakshmi, prominent actors from the south Indian film industry, played the roles of the...
(1998).
Plot summary
Ajay (NagarjunaAkkineni Nagarjuna
Akkineni Nagarjuna is an Indian film actor in Tollywood and Bollywood. He is a producer and one of the lead actors in Telugu cinema.- Early life :...
) is an unemployed youth who always gets into trouble because of his temper. This loud and angry young man gets heated up when he encounters anyone committing a crime; he takes the law into his own hands, beats them up and then gives them some free advice. Ajay’s father (S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam is a multilingual Indian playback singer, actor, music director, voice actor and a film producer. He is referred to as S. P. B. or Balu by the media. He has won the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer six times closely following K. J. Yesudas...
), who works for a insurance firm, is very unhappy with his son’s attitude, and tries his best to change Ajay's attitude through a meditation expert but he fails in this matter as the expert suggests that Ajay's anguish is reasonable. Ajay meets Soniya (Sushmita Sen
Sushmita Sen
Sushmita Sen is an Indian actress who appears in mainly Bollywood films. A former model, Sen was crowned Miss Universe in 1994. She was the first Indian woman to win the contest.-Personal life:Sen was born on 19 November 1975....
) through his father, and Soniya falls in love with him. What Soniya likes about Ajay is his temper and anger when he encounters anything which is against law. Soniya gets Ajay’s father's help to get Ajay to love her. Still, Ajay is not interested in her and seriously rejects her at first; but he later changes his mind after going through some unusual situations, and love blossoms between them.
Soniya’s father Sriram (Girish Karnad
Girish Karnad
Girish Raghunath Karnad is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language...
) is an industrialist who owns a big automotive manufacturing facility. He has no objection to his daughter’s relationship with Ajay, but has one condition: Ajay must become employed in his factory, control his temper for three months, and not get into any fight whatsoever, even if he encounters a crime happening in front of his eyes. If Ajay cannot do this he will not be allowed to marry Soniya. With a heavy heart Ajay agrees to the condition; Soniya's love for Ajay deepens and Sriram offers Ajay a job in his factory. Sriram actually has his own problems with his factory in loss; ten of his workers are working with his rival and younger stepbrother Easwar (Raghuvaran
Raghuvaran
Raghuvaran was an Indian actor who predominantly acted in movies made in South India. He became famous for his portrayal of villain and character roles in Tamil films. He has acted in more than 150 Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films...
), and they hamper the progress of his factory with frequent, pre-planned mishaps. This leads to the factory's property loss. Easwar is the son of Sriram's stepmother who gets deceived by Sriram and loses his share of his father's common business empire. Further, in unusual circumstances, Easwar spends some years in jail and returns with a planned conspiracy and vengeance on his stepbrother Sriram. Easwar is now trying to put Sriram out of business, so his ten men create havoc in the factory by killing old workers and ragging new workers. So when Ajay comes to work in Sriram’s factory, these ten men do the same to Ajay. Ajay keeps cool, trying to keep his promise to Sriram. But Sriram hopes otherwise; he wants Ajay to break the promise and beat up the ten men and throw them out of the factory. At the same time, Sriram hopes that the imminent marriage between Ajay and Soniya will be cancelled, since he does not want his daughter to get married to an angry street fighter like Ajay. So Sriram keeps on hoping that Ajay will somehow burst out.
When Ajay's father is murdered, he banishes the ten men from the factory. Meanwhile, Easwar kidnaps Soniya and blackmails Ajay and Sriram that Soniya is going to kill herself (to save Ajay from Easwar) and destroy Sriram's factory by bombarding it with a truck armed with a powerful Russian explosive. The rest of the film concerns the manner in which Easwar spends his time in jail and develops his own business empire to crush Sriram, how Sriram's criminal deeds and false motives are exposed to his daughter, what happens to Easwar and Sriram's business empire, and how Soniya is rescued by Ajay.
Cast
- NagarjunaAkkineni NagarjunaAkkineni Nagarjuna is an Indian film actor in Tollywood and Bollywood. He is a producer and one of the lead actors in Telugu cinema.- Early life :...
as Ajay - Sushmita SenSushmita SenSushmita Sen is an Indian actress who appears in mainly Bollywood films. A former model, Sen was crowned Miss Universe in 1994. She was the first Indian woman to win the contest.-Personal life:Sen was born on 19 November 1975....
as Soniya - VadiveluVadiveluVadivelu , often referred to as Vadivel, is a Tamil film actor,comedian and playback singer. Since 2000, he has acted as a comedian in various Tamil films. During his career, Vadivelu has won several Filmfare Awards and Tamil Nadu State Film Awards...
- RaghuvaranRaghuvaranRaghuvaran was an Indian actor who predominantly acted in movies made in South India. He became famous for his portrayal of villain and character roles in Tamil films. He has acted in more than 150 Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films...
as Easwar - S. P. BalasubrahmanyamS. P. BalasubrahmanyamSripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam is a multilingual Indian playback singer, actor, music director, voice actor and a film producer. He is referred to as S. P. B. or Balu by the media. He has won the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer six times closely following K. J. Yesudas...
as Ajay's father - Girish KarnadGirish KarnadGirish Raghunath Karnad is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language...
as Sriram - Subhalekha SudhakarSubhalekha SudhakarSubhalekha Sudhakar is an Indian film actor in Telugu cinema. He has acted in over 96 films. He is brother-in-law of legendary singer S. P. Balasubramaniam. He has acted in a few Tamil films as well. He made his acting debut in K. Viswanath's film Subhalekha. This gave him the screen name...
Soundtrack
The soundtrack featured eight songs and a theme song composed by A. R. RahmanA. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
. The lyrics were written by Vairamuthu
Vairamuthu
Vairamuthu Ramaswamy Thevar is an award-winning Tamil poet and lyricist.Debuting in the film Nizhalgal with the lyrics for the song "Ponmalai Pozhudhu", he has now about 5800 songs to his credit as of January 2009. His partnership with the composers Ilaiyaraaja, and later A. R...
and Vaali
Vaali (poet)
Vaali is a Tamil poet and lyricist who writes Tamil poetry and film song lyrics. Most recently he has extended lyrics for a couple of songs in Engeyum Kaadhal for the music of Harris Jayaraj. He has also acted in several films, most notably Hey Ram, Parthale Paravasam and Poi Kaal Kudhirai...
.
| Song | Artist(s) | Lyrics |
|---|---|---|
| "Soniya Soniya" | Udit Narayan Udit Narayan -Career:King of melody, Udit Narayan Jha was born on 1 December, 1955 in a village called Bhardaha in the Saptari district , Nepal. His father was Hare Krishna Jha and his mother was Bhuwaneshwari Devi.Narayan studied at P.B... , Unnikrishnan, Harini Harini Harini is an Indian film playback singer and classical singer, who sings mainly in Tamil films. She has also sung in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam language films, whilst working with many leading film composers. She is married to another playback singer, Tippu.-Career:Harini learnt Carnatic... |
Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Ramaswamy Thevar is an award-winning Tamil poet and lyricist.Debuting in the film Nizhalgal with the lyrics for the song "Ponmalai Pozhudhu", he has now about 5800 songs to his credit as of January 2009. His partnership with the composers Ilaiyaraaja, and later A. R... |
| "Love Attack" | Gopal Gopal Rao Gopala Rao or Gopal Rao is one of the Indian names.* Nandikolla Gopala Rao, a renowned Indian artist.* Gopal Rao Ekbote, past Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court.* Rao Gopal Rao, a famous Indian actor.... , Kavita Paudwal |
Vaali Vaali (poet) Vaali is a Tamil poet and lyricist who writes Tamil poetry and film song lyrics. Most recently he has extended lyrics for a couple of songs in Engeyum Kaadhal for the music of Harris Jayaraj. He has also acted in several films, most notably Hey Ram, Parthale Paravasam and Poi Kaal Kudhirai... |
| "Chandiranai Thottathu Yar" | Hariharan Hariharan (singer) Hariharan , born 3 April 1955) is an Indian playback singer in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Bhojpuri and Telugu movies, an established ghazal singer, and one of the pioneers of Indian fusion music. His melody is strongly appreciated by the film fraternity... , Sujatha Sujatha Mohan Sujatha Mohan , usually credited as Sujatha, is an award-winning Indian playback singer who is popular for singing in Malayalam and Tamil movies. She has also sung for Telugu, Kannada and Hindi movies. She is widely popular for her evergreen melodies and her sweet voice is considered to be her... |
Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Ramaswamy Thevar is an award-winning Tamil poet and lyricist.Debuting in the film Nizhalgal with the lyrics for the song "Ponmalai Pozhudhu", he has now about 5800 songs to his credit as of January 2009. His partnership with the composers Ilaiyaraaja, and later A. R... |
| "Pogum Vazhiyellam" | K. S. Chitra | Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Ramaswamy Thevar is an award-winning Tamil poet and lyricist.Debuting in the film Nizhalgal with the lyrics for the song "Ponmalai Pozhudhu", he has now about 5800 songs to his credit as of January 2009. His partnership with the composers Ilaiyaraaja, and later A. R... |
| "Lucky Lucky" | S P Balasubrahmanyam, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhwinder Singh Sukhwinder Singh, Born as Sukhi Singh Lubana is an Indian singer best known for working as Bollywood playback artist. Singh is famous for singing "Chaiyya Chaiyya" for which he won the Best Male Playback Award at the 1999 Filmfare Awards. The song, from Mani Ratnam's 1998 film Dil Se, was composed... , Swarnalatha Swarnalatha Swarnalatha was a Indian playback singer. From 1987 onward, she rendered nearly 7000 songs in many languages including Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, Urdu, Bengali, Oriya, Punjabi and Badaga.... |
Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Ramaswamy Thevar is an award-winning Tamil poet and lyricist.Debuting in the film Nizhalgal with the lyrics for the song "Ponmalai Pozhudhu", he has now about 5800 songs to his credit as of January 2009. His partnership with the composers Ilaiyaraaja, and later A. R... |
| "Nenje Nenje" | K J Yesudas, Sadhana Sargam Sadhana Sargam Sadhana Sargam is an acclaimed Indian playback singer. She is a recipient of the prestigious National Film Award and Filmfare Awards.Sargam has sung in many Indian languages for films, television serials and music albums. She is well known for her 90s Hindi songs and recent South Indian songs. She... |
Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Ramaswamy Thevar is an award-winning Tamil poet and lyricist.Debuting in the film Nizhalgal with the lyrics for the song "Ponmalai Pozhudhu", he has now about 5800 songs to his credit as of January 2009. His partnership with the composers Ilaiyaraaja, and later A. R... |
| "Kanava Illai Kaatra" | Srinivas Srinivas (singer) Srinivas 'Srini' is an award winning playback singer who has sung over 2000 songs in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi. He is also a music composer.-Early life:... |
Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Ramaswamy Thevar is an award-winning Tamil poet and lyricist.Debuting in the film Nizhalgal with the lyrics for the song "Ponmalai Pozhudhu", he has now about 5800 songs to his credit as of January 2009. His partnership with the composers Ilaiyaraaja, and later A. R... |
| "Mercury Pookkal" | Anupama, Swarnalatha Swarnalatha Swarnalatha was a Indian playback singer. From 1987 onward, she rendered nearly 7000 songs in many languages including Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, Urdu, Bengali, Oriya, Punjabi and Badaga.... |
Vaali Vaali (poet) Vaali is a Tamil poet and lyricist who writes Tamil poetry and film song lyrics. Most recently he has extended lyrics for a couple of songs in Engeyum Kaadhal for the music of Harris Jayaraj. He has also acted in several films, most notably Hey Ram, Parthale Paravasam and Poi Kaal Kudhirai... |
| "Theme Music" | Instrumental | - |
Trivia
- This was the first tamil film featuring actor NagarjunaNagarjunaNāgārjuna was an important Buddhist teacher and philosopher. Along with his disciple Āryadeva, he is credited with founding the Mādhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhism...
. - This was the first Tamil film featuring former Miss UniverseMiss UniverseMiss Universe is an annual international beauty contest that is run by the Miss Universe Organization. The pageant is the most publicized beauty contest in the world with 600 million viewers....
Sushmita SenSushmita SenSushmita Sen is an Indian actress who appears in mainly Bollywood films. A former model, Sen was crowned Miss Universe in 1994. She was the first Indian woman to win the contest.-Personal life:Sen was born on 19 November 1975....
as an actress. - The film was later dubbed into TeluguTelugu languageTelugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
as Rakshakudu.