Naalai Manithan

Naalai Manithan (transl. The Man of Tomorrow) is a 1989 Tamil-language science fiction horror film written and directed by Velu Prabhakaran. The film was produced by Thakkali Srinivasan under the banner Perfect Productions. Premi – Srini composed the music for the film. It stars Ajay Rathnam playing the titular role with Prabhu, Amala and Jaishankar playing the protagonist roles. The film was inspired from the American film Silent Rage directed by Michael Miller.[2] The movie was remade in Kannada as Manava 2022 starring Devaraj.

Naalai Manithan
Poster
Directed byVelu Prabhakaran
Produced byThakkali Srinivasan
Screenplay byVelu Prabhakaran
StarringPrabhu
Amala
Ajay Rathnam
Jaishankar
Music byPremi – Srini
CinematographyVelu Prabhakaran
Edited byV. Chakrapani
Production
company
Perfect Productions
Release date
14 January 1989[1]
Running time
108 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

20 years into the future (2008) in Chennai, India, a doctor (Jaishankar) invents a drug which gives back life to the dead if injected within two hours of death. He works along with two other doctors (Jai Ganesh) and (Thakkali Srinivasan). They experiment on the dead body of an orphan (Ajay Rathnam) and succeed. Unbeknownst to them, the drug induces side effects which makes the recipient immortal and at the same time alters the mental behavior of the recipient to a murdering maniac. Ajay Rathnam goes on a killing spree and the city is soon flooded with murders. But Ajay doesn't hurt the doctors as he trusts them, and returns to them every time he is wounded by bullets fired by the police.

A police officer (Prabhu) starts investigating these crimes and is soon on the trail of Ajay and the doctors after suspecting their research work. When Jai Ganesh and Thakkali Srinivasan suggest to Jaishankar that they kill Ajay in order to put an end to the rampage, Ajay overhears it and later tracks down Thakkali Srinivasan, his wife (Jayashree) and Jai Ganesh, and kills them all. Later he kills Jaishankar as well.

Prabhu and his girlfriend (Amala) finally track down Ajay and after some intense bloodshed and fight, they roll him off a cliff in their car. Even after getting burnt, he comes back alive and attacks them. Finally Prabhu throws him into a deep watery pit, seemingly killing him, and leaves the place along with Amala. However, Ajay comes out from the pit, having survived.

Cast

Production

Naalai Manithan marked the directorial debut of Velu Prabhakaran,[3] who also wrote the screenplay and served as cinematographer.[4] Thakkali Srinivasan produced the film and also acted.[4] Ajay Rathnam made his acting debut with this film.[5]

Reception

N. Krishnaswamy of The Indian Express wrote on 20 January 1989, "The murderous hunt is what the film is about and such sequences are put together with crisp finesse. 2008 notwithstanding, Naalai Manithan is closer to what Cain did to Abel."[4]

Soundtrack

Music by Premi – Srini.[6]

No.SongSingerLength (m:ss)
1"Sangamathil Sangamein"SPB, Chithra04:26
2"Ye Solai Pookkalae"Mano, S.P Sailaja03:54
3"Manithanum"Sirkazhi Sivachidambaram03:48
4"Punnagai Pothuma"Vani Jairam03:36
5"Mele Mele Bode"Mano03:01

Sequel

The sequel Adhisaya Manithan was released in 1990,[7] and was also directed by Prabhakaran.[8]

References
  1. http://www.cinesouth.com/cgi-bin/filmography/newfilmdb.cgi?name=nalaya%20manithan
  2. "சுட்ட படம்". Vikatan (in Tamil). 23 May 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  3. "60-year-old director Velu Prabhakaran marries actress Shirley Das". mid-day. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  4. Krishnaswamy, N (20 January 1989). "Naalai Manithan". The Indian Express. p. 5.
  5. "கல்லாய் இருந்த என்னை வைரமாக்கியவர் கமல்! அஜய்ரத்னம் பேட்டி". Dinamalar. 31 March 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  6. "Naalai Manithan -Tamil Bollywood Vinyl LP". Bollywood Vinyl. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  7. Dhusiya, Mithuraaj (2017). Indian Horror Cinema: (En)gendering the Monstrous. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-138-69318-0.
  8. "Velu Prabhakaran ties the knot with Shirley Das, his heroine from Kadhal Kadhai". Firstpost. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
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