Naanum Oru Thozhilali

{{more plot|date=May 2022}}

Bharath returns to India from his studies abroad after his father Yoganand dies in a car accident. The family's factory is run by the father and son team of Rammohan and Sundar. They loot from the factory and treat the workers poorly. Kumar works at the factory and often clashes with Rammohan and Sundar. The duo accused Kumar's older brother of running away with stolen company cash but Kumar does not believe this. He is also suspicious of Yoganand's death and is trying to investigate.

Bharath falls in love with factory worker Meena, soon after his arrival in India. He also quickly realises that something is amiss with the factory and his father's accident. With the help of Meena, he poses as factory worker Raju to investigate matters. He soon learns that Kumar is an ally and the two work together to get to the bottom of the mystery.

{{cast listing|

• Kamal Haasan as Bharath/Raju
• Ambika as Meena
• Jaishankar as Sundar
• Rajeev as Kumar
• Murali Mohan (Telugu version)
• V. S. Raghavan as Rammohan
• Veera Raghavan as Yoganand
• Vennira Aadai Moorthy as Pakkiri's assistant
• Loose Mohan as Pakkiri
• T. K. S. Chandran
• Prasad Babu
• Thara Krishnan
• C. R. Vijayakumari as Kumar's sister in law
• Devika as Bharath's mother
• Sadhana as Padma
• Vijaya
• Deepa in a special appearance for Mandaveli song

}}

The film was launched by C. V. Sridhar in 1980 as a Cinemascope venture and was then titled as Sakthi. Sridhar collaborated with Kamal Haasan after the success of the 1978 film Ilamai Oonjal Aadukirathu. The film was meant to be the first film which featured Haasan and Ambika as a lead pair and stills were released featuring Ambika in a swimsuit. The film got delayed and was put on hold, before it re-emerged in 1986 under the title of Meendum Suryodayam ({{Translation|The sun rises again}}) and shooting progressed. It was planned for an April 1986 release, which got postponed to 1 May 1986. There was a local council election in March 1986 and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) won seats. Sridhar felt the title Meendum Suryodayam would imply that the filmmakers were welcoming the DMK's re-emergence, whose symbol is that of a rising sun. Hence the title was changed to Naanum Oru Thozhilali. Sridhar had previously started a film with the same title in the mid-1970s, with M. G. Ramachandran in the lead; that film was shelved.{{Cite news |date=30 May 2014 |title=Kamal Haasan replaced MGR |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/did-you-know/kamal-haasan-replaced-mgr/articleshow/35783031.cms |url-status=live |access-date=30 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502064336/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/did-you-know/kamal-haasan-replaced-mgr/articleshow/35783031.cms |archive-date=2 May 2022}}{{Cite news |date=4 April 2014 |title=Naanum Oru Thozhilli was Meendum Suryodhayam |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/did-you-know/Naanum-Oru-Thozhilli-was-Meendum-Suryodhayam/articleshow/33239840.cms |url-status=live |access-date=30 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180825050129/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/did-you-know/Naanum-Oru-Thozhilli-was-Meendum-Suryodhayam/articleshow/33239840.cms |archive-date=25 August 2018}}{{Cite web |date=19 September 2016 |title=கமல் நடிப்பில் உருவான துரோகி, டாப் டக்கர் படங்கள் என்ன ஆனது என தெரியுமா? |trans-title=Do you know what happened of Drohi and Top Tucker, in which Kamal acted? |url=https://cinema.vikatan.com/tamil-cinema/68572-tamil-movies-that-changed-their-titles-when-they-were-released |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200711115656/https://cinema.vikatan.com/tamil-cinema/68572-tamil-movies-that-changed-their-titles-when-they-were-released |archive-date=11 July 2020 |access-date=15 February 2021 |website=Ananda Vikatan |language=ta}}

The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, with lyrics by Vaali.{{Cite web |title=Naanum Oru Thozhilaali |url=https://avdigital.in/products/naanum-oru-thozhilaali |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120221346/https://avdigital.in/products/naanum-oru-thozhilaali |archive-date=20 January 2021 |access-date=2 May 2022 |website=AVDigital |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Naanum Oru Thozilali (1986) |url=http://www.raaga.com/channels/tamil/moviedetail.asp?mid=T0002821 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224111647/http://www.raaga.com/channels/tamil/moviedetail.asp?mid=T0002821 |archive-date=24 December 2013 |access-date=23 December 2013 |website=Raaga.com}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Tamil Track list

| extra_column = Singer(s)

| total_length = 30:18

| title1 = Aayirathil Nee Oruthan

| extra1 = S. Janaki

| length1 = 4:14

| title2 = Angel Aadum Angel

| extra2 = P. Susheela

| length2 = 4:29

| title3 = Mandaveli

| extra3 = S. P. Balasubrahmanyam

| length3 = 3:15

| title4 = Naan Pooveduthu

| extra4 = S. P. Balasubramanyam, S. Janaki

| length4 = 4:37

| title5 = Oru Nilavum Malarum

| extra5 = S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki

| length5 = 4:32

| title6 = Pattu Poove

| extra6 = S. P. Balasubrahmanyam

| length6 = 4:30

| title7 = Sembaruthi Poove

| extra7 = S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki

| length7 = 4:41

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Kannada Track list

| extra_column = Singer(s)

| total_length =

| title1 = Chandra Banda

| note1 =

| extra1 = S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki

| lyrics1 = Chi. Udayashankar

| length1 =

| title2 = Hammayya

| note2 =

| extra2 = S. P. Balasubramanyam

| lyrics2 = Chi. Udayashankar

| length2 =

| title3 = Hado Gombe

| note3 =

| extra3 = P. Susheela

| lyrics3 = Chi. Udayashankar

| length3 =

}}

Naanum Oru Thozhilali released on 1 May 1986, Labour Day.{{Cite web |date=25 April 2025 |title=பிளாஷ்பேக் : திமுகவுக்காக தலைப்பை மாற்றியதால் தன் பட தலைப்பை கொடுத்த எம்ஜிஆர் |url=https://www.dinamalar.com/cinemanews/129101 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250425101044/https://www.dinamalar.com/cinemanews/129101 |archive-date=25 April 2025 |access-date=25 April 2025 |website=Dinamalar |language=Ta}} The Telugu-language version Andarikante Ghanudu released one year later on 3 July 1987.{{Cite news |date=3 July 1987 |title=Andarikante Ghanudu |language=te |pages=8 |work=Andhra Patrika |url=https://pressacademy.ap.gov.in/archives/Vetapalem%20Library/ANDHRA%20PATRIKA/307410_ANDHRAPATRIKA_03_07_1987_Volume_No_74_Issue_No_93/00000008.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=4 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704025329/https://pressacademy.ap.gov.in/archives/Vetapalem%20Library/ANDHRA%20PATRIKA/307410_ANDHRAPATRIKA_03_07_1987_Volume_No_74_Issue_No_93/00000008.pdf |archive-date=4 July 2022}}{{Cite web |title=Andarikante Ghanudu |url=https://indiancine.ma/ABNT/info |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230210071529/https://indiancine.ma/ABNT/info |archive-date=10 February 2023 |access-date=21 September 2020 |website=indiancine.ma}} The film was also dubbed in Kannada as Sooryodaya, but that did not have a theatrical release.{{Cite web |title=Sooryodaya Kannada Film EP Vinyl Record by Ilaiyaraja |url=https://mossymart.com/product/sooryodaya-kannada-film-ep-vinyl-record-by-ilaiyaraja/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021205037/https://mossymart.com/product/sooryodaya-kannada-film-ep-vinyl-record-by-ilaiyaraja/ |archive-date=21 October 2021 |access-date=2 May 2022 |website=Mossymart}}{{Cite web |date=4 April 2022 |title=எம்ஜிஆரின் கோபத்துக்கு பயந்து மாற்றப்பட்ட கமல் படத்தின் பெயர்! |url=https://tamil.news18.com/photogallery/entertainment/cinema-kamal-haasan-meendum-sooryodayam-name-was-changed-out-of-fear-of-mgr-anger-jbr-scs-725918.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629140135/https://tamil.news18.com/nodeapi/pv-candidate |archive-date=29 June 2022 |access-date=29 June 2022 |website=News18 |language=ta}} Jayamanmadhan of Kalki criticised the director for assuming that Haasan, Ambika, the stunts and songs were enough for the film's success as audiences would not feel the same.{{Cite magazine |last=ஜெயமன்மதன் |author-link=Subha (writers) |date=25 May 1986 |title=ஸ்ரீதரின் இரண்டு படங்கள் |url=https://archive.org/details/kalki1986-05-25/page/46/mode/2up |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230210055239/https://archive.org/details/kalki1986-05-25/page/46/mode/2up |archive-date=10 February 2023 |access-date=2 May 2022 |magazine=Kalki |pages=46–47 |language=ta |via=Internet Archive}}

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|0320119|Naanum Oru Thozhilali}}
• {{IMDb title|1431003|Andarikante Ghanudu}}

{{C. V. Sridhar}}

Category:1980s Indian films

Category:1980s masala films

Category:1986 multilingual films

Category:1980s Tamil-language films

Category:1980s Telugu-language films

Category:1986 films

Category:Films directed by C. V. Sridhar

Category:Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja

Category:Films with screenplays by C. V. Sridhar

Category:Indian multilingual films

Category:Tamil-language Indian films

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