Sivappu Malli

{{more plot|date=November 2021}}

Sathyanathan, Punyakodi and their partners are an atrocious lot. They keep suppressing the villagers and do not even allow them to get proper education due to fear of losing control over the village. On the other hand, Ranga and Tyagu are honest factory workers who lead the fight against the factory owner for the labourers' rights. The clash between the two sections of society reaches a level where Sathyanathan and a gang plot to eliminate Ranga and Tyagu. They manage to do away with Tyagu; however, Ranga is too smart for them. How Ranga manages to punish the wrong doers is what the second half of the film is all about.

{{Cast listing|

• Vijayakanth as Ranga
• Chandrashekar as Tyagu
• Shanthi Krishna as Mallika
• Aruna
• Anuradha
• S. S. Chandran
• Sangili Murugan
• Vennira Aadai Moorthy
• Gundu Kalyanam
• K. K. Soundar
• Ramarajan (uncredited)

}}

K. Veerappan, a production executive at AVM Productions, saw the Telugu film Erra Mallelu (1981) and told AVM insiders it was very good; having faith in his words, M. Saravanan bought the remake rights without watching the film. However, Saravanan did not produce the remake, titled Sivappu Malli directly under AVM, but the subsidiary Balasubramaniam & Company. Saravanan wanted Kamal Haasan to portray the lead role, but he declined due to unavailability of dates; the role went to Vijayakanth.{{sfn|Saravanan|2013|pp=242–243}} The film's puja was held on 20 July 1981, and principal photography was completed within 35 working days, well before the already fixed 15 August release date.{{sfn|Saravanan|2013|p=244}} Though Vijayakanth was already acting in Saatchi (1983) when he accepted Sivappu Malli, despite both films being shot in different towns, he would film for Sivappu Malli in the evening at Maduranthakam after filming for Saatchi in Salem.{{Cite web |date=22 November 2022 |title=சிவப்பு மல்லி படப்பிடிப்பில் விஜயகாந்த் காட்டிய சின்சியாரிட்டி |url=https://tamil.news18.com/photogallery/entertainment/cinema-sincerity-shown-by-vijayakanth-while-shooting-sivappu-malli-842250.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20221206085327/https://tamil.news18.com/photogallery/entertainment/cinema-sincerity-shown-by-vijayakanth-while-shooting-sivappu-malli-842250.html |archive-date=6 December 2022 |access-date=6 December 2022 |website=News18 |language=ta}} Editing was handled by Vellaichami.{{sfn|Saravanan|2013|p=245}} While discussing about crediting lead actors' names, Chandrasekhar's brother Pandian was insistent about having his brother's name to be placed first in opening credits; due to this reason both Vijayakanth and Chandrasekhar were left uncredited. The makers wanted Vijayakanth's voice to be dubbed by a voice artist; however Vijayakanth insisted to dub for himself, he attended dubbing session during the shoot of Jadhikkoru Needhi.{{Cite magazine |last=விஜயகாந்த் |author-link=Vijayakanth |date=22 January 2006 |title=வலி... வருத்தம்... வாழ்க்கை! |url=https://archive.org/download/kalki2006-01-22/kalki2006-01-22.pdf |access-date=5 March 2024 |magazine=Kalki |pages=88–91 |language=ta |via=Internet Archive}}

Sivappu Malli revolves around the themes of communism and marxism.{{Cite web |last=Maderya |first=Kumuthan |title=Rage against the state: Historicizing the "angry young man" in Tamil cinema |url=https://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc52.2010/Tamil/text.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20170523083451/http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc52.2010/Tamil/text.html |archive-date=23 May 2017 |access-date=21 February 2022 |website=Jump Cut}}{{Cite journal |last1=Damodaran |first1=Karthikeyan |last2=Gorringe |first2=Hugo |year=2017 |title=Madurai Formula Films: Caste Pride and Politics in Tamil Cinema |url=https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/4359 |url-status=live |journal=South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal |doi=10.4000/samaj.4359 |s2cid=149120258 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110225850/https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/4359 |archive-date=10 January 2022 |access-date=21 February 2022 |doi-access=free}}

The soundtrack was composed by Shankar–Ganesh, with lyrics by Vairamuthu.{{Cite web |title=Sivappu Malli Tamil Film EP Vinyl Record by Shankar Ganesh |url=https://macsendisk.com/product/sivappu-malli-tamil-film-ep-vinyl-record-by-shankar-ganesh/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110053928/https://macsendisk.com/product/sivappu-malli-tamil-film-ep-vinyl-record-by-shankar-ganesh/ |archive-date=10 November 2021 |access-date=10 November 2021 |website=Macsendisk}}{{Cite web |date=30 September 1981 |title=Sivappu Malli |url=https://www.jiosaavn.com/album/sivappu-malli/,i9ylUQMc,0_ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220605041321/https://www.jiosaavn.com/album/sivappu-malli/,i9ylUQMc,0_ |archive-date=5 June 2022 |access-date=5 June 2022 |website=JioSaavn}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Track listing

| extra_column = Singer(s)

| title1 = Erimalai Eppadi Porukkum

| extra1 = T. M. Soundararajan, T. L. Maharajan

| length1 = 6:20

| title2 = Rendu Kannam Santhana Kinnam

| extra2 = K. J. Yesudas, P. Susheela

| length2 = 4:39

| total_length = 10:59

}}

Sivappu Malli was released on 15 August 1981.{{sfn|Saravanan|2013|p=242}} Sindhu and Jeeva, reviewing the film for Kalki, appreciated Lokesh's cinematography and Vellaichami's editing, especially Lokesh's use of slow motion shots.{{Cite magazine |last1=சிந்து |last2=ஜீவா |date=30 August 1981 |title=சிவப்பு மல்லி |url=https://kalkionline.com/kalkionline_archive/imagegallery/archiveimages/kalki/1981/aug/30-08-1981/p49.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220731071228/https://kalkionline.com/kalkionline_archive/imagegallery/archiveimages/kalki/1981/aug/30-08-1981/p49.jpg |archive-date=31 July 2022 |access-date=21 February 2022 |magazine=Kalki |page=49 |language=ta}}

The song "Erimalai Eppadi Porukkum" became the theme for Vivek's character in Singam (2010).{{Cite web |date=17 April 2021 |title=எப்போதும் நெஞ்சில் நிழலாடும் விவேக்கின் காமெடி கலாட்டாக்கள் |url=https://www.maalaimalar.com/news/district/2021/04/17173120/2546933/Taml-News-Actor-Vivek-comedy-dialogue.vpf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515182526/https://www.maalaimalar.com/news/district/2021/04/17173120/2546933/Taml-News-Actor-Vivek-comedy-dialogue.vpf |archive-date=15 May 2021 |access-date=5 June 2022 |website=Maalai Malar |language=ta}}{{Cite web |date=17 April 2021 |title=ஜ(ம ) னங்களின் கலைஞன் – வேங்கடகிருஷ்ணன் |url=https://www.vikatakavi.in/magazines/207/7543/janagalin-kalaignan.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220605034510/https://www.vikatakavi.in/magazines/207/7543/janagalin-kalaignan.php |archive-date=5 June 2022 |access-date=5 June 2022 |website=Vikatakavi |language=ta}}

{{reflist|refs=

{{Cite magazine |last=சரவணன் |first=ஏவி.எம். |author-link=M. Saravanan (producer) |date=29 May 2005 |title=சூப்பர் ஸ்டாரின் பெருந்தன்மை! |url=https://archive.org/download/kalki2005-05-29/kalki2005-05-29.pdf |access-date=10 May 2023 |magazine=Kalki |pages=60–63 |language=ta |via=Internet Archive}}

}}

• {{Cite book |last=Saravanan |first=M. |author-link=M. Saravanan (producer) |title=AVM 60 Cinema |publisher=Rajarajan Pathippagam |year=2013 |edition=3rd |language=ta |oclc=1158347612 |orig-date=2005}}

• {{IMDb title}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes}}

{{AVM Productions}}

{{Rama Narayanan}}

Category:1980s Indian films

Category:1980s Tamil-language films

Category:1981 films

Category:AVM Productions films

Category:Films about communism

Category:Films directed by Rama Narayanan

Category:Films scored by Shankar–Ganesh

Category:Tamil remakes of Telugu films

Category:Tamil-language Indian films

{{Authority control}}