Idhayakkani

Idhayakkani is a 1975 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by A. Jagannathan and produced by R. M. Veerappan, starring M. G. Ramachandran in the lead role, with Pandari Bai, R. S. Manohar and Radha Saluja among others enacting supporting roles. It was released on 22 August 1975 and became a major success. Idhayakkani was notably the only Indian film to be screened at the Tashkent International Film Festival in 1978.

Plot
Mohan is a kind-hearted man whose theory of life is equality. He puts it into practice by sharing equally the income of his estate with his labourers. He has another passion – he wants to serve the country – and for that, he has joined the police force as an officer. He meets a needy, innocent, uneducated, village girl, Lakshmi, and on the advice of an elderly domestic help, he permits her to stay in his house.

Tongues start wagging, rumours spread and to remove the stigma now associated with her name, Mohan decides to marry the girl with her and his mother's consent. He joins duty. However, his happiness is short-lived. He is surprised when he discovers his wife's photo in the file of the case he is assigned to investigate which involves the murder of a leading scientist, as the main suspect. He is shocked but decides to do his duty and begins to investigate by first checking if his wife is really as innocent as she looks. He then takes the battle to other side by infiltrating the gang and in the end, finds the truth.

Cast

 * Guest appearances


 * S. V. Subbaiah as Ponnuswamy
 * P. S. Veerappa as Uncle John
 * V. S. Raghavan as The judge
 * Shakti Prasad as Dharma Prakash, an atomic power scientist
 * Rathna as Kamala, a picker from Mohan's Sathiya Coffee Estate Mohan, Neega Nallairukkanu

Production
Idhayakkani is the debut of Bollywood actress Radha Saluja in Tamil.

Soundtrack
The music was composed by M. S. Viswanathan. The songs "Inbame Undhan Per" and "Neenga Nalla Irukkanum" became chartbusters. Vijay Antony remixed the former song for the film Mariyadhai (2009).

Release and reception
Idhayakkani was released on 22 August 1975. Ananda Vikatan praised the film for depicting Mercara's greenery and the horror of the Pichavaram backwaters, along with the music and colour cinematography. Kanthan of Kalki praised the writing by Veerappan, and the direction of Jagannathan. The film became a major success, and a breakthrough for Jagannathan.