Jallikattu (1987 film)

Jallikattu is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language vigilante action film directed by Manivannan. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Sathyaraj and Radha. Produced by Chitra Ramu and Chitra Lakshmanan, it was released on 28 August 1987.

Plot
The story begins with Arjun being arrested for multiple crimes. In the past, Arjun was a happy-go-lucky young man. His brother, a factory's union leader, clashed with his superiors for a bonus. In the meantime, Arjun fell in love with Radha. To help the labourers, Arjun cheated the factory's owners as a fake income tax officer, he managed to take all their black money and he gave it to the labourers. The owners of the factory trap Arjun's brother, sister-in-law and his niece in their house. Arjun's sister in-law is raped and the three are killed. Arjun then tried to kill the culprit and failed. Siva Prasad, Radha's brother, advised him to surrender but, being an innocent in this case, he refused. However, Siva Prasad arrested him by surprise. Arjun was then tortured. Therefore, a bald Arjun comes to the court. Despite everything being against Arjun, the judge Ram Prakash feels that he is innocent. So Ram Prakash sentences that Arjun will be under house arrest on his isolated island. Ram Prakash and Arjun slowly begin bonding as friends again and Radha shows up again after being removed from the island and shoots Ram Prakash After few plots, twists and turns, Ram Prakash reveals his motive on choosing Arjun.

Rama Prakash's granddaughter is kidnapped and held at ransom to release a criminal linked to above 3 criminals, and is raped and murdered brutally when Judge Ram Prakash upholds law and sentences the criminal to death by hanging. Ram Prakash trains Arjun well in many skills and the climax gets interesting on how Arjun overtakes his enemies one by one.

Production
Jallikattu is the first collaboration between Sivaji Ganesan and Manivannan. The dialogues were written by Vietnam Veedu Sundaram.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, with lyrics written by Gangai Amaran.

Release
Jallikattu faced issues with the Censor Board before release as the board "felt it may show the judiciary in poor light" and the filmmakers made a few cuts. Jallikattu was a commercial success, and the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. G. Ramachandran attended the 100th day celebrations which was his last function before his death on 24 December 1987.

Reception
N. Krishnaswamy of The Indian Express wrote the film "signals some sort of peak in Satyaraj's career. It's screenplay implies that the actor has achieved such a pinnacle of popularity that he can afford to sit down, relax and look around with satisfaction. [Jallikattu] cumulates the popular roles Satyaraj has played till now. It is thus a compendium, a summary of his work".