Naan Mahaan Alla (1984 film)

Naan Mahaan Alla  is a 1984 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by S. P. Muthuraman. The film stars Rajinikanth, Radha and M. N. Nambiar. It is a remake of the Hindi film Vishwanath (1978). The film was released on 14 January 1984, Pongal day and emerged a commercial success.

Plot
Viswanath, a famous lawyer, stays with his widowed mother and physically disabled sister. He sends Jagan, a rich magnate's son and Lokaiya, two criminals to jail on the charge of rape and murder of an innocent girl. Jagan's father GMK uses his influence and starts creating trouble in Viswanath's life. GMK succeeds in getting Viswanath imprisoned on a trumped up charge. His heartbroken mother dies. Once out of jail, Viswanath sets out to punish the culprits when he temporarily loses his eyesight.

Production
Rajinikanth initially wanted to star in a Tamil remake of the Hindi film Vishwanath (1978) with S. Ravi producing, but as Ravi did not like the film, they decided to collaborate on a different project, eventually choosing to remake the Kannada film Premada Kanike (1976) as Polladhavan (1980). Nonetheless, Vishwanath would still be remade in Tamil, with S. P. Muthuraman directing and Rajinikanth starring. The remake was originally titled Naan Gandhi Alla but, following a court order, was retitled Naan Mahaan Alla. As a result, the lead character's final dialogue was changed to match the new title, although the lip syncing to the original dialogue "Naan Gandhi Alla" was not changed.

Soundtrack
The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja and lyrics were written by Vaali.

Reception
Jayamanmadhan of Kalki felt the first half had the smell of cashews but the second half had old rice grains.