Thanikattu Raja

Thanikattu Raja is a 1982 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by V. C. Guhanathan, and Produced by D. Ramanaidu. It stars Rajinikanth, Sridevi and Sripriya, with Jaishankar, Vijayakumar, Sathyakala and Y. G. Mahendran in supporting roles. The film had music by Ilaiyaraaja and cinematography handled by P. S. Nivas.

Plot
Soori is a rebellious young man who works as a mechanic and often lands in trouble fighting for justice. He falls in love with a rich girl Vaani, but Vaani's father plots to break their relationship through his manager Vasu. In the ensuing melee, Soori murders the manager to save Vaani's honour. Soori is about to be sentenced to death and Vaani finds that the only way she can save Soori is by marrying a rich, roguish man Ethiraj who uses his money to get Soori's death penalty commuted to a prison term.

After his release, Soori is distraught at losing Vaani and takes to drinking. He moves to his village where he becomes immensely popular among the villagers due to his righteous work and progressive activities. He offers protection to a village damsel Vidhya to escape from being forced to be a prostitute and later marries her but still remains alcoholic. Vaani meets and advises him to stop drinking and turn over a new leaf. Despite being abused by her husband and falsely accused of hobnobbing with Soori, Vaani maintains the sanctity of her marriage. Whether Soori and Vaani's lives return to normal forms the rest of the story.

Production
Thanikattu Raja does not credit any actors; instead it features the text "Ungal Abhimana Natchathirangal" (Your favourite stars) due to the film's ensemble cast.

Themes
According to Jump Cut, Thanikattu Raja "explores the connections between landlords and politicians, who together oppress the rural population".

Soundtrack
The soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja and had six songs. "Mullai Arumbe" did not feature in the film but was part of the album. The lyrics for the songs were written by Vaali and Panchu Arunachalam.
 * Tamil

Brij Bihari wrote the lyrics for all the songs in the Hindi dubbed version.
 * Hindi

Release and reception
The film was released on 12 March 1982. Thiraignani of Kalki felt the plot which spoke about village has been dealt sparsely and also felt Jaishankar, Sripriya and Sridevi were underutilised; however praised the stunt choreography.