Kann Sivanthaal Mann Sivakkum (1983)

Kann Sivanthaal Mann Sivakkum (When eyes turn red, the soil too will) is a 1983 Tamil film directed by debutant Sreedhar Rajan. Produced by R. Venkatraman, the film won the Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director at the 30th National Film Awards in 1983. The film was based on Indira Parthasarathy's novel Kuruthipunal which won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1977. It stars newcomer Vijaymohan and Poornima Jayaram in the lead roles, with Jaishankar, Rajesh, Calcutta Viswanathan and Raveendran in pivotal roles. The film's score and soundtrack were composed by Ilaiyaraaja while cinematography was handled by Soumendu Roy.

Synopsis

Gautam, a photo journalist with revolutionary ideas, leaves his job as his editor fails to publish the true happenings of the society in their newspaper. One of Gautam's friends suggests him to organize an art exhibition to showcase his paintings. During the event, he happens to meet Arundhati, a Bharathanatyam dancer, who is keen to stage a classical ballet on Nandanar, a tenth century dalit saint. Gautam suggests Arundhati to present it in a folk-art form rather than a classical-art form like Bharathanatyam to which she agrees.

Actors