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Moondram Pirai is a film of genre Drama directed by Balu Mahendra with Kamal Haasan
Moondram Pirai (1982)
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Add to a movie listMoondram Pirai (English: The crescent seen on the third day following new moon day) is a 1982 Indian Tamil drama film written, directed and filmed by Balu Mahendra. The film features Kamal Haasan and Sridevi in the lead roles, while Silk Smitha, Poornam Vishwanathan and Y. G. Mahendra play supporting roles. The music for the film was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, with lyrics written by Kannadasan, Vairamuthu and Gangai Amaran. This was the last film that Kannadasan worked on before his death in 1981; he died when the film was under production.
Moondram Pirai is about a school teacher, R. Srinivas, who rescues a woman, Bhagyalakshmi, who is suffering from retrograde amnesia, from a brothel, and protects her in his house located in Ketti. The rest of the film shows how Bhagyalakshmi recovers her memory with Srinivas' help. Moondram Pirai is based on Balu Mahendra's brief relationship with actress Shoba, who died in 1980, shortly after their marriage. It was shot in Ketti, a small town situated close to Ooty, with further shooting also taking place in Bangalore. A total of 30 days was taken to complete the filming, using 36,000 feet of film negative. The final length of the film was 3,918 metres (12,854 ft).
Moondram Pirai was released on 19 February 1982 to positive critical reception. It was a box office success and had a theatrical run of 379 days at the Sathyam Theatre, and 200 days in other multiplexes. Haasan won the National Film Award for Best Actor for his role, while Mahendra won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography. The film also won the Best Director Award for Mahendra at the Filmfare Awards, and also won five Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. The film was dubbed in Telugu under the title Vasantha Kokila and was released on the same day as the original version. The film was remade the following year in Hindi as Sadma, with most of the cast and crew members from the original version reprising their roles.
Synopsis
Bhagyalakshmi (Sridevi) has a car accident while returning from a party and is hospitalised with severe head injuries. When she recovers, she is diagnosed with retrograde amnesia and she fails to recognise her own parents. She mentally regresses to the state of a child. While she is undergoing treatment, she is kidnapped and sold to the madam (Ganthimathi) of a brothel. Srinivas, also known as Cheenu, (Kamal Haasan) comes to Chennai to meet his old friend (Y. G. Mahendra). Together, they visit the brothel to relax. The madam sends Bhagyalakshmi, renamed Vijaya, to his room. Cheenu realises that she is mentally still a child and pities her. He learns that she is from a cultured family, and that she was kidnapped and forced into prostitution.Actors
Kamal Haasan
(R. Srinivas 'Cheenu')
Sridevi
(Bhagyalaksmi / Vijaya 'Viji')
Silk Smitha
(Smitha)
Ganthimathi
(Brothel owner)
Y. G. Mahendran
(Srinivas's friend)
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