Makkal En Pakkam (transl. People are on my side) is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Karthik Raghunath. The film stars Sathyaraj, Rajesh, and Ambika. It is a remake of the 1986 Malayalam film Rajavinte Makan. The film was released on 14 April 1987.

Makkal En Pakkam
Theatrical release poster
Directed byKarthick Raghunath
Story byRajeev
Produced bySuresh Balaje
StarringSathyaraj
Ambika
Rajesh
CinematographyAshok Chowdhry
Edited byP. Vasu
Music byChandrabose
Production
company
Suresh Arts
Release date
  • 14 April 1987 (1987-04-14)
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot edit

Samraj and Rajmohan are good friends who become enemies due to a false theft accusation on Samraj. Rajmohan becomes a great political leader whereas Samraj becomes a great smuggler. With Rajmohan's political influence, Samraj smuggling business was affected. Radha, Rajmohan's girlfriend, works as a junior assistant for his friend who hands an important file to her. It contains details on Samraj's illegal business. Knowing this, Samraj tries to retrieve the file, only to get Radha in trouble. When Samraj realises that she is in trouble he tries to help and consecutively falls in love with her. Radha lets Samraj know that she has a child by Rajmohan and that affair was unofficial.

Police officials respond to the order of Rajmohan and try to arrest Samraj. He escapes most occasions and continues to be king of smugglers. Finally when Rajmohan attempts to revenge Samraj, Samraj close friends Michael and Ramesh get killed. Samraj becomes extremely ferocious and chases Rajmohan at his residence with firearms, kills plenty of his party men, but hesitates to kill Rajmohan as Radha intercepts.

The film has two ends. One in which a police officer kills Samraj and another in which Radha kills Rajmohan after Samraj is dead. Both climaxes were well received by the audience.

Cast edit

Production edit

In the 1970s, M. G. Ramachandran was due to star in a film titled Makkal En Pakkam, but the project was dropped after he quit the film industry to enter politics.[2] In early 1987, producer K. Balaji launched a film with the same name starring Sathyaraj,[3] which was a remake of the Malayalam film Rajavinte Makan (1986),[4] itself inspired by Sidney Sheldon's novel Rage of Angels (1980).[5] Alex Mathew, who appeared as a student leader in the Malayalam film, reprised his role in the Tamil remake.[6] Sathyaraj said he accepted to act in the film because it was a remake of a successful film, and was guaranteed to do well.[7] Makkal En Pakkam, like a previous Sathyaraj film Palaivana Rojakkal (1986), was made with political overtones.[1][7]

Soundtrack edit

The music was composed by Chandrabose, with lyrics by Vairamuthu.[8][9]

Track listing
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Kongu Nadu Thangam Ada"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam4:35
2."Maane Pon Maane Vilaiyada"S. Janaki4:06
3."Andavanai Paarkanum Avanukku"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam4:33
4."Panchangam Yeanga"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki4:23
Total length:17:37

Release and reception edit

Makkal En Pakkam was released on 14 April 1987.[10] The following week, N. Krishnaswamy of The Indian Express wrote, "The film has enough 'dhum' to keep lay viewers happy" and praised the performances of Sathyaraj and Rajesh.[1] Jayamanmadhan of Kalki criticised the film for its inconsistent tone.[11]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e Krishnaswamy, N. (24 April 1987). "Politics again". The Indian Express. p. 12. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  2. ^ சரவணன், சி.பி. (30 October 2017). "எம்ஜிஆரின் திரைப்பயணம் குறித்த சில சுவாரஸ்யமான செய்திகள்..." Dinamani (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  3. ^ Sunil, K. P. (14 June 1987). "Trading Places". The Illustrated Weekly of India. Vol. 108. pp. 22–23. Archived from the original on 3 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  4. ^ Narayanan, Sujatha (26 December 2016). "From Drishyam to Oppam, why Mohanlal's films are remade in other languages often". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 28 August 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  5. ^ Pillai, Sreedhar (28 February 1987). "Malayalam film makers in Kerala transposes real life into reel life". India Today. Archived from the original on 23 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  6. ^ Harris M. Lentz III (30 March 2016). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2015. McFarland. p. 229. ISBN 978-1-4766-2553-9.
  7. ^ a b Sunil, K. P. (29 November 1987). "The Anti-Hero". The Illustrated Weekly of India. Vol. 108. The Times Group. pp. 40–41. Archived from the original on 3 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  8. ^ "Makkal Yen Pakkam (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) - EP". Apple Music. 1 January 1987. Archived from the original on 3 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  9. ^ "Makkal En pakkam Tamil Film EP Vinyl Record by Chandrabose". Macsendisk. Archived from the original on 3 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  10. ^ "Makkal En Pakkam". The Indian Express. 14 April 1987. p. 7. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  11. ^ ஜெயமன்மதன் (3 May 1987). "மக்கள் என் பக்கம்". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 64. Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.

External links edit