Pagal Nilavu (transl. The Daytime Moon) is a 1985 Indian Tamil-language gangster film[2] written and directed by Mani Ratnam, starring Murali, Revathi and Sathyaraj. It is about a carefree youth caught between his loyalty to a mafia don and his love for a police officer's sister.
The film's score and soundtrack were composed by Ilaiyaraaja which were widely acclaimed, while the cinematography of the film was handled by Ramachandra Babu. Pagal Nilavu marked Mani Ratnam's entry into Tamil cinema. The film was released on 28 June 1985.
Selvam is an aimless youth in Muttam, Kanyakumari. Out of a sense of deep gratitude, he ends up joining the gang of Devaraj alias Periyavar and complications arise when he falls in love with Jyothi, the sister of Peter, an honest and committed police inspector who is newly posted to the town. Periyavar pretty much runs the town and though he helps people in need, he is a diabolical kingpin who will not compromise on his hold of the town for anything. He wins Selvam's undying loyalty when he helps him with money and power at a critical juncture to save his mother.
In this backdrop Peter takes charge and moves into the town with his sister and daughter. Being uncompromising in his morals, Peter is automatically drawn into a game of one-upmanship with Periyavar and his gang. He also consequentially cannot stand Periyavar's chief henchman Selvam, and is consequentially drawn into continuous verbal and physical duels with him. Selvam meanwhile falls hook line and sinker to Jyothi and tries every trick in the book to woo her and eventually wins.
Mani Ratnam and T. G. Thyagarajan of Sathya Jyothi Films were childhood friends as both their fathers were partners of Venus Movies and after the latter became a producer, he was keen to make a film directed by Ratnam.[5] Like with the producer of Unaroo (1984), Ratnam initially narrated the script of Mouna Ragam (1986), then under the title of Divya, but Thyagarajan wanted an action film; the pair eventually began work on Pagal Nilavu. The producer suggested that Sathyaraj should play a character, while Murali and Revathi were also signed on for the lead roles in the film. Sarath Babu and Radhika were also selected to portray supporting roles. As the film was set in a small town milieu, Ratnam felt that he could not do justice to the local dialogues and A. L. Narayanan was drafted in to help work on the dialogues.[6] The film was Ratnam's first in Tamil.[7] Since Radhika's character was a dancer, the actress had to undergo training.[8]
Pagal Nilavu was the first Mani Ratnam film to have standalone songs, which had to be picturised and he shot the videos of "Maina Maina" and "Nee Appothu", one after another. To make the film more commercially viable, Thyagarajan included a comedy subplot written by J. Livingston and Kumar, featuring Goundamani as a Malayali.[9] Cinematography was handled by Ramachandra Babu, and editing by B. Lenin.[1]
