Vellai Roja

Vellai Roja
Poster
Directed byA. Jagannathan
Screenplay byA. L. Narayanan
Story byDr. Pavithran
Based onPost Mortem (1982)
Produced byV. Viswanathan
StarringSivaji Ganesan
Ambika
Prabhu
Radha
CinematographyP. Ganesapandiyan
Edited byR. Devarajan
Music byIlaiyaraaja
Production
company
Filmco
Release date
  • 4 November 1983 (1983-11-04)
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Vellai Roja (transl. White Rose) is a 1983 Indian Tamil-language thriller film, directed by A. Jagannathan and written and A. L. Narayanan. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Ambika, Prabhu and Radha.[1] It is a remake of the 1982 Malayalam film Post Mortem.[2] The film was released on 4 November 1983,[3] and ran for 100 days in 13 centres.[4][5]

Plot

Father James is a Catholic priest, well-respected by the entire town. Parisutham is a multimillionaire and head of the town, Peter who is the son of coffin maker Savaerimuthu is an angry young man, who always fights for justice and is against rich people. Peter's sister Mary and Parisutham's son Johnny are in love. Mary becomes pregnant and at that time Johnny has to leave the country for few days on business, so she asks Father James' help to arrange her marriage with Johnny because both Parisutham and Peter respect his words. But Peter's girlfriend Lakshmi overhears part of a conversation between James and Mary on her pregnancy and misunderstands that Father James and Mary were involved in a taboo relationship, and she tells Peter.

The next day, Mary is found hanging dead from a tree. Peter, in a fit of rage assaults Father James and gets arrested, but he escapes. Everyone thinks that Mary has committed suicide and she is buried without a postmortem. But Father James has a suspicion about Mary's death, so he asks his twin brother Arul, Superintendent of Police, to have the body exhumed to perform a postmortem. The next day when Arul exhumes Mary's coffin he finds Father James murdered and his dead body in it, with Mary's corpse missing. Everyone suspects Peter was the culprit, Arul immediately begins an investigation to solve the mystery behind Mary's missing dead body and Father James' death. Who is the culprit for Father James' murder, the motive, was Mary killed or did she commit suicide, why was her body missing and where is Johnny, forms the rest of the story.

Cast

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja.[6][7]

Song Singers Lyrics Length
"Solai Poovil Malai Thenral" S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki Muthulingam 4:38
"Oh Maanae Maanae" S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki Na. Kamarasan 4:20
"Devanin Kovil" Malaysia Vasudevan Vaali 4:15
"Naagoor Pakkathile" Ilaiyaraaja, Malaysia Vasudevan, S. P. Sailaja Gangai Amaran 4:43
"Vaadi Enn" Gangai Amaran, S. Janaki Gangai Amaran 4:25

Release and reception

Vellai Roja was released on 4 November 1983 on the day of Diwali. Jagannathan's other film Thanga Magan was also released on the same day. Despite facing competition from other releases such as Thoongathey Thambi Thoongathey, Apoorva Sahodarigal and Thangaikkor Geetham, both films became very successful at box-office.[8] Jayamanmadhan of Kalki appreciated Ganesan for his performance in two distinctive roles.[9]

References

  1. ^ "231-240". nadigarthilagam.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  2. ^ Arunachalam, Param (2019). BollySwar: 1991–2000. Mavrix Infotech. p. 424. ISBN 9788193848210.
  3. ^ ராம்ஜி, வி. (4 November 2022). "இளையராஜாவின் இசையில் ஈர்த்த 'ஓ மானே மானே மானே!'". Kamadenu (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 10 November 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  4. ^ "வெள்ளை ரோஜா கற்றுத்தரும் ரீமேக் பாடம்". News18 (in Tamil). 4 November 2022. Archived from the original on 10 November 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  5. ^ "வெள்ளை ரோஜா". Dina Thanthi (in Tamil). 11 February 1984. Archived from the original on 29 May 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  6. ^ "Vellai Roja (1983)". Raaga.com. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  7. ^ "Vellai Roja Tamil Film LP Vinyl Record by Ilayaraja". Mossymart. Archived from the original on 10 November 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  8. ^ "தீபாவளி ரிலீஸ்!". Kungumam (in Tamil). 25 October 2019. Archived from the original on 26 October 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  9. ^ ஜெயமன்மதன் (27 November 1983). "வெள்ளை ரோஜா". Kalki (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 4 May 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2024 – via Internet Archive.