Thaai Mookaambikai

1982 Indian film

9 July 1982 (1982-07-09)

CountryIndiaLanguageTamil

Thaai Mookaambikai is a 1982 Indian Tamil-language devotional film directed by K. Shankar, starring K. R. Vijaya, Jaishankar, Sivakumar, Sujatha and other leading actors. The film was released on 9 July 1982.

Plot

Cast

K. R. Vijaya as Raakayi / Mookayi / Thaai Mookambigai
Sivakumar as Senthil, Raakayi's elder son
Saritha as Vellayamma, Raakayi's daughter
Karthik as Muthu, Raakayi's younger son
Major Sundarrajan as Ganesa Bhattar
Sujatha as Poorani, Bhattar's wife
Jai Shankar as Kannappan
Thengai Srinivasan as Dharmakartha, Village President
Poornima Bhagyaraj as Durga
M. N. Nambiar as Durga's Father
Manorama as Ranjani
Oru Viral Krishna Rao as Kaambothi
C. K. Saraswathi as Kalyani
Nizhalgal Ravi as Sarangan, Ranjani's son
Jai Ganesh as Mani, Bhattar's Son
V. Gopalakrishnan as Inspector Gopi
Gundu Kalyanam
Gandhimathi
M. Balamuralikrishna as Singer
M. S. Viswanathan as Singer
Sirkazhi Govindarajan as Singer

Soundtrack

Music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, with lyrics by Vaali.^[1]^[2] The song "Janani Janani" is set in Kalyani raga,^[3]^[4] "Isai Arasi" is set in Sallabam, also known as Surya,^[5]^[6] and the title track is set in Vasantha Sri.^[7] Ilaiyaraaja said he "was running out of time" while composing the tune for "Janani Janani". He claimed to have been "under hectic pressure from the film producer, who had planned to perform the ‘puja’ for the film the next day with the song". The initial tune which Ilaiyaraaja composed did not suit the character Adi Shankara. He said with a chance to have a glimpse of the portrait of Shankara, he was inspired to compose the tune which was similar to Bhaja Govindam.^[8] "Janani Janani" was initially to be sung by K. J. Yesudas, but Ilaiyaraaja sang the album version due to Yesudas' other commitments; his version was also selected to be used as the film version.^[9]

Song	Singers
Isai Arasi Ennalum	P. Susheela, S. Janaki, M. S. Rajeswari
Janani Janani	Ilaiyaraaja, Deepan Chakravarthy
Malai Naadu	S. P. Sailaja
Pasikk Sorum Illai	P. Jayachandran
Seenathu Pattumeni	P. Susheela, Malaysia Vasudevan
Thaaye Moogambikaiye	M. Balamuralikrishna, M. S. Viswanathan, Sirkazhi Govindarajan, S. Janaki

Release and reception

Thaai Mookaambikai was released on 9 July 1982.^[10] Thiraignani of Kalki felt the audience who expected to watch the history of goddess Mookambika and the stories of their devotees will feel disappointed panning certain subplots. He however praised Jagadeesan's dialogues and Karthik's performance and concluded the film's director K. Shankar is responsible for the crime of not seeing completion in Darshan.^[11]

References

^ "Thai Mookambikai Tamil Film LP Vinyl Record by Ilayaraja". Mossymart. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
^ "Thaai Mookaambikai (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". Apple Music. Archived from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
^ Sundararaman 2007, p. 134.
^ Mani, Charulatha (14 October 2011). "A Raga's Journey: Kinetic Kalyani". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
^ Sundararaman 2007, p. 133.
^ Mani, Charulatha (8 November 2013). "Of love and longing". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
^ Sundararaman 2007, p. 161.
^ "Paramacharya directed me to work on Tiruvasagam symphony: Ilayaraja". The Hindu. 18 December 2009. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
^ Darshan, Navein (1 June 2019). "Birds of a feather". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
^ "தாய் மூகாம்பிகை / Thaai Mookaambikai (1982)". Screen 4 Screen. Archived from the original on 19 November 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
^ "தாய் மூகாம்பிகை". Kalki (in Tamil). 25 July 1982. p. 59. Archived from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023 – via Internet Archive.