Dharma | |
---|---|
Directed by | Keyaar |
Written by | Prasannakumar (dialogues) |
Screenplay by | Keyaar |
Story by | Robin Henry |
Based on |
Ziddi (Hindi) by Guddu Dhanoa |
Produced by |
A. S. Ibrahim Rowther (presenter) A. Abbas Rowther |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Rajarajan |
Edited by | R. T. Annadurai |
Music by | Ilaiyaraaja |
Production company | Rowther Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 160 minutes |
Country | India |
Language | Tamil |
Dharma ( transl. Righteousness) is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by Keyaar. The film stars Vijayakanth and Preetha Vijayakumar. A remake of the 1997 Hindi film Ziddi, it was released on 9 July 1998. [1]
Dharma ( Vijayakanth) lives with his lawyer father ( Jaishankar), mother ( Vadivukkarasi), journalist brother Vijay ( Thalaivasal Vijay), and beloved sister Geetha ( Shilpa). Later, Dharma and Sharmila ( Preetha Vijayakumar) fall in love with each other. Dharma is an angry man who cannot tolerate injustice. One day, his sister is molested by the rowdy Raja, and Dharma kills him in public. Thus, he is sent to jail. In the meantime, his friend Ranjith ( Ranjith) becomes an ACP.
Upon his release from jail, Dharma becomes a powerful gangster who punishes the rowdies in his own way and helps the poor. The honest chief minister ( S. S. Rajendran) then gives free hand to arrest all the goons including Dharma. Geetha then marries Ranjith.
The drug smuggler Daas ( Mansoor Ali Khan), the notorious killer Khan ( Ponnambalam), and the land grabber Amarnath ( Kazan Khan) work under a corrupted politician Chakravarthy ( Vinu Chakravarthy). They decide to kill the current Chief Minister, but Vijay has listened to their plan and immediately informs Ranjith. Surprisingly, Ranjith kills Vijay from behind. In fact, Ranjith is Raja's brother (the man who was killed by Dharma) and wants to take revenge on Dharma.
Later, the Chief Minister is severely injured by the rowdies, but Dharma saves him and hides him in a secured place. Meanwhile, Geetha finds out that Vijay was killed by Ranjith, and Ranjith also kills her.
The police department seeks Dharma for kidnapping the Chief Minister. What transpires later forms the crux of the story.
Since the climax of the original Hindi film took 90 days to shoot, Keyaar decided to reuse the bomb blast scenes from that film in the Tamil version, replacing Sunny Deol's portions with Vijayakanth thereby shooting the climax in three days. [2]
The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, [3] with lyrics by Pulamaipithan and Vaasan. [4]
Song | Singer(s) | Lyrics | Duration |
---|---|---|---|
"Dharmangal" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | Vaasan | 5:00 |
"Iru Kanngal" (Happy) | Ilaiyaraaja | 1:09 | |
"Iru Kanngal" (Sad) | Ilaiyaraaja | 1:06 | |
"Iru Kanngal" (Happy) | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | 5:04 | |
"Iru Kanngal" (Sad) | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | 5:00 | |
"Manakkum" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Sujatha | Pulamaipithan | 5:01 |
"Sembaruthi" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Swarnalatha | 5:02 | |
"Thinam" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | Vaasan | 1:19 |
Ji of Kalki gave a negative review, saying that despite suiting Vijayakanth's image, the film lacks freshness. [5] D.S. Ramanujam of The Hindu wrote, "Vijayakanth plays the part with his known ease and vigour. His zeal for action has not diminished. Preetha is no match for him and is more of a showpiece". [6]