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{{short description|1985 film by Prathap K. Pothan}}
{{distinguish|Meendum Oru Kadhal Kadhai}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Meendum Oru Kaathal Kathai
| image =Meendum Oru Kaathal Kathai.jpg
| caption = Poster
| director = [[Pratap K. Pothen]]
| producer = [[Raadhika Sarathkumar|Raadhika]]
| writer = Pratap K. Pothen<br />[[K. Rajeshwar|Somasundareshwar]]
| starring = Pratap K. Pothen<br />Raadhika
| music = [[Ilaiyaraaja]]
| cinematography = [[P. C. Sreeram]]
| editing = [[B. Lenin]]
| studio = Artiste Corporation
| released = {{film date|df=yes|1985|2|15}}{{Sfn|Dhananjayan|2014|page=282}}
| runtime = 130 minutes
| country = India
| language = Tamil
}}
'''''Meendum Oru Kaathal Kathai''''' ({{translation|Once Again a Love Story}}) is a 1985 Indian [[Tamil language|Tamil]]-language [[romance film]] directed by [[Pratap K. Pothen]] in his directorial debut, and produced by [[Raadhika Sarathkumar|Raadhika]]. They also star as the lead characters. The script was co-written by Pothen along with Somasundareshwar. The film revolves around the relationship between two mentally challenged people.

The soundtrack was composed by [[Ilaiyaraaja]]. The cinematography and editing were handled by [[P. C. Sreeram]] and [[B. Lenin]] respectively. At the [[32nd National Film Awards]], the film won the [[Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director]]. It was theatrically released on 15 February 1985.

==Plot==
Sarasu ([[Raadhika Sarathkumar|Raadhika]]) born to a rich eccentric businessman Badirnath (Dakshinamurthy) is a mentally challenged child. Unable to cope with her condition, Badrinath admits her in a home for such children and is taken care by a Christian Missionary Principal ([[Charu Haasan]]) and a guardian Juju Thatha (Ronnie Patel), a kind old man. Sarasu meets Ganapathi or Guppi ([[Pratap K. Pothen]]), another intellectually challenged orphan and they strike a rare affection for each other and become inseparable.

Year pass by Badrinath and his wife come to take Sarasu for their son's wedding engagement. Sarasu innocently insists that Guppi should also accompany her and Guppi is reluctantly accommodated at the insistence of the Principal.

At the wedding party, Guppi and Sarasu bump into the engaged couple and notice their clandestine affair. Sarasu insists her parents to get her married with Guppi. In a weird twist of things the idea appeals to the guests and Badrinath agrees and Sarasu and Guppi's marriage takes place.

Guppi and Sarasu are sent to Korakunda, a mountain village along with Juju Thathta as their guardian. Korakunda is an unusual village inhabited by strange people; Manohar ([[Y. G. Mahendran]]), the photographer with a vintage tumbled-down box camera who specializes in taking the photos of the dead for the bereaved. Nylux Nalini, a footloose women who has illicit affairs, Kitney([[R.S.Shivaji]]), a person of indeterminable age who files kites, the village headman and a few others.

Guppi and Sarasu get into a physical relationship and Sarasu becomes pregnant. One day in the woods, the drunken village headman tries to molest Sarasu and Guppi, who sees it throws a boulder on his head and kills him. Guppi is condemned to life in jail. Sarasu, separated from Guppi is in distressed agony. She is admitted for delivery in a hospital and Guppi, on special permission visits her. In their own innocent way they try to relive their past happier moments. She dies delivering a baby.

Guppi, unable to understand death, tries to revive her and when he fails and finds her motionless, snatches the newly born child and flashes the sharp edge of the blood-bottle menacingly at others. But he is quickly overwhelmed and taken back to the prison. Guppi never talked or laughed after the death of his Sarasu and dies after few years in the Jail.

==Cast==
* [[Pratap K. Pothen]] as Ganapathi "Guppi"{{sfn|Dhananjayan|2014|p=282}}
* [[Raadhika Sarathkumar|Raadhika]] as Sarasu{{sfn|Dhananjayan|2014|p=282}}
* [[Charuhasan]] as the Christian Missionary Principal<ref>{{Cite news |last=ஜெயந்தன் |first=ஆர்.சி. |url=https://www.hindutamil.in/news/supplements/hindu-talkies/140727-.html |title=இயக்குநரின் குரல்: ஜனகராஜைக் கண்டுபிடிக்க சி.ஐ.டி.யாக மாறினேன்! |date=17 August 2018 |work=[[The Hindu (Tamil)]] |access-date=19 February 2020 }}</ref>
* Dakshinamurthy as Badrinath{{sfn|Dhananjayan|2014|p=282}}
* Ronnie Patel as Juju{{sfn|Dhananjayan|2014|p=282}}
* [[Y. G. Mahendra]] as Manohar{{sfn|Dhananjayan|2014|p=282}}

==Production==
{{quote box
| quote = It was a gem of a thought. Who exactly is mad? It's a question of relative madness. I plumped in for two {{sic|retardeds}}. I thought I'd get them married and make them discover love, almost like [[Adam and Eve]]. They don't know about sex.
|source = —Pratap Pothen, on the film's origins<ref name="Resurrection">{{Cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=P9oYG7HA76QC&dat=19870703&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |title=Resurrection |last=Shiva Kumar |first=S. |date=3 July 1987 |work=[[The Indian Express]] |pages=12}}</ref>
| width = 20%
}}
''Meendum Oru Kaathal Kathai'' marked the directorial debut of Pratap Pothen.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://cinema.dinamalar.com/cinema-news/17615/special-report/Prathap-Pothan-100---Special-Report.htm |title=பிரதாப் போத்தன் 100 - ஸ்பெஷல் ஸ்டோரி! |date=17 March 2014 |work=[[Dinamalar]] |access-date=15 December 2018 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20181215041218/http://cinema.dinamalar.com/cinema-news/17615/special-report/Prathap-Pothan-100---Special-Report.htm |archive-date=15 December 2018 |url-status=live |language=ta }}</ref> He said that he "could find no lead actor for it, so I did it myself." Pothen portrayed negative roles in Telugu films in order to raise funds for the film.<ref name="comeback man">{{Cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/the-comeback-man/article5871642.ece |title=The comeback man |last=Elias |first=Eshther |date=5 April 2014 |work=[[The Hindu]] |access-date=24 September 2015}}</ref> The script was co-written by Somasundareshwar. He recalled that during the sets of ''[[Panneer Pushpangal]]'' (1981), Pothen promised him that he would direct a film based on his script.<ref name="Rajeshwar">{{Cite web |url=http://silverscreen.in/features/rajeshwar-interview-futuristic/ |title=K. Rajeshwar Interview: Future Perfect |last=Ramesh |first=Deepika |date=6 January 2015 |website=Silverscreen.in |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109103207/http://silverscreen.in/features/rajeshwar-interview-futuristic/ |archive-date=9 January 2015 |url-status=dead |access-date=9 January 2015 }}</ref> The cinematography was handled by [[P. C. Sreeram]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2001/11/19/stories/2001111900150200.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020815054423/http://thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2001/11/19/stories/2001111900150200.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 August 2002 |title=Lens view of a life |last=Umashanker |first=Sudha |date=19 November 2001 |work=[[The Hindu]] |access-date=24 September 2015}}</ref> The film was shot over the period of a year.<ref name="comeback man" /> During the film's production, Pothen and Raadhika fell in love and got married; however they got divorced in 1986.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/photo-features/heroines-who-fell-for-their-directors/photostory/34322086.cms? |title=Heroines who fell for their directors |website=[[The Times of India]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20181215041828/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/photo-features/heroines-who-fell-for-their-directors/photostory/34322086.cms? |archive-date=15 December 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=24 September 2015 }}</ref>

==Soundtrack==
The soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja and the lyrics were written by [[Gangai Amaran]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://play.raaga.com/tamil/album/Meendum-Oru-Kaathal-Kathai-songs-t0002803 |title=Meendum Oru Kaathal Kathai (1985) |website=[[Raaga.com]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925133016/http://play.raaga.com/tamil/album/Meendum-Oru-Kaathal-Kathai-songs-t0002803 |archive-date=25 September 2015 |url-status=bot: unknown |access-date=24 September 2015}}</ref>
{{Track listing
| extra_column =Singer(s)
| total_length =
| title1 = Adhikaalai Nerame
| extra1 = [[S. P. Balasubrahmanyam]], [[S. Janaki]]
| lyrics1 =
| length1 = 04:01
| title2 = Aathadi
| extra2 = [[S. P. Balasubrahmanyam]]
| lyrics2 =
| length2 = 04:12
| title3 = Azhagana Indha
| extra3 = Gangai Amaran
| lyrics3 =
| length3 = 04:36
| title4 = Devan Sabayiley
| extra4 = Kalyan
| lyrics4 =
| length4 = 04:13
| title5 = Kutti Onnu
| extra5 = Saibaba
| lyrics5 =
| length5 = 04:38
|-
}}

==Reception==
At the [[32nd National Film Awards]], the film won the [[Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director]].<ref name="32ndwardPDF">{{Cite web |url=http://fff.inc.in/2011/32nd_nff_1985.pdf |title=32nd National Film Award |publisher=[[Directorate of Film Festivals]] |access-date=7 December 2016}}</ref> The 1991 book ''Indian Cinema'' by the [[Directorate of Film Festivals]] says Pratap Pothen brought "superb craftsmanship" to his "sensitively told stories" such as ''Meendum Oru Kaathal Kathai''.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zHF1AAAAIAAJ&q=Meendum+Oru+Kadhal+Kathai |title=Indian Cinema |publisher=[[Directorate of Film Festivals]] |year=1991 |pages=17}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{Cite book |last=Dhananjayan |first=G. |title=Pride of Tamil Cinema: 1931–2013 |title-link=Pride of Tamil Cinema |publisher=Blue Ocean Publishers |year=2014 |oclc=898765509 |author-link=G. Dhananjayan}}

{{Pratap K. Pothen}}
{{National Film Award Best First Film of a Director}}

[[Category:1985 films]]
[[Category:Indian films]]
[[Category:1980s Tamil-language films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja]]
[[Category:Films set in psychiatric hospitals]]
[[Category:Indian romance films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by K. Rajeshwar]]
[[Category:Best Debut Feature Film of a Director National Film Award winners]]
[[Category:1985 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Pratap Pothen]]
[[Category:1980s romance films]]

Meendum Oru Kaathal Kathai - Revision history

UpdateBot at 07:00, 18 June 2022