Samuthirakani Bags Key Role in Tamil Biopic Kamaraj

Samuthirakani
From the director of Mudhalvar Mahatma comes another Tamil biopic centred around the life of veteran congress leader and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Kamaraj.

Says director A Balakrishnan, "Originally the film was released in 2004 and I am re-releasing it after 10 years because I felt there's a need for it. Today's political situation is such an eyesore for the youth. I have added 15 scenes to the original version, and the movie which has been digitally restored now, which is all set to hit theatres on July 11."
What's more, this time the film has been digitised and has extra scenes that feature Nimirndhu Nil filmmaker P Samuthirakani.

Balakrishnan explains how director P Samuthirakani was roped in for the movie. "He plays the role of an estate duty tax officer, who comes to Kamaraj's house after the leader's death. When I approached him first, Samuthirakani was happy and accepted the role," he said. "Kamaraj is the original hero of Indian politics. His life is inspiring and nobody can be him. Today's youth have been exposed only to the 'dirty' side of politics. So, I felt that they should know more about him. He's a pride of Tamil Nadu and his whole life is a message. After I completed the film, I met a Corporation officer, who told me about the role of an estate tax officer, who visits the leaders' house after he or she passes away. Apparently, after Kamaraj's death, the officer who visited his house (which was a rented one) found only `110 left there. So, I had to include this information in the originally shot version film. It took 18 days for me to complete the film. When I had shot the film originally, it was a monotrack. So, now we are releasing it in DVD format. We have shown the pre-Independence period, depicting Kamaraj's childhood, the influence of Satyamurthy, and his growth as a politician, besides his prison life. "My last film based on Mahatma Gandhi was a huge disaster. I didn't get the response which I expected, which was disappointing. I am looking forward to this movie's release. It's a story that all Tamilians deserve to watch. This time we plan to release the film across the State in a good number of screens," he said. Kamaraj features Richard Madhuram, V S Raghavan and Charu Haasan in lead roles. Maestro Illayaraja has composed music for the movie.

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