Naam Iruvar Completes 39 Years: This Tamil Film Marked Sivaji Ganesan’s 250th Venture

Sivaji Ganesan’s 250th film Naam Iruvar (1985) completed 39 years yesterday, on March 8. Produced under the banner of AVM Productions, the oldest production studio in India, the movie starred Prabhu, Urvashi, Sivaji Ganesan and VK Ramasamy in the lead roles. The film was directed by R Krishnamoorthy and was a remake of the Kannada film Ramapurada Ravana which was released in 1984. The movie with the same name was earlier directed by the late filmmaker AV Meiyappan in 1947. The film enjoyed massive success to the extent that AV Meiyappan decided to move his production studio AVM Productions from Karaikudi to Kodambakkam city in Chennai. It should be noted that apart from the similar name, the basic plot of the movies was poles apart. Both movies were commercially successful at the box office.

Sivaji Ganesan is the only Tamil actor to have played the lead role in over 250 films in his entire career. The success of Naam Iruvar was special for the actor as it was his 250th movie. He played the role of a retired alcoholic soldier, who used to spend his days fighting against the injustices in society.

Actor Prabhu Ganesan played the role of a teacher in the movie, who initially entered the town to teach the students but eventually fell in love with the actress Urvashi who also happens to be the niece of Sivaji Ganesan’s character in the movie. The film which started with Sivaji Ganesan and actress Srividya’s failed love story ended up with action-packed scenes between the trio of Sivaji Ganesan, Srividya and Prabhu with VK Ramasamy, who was famous for his notorious activities in the town.

The performance of the lead actors was appreciated by the critics and the audience. The music of the movie was composed by Gangai Amaran. It was produced by the son of AV Meiyappan – AVM Kumaran. The cinematography of the movie was done by Viswam Nataraj.

The AV Meiyappan-directorial of the same name was adapted from the play Thyaga Ullam. This 1947 release titled Naam Iruvar starred TR Mahalingam and TA Jayalakshmi in the lead role.