Apoova Sahodarargal

aka Appu Raja 1989 157’ col Tamil d Singeetham Srinivasa Rao pc Rajkamal International p/sc Kamalahasan st Panchu Arunachalam dial ‘Crazy’ Mohan c P.C. Sriram lyr Valim Ilaiyaraja lp Kamalahasan, Jaishankar, Nagesh, Nasser, Delhi Ganesh, Janakaraj, Mouli, Roopini, Gauthami, Manorama, Srividya

A successful remake of the familiar story with Kamalahasan in a sensational triple role following in Lon Chaney’s footsteps as he physically transforms himself into a dwarf. In a prelude shot in an Italo-Western style reminiscent of Sholay’s (1975, Inspector Sedupathi (Kamalahasan) captures and publicly humiliates four villains. On their release, they murder Sedupathi and try to poison his pregnant wife, who manages to escape with the twins she eventually bears. Chased by the villains, the mother and a female friend escape with one child each, believing the others to have been killed. The real mother and her son Appu, a dwarf (Kamalahasan), join a circus where he has a Chaplinesque romance with the manager’s daughter. Learning the truth about his past, Appu tracks down the four villains and kills three of them. The killings are attributed to a certain Raja (Kamalahasan again) who turns out to be the missing twin now working as a garage mechanic and the lover of the remaining villain’s daughter. Raja, pursued by the police, is rescued by Appu and happy ending consists of the twins murdering the last villain.

Film