Nattupura Pattu (1996)

1995’s surprise hit in Tamil was a low-budget ruralist ‘folk’ movie extensively featuring traditional narrative and performative forms including the karagam, kavadi, oyil, nayandi, komali etc., mounted in deliberate contrast to the post-Mani Rathnam emphasis on glossy technologically driven spectacles. Parijatham (Khushboo), a popular karagam dancer, wants to continue dancing even after her marriage to Pazhanisamy (Sivakumar), a noted performer. When Parijatham returns to the stage, in order to pay her husband’s debts, her insecure husband throws her out, forcing her to return to her mother (Manorama). The husband later wins custody of their son Velusami. When the son grows up and learns the truth, he abandons his father. Pazhanisamy, faced with a biitter feud with the village headman, later appeals to his estranged wife to help him in a climactic dance-duel, which she eventually wins after her husband’s death. Billed after a long gap as an Ilaiyaraja solo, the film’s earthy folk music - notably the song Othe roova tharen (‘I shall give you a rupee’) - proved the most successful of the year in Tamil film.