Kadal Meengal

Kadal Meengal (transl. Sea Fishes) is a 1981 Indian Tamil-language masala film directed by G. N. Rangarajan, starring Kamal Haasan, Sujatha, Nagesh and Swapna. It is a remake of the 1980 Malayalam film Meen,^[1] and also draws inspiration from the Hindi film Trishul (1978).^[2] The film revolves around a man seeking revenge on his father for abandoning the former's mother. It was released on 5 June 1981.^[3]

Kadal Meengal
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	G. N. Rangarajan
Screenplay by	Panchu Arunachalam
Story by	T. Damodaran
Produced by	R. Shantha
Starring	Kamal Haasan Sujatha Nagesh Swapna Ambika
Cinematography	N. K. Viswanathan
Edited by	K. R. Ramalingam
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja
Production company	K. R. G. Art Productions
Release date	5 June 1981 (1981-06-05)
Running time	137 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

Selvanayakam, also known as Selvam, is a poor but hard-working fisherman in love with Bhagyam, a woman from the same fishing hamlet. After a dispute with the locals, Selvam relocates to a neighboring village to fish but is feared dead during a cyclone. He eventually returns alive but, unable to find Bhagyam, marries another woman.

Meanwhile, Bhagyam gives birth to Selvam's child but lives in isolation, separate from Selvam, who has become a wealthy businessman. Years later, their son Rajan learns about his father and grows to resent him for abandoning his mother. Driven by anger, Rajan aligns with his father's rivals, engaging in a prolonged conflict with Selvam in both business and personal matters.

Cast

• Kamal Haasan as Selvanayakam and Rajan (dual role)
• Sujatha as Bhagyam^[4]
• Nagesh as Peter
• Swapna as Nisha
• Ambika as Selvanayakam's daughter
• Suman as Sekhar
• K. A. Thangavelu as Mudhaliyar
• Sangili Murugan as Dhanakodi
• Thengai Srinivasan as Sivaanandham
• Sukumari as Annaporani
• Nizhalgal Ravi as Ravi
• G. Srinivasan as Nachimuthu
• K. Kannan as Vadivelu
• V. Gopalakrishnan
• A. R. Srinivasan
• Pandu as Vadivelu's colleague

Production

The makeup for old look of Kamal Haasan was done by R. Sundaramoorthy who revealed the look is inspired from a character from the 1980 film Babylon.^[5]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja.^[6][7]

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Madini Madini"	Gangai Amaran	P. Susheela, Malaysia Vasudevan & Chorus
2.	"Thaalattudhe Vaanam"	Kannadasan	P. Jayachandran, S. Janaki
3.	"Endrendrum Anandhame"	Panchu Arunachalam	Malaysia Vasudevan
4.	"Kalai Maane"	Kannadasan	P. Susheela

Critical reception

Sindhu-Jeeva of Kalki praised Kamal Haasan's acting, Viswanathan's cinematography and Ilaiyaraaja's music but felt unit who worked a lot in the idea of taking gold and making jewellery not realising it is just clay and concluded Meen (fish) in Malayalam, Karuvadu (dried fish) in Tamil.^[1]