Sankarlal

Sankarlal is a 1981 Indian Tamil-language action film, written, directed and produced by T. N. Balu. It stars Kamal Haasan in dual lead roles as father and son. Balu died half-way during production, and the film was eventually completed with N. K. Viswanathan as director. The film was simultaneously shot in Telugu-language as Andagaadu (transl. Handsome) with Allu Rama Lingaiah and Rao Gopal Rao.

Sankarlal
Tamil poster
Directed by	T. N. Balu N. K. Viswanathan
Written by	T. N. Balu
Produced by	T. N. Balu
Starring	Kamal Haasan Sridevi
Cinematography	N. K. Viswanathan
Edited by	V. Rajagopal
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja Gangai Amaran
Production company	Balu Cine Arts
Release dates	15 August 1981 (1981-08-15) (Tamil)[1] 6 February 1982 (1982-02-06) (Telugu)
Country	India
Languages	Tamil Telugu

Plot

The film begins with an ordinary man Dharmalingam vacationing in Ooty with his family where he is framed for murder by a criminal named Chelladurai. Dharmalingam is jailed while his wife, son Mohan and daughter Seetha all end up separated from each other. After several years, the vengeful Dharmalingam returns to confront Chelladurai as the secretive Sankarlal and also desperately is on the lookout for his lost family. Chelladurai has meanwhile kidnapped a girl named Hema for ransom and Mohan is deputed by Hema's father to rescue her. This results in Dharmalingam and Mohan locking horns in their fight against their common enemy Chelladurai.

Cast

Cast (Tamil)	Cast (Telugu)	Role (Tamil)	Role (Telugu)	Ref.
Kamal Haasan		Dharmalingam (Sankarlal)	Damodaram
		Mohan
Sridevi		Hema
Seema		Seetha/Baabi
P. R. Varalakshmi		Dhanalakshmi		[2]
Suruli Rajan	Allu Rama Lingaiah	Hema's father
R. S. Manohar	Rao Gopal Rao	Selladurai	Bhujangam
S. A. Ashokan	Rallapalli	Guest appearance
Hema
Baby Babeetha
Baby Vanthana

Tamil version

• Suruli Rajan as Kanthasamy Pillai
• S. A. Ashokan as Natarajan (Guest appearance)
• V. Gopalakrishnan as Maari, Natarajan's servant
• Vennira Aadai Moorthy as Hotel server (Guest appearance)

Production

Balu died half-way during production, and the film was eventually completed with Viswanathan as director.^[3] Sripriya was considered for the leading female role, before Sridevi was finalised.^[4]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja (only Elankiliyae) and Gangai Amaran.

Tamil version^[5][6]

Song	Singers	Lyrics	Length
"Elankiliyae innum Vilangaliye"	Janaki, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	Pulamaipithan	04:33
"Ada Vaada Kannu"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	Pulamaipithan	04:24
"Kasturi Maan ondru"	Janaki, Malaysia Vasudevan	Pulamaipithan	04:36
"Thedinen"	Malaysia Vasudevan	Gangai Amaran	04:24
"Unmai yendrum vellum"	Vani Jairam	Panchu Arunachalam	04:13
"Paathikkallil"(This song not in movie)	Janaki, Malaysia Vasudevan, Kamal Haasan	Pulamaipithan	04:27

Reception

Nalini Sastry of Kalki praised the acting of Sridevi and Seema, Viswanathan's cinematography but felt the film lacks pace and Ilaiyaraaja and Gangai Amaran's music offers nothing new and concluded Kamal who is stepping up in recent times has taken rest in this film.^[7]