Thaai Mookaambikai

Thaai Mookaambikai is a 1982 Indian Tamil-language devotional film directed by K. Shankar, starring K. R. Vijaya, Jaishankar, Sivakumar, Sujatha and other leading actors. The film was released on 9 July 1982.

Thaai Mookaambikai
DVD cover
Directed by	K. Shankar
Screenplay by	K. Shankar
Story by	S. Jegadeesan
Produced by	Sivaprasad
Starring	K. R. Vijaya Jaishankar Sivakumar Sujatha
Cinematography	Kanchi Meenakshisundaram
Edited by	K. Shankar K. R. Krishnan V. Jayabal
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja
Production company	Sivashankar Creations
Release date	9 July 1982 (1982-07-09)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

A devotional story revolves around a musician who dedicates his life to singing praises of Thai Moogambigai at her temple.

Cast

• K. R. Vijaya as Raakayi / Mookayi / Thaai Mookambigai
• Sivakumar as Senthil, Raakayi's elder son
• Saritha as Vellayamma, Raakayi's daughter
• Karthik as Muthu, Raakayi's younger son
• Major Sundarrajan as Ganesa Bhattar
• Sujatha as Poorani, Bhattar's wife
• Jai Shankar as Kannappan
• Thengai Srinivasan as Dharmakartha, Village President
• Poornima Bhagyaraj as Durga
• M. N. Nambiar as Durga's Father
• Manorama as Ranjani
• Oru Viral Krishna Rao as Kaambothi
• C. K. Saraswathi as Kalyani
• Nizhalgal Ravi as Sarangan, Ranjani's son
• Jai Ganesh as Mani, Bhattar's Son
• V. Gopalakrishnan as Inspector Gopi
• Gundu Kalyanam
• Gandhimathi
• M. Balamuralikrishna as Singer
• M. S. Viswanathan as Singer
• Sirkazhi Govindarajan as Singer

Soundtrack

Music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, with lyrics by Vaali.^[1][2] The song "Janani Janani" is set in Kalyani raga,^[3][4] "Isai Arasi" is set in Sallabam, also known as Surya,^[5][6] and the title track is set in Vasantha Sri.^[7] Ilaiyaraaja mentioned that he "was running out of time" while composing the tune for "Janani Janani". He explained that he was "under hectic pressure from the film producer, who had planned to perform the ‘puja’ for the film the next day with the song". The initial tune that Ilaiyaraaja composed did not suit the character Adi Shankara. He said with a chance to have a glimpse of the portrait of Shankara, he was inspired to compose the tune which was similar to Bhaja Govindam.^[8] "Janani Janani" was initially to be sung by K. J. Yesudas, but Ilaiyaraaja sang the album version due to Yesudas' other commitments; his version was also selected to be used as the film version.^[9]

Song	Singers
Isai Arasi Ennalum	P. Susheela, S. Janaki, M. S. Rajeswari
Janani Janani	Ilaiyaraaja, Deepan Chakravarthy
Malai Naadu	S. P. Sailaja
Pasikk Sorum Illai	P. Jayachandran
Seenathu Pattumeni	P. Susheela, Malaysia Vasudevan
Thaaye Moogambikaiye	M. Balamuralikrishna, M. S. Viswanathan, Sirkazhi Govindarajan, S. Janaki

Release and reception

Thaai Mookaambikai was released on 9 July 1982.^[10] Thiraignani of Kalki felt the audience who expected to watch the history of goddess Mookambika and the stories of their devotees will feel disappointed panning certain subplots. He however praised Jagadeesan's dialogues and Karthik's performance and concluded the film's director K. Shankar is responsible for the crime of not seeing completion in Darshan.^[11]