Dharma (1998 film)

Dharma
Poster
Directed by	Keyaar
Written by	Prasannakumar (dialogues)
Screenplay by	Keyaar
Story by	Robin Henry
Based on	Ziddi (Hindi) by Guddu Dhanoa
Produced by	A. S. Ibrahim Rowther (presenter) A. Abbas Rowther
Starring	Vijayakanth Preetha Vijayakumar
Cinematography	Rajarajan
Edited by	R. T. Annadurai
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja
Production company	Rowther Films
Release date	9 July 1998 (1998-07-09)
Running time	160 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Dharma (transl. Righteousness) is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by Keyaar. The film stars Vijayakanth and Preetha Vijayakumar. A remake of the 1997 Hindi film Ziddi, it was released on 9 July 1998.[1]

Plot

Dharma (Vijayakanth) is an angry man who cannot tolerate injustice. He lives with his lawyer father Ranganathan (Jaishankar), mother Savithri (Vadivukkarasi), journalist brother Vijay (Thalaivasal Vijay), and beloved sister Geetha (Shilpa). Dharma and Sharmila (Preetha Vijayakumar) fall in love with each other. One day, Geetha is molested by the rowdy Raja, and Dharma kills Raja in public; thus, he is sent to jail. In the meantime, Dharma's friend Ranjith (Ranjith) becomes an ACP.

Upon his release from jail, Dharma becomes a powerful gangster who punishes rowdies in his own way and helps the poor. The honest chief minister Vedhachalam (S. S. Rajendran) then gives free hand to arrest all the goons including Dharma. Geetha then marries Ranjith.

The drug smuggler Daas (Mansoor Ali Khan), the notorious killer Khan (Ponnambalam), and the land grabber Amarnath (Kazan Khan) work under a corrupted politician Chakravarthy (Vinu Chakravarthy). They decide to kill Vedhachalam, but Vijay has listened to their plan and immediately informs Ranjith. Surprisingly, Ranjith kills Vijay from behind. In fact, Ranjith is Raja's brother and wants to take revenge on Dharma.

Later, Vedhachalam is severely injured by the rowdies, but Dharma saves him and hides him in a secured place. Meanwhile, Geetha finds out that Vijay was killed by Ranjith, and Ranjith also kills her.

The police department seeks Dharma for kidnapping Vedhachalam. What transpires later forms the crux of the story.

Cast

• Vijayakanth as Dharma
• Preetha Vijayakumar as Sharmila
• Chippy as Geetha
• Jaishankar as Lawyer Ranganathan
• Ranjith as Ranjith
• Vinu Chakravarthy as Chakravarthy
• Thalaivasal Vijay as Vijay
• Vadivukkarasi as Savithri
• Manorama as Fathima
• S. S. Rajendran as Chief Minister Vedhachalam
• Mansoor Ali Khan as Daas
• Ponnambalam as Khan
• Kazan Khan as Amarnath
• Ashwini as Anandhi
• LIC Narasimhan
• Singamuthu
• Rajasekhar
• Master Aravind
• Baby Aarthi

Production

Since the climax of the original Hindi film took 90 days to shoot, Keyaar decided to reuse the bomb blast scenes from that film in the Tamil version, replacing Sunny Deol's portions with Vijayakanth thereby shooting the climax in three days.[2]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja.[3][4]

Song	Singer(s)	Lyrics	Duration
"Dharmangal"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	Vaasan	5:00
"Iru Kanngal" (Happy)	Ilaiyaraaja		1:09
"Iru Kanngal" (Sad)	Ilaiyaraaja		1:06
"Iru Kanngal" (Happy)	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam		5:04
"Iru Kanngal" (Sad)	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam		5:00
"Manakkum"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Sujatha	Pulamaipithan	5:01
"Sembaruthi"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Swarnalatha		5:02
"Thinam"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	Vaasan	1:19

Reception

Ji of Kalki gave a negative review, saying that despite suiting Vijayakanth's image, the film lacks freshness.[5] D.S. Ramanujam of The Hindu wrote, "Vijayakanth plays the part with his known ease and vigour. His zeal for action has not diminished. Preetha is no match for him and is more of a showpiece".[6]

References

1. "நட்சத்திர படப் பட்டியல்". Cinema Express (in Tamil). 1 December 2002. pp. 41–43. Archived from the original on 2 February 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
2. "விஜயகாந்த் நடித்த 'தர்மா' 90 நாட்களில் எடுக்க வேண்டிய 'கிளைமாக்ஸ்' 3 நாட்களில் எடுத்து முடித்து சாதனை" [Climax of Vijayakanth starrer 'Dharma' initially planned to shoot in 90 days but completed in 3 days]. Maalai Malar (in Tamil). 26 August 2013. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
3. "Dharma (1995)". Raaga.com. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
4. "Dharma / Guru Parvai / Jolly". AVDigital. Archived from the original on 9 November 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
5. ஜி. (26 July 1985). "தர்மா". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 32. Archived from the original on 3 March 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2022 – via Internet Archive.
6. Ramanujam, D. S. (17 July 1998). "Film Reviews: Poonthottam / Dharma". The Hindu. p. 27. Archived from the original on 11 June 2000. Retrieved 9 March 2024.

External links

• Dharma at IMDb