Mounam Sammadham

Mounam Sammadham
Mounam Sammadham
	Poster
Directed by	K. Madhu
Screenplay by	S. N. Swamy
Story by	S. N. Swamy
Produced by	Kovai Chezhiyan; Sembian Sivakumar
Starring	Mammootty; Amala
Cinematography	Vipin Das
Edited by	V. P. Krishnan
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja
Production; company	Kay Cee Film Combines
Release date	15 June 1990;
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Mounam Sammadham (transl. Silence is acquiescence) is a 1990 Indian Tamil-language legal thriller film written by S. N. Swamy, directed by K. Madhu and produced by Kovai Chezhiyan. The film stars Mammootty (in his Tamil film debut) and Amala. It revolves around a lawyer representing a wrongfully convicted man.

The film was released on 15 June 1990. The film went on to become a commercial and critical success. This film along with Azhagan (1991), Thalapathi (1991), Kilipetchu Ketkava (1993) and Makkal Aatchi (1995)

Plot

The plot revolves around the wrongful conviction of Sundaram, a businessman, and the efforts taken by his lawyer Raja to find the truth.

Cast

Mammootty as Adv. K.C. Raja M.A., B.L., Bar-at-law
Amala as Dr. Hema
Jaishankar as Sundaram
Nagesh as Paramasivam
R. Sarathkumar as Balu
Sathyapriya as Savitri
Sukumari as Sundaram's mother-in-law
Jai Ganesh as Kalyanam
Srikanth as Public Prosecutor Chandran
Y. G. Mahendran as Adv. J. Shekar
Charle as Mani
Cochin Haneefa as Kallupatti Rangan
Suresh Chakravarthy as Raja's friend
Prathapachandran as Sessions Court Judge Srinivasan
S. R. Veeraraghavan as Madras High Court Sr. Judge
S. K. Rajavelu as High Court Judge
Sreeja as Vijayalakshmi
Thyagu as Gundan
R. S. Shivaji as Alagu Guest House Caretaker
Kumarimuthu as Munusamy
M. S. Thripunithura as Palghat
T. S. Raghavendra as Makkal Kural Editor
Ennathe Kannaiah as Bank Peon
Peeli Sivam as Circle Inspector
Y. Vijaya as Prostitute Rani
Nagarajacholan as Muthu
Appa Haja as Natarajan
Vani as Janaki
Kokila as Kokila, Shekar's wife

Production

Mounam Sammadham was the first Tamil film of Malayalam actor Mammootty.^[1] It took inspiration from his own film Oru CBI Diary Kurippu.^[2]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja.^[3] The song "Kalyaana Thaen Nilaa" is set in Darbari Kanada raga,^[4]^[5] while "Chik Chik Chaa" is a synth-pop number.^[6]

Song	Singers	Lyrics
5 Paisa 10 Paisa	Malaysia Vasudevan	Gangai Amaran
"Chik Chik Chaa"	K. S. Chithra	Gangai Amaran
"Kalyaana Thaen Nilaa"	K. J. Yesudas K. S. Chithra	Pulamaipithan
"Oru Raja Vanthanam"	K. S. Chithra	Gangai Amaran

Telugu version

Lyrics for the dubbed Telugu version Lawyer The Great were written by Rajasri.^[7]^[8]

Song	Singers
One Two Three Four	K. S. Chithra
"Naa Raja Vacchadu"	K. S. Chithra
"Kalyaana Thaen Nilaa"	Mano, K. S. Chithra

Reception

N. Krishnaswamy of The Indian Express praised the film for the cast performances (particularly Mammootty), Ilaiyaraaja's music, the cinematography and Shivaji's comedy.^[9] C. R. K. of Kalki, however, was less positive, saying the film was like an ordinary novel.^[10] The film was both a critical and commercial success.^[11]

References

^ Raman, Mohan (3 January 2015). "KB: Kollywood's Discovery Channel". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 May 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
^ "Mammootty's pan-Indian appeal proves he's a bonafide star regardless of how Yatra performs". Firstpost. 7 February 2019. Archived from the original on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
^ "Mounam Sammatham Tamil Film LP Vinyl Record by Ilayaraja". Mossymart. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
^ Mani, Charulatha (8 June 2012). "A Raga's Journey — Dynamic Durbarikaanada". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
^ Sundararaman (2007) [2005]. Raga Chintamani: A Guide to Carnatic Ragas Through Tamil Film Music (2nd ed.). Pichhamal Chintamani. p. 135. OCLC 295034757.
^ Maderya, Kumuthan (9 February 2023). "Once Upon A Time In Kollywood: Ilaiyaraaja And The Electro-Synth Pop Revolution In Tamil Film Music". Film Companion. Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
^ "Lawyer The Great". indiancine.ma. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
^ "Lawyer The Great". Spotify. August 2014. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
^ Krishnaswamy, N. (22 June 1990). "Mounam Sammadham". The Indian Express. p. 7. Retrieved 20 March 2019 – via Google News Archive.
^ சி.ஆர்.கே. (8 July 1990). "மௌனம் சம்மதம்". Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 40–41. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2024 – via Internet Archive.
^ "5 Tamil hits of Mammootty as you await 'Peranbu'". Onmanorama. 18 July 2018. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2022.