‘Amaidhipadai’: Sathyaraj’s cult classic political satire to re-release in theatres soon

Amaidhipadai, the blockbuster Tamil political satire film directed by Manivannan, is all set to re-release in theatres ahead of the upcoming Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections. The film, starring Sathyaraj in dual roles, is set to be released by Sparrow Cinemas’ Karthick V on April 10.

The 1994 hit film featured Sathyaraj in dual roles, as the iconic corrupt politician, Nagaraja Cholan a.k.a Amavasai, and his illegitimate son, Thangavel, who becomes a police officer and vows to end his father’s tyranny.

The film turned out to be a huge hit at the box office and has since enjoyed a cult following. Many of the dialogues from the film are still being used as memes on social media.

Apart from Sathyaraj, the film also stars Manivannan, Ranjitha, Kasthuri and Sujatha in pivotal roles. With music scored by Ilaiyaraaja, the film has cinematography by D Shankar and editing by P Venkateshwara Rao.

Amaidhipadai was remade in Telugu as M Dharmaraju M.A. (1994), starring Mohan Babu, and in Hindi as Jallaad (1995), starring Mithun Chakraborty. Notably, Sathyaraj returned as Amavasai in a spiritual sequel,Nagaraja Cholan MA, MLA (2013), which remains Manivannan’s final film as a director.