A strong hit of ‘Captain' nostalgia
Helmed by R.K. Selvamani, whose earlier Pulan Visaranai with Vijayakant was another bonafide hit, Captain Prabhakaran released, to massive expectations from audiences, on April 14, Tamil New Year's Day. True to the director's trait of using current affairs as a crux in developing a plot, the film dealt with an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer on the hunt for a smuggler in a jungle.
Forest brigand Veerappan was the obvious inspiration and the character Veerabhadran found lustre through the performance of Mansur Ali Khan. At that point in time, Vijayakant was part of the leading quartet that dominated Tamil cinema, with Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, and Sathyaraj, being the other top heroes.
Carving a niche for himself through his action filmography, Vijayakant found his mark. The star, clad in battle fatigues, lit up posters that were plastered all over South India. Theatres in Madras brimmed with people, as Selvamani's tight screenplay, action blocks, and Ilaiyaraaja's music offered terrific embellishment.
The song 'Aattama Therottama' became viral, even if that word did not exist in this sense, in the 1990s. Often, this single was belted out at high volume as minivans carrying college students groaned up the Ghats in Kodaikanal and Ooty. The song and Mansur's performance that had shades of Amjad Khan in Sholay, lent a wild western air to an otherwise quintessential Tamil film.
Until that point in Kerala, Arjun was deemed as the 'Action-King' and his Tamil films did solid business. Through Captain Prabhakaran, Vijayakant too endeared himself to the audience beyond the Western Ghats. The movie hinting at Sathyamangalam as its base, was actually shot at Chalakudy in Kerala, with the Athirappilly water falls serving as a looming backdrop. It was no surprise that the dense tropical foliage in that area soon witnessed increased tourist footfalls.
Besides thespian M.N. Nambiar, the movie also featured Sarath Kumar, Ramya Krishnan, and Rupini. Years later, there was another film Adharmam starring Murali and Nasser, which also dealt with the Veerappan angle. It was a taut celluloid enterprise and yet in public memory, it is Captain Prabhakaran that still lingers.
That Vijayakant's name in the film, was inspired by LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, is another vital element in pop culture references. Often, the 100th film was seen as a jinx as many celebrated stars landed duds. However, Vijayakant changed that perception, with a movie that ticked all the commercial boxes and became a celebrated theatre experience.
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