Nammavar

Nammavar
Soundtrack album by Mahesh Mahadevan
Released	1994
Genre	Feature film soundtrack

Nammavar
	Promotional Poster
Directed by	K. S. Sethumadhavan
Produced by	R. Venkatarama Reddy
Written by	Ananthu; Kamal Haasan; Kanmani Subbu (dialogues)
Starring	Kamal Haasan; Gouthami; Nagesh; Srividya; Karan
Music by	Mahesh Mahadevan
Cinematography	Madhu Ambat
Edited by	N. P. Satish
Production; company	Chandamama Vijaya Combines
Distributed by	Chandamama Vijaya Combines
Release date	2 November 1994
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	?3.7 crore (equivalent to ?17 crore or US$2.6 million in 2017)
Box office	?9.75 crore (equivalent to ?46 crore or US$6.8 million in 2017)

Nammavar is a 1994 Tamil language film directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan and starring Kamal Haasan and Gautami in lead roles.

Kamal Haasan plays a revolutionary history lecturer of a college. The movie is about how he tries to reform the downtrodden college by his initiatives and its consequences. The background score and music was composed by debutant Mahesh.

The film was among 1994 Deepavali releases. The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil. The film was dubbed in Telugu as Professor Viswam.

Plot

Dr. Selvam (Kamal Haasan) is the new vice principal and history professor in a college ruled by the donor's son Ramesh (Karan), who is essentially a spoiled brat, who, owing to the lack of parental guidance, turns into a no-gooder, and also influences the other students in the college by his tyrannical use of money and power. Sparks fly between the two, but Selvam manages to transform most of the college.

Vasanthi (Gouthami) is also a professor in the same college who initially disapproves of Selvam's methods, but later falls for him. Selvam is revealed to be a cancer patient, who is seeking answers to fight his inner demons by doing good to the college. When all his methods to insult Selvam fail, and when one of his gang turns against him, Ramesh retaliates by implicating his ex-friend's lover Nirmala (Brinda), who is also the daughter of one of the college lecturers Prabhakar Rao (Nagesh), in a brothel raid, which leads to her suicide. The inevitable final clash ensues, where Selvam still does not want to harm Ramesh and is still willing to offer him a second chance. In the end, Selvam and Vasanthi leave for the US seeking a cure for his cancer and hoping the college will be truly reformed when they return.

Cast

Kamal Haasan as Selvam
Gouthami as Vasanthi
Nagesh as Prabhakar Rao
Karan as Ramesh
Ramji as Ramesh's friend
Senthil as Perumal
Kovai Sarala as Julie
Santhana Bharathi as Sakthivel
Brinda as Nirmala
Srividya
Delhi Ganesh
Madhan Bob
Bobby Bedi as Prakesh Moolchandani

Production

The first day shoot was at held at the Vijaya Vauhini studios, with Karan as a student and Kamal Haasan as professor in a classroom scenario.

Release

The film received positive reviews from critics. In 1995 at the National Film Awards, Nagesh was awarded Best Supporting Actor award for his portrayal in the film, as well winning the Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize.

Film historian S. Theodore Baskaran felt that Oru Thalai Ragam and Nammavar were the "two most representative Tamil films about students".

Soundtrack

This movie features 6 songs composed by Mahesh Mahadevan while lyrics written by Pulamaipithan and Vairamuthu. The music director, prior to signing the project had been diagnosed with blood cancer and since, it has been debated that Kamal Haasan's cancer-ridden role in the film was a tribute to Mahesh.^[4] Before his death in 2002, Mahesh went on to work in the sound department in Kamal Haasan's Kuruthipunal and Aalavandhan. The soundtrack was also marked the debut of noted singer, Srinivas.^[5]