Gauravam (1973 film)

Plot

Veteran lawyer of madras high court Rajinikanth (Sivaji Ganesan) has never lost a case in the court. He is a self made man with a rags to riches story. Hence he does not ask for favours from anyone, except in the aspiration of being appointed as a Judge/ Justice of Madras High Court, where he expects the Bar Council of the court to favour him. Kannan (Sivaji Ganesan) is his nephew who is brought up like a son by the childless Rajinikanth and his wife. Kannan is an antithesis of Rajinikanth; he is a god fearing, amiable, domesticated young man.

Rajinikanth is shocked to know that an undeserving person has been promoted as supreme court judge. Meanwhile, Mohandas (Major Sundarrajan) murders his wife and beseeches lawyers to appear on his behalf and save him. Rajinikanth feels that the Bar council has not recognized his prowess in jurisprudence and decides to seek his revenge by gaming the system and fighting for Mohandas despite the latter's guilt. Mohandas is thus acquitted by the court, thanks to Rajinikanth's expertise in law. This deeply hurts Kannan who does not say anything at that time out of respect for his uncle.

Under unnatural circumstances, Mohandas's fiance dies in the bath tub. Once again Mohandas is convicted. Once again, Rajinikanth appears on Mohandas's behalf. But this time around, Kannan protests and walks out of the house to become the prosecution lawyer facing Rajinikanth. Kannan defeats Rajinikanth due to his meticulous preparation as well as Mohandas neglecting to mention some very important details about the case which he believed to be irrelevant and Rajinikanth's pride (gowravam) not allowing him to ask for some more time to study the new developments.

With his very first defeat at the hand of Kannan proves too much to handle. An anguished Rajinikanth succumbs to death, just before the news of him being appointed as a judge is announced showing that his pride (gowravam) was paramount to him and he lived and died with it.

Cast

Soundtrack

The music composed by M. S. Viswanathan.

Reactions

The film was directed by Vietnam Veedu Sundaram and considered a major triumph in the history of Tamil cinema and in the filmography of Sivaji Ganesan. In later years, Gauravam has been much parodied & paid homage to via skits and television episodes. In a brilliant piece of writing, Kannan is portrayed as a romancing devotee a-la Lord Krishna, while Rajinikanth is a single-minded hard-working atheist. Kannan's victory on purely technical grounds despite Rajinikanth's enormous legal expertise demonstrates the eventual triumph of good over evil.