Polladhavan (1980 film)

Plot

Seetha (Lakshmi) is travelling with her nephew to an estate to attend her job interview as a nanny to the estate merchant's daughter. There is a suspicious looking man seated in front of her, at a point in the journey he tries to rape her but suddenly he is shot dead. Seetha sees the murderer (Rajinikanth) and clearly remembers his face and reports the murder to the police (Delhi Ganesh). Then she is appointed for the nanny position and she and the merchant's daughter grow fond of each other.

Then it is announced that the merchant, who is extremely fond of his daughter has come back form his journey, Seetha meets the merchant, named Manohar, only to find that he is the murderer she saw on the train. Manohar threatens Seetha not to tell anyone and makes sure to prevent her from leaving his estate as she is keen on reporting him to the police.

Seetha tries many times to escape but does not succeed and is always caught. She does not even tell the police when she meets them as Manohar threatens to kill her nephew if she did. Later in the film Seetha somehow sees beneath the rough, mean Manohar and grows fond of him but is confused why such a nice man is acting so arrogantly.

Here a flashback is revealed where Manohar and his wife (Sripriya) were completely in love and go married, soon after their daughter was born. Sripriya's uncle who was eager to marry Sripriya but who was sent to jail by Manohar as he tried to kill both Manohar and Sripriya was released from jail as his term had finished. Manohar had gone out to the shops and Sripriya's uncle breaks into their house and rapes Sripriya, due to this she commits suicide and Manohar wants to die with her but she makes him vow that he will get revenge on her uncle for separating them and to take care of their daughter well. Manohar also reveals that the man he killed on the train was Sripriya's uncle.

Seetha now understands his acts and vows not to tell anyone. The police who Seetha had previously reported the murder to was curious about Seetha; she said that she remembered the face and was eager to find the murderer but now she had told him she has forgotten the face. Hence the police suspects Seetha to be the murderer. On Manohar daughter's birthday, he is to announce that he is to hand over all his wealth to Seetha and surrender to the police, but before this the police arrive and try to arrest Seetha. Manohar saves her by confessing to the murder, leading to his arrest.

A few years later, Manohar is released from jail and reunites with Seetha and his daughter.

Cast

Box office

The film ran for 100 days at Devi and Abhirami theaters. Its success meant that Rajinikanth carved out a niche for himself in vendetta roles.

Soundtrack

Music is composed by M.S. Viswanathan, with lyrics by Kannadasan.