Thai Meethu Sathiyam


Thai Meethu Sathiyam is a 1978 Indian Tamil-language Curry Western film directed by R. Thyagarajan and produced by Chinnappa Thevar. The film stars Rajinikanth and Sripriya in the lead roles. It focuses on a shepherd who vows to avenge the murder of his parents by hunting down the criminals responsible. The film, which was Thevar's last to be produced, was released on 30 October 1978, Diwali day and became a commercial success.

Plot

Babu is a shepherd with a dog named Ramu. When criminals Balu and Johnny murder his parents, he swears upon his mother that he will have revenge. Babu trains under the local zamindar, and is revealed to be naturally skilled at marksmanship. After dressing himself like a cowboy, equipping himself with the zamindar's guns and a horse, and with Ramu as his aide, he fulfils his promise by killing the criminals.

Cast

Thai Meethu Sathiyam, directed by R. Thyagarajan, was Rajinikanth's first film in the Western genre, and the plot took inspiration from several Curry Westerns starring Jaishankar. Sripriya was cast as Sivakami, the love interest of Rajinikanth's character Balu. Ambareesh was cast as the zamindar Balu trains under, while Mohan Babu and Tiger Prabhakar were cast respectively as Johnny and Balu, the criminals who murder Babu's parents. Thai Meethu Sathiyam was the last film produced by Chinnappa Thevar to be released; he died on 8 September when the film was still in production.

Themes

Thai Meethu Sathiyam deals with one of the most recurrent themes in Tamil cinema: revenge. Like most Thyagarajan films, this has an animal playing a prominent character. The Economic Times likened the relationship between Babu and his dog Ramu to that of Wallace and Gromit.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film was composed by the duo Sankar Ganesh.

Release and reception

Thai Meethu Sathiyam was released on 30 October 1978, Diwali day. Despite facing competition from many other Diwali releases, the film became a commercial success, running for over 100 days in theatres, and Rajinikanth "carved out for himself a niche in vendetta roles".