Chokka Thangam

Chokka Thangam (transl. Pure gold) is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by K. Bhagyaraj and produced by G. Venkateswaran under the banner GV Films. It stars Vijayakanth, Soundarya, and Uma with Goundamani, Senthil, Prakash Raj, and Swathi playing supporting roles. The background score and music were composed by Deva. The film was released on 15 January 2003 and became commercially successful.^[1]

Chokka Thangam
Poster
Directed by	K. Bhagyaraj
Written by	K. Bhagyaraj
Produced by	G. Venkateswaran
Starring	Vijayakanth Soundarya Uma
Cinematography	M. V. Panneerselvam
Edited by	K. Mohankumar
Music by	Deva
Production company	GV Films
Release date	15 January 2003 (2003-01-15)
Running time	160 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

Muthu lives in a village with his sister Maragatham. Muthu is very fond of his sister and ready to do anything for her. Pavalam is an orphan who lives in the same village. Muthu and Pavalam have a liking towards each other. Periya Minor is the local baddie who tries to molest Pavalam when she is alone. However, Muthu comes for rescue and takes Pavalam along with him to his house.

Maragatham is married to Sundaram. Sundaram's sister Gowri's wedding is also arranged. But on the day of Gowri's wedding, her fiancé passes away which makes the villagers believe that Gowri is unlucky. Sundaram's family members want Muthu to marry Gowri, but Muthu refuses as he is in love with Pavalam. Angered by this, Sundaram's family members kick out Maragatham from their house as a means of revenge. Maragatham comes back to Muthu's house.

Muthu tries hard to get Gowri's wedding fixed again, but in vain. He meets Akash with a wedding proposal, but is turned down by his parents. Meanwhile, Maragatham is conceived. Sundaram understands Muthu's situation and visits Maragatham frequently without informing his family members. Finally, Sundaram finds a bride groom for Gowri and their wedding is arranged. Sundaram also brings Maragatham to his house and the families are united.

One day, Akash and his family members are about to meet with an accident, however Muthu spots them and saves them. Akash's family members understand the good nature of Muthu despite them humiliating him when he came with a marriage proposal with Gowri. On the day of Gowri's marriage, it is revealed that the groom is a cheat and is set by the Minor brothers with plans of trapping Muthu. The Minor brothers wants Muthu to give him Pavalam, so that Gowri's wedding will go as planned. Else, he threatens that the wedding will be cancelled which might hurt Gowri again.

Muthu fights the Minor brothers and decides to sacrifice his love. Muthu agrees to marry Gowri as he does not want Gowri to be disappointed again by cancelling her wedding. However, Akash's family members, now agree to get Akash married to Gowri. Akash and Gowri are married. Finally, Muthu and Pavalam are also married.

Cast

• Vijayakanth as Muthu
• Soundarya as Pavalam, Muthu's Love interest
• Uma as Maragatham, Muthu's Sister
• Goundamani as Muthu's uncle
• Senthil as Servant
• Prakash Raj as Sundharam, Maragatham's Husband
• Swathi as Gowri
• C. R. Saraswathi as Sundaram's cousin
• Sindhu as Sundharam's cousin
• Jaya Murali as Sundharam's mother
• S. S. Chandran as Sundharam's uncle
• Vinu Chakravarthy as Temple trustee
• Thyagu as Sindhu's husband
• T. P. Gajendran as C. R. Saraswathi's husband
• Ponnambalam as Periya Minor
• Besant Ravi as Chinna Minor
• B. V. Balaguru as Villager
• Sriman as Muthu's friend
• Akash as Muthu's friend
• Lekhasri as Sundari
• Usha Priya as Sundari's mother
• Pasi Sathya as Muthu's aunt
• Nellai Siva as Village Nattamai
• Chelladurai as Villager
• Kovai Senthil as Villager
• Idichapuli Selvaraj as Villager
• Tirupur Ramasamy as Villager
• Soundar as Abusing husband
• Kalidoss as Police inspector
• Mippu as Villager
• Lollu Sabha Soundarya as Mentally challenged woman

Production

Soon after GV Films announced their collaboration with Vijayakanth, the producers approached Cheran to direct the film. However, due to issues concerning remuneration, K. Bhagyaraj eventually took on the role.^[2] Vidhya Venkatesh was originally approached for the role of Vijayakanth's sister, but since she was busy with Kalatpadai, she could not spare her dates and she was replaced by Uma.^[3] The filming was held at Pollachi for thirty days.^[4]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Deva.^[5]

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Enna Nenache"	R. V. Udayakumar	P. Unnikrishnan, Anuradha Sriram	4:51
2.	"En Jannal"	Pa. Vijay	Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam, Ganga Sitharasu	4:45
3.	"Ettu Jilla"	Pa. Vijay	Karthik, Anuradha Sriram, Unni Menon	4:41
4.	"Vellayai Manam"	Thamarai	Swarnalatha, P. Jayachandran, Sujatha Mohan	4:06
5.	"Oor Oora"	Snehan	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	5:02
Total length:				23:25

Critical reception

Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu wrote "The film does have its plus points, yet somehow Bhagyaraj's magic touch in films [..] is definitely missing in 'Chokka Thangam.'"^[6] Krishna Chidambaram of Kalki wrote Bhagyaraj's touch was visible only in first half which goes away after interval and appears only in the film's end though he praised Vijayakanth as pure gold for following director's instructions but questioned why for this spineless character. He praised Uma's acting and song "Vellaiyai Manam" citing it has been a long time he heard a song with proper situation placement and concluded requesting Bhagyaraj to give retirement and send away colourful outfits of hero and white chariot in songs.^[7] Malini Mannath of Chennai Online wrote "The director seems to have compromised for the sake of his hero’s image, there are more action-scenes than in a Vijaykant action-film, and the confusion is evident throughout. Talking of action, the chord tied to Vijaykant as he does the gravity-defying leap is clearly visible. The director’s heart was surely not in this film!".^[8]