General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20264 min read

Ilamai Oonjal Aadukirathu (இளமை ஊஞ்சலாடுகிறது)

Ilamai Oonjal Aadukirathu (இளமை ஊஞ்சலாடுகிறது; transl. Youth is swinging) is a 1978 Indian Tamil-language romance film written and directed by C. V. Sridhar, starring Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Sripriya and Jayachitra, with music composed by Ilaiyaraaja.¹^•² Its plot centers on two close friends, the owner and the manager of a Madras marketing agency, who fall in love with the same woman.¹

Key fact	Detail
Release	9 June 1978 (India), Tamil language, 141 minutes, color¹
Director and writer	C. V. Sridhar; producer Kannaiyaa, production company Sri Chitra¹^•³
Cast	Kamal Haasan as Prabhu, Rajinikanth as Murali, Sripriya as Padma, Jayachitra as Jayanthi¹
Music	Ilaiyaraaja; all five songs with lyrics by Vaali⁴
Technical crew	Cinematography P. S. Nivas, editing Kottagiri Gopalrao³

Spoilers

Plot

Prabhu (Kamal Haasan), an orphan, is brought up by his friend Murali's (Rajinikanth) mother and works as general manager of Murali's marketing agency in Madras. Murali treats Prabhu as a brother and depends on him for business decisions. Prabhu is in love with Padma (Sripriya), a college student, while Padma's relative Jayanthi (Jayachitra), a young widow who works at Murali's office, is drawn to Prabhu.³

A night spent together at Jayanthi's village home, which Prabhu later regrets and explains in an apology letter, drives Padma away from him without explanation. Murali, unaware of Prabhu's earlier love for Padma, pursues and becomes engaged to her; Prabhu, grateful to Murali's family, stays silent. When Padma reveals that she read Prabhu's letter to Jayanthi, who is carrying his child, Prabhu leaves Madras. Murali, on learning the reason, severs ties with him. Prabhu finds Jayanthi in Bangalore and marries her with a thaali (marriage necklace tied by groom, signifying wedlock) as she dies after an accident, giving her the dignity of a wife. The estranged friends later meet at an estate in Ooty; after Padma explains the truth at a cliffside confrontation, Murali and Prabhu reconcile, and Murali leaves Padma to Prabhu.³

Production and casting

A first pairing. Sridhar had built his career directing the leading men of the day, including Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, Muthuraman, Kalyan Kumar, and M. G. R. When M. G. R. became Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu after the 1977 assembly election, some films Sridhar was making with him, including Anna Nee En Deivam, stalled. Sridhar then brought together the two rising stars of the next generation, Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth, in a single film for 1978.⁵

Sridhar's first choice for Rajinikanth's role was the late actor Jayaganesh. His assistants P. Vasu and Santhana Bharathi, both later prominent directors, told him that pairing Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth would work well, and Sridhar, initially reluctant, agreed to cast them. The film was the first Sridhar directed with Rajinikanth.⁵

Music

The soundtrack, composed by Ilaiyaraaja with lyrics by Vaali, has five songs: "Ennadi Meenakshi" (S. P. Balasubrahmanyam), "Ore Naal Unnai Naan" (Balasubrahmanyam and Vani Jairam), "Kinnaththil Then" (K. J. Yesudas and S. Janaki), "Nee Kettaal Naan" (Vani Jairam), and "Thanni Karuthiruchi" (Malaysia Vasudevan).⁴ The songs were hits, and the film's commercial success followed.⁵

A change of composer. Sridhar had been an admirer of M. S. Viswanathan and, by his own account, had not worked with any other music director since Nenjil Or Aalayam (1962); Ilamai Oonjal Aadukirathu marked his crossover to Ilaiyaraaja.⁶ Decades later the album still draws listeners: on Spotify it ranks among the most-streamed Ilaiyaraaja catalog albums, with "Orey Naal Unnai" at over 4.4 million streams.⁷

Release and reception

The film was released on 9 June 1978.¹ The review board of the magazine Ananda Vikatan, in a review dated 25 June 1978, rated it 57.5 out of 100, praising Sridhar's screenplay and limited use of dialogue, and wrote that Sridhar had proved a Tamil film could be made without a comedy subplot or a separate villain.

Box office and awards. IMDb's trivia records longer individual runs: 182 days at Anna theater in Chennai and 105 days at Cinipriya theater in Madurai.¹ The Third Best Film placing is confirmed by a contemporary fan chronology, which notes that for 1978-79 the state government gave first place to Mullum Malarum and second to Aval Appadithaan; some streaming listings describe the film simply as having won a state Best Film award.⁶^•⁸

Remakes and legacy

The film holds a 7.1/10 rating on IMDb from 158 users¹ and remains available in India on the streaming service Hungama Play.⁹ Retrospective commentary treats it as a window into the early careers of its two leads, made when both actors were still establishing themselves, and notes Rajinikanth's understated screen presence as a sign of the style that defined his later career.¹⁰

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026