| Kumbakonam Gopalu | |
| Director: | Keyaar |
| Screenplay: | Keyaar |
| Based On: | Gauri Ganesha |
| Producer: | A. V. Subba Rao |
| Starring: | Pandiarajan Mayuri Janagaraj Thyagu |
| Cinematography: | B. L. Rao |
| Editing: | Shyam Mukherjee |
| Music: | Ilaiyaraaja |
| Studio: | Prasath Art Productions |
| Runtime: | 135 minutes |
| Country: | India |
| Language: | Tamil |
Kumbakonam Gopalu is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language film written and directed by Keyaar, starring Pandiarajan, Mayoori, Janagaraj and Thyagu. It is a remake of the 1991 Kannada film Gauri Ganesha.[1] Child actor Mahendran won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Child Artist.[2] [3]
Gopal is a petty trickster who cheats and lies to make a false living. One day, he turns himself into an hospital, faking an abdominal issue, solely to get free lodging and food, and also his love interest Geetha. At the hospital Gopal comes across a recent patient named Sangeetha who has died of suicide attempt. Gopal gets a sudden idea and he decides to take her belongings and make some money of them, but instead finds her diary. He realises that Sangeetha has come across 3 men who had significant influence in her life. The first man was her former boss who had proposed indecently to sleep with her. The second man wanted her to pretend that they are married to fool his parents in return for money for Sangeetha's sister's marriage. The last man is a friend of the 2nd man, and thought that he had slept with her in a drunken state. The truth is that none of the men had any physical contact with her. Gopal devises a plan to extract money from these men and their families. He writes letters to them stating that Sangeetha has given birth to their son and named him Krishna/Ramakrishna/Rajasekar. After a series of funny events, (such as the three booking almost neighbouring rooms on the same floor of the same hotel) all the three come to meet Gopal on the same day, and the film ends when Gopal realizes his mistake.
The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja.[4] The song "Oru Nandhavanam" was reused version of Ilayaraja's own Malayalam song "Manikuttikurumbulla" from the Malayalam film Kaliyoonjal.
| Song | Singers | Lyrics | Length (m:ss) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Butter Fly Oh" | Kamakodiyan | 04:52 | ||
| "Enna Genmamo" | Ponnadiyan | 05:01 | ||
| "Golmal Gopal" | Vaasan | 04:57 | ||
| "Oru Nandavanam" | Ilaiyaraaja | 04:48 | ||
| "Super Pattu Mettu" | P. Unnikrishnan, Master Mukunth | 04:45 |
A critic from Deccan Herald wrote "I can't find a word that can aptly describe this film — vulgar, tacky, obscene would all fit, but its worse than all that put together. This is one of those really disgusting films that leaves a stain on your mind". In contrast, a reviewer from The Hindu wrote the director's "approach in the second- half however enlivens the film".[5] Two years after release, the producers were given a subsidy by the Tamil Nadu government along with several other films.[6]