| Thaai Mookaambikai | |
| Director: | K. Shankar |
| Screenplay: | K. Shankar |
| Story: | S. Jegadeesan |
| Producer: | Sivaprasad |
| Starring: | K. R. Vijaya Jaishankar Sivakumar Sujatha |
| Cinematography: | Kanchi Meenakshisundaram |
| Editing: | K. Shankar K. R. Krishnan V. Jayabal |
| Music: | Ilaiyaraaja |
| Studio: | Sivashankar Creations |
| Country: | India |
| Language: | Tamil |
Thaai Mookaambikai is a 1982 Indian Tamil-language devotional film directed by K. Shankar, starring K. R. Vijaya, Jaishankar, Sivakumar, Sujatha and other leading actors. The film was released on 9 July 1982.
Music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, with lyrics by Vaali.[1] [2] The song "Janani Janani" is set in Kalyani raga,[3] "Isai Arasi" is set in Sallabam, also known as Surya,[4] and the title track is set in Vasantha Sri. Ilaiyaraaja said he "was running out of time" while composing the tune for "Janani Janani". He claimed to have been "under hectic pressure from the film producer, who had planned to perform the ‘puja’ for the film the next day with the song". The initial tune which Ilaiyaraaja composed did not suit the character Adi Shankara. He said with a chance to have a glimpse of the portrait of Shankara, he was inspired to compose the tune which was similar to Bhaja Govindam.[5] "Janani Janani" was initially to be sung by K. J. Yesudas, but Ilaiyaraaja sang the album version due to Yesudas' other commitments; his version was also selected to be used as the film version.[6]
| Song | Singers | |
|---|---|---|
| Isai Arasi Ennalum | P. Susheela, S. Janaki, M. S. Rajeswari | |
| Janani Janani | Ilaiyaraaja, Deepan Chakravarthy | |
| Malai Naadu | S. P. Sailaja | |
| Pasikk Sorum Illai | P. Jayachandran | |
| Seenathu Pattumeni | P. Susheela, Malaysia Vasudevan | |
| Thaaye Moogambikaiye | M. Balamuralikrishna, M. S. Viswanathan, Sirkazhi Govindarajan, S. Janaki |
Thaai Mookaambikai was released on 9 July 1982.[7] Thiraignani of Kalki felt the audience who expected to watch the history of goddess Mookambika and the stories of their devotees will feel disappointed panning certain subplots. He however praised Jagadeesan's dialogues and Karthik's performance and concluded the film's director K. Shankar is responsible for the crime of not seeing completion in Darshan.[8]