In recent years, while Tollywood films have gained the status of pan-India projects, the Tamil films seem to be lagging. The majority of Tamil films have failed to perform well beyond the borders of Tamil Nadu in recent years.
However, this was not always the case. Much before Baahubali, Pushpa, and RRR, Kamal Hassan’s Apoorva Sagodharargal, which was released in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi managed to achieve the status of being a pan-India movie. Kollywood’s Apoorva Sagodharargal, upon release, became a massive box-office hit and ran for over 100 days in theatres in all languages.
The film, directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, had an ensemble cast of Kamal Haasan, Jaishankar, Nagesh, Gautami, Rupini, Manorama, Srividya, Janagaraj, Moulee, Delhi Ganesh, and Nassar. Apoorva Sagodharargal featured Kamal Hassan in a triple role. He was seen in the character of a dwarf named Appu in one of his roles.
Apoorva Sagodharargal was bankrolled by Haasan under his production company Raaj Kamal Film International. Panchu Arunachalam wrote the film, while Haasan and Crazy Mohan wrote the film’s screenplay and dialogues, respectively.
Editing was handled by B. Lenin and V. T. Vijayan, while P. C. Sriram served as cinematographer. The music for the film was given by Ilaiyaraaja, with lyrics by Vaali.
Apoorva Sagodharargal was an instant hit. The film had 234 screenings at the Devi Paradise Theater in Chennai, 201 screenings at the Agastya Theater, and 312 screenings each at the Abirami and Kasi Theaters.
Apoorva Sagodharargal did exceedingly well in other Southern states too. The film ran for 100 days in Kerala and 150 days in Andhra.
In Pallavi theatre in Bengaluru, the film ran for a record 175 days. Apoorva Sagodharargal also became the first Tamil film to run for 100 days in five theatres in Bangalore.
In 1990, Apoorva Sagodharargal was dubbed and released in Hindi as Appu Raja. Appu Raja completed 100 days of a successful run in Mumbai.
The film also won the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil, and Kamal Hassan received the Best Actor award at Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, while the Best lyricist award was given to Vaali.
