Betrayal is nothing but broken trust. The scars of the wound caused by betrayal remain for long, remindful of the pain it caused, despite the forgiveness it earned. Betrayal includes latent falsehood lately brought to light, creating sudden shock waves to the trusting souls. A wife's mistrust of her husband might come to light when she happens to see her husband with his mistress. The stories of untrustworthy husbands were told many times in Tamil Cinema,from the days of Ratha Kanneer.
Lovers flirting with gullible girls and leaving them in the lurch have been exposed both with stoic resignation and stern resistance against brutal betrayal, in films like Thirumbi Paar, Policekaaran Magal,Major Chadrakanth, Pattaampoochi,Vidhi and several others. Policekaaran Magal and Pattaam Poochi ended on a tragic note with the victims falling a prey to betrayal,and the offenders left unpunished. Major Chandrakanth delivered the due punishment to the betrayer from the hands of his victim's brother, and in Vidhi the victim of betrayal herself stood strong and legally fought her case of betrayal and successfully exposed the guilt of her betrayer to the public, to bring shame to his name. Even Gemini Ganesan was seen as a massive betrayer of women in the K.Balachander's critically acclaimed film,Naan Avanillai. Sweet hero Sivakumar also took up such betraying characters twice, in films like Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri and Saaindhaaamma Saaindhaadu.
Tamil cinema showed even women betraying their lovers. An example of such a case was witnessed in the film Devadhaiyai Kandein in which the affected lover Dhanush was seen taking a similar recourse to law, in the line of the woman victim of Vidhi and winning his case. The hero proved his love course, through vital pieces of evidence and exposed the foibles of his lover who weighed status against true love, by rejecting her lover,after courting with him for a substantial period. Whereas, in the film Jaani one of the heroes in dual roles {Rajinikanth}silently suffered his betrayal by his lady love.
Like treacherous husbands there are also unfaithful wives who ditch their loving husbands by entertaining an extramarital routine in the absence of their husbands. Such a breach of fidelity was dramatically unfolded in the film Thooku Thooki starring Sivaji Ganesan Lalitha and Padmini..Thooku Thooki is an enchanting film remembered for its celebration of five age-old precepts. Those most cherished precepts were,1]A father would happily receive his son only if he brings profit in his career 2] Whether a son brings profit or not a mother would always welcome her son with undemanding love 3}Any sister would entertain her brother only if he brings her rich gifts 4] At times a wife will even go to the extent of killing her husband and 5}A true friend will always stand by,as the Saviour.
The hero who happened to hear these precepts at a public debate forum, stoutly rejected them and swore to disprove them in his life. But to his dismay, each of the precepts remained proven in his life,including the fourth precept which totally grieved and unsettled his life, until positive developments came on his way to restore a life of joy and contentment. Sivaji Ganesan once again had to bear the brunt of being cast in the role of a cuckold, betrayed by his wife, in the film Kavariman.In that film actress Pramila boldly took up the role of a wife indulging in an extramarital affair and the guy involved in that affair was actor Ravichandran.
Though the friend in Thooku Thooki came to the hero's rescue and saved him from death, there were other films that showed even friends betraying the true meaning and value of friendship. lIronically,Sivaji Ganesan himself was cast in the role of an untrue friend in the one only film {koondukkili}, wherein he shared screen space with MGR as his trusting friend. In that film Sivaji Ganesan as the close friend of MGR, went to the extent of attempting to womanize his friend's wife when his friend courted arrest for his sake. Sivaji Ganesan was also cast in the role of a guy betraying his country in the film Andha Naal.
The betrayal of friendship found its root as an effective theme in films like Kamalahasan's Uyarndha Ullam,Sasikumar's Sundara Pandiyan,Sarathkumar's Dosth,Vijayakanth's Honest Raj and a few more. Sibling's betrayal especially among male siblings is a common theme in Tamil Cinema.Rajinikanth's films like Aarilirundhu Arubadhu Varai { in which even his sister betrayed him} Padikkadhavan and Dharmadhurai were profoundly bound to the theme of sibling betrayal. This kind of betrayal at times includes cousin's betrayal also, and a striking example of this kind of betrayal could be retrospectively tied to the oldest film Padithaal Mattum Pothuma, which showed an educated elder cousin {starring Balaji} betraying his innocent, uneducated younger cousin, played by Sivaji Ganesan. The worst kind of betrayal that one could ever think of, was the fraternal betrayal depicted in the recent film Rayan that went to the extent of siblings back stabbing their own elder brother for the sake of money.
Politics and betrayal are like Jekyll and Hyde. The inseparable link between politics and betrayal is an age old stuff and Tamil film audience would not have forgotten the Ettappan element of betrayal, that played a key role in destroying the provincial kingdom of Veera Paandiya Kattabomman.A solid case of political betrayal was witnessed in Vijayakanth's film Perarasu,in which Prakash Raj transformed himself from a revolutionary fighter for justice,to a notorious politician, betraying the expectations of the person{ Sarath Babu} who made him contest the election,besides betraying the people who elected him to the legislature.
Only a few samples of betrayal shown in Tamil cinema are mentioned in this post. Humanity in general, is vastly used to the hidden designs of betrayal in every walk of life,starting from the four walls of one's home,to the world at large.But as the sterling maxim goes, 'goodness will always prevail' and benignity will positively surpass betrayal.
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