Senthoora Poove is a 1988Tamildrama film, directed by P. R. Devaraj, starring Vijayakanth, Ramki and Nirosha in lead roles. Vijayakanth won his first Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor. The story is about how a young girl is ill-treated by her stepmother and how her brother's friend saves her and her husband. The movie enjoyed a run of over 200 days at the box office. It was one of the highest grossing Tamil films of the year 1988. The film had musical score by Manoj - Gyan and was released on 23 September 1988. The film was dubbed in Telugu as Sindhoora Puvvu. The movie was remade in Kannada in 1992 as Mallige Hoove starring Ambareesh.
Plot
Captain Sundara Pandian,a terminally ill convict, hospitalised and nearing death, evades police security and escapes from the hospital. He arrives in Nilambur and confronts a couple, Ashok and Ponni, who are running away from someone. As they board a train Captain Sundara Pandian gets a massive headache and faints. Seeing a train speeding towards him,Ashok dismounts the train to rescue him. While taking him away from the track Ponni is abducted by some goons pursuing them. The rest of the goons engage in a fight with Ashok who is almost defeated when Captain Sundara Pandian regains consciousness and subdues them. Ashok and his confidante,Gopal takes Captain to the former's shelter where Gopal hints to have seen the Captain somewhere but doesn't reveal much due to Captain's gestures. Meanwhile the doctor treating Captain decides to find his patient on his own due to the police forces' inefficiency. Ashok reveals the reason why the goons were following them. Ashok arrived in Nilambur as a field officer. He fell in love with Ponni after hearing her sing a song. Ponni is daughter of a henpecked landlord Rajavelu. The landlord, after his wife's death, married an ambitious woman, Ponnamma, who tortures Ponni for her wealth. As a child Ponni's marriage was conducted by her evil step mother. After her husband's death she is forced to live the life of a widow. Ponnamma did this all for amassing Ponni's wealth. The only person who used to be kind to her was Oomaiyan,son of Ponnamma. However, after picking a fight owing to an unfortunate incident with his mother he left the village promising to return soon. As soon as Ponni begins to have feelings for Ashok Ponnamma comes to know the truth and swears to separate them. Captain Sundara Pandian's tale is also revealed in a non linear way. Sundara Pandian was a soldier who along with a young teacher Radha jailed a local thug Udayappan. Captain later married the woman Radha. Ashok's confidante was from the Captain's village. Years later, a young man joins their family as a servant. The thug Udayappan upon escaping from prison murders Sundara Pandian's wife, son, and the servant. Captain manages to kill the thug not before he severely beats the Captain. The young servant was Ponni's step brother who before his death had requested the Captain to save Ponni from his evil mother, Ponnamma. This was the reason behind his arrival. After failing to negotiate with Ponnamma, Captain plots to secretly take Ponni away from her house. However, the plan fails and a nearly killed Captain is saved by his Doctor. After learning about the Captain's condition Ashok decides to leave his love and the village to make the Captain continue his treatment. He later drops the plan after thinking more about it. Captain, Ashok and the Doctor make one last attempt to save Ponni. Having enough of his wife, Ponni's father helps her escape and later asks his wife to consume poison before he suicides. Ponnamma and her husband dies. Although Ponnamma's goons follow them, Ashok, Ponni, Doctor and Captain manages to escape in a train with the Captain almost dead.
The film score and the soundtrack were composed by film composer Manoj - Gyan. The soundtrack, released in 1988, features 8 tracks with lyrics written by Aabavanan, Vairamuthu and Muthulingam.
Reception
The Indian Express wrote " the knot on which Senthoora Poove bases cooks up another cinematic stew and serves it in style".
Legacy
Senthoora Poove is one of only two films directed by P. R. Devaraj, the other being Ilaya Raagam before his death in May 2016.
