Anthimanthaarai

Anthimanthaarai () is a 1996 Indian Tamil language historical drama film. The film has Vijayakumar, Jayasudha in lead roles. It is produced by Chandraleela Bharathiraja and Thilaka Ganesh The director of this film is Bharathiraja. The film won the National Award for the Best Feature Film in Tamil for the year 1997.
The music for the film is composed by A. R. Rahman. The film is relatively unknown and it had a brief run lasting for a week in major cinemas.
Plot.
An aged man at his retirement (Vijaykumar) pursues a relationship that he could not experience when younger. He was once a freedom fighter and activist, but as time passes by, his efforts become gradually forgotten. Towards the end of his life, he grapples to financially support himself and loses his respect and identity in society. His desires to lead a peaceful retirement with his companion (Jayasudha) is tragically taken away from him by the ungrateful and ignorant community.
Production.
"Anthimanthaarai" is a low budget production targeted primarily at the arthouse movie audience. It features period contemporary backdrop settings. Originally, it was set to be released without a soundtrack. When the film got the tax break from the Govt of India, the director Bharathiraja had included music and songs for commercial purpose. A.R. Rahman accepted no payment for the music of this film.
Soundtrack.
The soundtrack of the film was composed by A. R. Rahman and was a promotional audio for the film which had just a few snatches of these songs in the background. It has 4 songs including a Carnatic song written in Sanskrit and 3 instrumental themes. The lyrics were written by Vairamuthu.