Originally Posted by Murali Srinivas
1987
Chinna Thambi Periya Thambi
Manivannan was back with the same successful combination of Prabhu and Sathyaraj. Nadhiya who was at the peak of her career was the heroine. This again had the village mileu and as the Tamil cinema norm would be, both the brothers were uneducated, innocent and mother loving sons. Nadhiya their rich cousin [muraipen]would be in Chennai and by a sudden turn of events she would become poor and move to the village. Both the brothers would love her but she receiprocates it towards Chinna Thambi leading to misunderstanding and complications. How it all gets resolved formed the remaining part.
Prabhu as the innocent Chinna Thambi was fluent and his portrayal won him accolades. The movie was a big commercial success and it celebrated 100 days. There was a debate on who stole the show and I remeber reading an aptly summarised answer to this in a film magazine and it was like this.
படத்தலைப்பில் யார் பெயரை மணிவண்ணன் முதலில் போட்டிருக்கிறாரோ அவர்தான்.
.