Raman Abdullah
1997 Tamil film directed by Balu Mahendra
Raman Abdullah () is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language comedy film written, directed, photographed and edited by Balu Mahendra. The film stars Sivakumar, Karan and Vignesh. It is a remake of the 1994 Malayalam film Malappuram Haji Mahanaya Joji. The film was released on 22 August 1997, and failed at the box office but won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film (Special Prize).
Plot
Friends Abdullah and Raman go through misadventures to save their face from a strict Hajji.
Cast
Production
Director Balu Mahendra had offered a leading role to actor Vikram, who was unable to take up the offer as a result of schedule clashes with his work in Ullaasam (1997). The film's shoot became the epicentre of a dispute that arose between the Tamil Film Producers Council and Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI). It was reported that members of FEFSI had stopped the filming of Raman Abdullah as Mahendra was engaging outside cast members in the film. This led FEFSI to go for an indefinite strike which affected to the delaying of several Tamil films. During production, the makers had to change the name of the film from Abdul Raaman to Raman Abdullah following protests from the Muslim community.
“Raman Abdullah” enters the record as 1997 Tamil film directed by Balu Mahendra. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Raman, Abdullah and Tamil can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Raman Abdullah” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Raman, Abdullah and Tamil provides the most credible route into that argument.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3536693. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1997 and 1994.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Raman Abdullah”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Raman Abdullah primary sources, Raman Abdullah archive and Raman research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Raman Abdullah” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.