Murattu Kaalai is a 1980 Tamil-language Action Drama film written by Panchu Arunachalam and Babu. The movie is directed by S.p. Muthuraman and S. P. Muthuraman and produced by M. Kumaran, M. Saravanan and M. Balasubramaniam under the banner of AVM Productions. It revolves around Kaalaiyan, an honourable villager who, despite being wealthy, chooses to live modestly while Sundaravelu, a less honourable man from the neighbouring village, tries to grab Kaalaiyan's land. Murattu kaalai features Rajinikanth in the title role along with an ensemble cast including Rati Agnihotri, Jaishankar, Sumalatha Ambarish, Ashokan, Surulirajan and Mahendra. The music was composed by National Award winner Ilaiyaraaja. Cinematography was done by Babu and editing by R. Vittal. The movie has a running time of 144 minutes. It was released on 20th December 1980. Murattu Kaalai was made on a budget of ₹0 lakh. It revolves around Kaalaiyan, an honourable villager who, despite being wealthy, chooses to live modestly while Sundaravelu, a less honourable man from the neighbouring village, tries to grab Kaalaiyan's land.