Dharma Durai

Dharma Durai
Directed by	Rajasekhar
Produced by	S. Ramanathan S. Sivaraman
Written by	Panchu Arunachalam
Story by	M. D. Sundar
Starring	Rajinikanth Madhu Gouthami Nizhalgal Ravi Charan Raj
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja
Cinematography	V. Ranga
Edited by	Vittal
Production company	Raasikala Mandhir International
Distributed by	Raasikala Mandhir International
Release date	14 January 1991
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Dharma Durai is a 1991 Tamil drama film starring Rajinikanth, Gouthami, Charan Raj, Nizhalgal Ravi and Senthil. The film was remake of 1989 Kannada movie Deva with Vishnuvardhan in the lead role. The film was dubbed into Telugu as Khaidi Annayya. It was also remade in Hindi as Tyagi, with Rajinikanth reprising his role in the original. It was a block-buster movie and completed a 175-day run at the box office.

The story begins with a young couple, Balu and Ishwarya, being chased by some goons. Ishwarya is the daughter of Rajadorai (Charan Raj) and had eloped and run away with her boyfriend Balu against the wishes of Rajadorai. Rajadorai sends his goons to track down the couple. When the goons finally track down the couple in a forest and start beating up Balu, a man (Rajinikanth) comes to the couple's rescue. When Rajadorai and his brother Ramadorai (Nizhalgal Ravi) find out about this man, they rush over to his hideout in the forest, only to escape in fear when they see him. The couple is scared and puzzled as to how the man could induce so much fear in the brothers. The man's wife Parvathi (Gouthami) then tells the couple the story of the man, whose name is Dharmadorai.

Dharmadorai was a farmer in a village named Valliyur. He was the elder brother of Rajadorai and Ramadorai. He had showered so much love and affection on his younger brothers and even borrowed ₹ 30000 for their "education", much against his father's (Madhu) wishes, who fully knew that his younger sons were crooked and evil. He even got Rajadorai married to Vaibhavi (Vaishnavi), a girl whom Rajadorai had raped, to save him from a jail term. The brothers however, showed no sort of affection for Dharmadorai and used his innocence for their sinister desires. Rajadorai convinced Dharmadorai to borrow ₹ 6 lakhs so that he could "start a business". Using this money, Rajadorai and Ramadorai moved to Madras (now Chennai) and went into smuggling. They later double-crossed their smuggler boss Jose by keeping all the items meant to be smuggled and also lodging a police complaint against his son Ajay (Ajay Rathnam) for their own benefit and soon became rich due to their illegal activities.