Nizhalgal English Shadows is a 1980 Indian Tamil film cowritten and directed by Bharathiraja. Starring Nizhalgal Ravi, in his debut venture, in the lead it had other newcomers Raadhu, Chandrasekhar, and Rajasekar forming the principal cast. The films crew too contained a host of newcomers including the lyricist Vairamuthu and Manivannan, both would later go on to become an established lyricist and a director respectively. The film revolves around a group of youngsters and their struggles to overcome the challenges faced by them in society. Though a commercial failure, the film was screened at the Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India in 1981. The same year it won two awards at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.
Gopi takes tuition for Maha and they both fall in love. During this time, Gopi, Hari, and Prabhu get arrested for some reason. Maha pledges her chain and takes them out on bail. In an attempt to reform, Prabhu goes to meet his college principal, but gets dismissed from the college. He gets scolded by his father, but Maha becomes very supportive to him. Prabhu assumes that she loves him. During this time Mahas parents force her to discontinue her tuition as a few of their relatives suspect she and Gopi are in love with each other. Hari gets a break in films and gets an advance payment of money from the producers. Using the sum, they return Mahas chain. By this time, Mahas parents start looking for a groom for her.Maha meets Gopi and advises him to find a job so that they can marry. Things start to take a turn for the worse when Hari is dropped from the film because the financier of the film is not convinced that having a newcomer is a good idea. The house owner expels Gopi and Hari from the house for not paying the rent. A dejected Gopi and Hari seek shelter with Mani, a rickshaw puller. Gopi gets a telegram informing that his father is dead. To bear his travel expenses, Manis son Singam goes out, but meets with an accident. Hari tries to get some money by playing music in the streets but is hardly able to make it. Gopi approaches a moneylender to borrow money. The moneylender talks ill about Singam which makes Gopi angry. In a fit of rage, he stabs the moneylender and takes away the money. When he arrives, he is informed that Singam is dead. ........
Source: Wikipedia