Poonthotta Kaavalkaaran (transl. The guard of the flower garden) is a 1988 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by Senthilnathan, in his directorial debut. The film stars Vijayakanth, Radhika, Anand, Vani Viswanath and Livingston. It was released on 10 June 1988,^[1] and ran for over 175 days in theatres.^[2] The film was remade in Telugu as Dharma Teja (1988).^{[citation needed]}

This article needs an improved plot summary. (September 2022)

Like a gardener with all his tenderness for his flowers, an old vigilante takes under his wing a young couple of runaway lovers. He lavishes them with love and safety. The father of the young woman tries to eliminate the lover who is none other than the sworn enemy of the upholder of the law. It is because of him, that the woman of the hero lost their unique heir and cannot give birth any more from now on. Horrible memories surface and put the old upholder of the law on a war footing, for his ultimate confrontation.

Senthilnathan, son of Jambulingam who directed Nam Naadu with M. G. Ramachandran and erstwhile assistant of S. A. Chandrasekhar and V. Azhagappan made his directorial debut with this film.^[3] Vijayakanth offered Livingston a negative role in the film, and he accepted.^[4]

The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, with lyrics by Gangai Amaran.^[5][6] The song "Sindhiya Venmani" song is set to the Carnatic raga Srothaswini,^[7] and "Paramal Partha Nenjam" is set to Suddha Dhanyasi.^[8]

Jayamanmadhan (a duo) of Kalki praised Livingston's performance but felt his character design as antagonist was not strong enough while also praising Chandran's humour and Ilaiyaraaja's music but panned the flashback of Vani and Anand as lengthy and dragged. They also felt the inclusion of stunt sequences in an emotional film was like neither here and nor there.^[9]

Radhika won the Cinema Express Award for Best Actress – Tamil, and Livingston won for Best New Face.^[10]