The colour of poverty is red) is a 1980 Indian Tamil-language satirical drama film written and directed by K. Balachander.

It was remade in Hindi as Zara Si Zindagi (1983) with Haasan reprising his role, and Balachander again directing.

Rangan once chases a man to his house to get back the money which he looted by lying to him, and stumbles upon Devi.

Devi goes to Rangan's house to introduce him to her stage play director, so he can replace an ill actor and earn some money.

Rangan explains that his attitude is inherited from his father, Carnatic vocalist Sundaram Pillai, who always scolds him for his inability to find a job on his own.

Devi quits acting and starts to live at Rangan's house taking up a new job of baby sitting.

Rangan loses all of the jobs due to his straightforwardness and subsequently suffers from poverty but he is not ready to back off from his attitude for the sake of hunger.

The story ends with Rangan and Devi starting a fresh life and Sundaram Pillai accepting his son's decision.

Rangan's former roommate is now a husband of a rich, older widow and Thambu has become an insane beggar due to his search for the non-existent Dilip.

Shekher who debuted in Balachander's Ninaithale Inikkum (1979) and newcomer R. Dilip were cast in the role of Kamal Haasan's friends.

The character Rangan's anger towards the system's failure to provide employment and decent living for its people is conveyed when he recites poems by Subramania Bharati.

Writing for Jump Cut, Kumuthan Maderya viewed Varumayin Niram Sivappu as belonging to the "angry young man" genre: one that rebels against establishment.

[18] The film also criticises bureaucracy, nepotism and red tape as major causes for unemployment and poverty in the country.

[20] The soundtrack was composed by M. S. Viswanathan and lyrics were written by Kannadasan for Tamil and by Acharya Aatreya for Telugu.

[22] Varumayin Niram Sivappu was released on 6 November 1980 alongside Nizhalgal with both films having similar themes of unemployment.

[7][28] Prasad of Zamin Ryot appreciated the Telugu version for addressing the ills of society, a genre that was rare in that respective industry.

[31] Pratap recalled in January 2015 that it was the simultaneous release of Moodu Pani (another film featuring him) and Varumayin Niram Sivappu that made him a star.

[10] However, both Moodu Pani – which depicted Pothen as a psychopath who murders prostitutes – and Varumayin Niram Sivappu led to him being typecast in similar roles.