Priyamudan

Priyamudan (transl. With love) is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film directed by Vincent Selva. The film stars Vijay and Kausalya, while Sujith Sagar plays a pivotal role. The story focuses on Vasanth, a young businessman, who is of a hyper-possessive nature and therefore he tries to achieve whatever he desires using any means.

Priyamudan
Poster
Directed byVincent Selva
Written byVincent Selva
Pattukkottai Prabakar (dialogues)
Produced by
  • K. Muralidharan
  • V. Swaminathan
  • G. Venugopal
Starring
CinematographyVijay Milton
Edited byB. S. Vasu-Saleem
Music byDeva
Production
company
Release date
  • 12 June 1998 (1998-06-12)
Running time
156 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Priyamudan was released on 12 June 1998 and became a commercial success, running for more than 100 days in theatres.[1][2][3] It was remade as Preminche Manasu in Telugu in 1999, as Nata in Kannada in 2002 and as Deewana Main Deewana in Hindi in 2013.

Plot

Vasanth is a son of a wealthy businessman from Chennai and grows up with a possessive attitude, and is almost considered as a psychopath by the audience. This is shown in one scene in a gift shop, where he breaks a gift which he likes solely as it had already been brought by someone else. He pays the owner to cover the damages but responds with a negative tagline – "If I can't get it, nobody can". He happens to visit Rajasthan, where he meets Priya and it is love at first sight for Vasanth. Priya is injured in an accident, and Vasanth's friend Vasanth Kumar rescues her by donating blood. Being unconscious, Priya does not know the face of her saviour, only the name "Vasanth Kumar".

After she recovers, Priya comes to Chennai to meet Vasanth Kumar and stays in her uncle's house. However, Vasanth, who needs her at any cost, pretends to be Vasanth Kumar and makes advantage of her soft corner. He also manages to hide her from Vasanth Kumar. One day, Priya and Vasanth go to Sathyam Theater to watch a movie, but he unknowingly learns that Priya and Vasanth Kumar already know each other. He gets angry and breaks the ice creams brought for them.

One day, Vasanth Kumar learns about Priya's and Vasanth's affair and greets them. Priya's father Rangarajan also learns about the affair but not about the possessive Vasanth. Vasanth and Priya go to Jaipur from Chennai to meet Rangarajan. While Priya is away from the home for a small work, Vasanth meets Rangarajan and admits the truth to him, but he refuses. Angered by his action, Vasanth kills him but later realises his foolish mistake. CBI officers Muthukumaraswamy and Gopal begin to investigate the case.

One day, Vasanth Kumar comes to Jaipur for a music audition, which he had missed when he donated blood to Priya. Vasanth arranges room for him but fears that he might find the truth. He goes to the hospital where Priya was admitted and tears the certificate of admission. Vasanth Kumar sees this, and they go to a nearby hill station. Vasanth Kumar starts arguing with Vasanth for cheating his name. Vasanth apologises and admits the truth, but Vasanth Kumar abuses Priya. In anger, Vasanth accidentally beats Vasanth Kumar but tries to save him. Having no way, Vasanth Kumar sacrifices his life for his friend's sake. Shocked by this incident, Vasanth decides to transform himself into a good gentleman and thereby leaves his behaviour as that of a psychopath. Vasanth then sincerely starts to take care of Priya.

Meanwhile, Muthukumaraswamy and Gopal come to know that the real murderer of Rangarajan and Vasanth Kumar is Vasanth. Priya also learns about this and runs from Jaipur. Vasanth searches for her and is finally beaten by Priya for cheating her lover's name and for killing Rangarajan. After that, she notices her earring, which was taken by Vasanth when he first visited Jaipur. He tells her all the truths and the incidents. She feels sorry for him and decides to reciprocate his love. However, the police shoots Vasanth, and he dies immediately, unable to bear the pain. Priya bursts in tears. The film ends with a sad note with Vasanth advising the audience "not to live like him, because they will realize their terrific destiny".

Alternate Climax

Vasanth falls unconscious after the gun shot. Priya who realized Vasanth's love cries thinking that he died, but her tears falls on Vasanth's cheek, making him gain conscious. Priya helps Vasanth to stand and reciprocates his love. Both runs away from the police. Muthukumaraswamy and Gopal were about to pull out their guns from the holsters, But they did not stop or shoot Vasanth from escaping. When they asked each other the reason for not stopping them, they explained each other by saying that they know the value and pain of love. They let them go away and live together. The film ends with a happy note with Vasanth got united with Priya and his love being successful.[4][5]

Cast

Production

Vijay wanted to work with a debutant director and Vincent Selva's story impressed him, prompting Lakshmi Movie Makers to make the story into a feature film, Priyamudan.[6] Vijay reduced his remuneration for the film, anticipating potential cost overruns.[7] Meena was initially approached for the film, but had to turn the offer down due to her busy schedule.[8] The filming was held at Jaipur for one month.[9] While working for the film, Vijay had an accident and hurt his spine. As a result, Vijay travelled to London for advanced medical treatment, where he ended up meeting his eventual wife, Sangeetha Sornalingam.[10] An alternate climax was filmed where Vijay's character does not die, but Vincent Selva decided against using it.[11]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Deva.[12] "White Lakkan" song was based on the Hindi hit song, "Hum Kaale Hai Tu Kya Hua" from Gumnaam (1965), composed by the duo Shankar–Jaikishan.

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Bharathikku Kannamma"Ra. RavishankarS. P. Balasubrahmanyam5:24
2."Aakasavani"ArivumathiHariharan5:31
3."Pooja Vaa"Palani BharathiS. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra6:12
4."Hello Maruthi"VaasanMano, Gopal Rao6:11
5."White Lakkan"Ponniyin SelvanDeva4:32
6."Bharathikku Kannamma"Ra. RavishankarP. Unnikrishnan5:24
7."Mouriya"Palani BharathiVijay, Anuradha Sriram4:48
8."White Lakkan"Ponniyin SelvanKrishna Raj4:32
Total length:42:35

Release and reception

The film was released on 12 June 1998. Jeyam, writing for Indolink praised Vijay for choosing to play an anti-hero role.[13] The Hindu stated that Vijay "made sincere efforts to give shape to the negative character" that "he asserts himself in the climax". The critic went on to describe that Kausalya "just fills the bill, while Sujit Sagar makes "a neat essay".[14] Ananda Vikatan gave the film a score of 41 out of 100.[15] Ji of Kalki praised the performances of Vijay, Kausalya, Pattukottai Prabhakar's dialogues but felt Nassar was wasted and panned Deva's music and the choreography.[16] Stunt choreographer Jaguar Thangam won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Stunt Coordinator for his work in Priyamudan.[17]

References
  1. @VijayIsMyLife (12 June 2020). "Priyamudan had a 100-day success event. Apart from #Priyamudan crew, the event was attended by Producer K. R. Gangadharan, Director Keyaar, Distributor Chinthamani Murugesan, H. Murali, etc. The event was headed by Vikraman. He handed over the 100-day shield to Thalapathy #Vijay" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. "Top 20 Best successful Films of Vijay | Priyamudan(1998)". Behindwoods. Archived from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  3. "Tamil film producer V Swaminathan passes away, after battle with COVID-19". The Hindu. 10 August 2020. Archived from the original on 23 May 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  4. "22 Years of Priyamudan: 22 lesser-known facts about the 90s thriller which had Vijay acing the grey shades". Cinema Express. 13 June 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  5. "Thalapathy Vijay in Vikram's 10 Enradhukulla - Vijay Milton Reveals the Story". YouTube. 27 May 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  6. "1997–98'ன் கோடம்பாக்கக் குஞ்சுகள்" [1997–98 Kodambakkam babies]. Indolink. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. "Did you know Vijay supported director Vincent Selva by reducing his own remuneration back in 1998?". The Times of India. 22 June 2020. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  8. "Meena's Regrets!". Dinakaran. 15 July 1998. Archived from the original on 12 March 2005. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  9. "அம்மா ரோலில் ரேவதி!". Kalki (in Tamil). 5 April 1998. pp. 8–9. Archived from the original on 28 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  10. Rajitha (17 August 1998). "The banns are out". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  11. "22 Years of Priyamudan: 22 lesser-known facts about the 90s thriller which had Vijay acing the grey shades". Cinema Express. 13 June 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  12. "Priyamudan". JioSaavn. 20 March 1998. Archived from the original on 15 February 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  13. Jeyam. "Movie Review | Priyamudan". Indolink. Archived from the original on 21 May 2000. Retrieved 3 January 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  14. "Film Reviews: Priyamudan". The Hindu. 19 June 1998. p. 26. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  15. சார்லஸ், தேவன் (22 June 2021). "பீஸ்ட் : 'நாளைய தீர்ப்பு' டு 'மாஸ்டர்'... விஜய்க்கு விகடனின் மார்க்கும், விமர்சனமும் என்ன? #Beast". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  16. ஜி. (12 July 1998). "ப்ரியமுடன்". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 33. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  17. "Tamil Nadu state film awards announced; "Natpukkaga" bags best film award". The Hindu. 17 July 2000. Archived from the original on 30 April 2003. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
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