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 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]
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.[citation needed]
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]
