Kadhalukku Mariyadhai

Plot

Jeevanandhan "Jeeva" (Vijay) is a very rich young man. Although his parents (Chandrasekhar (Sivakumar) and Srividya) want him to settle down, he goes to another city to do his MBA and stays with friends. During this time, he meets Mini (Shalini) and they fall in love. She reciprocates his feelings, but trouble comes in the form of her tyrannical trio of brothers (James (Radha Ravi), Thomas (Thalaivasal Vijay) and Stephen (Shaji Khan)), who are overprotective of their little sister and take an irrational dislike to Jeeva. They show hostility towards Jeeva and conflicts arise within the households and when the couple decide to elope, they go to Kesavan’s (Charle) hometown and his father (Manivannan) refuges them before the proposed wedding. Jeeva tries to convince his mother one last time and in vain. On the day of the wedding both realise they miss their families. They decide to return home, relinquishing their feelings, and the families are happy and take them back. Jeeva’s mom wants to see Mini so that she can get a better wife for her son and goes to meet Mini. Initially reluctant to welcome them, the brothers hesitate, but their mother welcomes them, ultimately their families accept their love, and they are reunited.

Cast

Production

Initially Fazil was keen on casting a debutant in the lead female role, but Shalini insisted that she should also star in the Tamil version. Fazil initially approached Abbas for lead role but due to mismanagement created by Abbas manager with callsheets, Vijay was selected for the lead role.

Critical reception

The film opened in December 1997 to unanimously positive reviews. A reviewer from The Hindu mentioned that "Vijay brings to surface the soft nature of the love", while adding that the rest of the cast make "fine contributions", and praising the director's work. Another critic from Indolink.com recommending the film and citing that "Shalini returns in this film with a good performance" and that Ilaiyaraaja music is "Unbelievable". He also goes on to praise the performance of the other lead actors and Fazil's direction. Indiaglitz wrote:"From the very title, to the climax, this movie is a stellar piece in the moviedom. Turning out to be a path breaking flick for Ilayathalapathy Vijay [..] This movie set to be an inspiration for many of the successful love stories of the present day.

The film saw Vijay win the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor alongside Parthiban in 1997, while Pazhani Bharathi also picked up the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Lyricist for his work in the film.

Another remake was soon made in Hindi as Doli Saja Ke Rakhna with Akshaye Khanna and Jyothika in the lead roles which was also repeated the same magic of the tamil version. The success of the film prompted the director to make another film with the lead pair in 2000, Kannukkul Nilavu, the film became a box office success with positive reviews.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack has been scored by Ilaiyaraaja was well received by the audience. The lead actor, Vijay, sung the song "Oh Baby" for this movie.

Legacy

In Aasaiyil Oru Kaditham (1999), Vivek sings "Ennai Thalatta Varuvala" and imitates Vijay's dance steps. The song inspired 2003 film of same name which featured Ajith Kumar in a cameo appearance.

Entertainment portal Behindwoods placed the film in first place in "Top 20 Best Films of Vijay" and also placed in "Top 20 Best Love Stories In Tamil". Scenes from the film was spoofed in Thamizh Padam (2010). Shiva and a girl will be taking the same book "Love and Love only" in a same way similar to the pair in the film, but shock awaits as the girl turns out to be married.In "Romeo Juliet" (2015) the director will portray all the old cult classic love movies initially and this movie will also be included in that list.