Uyirile Kalanthathu

Plot

Suriya (Suriya) is a medical college student and Priya (Jyothika) is his girlfriend. Sethu Vinayagam (Sivakumar) is Suriya's father whilst Raghuram (Raghuvaran) is his elder brother, who is the collector of the district. Suriya is the youngest son of the family and this gives much heartburn to Raghuram. Their rivalry begins from childhood and can be illustrated by the scene where the elder brother pinches his baby brother just to see him cry. The jealousy grows into adulthood. His whole aim in life is to see that Suriya's life in beset with problems, thanks to him. However, Suriya and his parents are blissfully unaware of the jealousy that has possessed Raghuram. When he discovers the love between Suriya and Priya, he passes on the word to Priya's elder brother who is a known rowdy around the area. He does this thinking that the rowdy would manage to beat up Suriya and perhaps separate both Suriya and Priya. This plan backfires, when the rowdy is more than happy to get them both married because more than anything, he cares about his sister's happiness. Raghuram then pushes Suriya over a cliff edge.

The rest of the movie is about whether Raghuram will find the love and care that he has always yearned for from his parents. Later, in the court, Suriya is revealed to be alive and he unites with his family as well as Priya, and his brother is sent for treatment.

Cast

Production

The shooting for the film progressed in Chennai, Bangalore and Mysore among other places. The film marked the debut of K.R. Jaya as director, while it was also the first production venture of Abayambika films. Mutham Sivakumar who was the manager to 'Sivashakti' Pandian produced his first independent venture with the film, while playing a crucial role in the film. Jyothika signed on to pair with Suriya again before the release of their maiden venture together, Poovellam Kettuppar.

Release

A reviewer from Sify described the venture as "strong and so far unexplored theme about sibling rivalry and superb acting" but claimed that "the unwarranted twist in the end has somewhat reduced the impact". The reviewer claims that the performances of Sivakumar and Radhika "score over everyone else", while Raghuvaran and Surya also "shine", but is critical of Jyothika saying she "should replenish fast her dwindling stock of expressions". The performance won further film offers for Surya.

Deva won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director in 2000 for his work in the film along with his work in Kushi and Sanditha Velai. The film won the second runner-up prize in the award ceremony for Best Family Film, finishing behind Budget Padmanabhan and Mugavaree.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film was composed by Deva.