Kizhakku Cheemayile

Maayaandi Thevan is very fond of his younger sister Virumaayi. She too pours love and affection onto him. Virumaayi is married to Sivanaandi from the neighboring village. Sivanaandi's brother-in-law Periya Karuppu does not like Maayaandi and tries to create a rift between them. During a village festival, he creates a problem between Maayaandi and Sivanaandi, causing the family to split. Periya Karuppu's wife realizes this and commits suicide. Thinking that Maayaandi is the reason for this, Sivanaandi breaks all ties with him and forbids Virumaayi from seeing her brother. Periya Karuppu also dies soon after.

Years rolls by, and Maayaandi's son Seenu comes back to the village after studying in the city. He sees his cousin Virumaayi's daughter Pechchi, and they both rekindle their love. Sivanaandi finds out about this and tries to separate the couple. He arranges Pechchi's wedding with his nephew Chinna Karuppu, who is a spoiled brat and womanizer. Pechchi, with the help of her mother, escapes home and meets Seenu.

A fight ensues between the two villages, with Maayaandi and Sivanaandi accusing each other for what Pechchi and Seenu did. Chinna Karuppu fights with Seenu, and in the end Seenu wins. Chinna Karuppu says that he is not an enemy to their love but hates his uncle Sivanaandi as he did not help his father Periya Karuppu, leading to his death. At the fighting ground, Virumaayi asks Maayaandi to spare her husband's life, but Sivanaandi tries to kill Maayaandi. Virumaayi comes in between and gets wounded in the neck by Sivanaandi, much to everyone's shock. She removes the nuptial string from her neck, declaring that she does not have any more relationship with Sivanaandi, and dies in her brother Maayaandi's arms. Maayaandi carries Virumaayi while a devastated Sivanaandi looks from afar.

{{cast listing|

• Vijayakumar as Maayaandi Thevan
• Radhika as Virumaayi
• Napoleon as Sivanaandi
• Vignesh as Seenu
• Pandiyan as Chinna Karuppu
• Vadivelu as Ochchu
• R. V. Aswini as Pechchi
• Viji Chandrasekhar as Kaudari
• Suryakanth as Periya Karuppu
• Rajaguru Ramarajan as Kanakku Pillai ({{translation|Accountant}})
• Sujatha
• Vijaya
• Sevvalai Rasu as Villager (uncredited role)
• Thavasi (uncredited role)
• S. J. Suryah as a bull trainer (uncredited role)
• Kalyan in a special appearance

}}

Screenwriter M. Rathnakumar first approached Kalaipuli S. Thanu to produce this film. Thanu liked the script, worked on it with him, and then asked him to narrate it to Bharathiraja, saying he is the appropriate person to direct the film. The project became a reality after he came on board. The film was made on first copy basis by Bharathiraja for the producer at a cost of {{INR}}80 lakhs. Originally, Rajkiran was considered for the lead role. However, when his salary expectation was too high, Vijayakumar was finally selected for the role. Vadivelu was paid a small amount for the film. However, after acting in the film in the character of Occhu, he stated that this film's success would establish his career, which it did. Thanu advertised the film using only Bharathiraja, composer A. R. Rahman and lyricist Vairamuthu in the wall posters on the launch date, feeling they were more popular than the artistes. For the first time, computerised digital designing method was used to print posters and publicity materials.{{Sfn|Dhananjayan|2011|pp=155–157}} Radhika was initially reluctant to accept playing the female lead since she had just given birth, but when Bharathiraja persuaded her, she relented.{{Cite news |date=15 February 2016 |title=The Accidental Actress: Inside the life of TV queen Radikaa Sarathkumar |language=en |work=The News Minute |url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/accidental-actress-inside-life-tv-queen-radikaa-sarathkumar-38996 |url-status=live |access-date=7 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308141311/https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/accidental-actress-inside-life-tv-queen-radikaa-sarathkumar-38996 |archive-date=8 March 2021}} Poet Arivumathi worked as an assistant with this film.{{Cite news |last=Saravanan |first=T. |date=9 October 2014 |title=Man of his word |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/poet-and-lyricist-arivumathi-talks-about-his-struggles-to-stay-afloat-in-the-mad-rush-to-name-and-fame/article6485201.ece |url-status=live |access-date=5 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128090921/https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/poet-and-lyricist-arivumathi-talks-about-his-struggles-to-stay-afloat-in-the-mad-rush-to-name-and-fame/article6485201.ece |archive-date=28 January 2021}} Thavasi made his debut through this film.{{Cite web |date=2020-11-24 |title=Actor Thavasi succumbs to cancer at hospital |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2020/Nov/24/actor-thavasi-succumbs-to-cancer-at-hospital-2227421.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250409005936/https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2020/Nov/24/actor-thavasi-succumbs-to-cancer-at-hospital-2227421.html |archive-date=9 April 2025 |access-date=2024-09-30 |website=The New Indian Express |language=en}}

The soundtrack was composed by A. R. Rahman and lyrics written by Vairamuthu.{{Cite web |date=16 November 2016 |title=Kizhakku Cheemayile |url=https://www.jiosaavn.com/album/kizhakku-cheemayile/FtBR4ejsDyw_ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220430044836/https://www.jiosaavn.com/album/kizhakku-cheemayile/FtBR4ejsDyw_ |archive-date=30 April 2022 |access-date=30 April 2022 |website=JioSaavn}}{{Cite web |title=Kizhakku Cheemayile Tamil Film Audio Cassette by A R Rahman |url=https://mossymart.com/product/kizhakku-cheemayile-tamil-film-audio-cassette-by-a-r-rahman/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118053232/https://mossymart.com/product/kizhakku-cheemayile-tamil-film-audio-cassette-by-a-r-rahman/ |archive-date=18 November 2021 |access-date=30 April 2022 |website=Mossymart}} Kizhakku Cheemayile was the first of five films in which Bharathiraja and Rahman worked together.{{Cite web |date=6 January 2017 |title=The moments that defined A.R. Rahman's musical journey |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/music/The-moments-that-defined-A.R.-Rahman%E2%80%99s-musical-journey/article16998610.ece/photo/1/ |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220430040418/https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/music/The-moments-that-defined-A.R.-Rahman%E2%80%99s-musical-journey/article16998610.ece/photo/1/ |archive-date=30 April 2022 |access-date=30 April 2022 |website=The Hindu |at=slide 5}} The songs gained Rahman notice for composing folk music, contrary to his reputation for composing westernised music.{{Cite web |last=Yamunan |first=Sruthisagar |date=22 September 2018 |title=Audio master: AR Rahman's 1990 masterwork 'Thiruda Thiruda' is still stealing hearts |url=https://scroll.in/reel/893729/audio-master-ar-rahmans-1990-masterwork-thiruda-thiruda-is-still-stealing-hearts |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210615091328/https://scroll.in/reel/893729/audio-master-ar-rahmans-1990-masterwork-thiruda-thiruda-is-still-stealing-hearts |archive-date=15 June 2021 |access-date=26 October 2021 |website=Scroll.in}}

Kizhakku Cheemayile was released on 13 November 1993, Diwali day.{{Cite news |date=13 November 1993 |title=Kizhakku Cheemayile |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=P9oYG7HA76QC&dat=19931113&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |access-date=17 November 2020 |work=The Indian Express |pages=4 |via=Google News Archive}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite magazine |last=கிச்சா |date=14 November 1993 |title=எந்தக் குதிரை, ரேஸில் ஜெயிக்கும்? |trans-title=Which horse will win the race? |url=https://archive.org/download/kalki1993-11-14/kalki1993-11-14.pdf |access-date=23 May 2024 |magazine=Kalki |pages=2–5 |language=ta |via=Internet Archive}} Malini Mannath of The Indian Express wrote, "With some sterling performances [..] and some emotion-charged scenes that move the viewer, Kizhakku Cheemayile may not be the classic Bharatiraja film, but it is a good film that makes you forget its flaws."{{Cite news |last=Mannath |first=Malini |date=26 November 1993 |title=Bharatiraja stamp missing |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=P9oYG7HA76QC&dat=19931126&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |access-date=9 January 2019 |work=The Indian Express |pages=6 |via=Google News Archive}}{{cbignore}} Seetha Ravi of Kalki gave a more mixed review, saying the happiness in the stills was not present in the film.{{Cite magazine |last=ரவி |first=சீதா |date=12 December 1993 |title=கிழக்கு சீமையிலே |url=https://kalkionline.com/kalkionline_archive/imagegallery/archiveimages/kalki/1993/dec/12-12-1993/p1.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220915071949/https://kalkionline.com/kalkionline_archive/imagegallery/archiveimages/kalki/1993/dec/12-12-1993/p1.jpg |archive-date=15 September 2022 |access-date=3 June 2022 |magazine=Kalki |page=1 |language=Ta}}

Kizhakku Cheemayile was remade in Telugu as Palnati Pourusham (1994){{sfn|Trilok|2018|pp=132–133}} and unofficially in Kannada as Gowdru (2004).{{Cite web |date=22 September 2005 |title=Shruti, Murali bag Karnataka film awards |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/Shruti-Murali-bag-Karnataka-film-awards/articleshow/1238722.cms |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221210102329/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/shruti-murali-bag-karnataka-film-awards/articleshow/1238722.cms |archive-date=10 December 2022 |access-date=20 April 2023 |website=The Times of India}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book |last=Dhananjayan |first=G. |title=The Best of Tamil Cinema, 1931 to 2010: 1977–2010 |publisher=Galatta Media |year=2011 |oclc=733724281 |author-link=G. Dhananjayan}}
• {{Cite book |last=Trilok |first=Krishna |title=Notes of a Dream: The Authorized Biography of A.R. Rahman |date=18 September 2018 |publisher=Penguin Random House |isbn=978-9353051969 |location=India}}

• {{IMDb title}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes}}

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Category:1990s Indian films

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Category:1993 drama films

Category:1993 films

Category:Films directed by Bharathiraja

Category:Films produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu

Category:Films scored by A. R. Rahman

Category:Films with screenplays by Bharathiraja

Category:Indian drama films

Category:Tamil films remade in other languages

Category:Tamil-language drama films

Category:Tamil-language Indian films

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