Priyamaana Thozhi

<p>Ashok and Julie have been friends since childhood. They live in Ooty and share no love inter- Ashok falls in love with Nandini, a rich girl whom he marries, and although Julie’s closeness to Ashok initially irritates Nandini, she subsequently accepts it. Julie falls in love with Michael D’Souza, a cricketer who is hoping for a place in the Indian cricket team and whose main rival happens to be Ashok. When Ashok gets selected instead of Michael, Michael’s father strikes a deal with Ashok that the marriage between his son and Julie will only take place if Ashok steps down and lets Michael substitute him, and also tells Ashok to cut his friendship with Julie so he does not interfere in Michael’s and Julie’s life, to which Ashok agrees. Ashok acts as an unwilling person to his friend Julie. Julie decides to move out of Ashok’s house and plans to stay at Michael’s. Ashok plans to sell his property, give the money to Julie, and go to Mumbai with Nandini, where his friend has offered to arrange him a job. Ashok and his wife vacate their house without informing Julie. Julie and Michael learn why Ashok is leaving Chennai, and they rush to the railway station to stop him but fail to find him. To spot Ashok easily, Julie sings a song to which Ashok responds, and they reunite. Ashok ends up playing for the Indian team, and over time, their children become friends too. The film ends on a happy note. AVM Productions had agreed a deal with Vikraman to make a film for them in the 1990s but date clashes meant that they were unable to work together until 2003. After the success of , AVM Productions approached Vikraman to make a film for them, he expressed interest in making an action film like however the company felt it won’t look good if Vikraman does an action based film hence decided it to be a family drama. Initially titled before it was retitled, Madhavan signed the film in September 2002, and it became the first time the actor had worked with the producers or the director. Scenes for the film were shot in , with producer Guhan often cooking for the team. The songs were shot abroad, with places filmed where the team filmed including , and . The film was also made in Telugu as and released on the same date, but with a different cast. , , and reprised the roles of Madhavan, Jyothika, Sridevi and Vineeth respectively; while appeared in the film in a cameo instead of Srikkanth. The soundtrack of the film was composed by . The lyrics for the film were written by and Kalaikumar. The song “Maan Kuttiye” was allegedly lifted from Hindi song “Saawan Ka Mahina” from Hindi film (1967). Rajkumar reused “Katre Poongatre” as “Chanda Oh” in Kannada film . The song “Rojakkale” was reused from Rajkumar’s own Kannada song “O Preethiye” which he had composed for (2001). The film received mixed reviews, with ‘s Malathi Rangarajan giving the film an average review concluding that “the dialogue sparkles in many a place, the direction is neat and song sequences have been inserted intelligently — but even with such a youthful team what the film lacks is pep and verve.” Another critic noted that the film “has predictable, clichéd situations, stereotyped characters, and lack-lustre treatment. Half-way through the film, you realise which way the script is being steered.” noted that ” the film lacks the freshness and grandeur of other films”, while Sify called it “a highly melodramatic and over-the-top movie with no logic”. The critic however noted “If there is something nice about Priyamana Thozhi, it is Sridevi as Julie who looks like a dream, with her controlled and understated performance and steals the show.” Visual Dasan of praised Vikraman for making a film which can be watched with family. wrote “wish Vikram had been as meticulous with the storyline and given us something new and more believable”. wrote “This is typical Vikraman’s film: neatly packed sentiment film. The thin storyline is laced with good humor and deft screenplay. Unlike his past films, this film is not so great, just a good family entertainer. But its slow pace irks the audience. A few scenes reminds us of Vikraman’s earlier film like SOORYA VAMSAM and UNNIDATHIL ENNAI KODUTHEN”. Sridevi was nominated for the in 2004 for her performance as Julie. became an average grosser, the first of his career for director . He has since struggled to recapture the success that he achieved before this film with his subsequent ventures. Vikraman felt the climax scene was cinematic and since he made the same story in both the languages simultaneously in quick succession he couldn’t able to concentrate on the script hence it didn’t do well though it did not gave any losses. The film was remade in Kannada as with .</p>