Kalavani

Two villages in are always at loggerheads with each other, and it spills even to a match between kids from both villages. Arivazhagan aka Arikki is a wayward son of Lakshmi, who is in awe but at the same time fears him. Her husband Ramasamy is away in , and a large part of the money he sends home is taken away by Arikki using extortionist methods, such as threatening to break the TV set at home. He is yet to pass his 12th standard. Arikki spends time in bars with friends, teases girls, asks them to profess their love for him, and gets into brawls after conning others. He meets Maheshwari and wants her to declare her love for him, which she finally confesses. He abducts her, and they eventually marry. Her brother Ilango is a tough guy who has an axe to grind against Arikki and his gang, which leads to the twist in the climax. Ilango, fuming with rage, is out to slice Arikki into pieces. What transpires is answered in an interesting climax that is pleasantly humorous. approached with his script, and asked for help in improving the script and for Bhagayraj’s son to play the lead role. Sarkunam later moved away from Bhagyaraj, citing that his producer was uncomfortable with the potential salary that Shanthanu may have expected. The film score and soundtrack for Kalavani was composed by . The album consists of seven tracks featuring lyrics penned by . The song “Oru Murai” was well received and was retained in the Kannada remake. Bhama Devi Ravi from gave 4/5 and calling it “a complete entertainer.” rated the film 4 out of 5 and stated that “Kalavani is a knockout entertainer set in a rural milieu.” A critic from wrote that “Kalavani is a blatant revision of ‘s yesteryear films based on villager’s conflicts and guy-gal falling in love.” Gautaman Bhaskaran of gave it 3/5 and wrote that “Kalavani is a canvas of delightful rural romance.” Following the success of , ‘s acquired the rights to remake it in other languages. It was remade in Kannada as (2011) with Oviya being retained as the female lead. It was also remade in Telugu as (2022). A sequel, , again directed by Sarkunam with Vimal and Oviya reprising their roles, was released in 2019. Seven years after the film’s release, the Chennai branch of the (CBFC) was served a notice by the after a minor pregnant girl told the court that she obtained inspiration from . The girl’s parents claimed that the board had acted negligently in giving the film a . Sarkunam, when questioned by the media about the issue, called it “completely unnecessary” to blame the film, and refused to comment further.