The song ‘Yen Iniya Pon Nilave’ from this film might be a breezy number, but there is nothing breezy about the film’s plot-line. This film has inspired several other films including Dhanush’s Kadhal Kondein (2003) and Simbu’s Manmadhan (2004).
Kamal’s hatred towards women is slowly unveiled as the film progresses, leading up to a thrilling chase with the heroine, Sridevi. Kamal Haasan plays a successful businessman who seduces women and later kills them. In fact, Bharathiraja’s Sigappu Rojakkal brought in an interesting resurgence of thriller films soon after. This film can be called Tamil cinema’s coming-of-age thriller, one of the very earliest successful psychological thriller films. Interestingly, Shanthi Nilayam fetched its cinematographer Marcus Bartley a National Award. The scene where the woman walks with a lantern at night and the song shot in a hot-air balloon are some of the memorable scenes from this film. The film’s narrative steadily builds up with eerie sounds and clever play with light and shadows. This film is a loose adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre. The film was also popular for its chart-busting songs. The big reveal, however, is one that will not fail to take you by surprise. There’s plenty of glitz, reckless living and endearing romance in the film. A popular adaptation of the English film Chase A Crooked Shadow (1958) by noted filmmaker Michael Anderson, Puthiya Paravai is best known for its narrative technique. Puthiya Paravai, starring Sivaji Ganesan, Saroja Devi and Sowcar Janaki, was a great success when it released. The climax is quite literally edge-of-the-seat and the brilliant background score compensates for the absence of dialogues in the climax. The film has some brilliant sequences, and the cinematography by Aloysius Vincent was lauded by many. With its unusual storyline, this is another film worthy of being called a cult classic. Director CV Sridhar has admitted to have been inspired from real life incidents that he read in the newspaper.