Neeya?
Neeya? (lit. 'You?') is a 1979 Indian Tamil-language horror film, starring Kamal Haasan in the lead role and directed by Durai. It is a remake of the Hindi-language film Nagin,[1] itself inspired by François Truffaut's film The Bride Wore Black, based on Cornell Woolrich's novel of the same name.[2]
| Neeya? | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Durai |
| Produced by | Girija Pakkirisami, K. S. Narasimhan |
| Written by | P. Kalaimani |
| Story by | Rajendra Singh Aatish |
| Starring | Kamal Haasan Sripriya R. Muthuraman Latha |
| Music by | Sankar Ganesh |
| Cinematography | V. Ranga |
| Edited by | M. Vellaisamy |
Production company | Sri Chamundeswari |
Release date | 13 January 1979 |
Running time | 136 Minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
The male lead role was first offered to Rajinikanth, he turned down offer as he wanted to work on solo hero scripts, later Kamal Haasan took the role for his friendship with Sripriya, who was also the producer of the movie.
Neeya is followed by two sequels: Naane Varuven and Neeya 2.
Neeya is about an Ichadhari snake (Sripriya), who avenges the death of her beloved (Chandramohan). Kamal Haasan plays a man who does research on snakes. The movie was a huge hit at the box office.
Plot
Kamal Haasan, along with his group of friends: Vijayakumar, Srikanth, Jaiganesh and Ravichandran go to a forest. Kamal is a researcher who studies the behaviour of snakes (Ichadhari), a rare kind of snake which can take humanoid form. One of his friends kills the beloved of the serpent, (Chandramohan) despite the intervention of Kamal. Initially, all the other friends ignore Kamal without knowing the seriousness of the issue. They left the village and the female serpent (Sri Priya) vows to avenge the death of her beloved. She kills all five friends of Kamal in disguise in some instances and at the end, she disguises herself as Latha (Kamal's love interest) in order to kill him. In the end, Sri Priya is killed and Kamal reunites with Latha and the child of Srikanth.
Cast
- Kamal Haasan as Kamal
- Sripriya as Naaga Rani (Icchhadhari Snake – Female Serpent)
- Chandra Mohan as Naaga Raja (Icchhadhari Snake - Male Serpent)
- Latha as Latha, Kamal's lover
- Vijayakumar as Vijay
- Manjula as Usha, Vijay's lover
- R. Muthuraman as Lorry driver Who Get Tricked by (Icchhadhari Snake - Female Serpent) [Special Appearance]
- Ravichandran as Ravi
- Srikanth as Sri
- Jaiganesh as Jai
- Deepa as Deepa, Ravi's girlfriend
- Swarna as Jai Ganesh's wife
- M. N. Nambiar as Appu Kuttan
- Suruli Rajan as Poochandi
- Y. G. Mahendran as Martin in a (Special Appearance)
- Veeraraghavan
- K. Kannan
Soundtrack
Music was composed by Sankar-Ganesh. Lyrics were written by Kannadasan and Vaali.[3]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Ore Jeevan" | Kannadasan | Vani Jairam, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | 4:45 |
| 2 | "Naan Kattil Mele" | Vaali | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, P. Susheela Vaali | 4:26 |
| 3 | "Unnai Ethanai" | Pualamaipithan | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, P. Susheela | 4:47 |
| 4 | "Oru Kodi" | Alangudi Somu | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki | 4:56 |
| 5 | "Ore Jeevan" (Pathos) | Kannadasan | Vani Jairam | --- |
Reception
Ananda Vikatan rated the film 50 out of 100.[4]
References
- "நாகின் படத்தைப் பார்த்துவிட்டு ஸ்ரீபிரியா தயாரித்த படம் நீயா". Maalai Malar (in Tamil). 23 January 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
- "rediff.com, Movies: Sex and Suspense: Antonio and Angelina".
- "Neeya Songs – Tamil Movie Songs – Raaga.com". Raaga.com.
- "சினிமா விமர்சனம்: நீயா" [Movie Review: Neeya]. Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). 28 January 1979.