Neeya?
Neeya? (transl. You?) is a 1979 Indian Tamil-language horror film, directed by Durai and starring Kamal Haasan. It is a remake of the 1976 Hindi-language film Nagin.[1] Neeya is about an Ichadhari snake (Sripriya), who avenges the death of her beloved (Chandra Mohan). Kamal Haasan plays a factionalized version of himself, who does research on snakes. The movie was a huge hit at the box office.[2]
Neeya? | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Durai |
Produced by |
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Written by | P. Kalaimani |
Story by | Rajendra Singh Aatish |
Starring | |
Music by | Shankar–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[2] and Neeya 2.[3]
Plot
Kamal, 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, including the Ichadhari, a rare kind of snake which can take humanoid form. One of his friends kills a serpent, (Chandra Mohan) despite the intervention of Kamal. Initially, all the other friends ignore Kamal without knowing the seriousness of the issue. They left the village, while the female serpent Naaga Rani (Sripriya) vows to avenge the death of her beloved, Naaga Raja. 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, Rani is killed and Kamal reunites with Latha and the child of Srikanth.
Cast
- Kamal Haasan as Kamal[4]
- Sripriya as Naaga Rani (Icchhadhari Snake – Female Serpent)[4]
- Chandra Mohan as Naaga Raja (Icchhadhari Snake - Male Serpent)
- Latha as Latha[4]
- Vijayakumar as Vijay[4]
- Manjula as Usha[4]
- R. Muthuraman as Lorry driver Who Get Tricked by (Icchhadhari Snake - Female Serpent) [Special Appearance]
- Kavitha as 2nd form of Icchhadhari Snake [Special Appearance]
- Ravichandran as Ravi
- Srikanth as Sri[4]
- 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 Shankar–Ganesh. Lyrics were written by Kannadasan, Vaali, Pulamaipithan and Alangudi Somu.[5][6]
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 | 4:26 |
3 | "Unnai Ethanai" | Pulamaipithan | 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.[7]
References
- "நாகின் படத்தைப் பார்த்துவிட்டு ஸ்ரீபிரியா தயாரித்த படம் நீயா". Maalai Malar (in Tamil). 23 January 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
- Krishnaswamy, N. (13 March 1992). "Naane Varuvaen". The Indian Express. p. 7.
- "Neeya 2 movie review: A bad spiritual sequel to Neeya that will make you go WTF". The Indian Express. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
- "Revisiting 'Neeya?': A film that popularised the snake woman cult in Tamil cinema". The News Minute. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- "Neeyaa Tamil Film EP Vinyl Record by Shankar Ganesh". mossymart.com. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
- "Neeya Songs – Tamil Movie Songs – Raaga.com". Raaga.com.
- "சினிமா விமர்சனம்: நீயா" [Movie Review: Neeya]. Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). 28 January 1979.