Priyanka (1994 film)

Priyanka (Revathi) is a straightforward person and daughter of Krishnan (Delhi Ganesh), a postmaster. Her father Krishnan looks for a groom for her elder sister (Sudha) and her. Later, her sister elopes with another man.

Shekar (Jayaram), a rich businessman, falls in love with Priyanka at first sight. Gokulnath (Captain Raju) and Shekar's father Sriram (Jaishankar) are business partners and they make a decision: to arrange the marriage between Shekar and Gokulnath's daughter Kamini (Viji Chandrasekhar). Shekar reveals his love to his family and they accept it. Then, Shekar marries Priyanka. Gokulnath feels betrayed and decides to take revenge on Shekar's family. Priyanka moves into his bungalow. One day, Priyanka and Shekhar witness, Shekhar's younger brother Vinoth (Raj Chander) and his friends, raping the young maid-servant Ganga (Seetha).

Afterwards, Ganga, in a serious condition, files a complaint against Vinoth. Ravi (Nizhalgal Ravi), a police officer, compels Priyanka to become the principal witness. To save Vinoth from this odd affair, Shekar's family including Priyanka try to smother it. Thereafter, Priyanka decides to become the witness after seeing Ganga in hospital. Ravi is, in fact, Shekar's man and arrests Vinoth. Susila (Manjula Vijayakumar), Shekar's mother, orders Priyanka to leave the bungalow while Shekar is abroad. Priyanka decides to live with her sister.

The matter is taken up in court and Sriram appoints Rudrayya (Nassar), a criminal lawyer who has never lost a case. In return, Shekar asks Priyanka to forget everything and to come back home but she refuses. At the court, Priyanka is portrayed as a mentally unstable person by Rudrayya, Shekar's family and surprisingly by her father Krishnan. Priyanka is subsequently sent to a mental hospital by a judicial order and Vinoth orders to kill her. Unable to bear the mental torture in the hospital, she escapes and runs into an alcoholic lawyer, Arjun (Prabhu). Arjun re-opens the rape case. Ganga dies in hospital with a suicide note written by Ravi, but Ganga was illiterate. What transpires later forms the crux of the story.

1994 Film Fans Association Awards

• Best Tamil Actress – Revathi

The film score and the soundtrack were composed by Ilaiyaraaja. The soundtrack, released in 1994, features 6 tracks with lyrics written by Vaali, Pulamaipithan and Muhammed Metha.[4][5]

The Indian Express praised Neelakanta's direction, saying that he "displays a lot of confidence in handling the script [..] and the essence of the film is not list" and also praised artistes for "giving very credible and satisfying performances".[6]

• Priyanka at IMDb