Sathi Leelavathi (1995 film)

Sathi Leelavathi is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language comedy film directed, co-written, photographed and edited by Balu Mahendra. The film stars Ramesh Aravind, Kalpana and Heera, with Kovai Sarala and Kamal Haasan in supporting roles. It revolves around Arun (Aravind) who, unhappy with his wife Leelavathi's (Kalpana) plain looks and weight, engages in an extramarital affair with Priya (Heera).

The film was produced by Haasan, with the story by Ananthu adapted loosely from the 1989 American film She-Devil and dialogues by Crazy Mohan. Ilaiyaraaja served as the music composer. Sathi Leelavathi was released on 15 January 1995 and became a commercial success. It was remade in Hindi as Biwi No.1 (1999) and in Kannada as Rama Shama Bhama (2005) with Aravind and Haasan reprising their roles.

Plot
Arun is married to Leelavathi, arranged by their parents, and they have two children together. He is embarrassed by his wife's plain looks and weight. When he meets Priya, who works in a building construction company, he hides from her the fact that he is married, and they have an affair.

When Arun and Priya decide to go on vacation to Bangalore over a long weekend, Arun bumps into an old friend Sakthivel, an orthopaedic surgeon from Coimbatore, who is also going on holiday to Bangalore with his wife Palani and his son Anand. Sakthivel ends up travelling with Arun on the same flight and even staying in the same hotel, and Arun attempts over the trip there to hide that Priya is with him, as Sakthivel knows Arun is married to Lela. On the first night there, Sakthivel is called to Arun's room in the night as Arun has injured his back and the hotel doctor is unavailable. He bumps into Priya in the room finds out about their affair, but hesitantly keeps it under wraps from his own family under Arun’s insistence.

After returning to Chennai, Priya finds out that Arun is married and even has children, but decides to stay with him when Arun says he was forced into this marriage and promises to divorce his wife. When Arun's wife Leelavathi discovers Arun's affair through pictures Sakthivel’s son Anand took of their holiday, she has a huge breakdown, leading to Arun moving out of their home and into Priya’s flat. With the help of Sakthivel and Palani, and then Priya’s old lover Raja, Leelavathi sends their children to stay with Arun and Priya, then her father-in-law and pet dog as well, making Priya hate Arun. Finally Priya unites with Raja, apologising to him, and Arun unites with Leelavathi.

Production
The initial plot of Sathi Leelavathi revolved around two men fighting over a woman, with one of them being the antagonist. Raja, who had grown weary of being typecast in "soft" roles, readily accepted Balu Mahendra's offer to portray the antagonist to break the stereotype, but deep into pre-production, Kamal Haasan felt this premise had been "done-to-death", and according to Raja, "From a bad guy, I became the extreme good guy". Jayaram was initially offered the lead role but his unavailability meant that the team finalised Ramesh Aravind. Haasan, who was supposed to appear only in four scenes, was attracted by the story and took on an important role. Kovai Sarala was signed to portray the role of Palani after great debate. While Haasan wanted her in the film, Mahendra was hesitant. Haasan waited for Sarala for six months and brought her on board the film. Sarala later said that Mahendra was delighted that she was part of the film and that he felt bad for initially having doubts in her ability. Haasan speaks Kongu Tamil in the film, which he was said to have learned from Sarala. The film was loosely inspired by 1989 American film She-Devil, but does not depict the female lead trying to establish her own identity at the cost of her husband's.

Soundtrack
The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, with lyrics by Vaali. The song "Marugo Marugo" pays homage to the song of the same name from Vettri Vizhaa (1989).

Release and reception
Sathi Leelavathi was released on 15 January 1995, the week of Pongal. R. P. R. of Kalki criticised the story's lack of originality, but lauded Mohan's dialogues and Haasan's humour-based performance. The film was a success, which Haasan attributed in large part to Sarala's comedy. She won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Comedian.

Remakes
Sathi Leelavathi was dubbed in Telugu under the same title, with Haasan' voice dubbed by Mano instead of the usual S. P. Balasubrahmanyam. It was remade in Hindi as Biwi No.1 (1999), and in Kannada as Rama Shama Bhama (2005) with Aravind and Haasan reprising their roles.