Sethu (film)

Sethu is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film, written and directed by Bala in his debut. The film stars Vikram and Abitha. The score and soundtrack were composed by Ilaiyaraaja.

Sethu, released on 10 December 1999, initially began running as a single noon show in a suburban theatre, but gradually built up audiences through word-of-mouth publicity. The film ran over 100 days at several theatres, and became Vikram's first major breakthrough film. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil, and the Best Film category at the Filmfare Awards and the Cinema Express Awards. Bala and Vikram also won several awards for their contributions to the film. The film was remade in Kannada as Huchcha, in Telugu as Seshu, and in Hindi as Tere Naam.

Plot
The film centers around Sethu, a tough college student known as Chiyaan, who leads the Student Union and has a violent temper. He lives with his older brother Vasudevan, who is a magistrate, and they often clash. Sethu's sister-in-law is the only one who truly understands him.

The story begins with Sethu winning the Student Union election, followed by celebrations and a fight on campus. Sethu is aggressive, but he starts to change when he meets Abitha, a timid Brahmin girl. Despite initially teasing her, he begins to like her innocence. As they interact more, Sethu falls in love with her, and even his friends notice positive changes in him. He helps Abitha by using his position to let her take an exam she was previously denied.

Meanwhile, Abitha's sister returns home seeking help after facing abuse from her husband over dowry. She struggles to get a loan to repay it. Sethu awkwardly confesses his love to Abitha, but she doesn't feel the same. He becomes possessive, threatening her would-be fiancé.

Abitha rejects Sethu openly, leading to a confrontation where Sethu realises he's been acting recklessly. He apologizes to his friends but he remains heartbroken over Abitha. Later, he discovers a brothel racket and rescues Abitha's sister from it, despite initially mistaking her for a prostitute.

Abitha's fiancé witnesses Sethu's heroic act and realises his good intentions. He explains Sethu's true nature to Abitha, who starts to understand him better. Sethu, however, kidnaps Abitha, expressing his feelings forcefully and forcing her to accept his love. Eventually, Abitha reciprocates his love.

Just as things seem to improve, Sethu is brutally attacked by the brothel goons for trying to shut down their business, leaving him severely injured and mentally unstable. He's been admitted to a mental hospital, where his condition is deemed hopeless. He's sent to an ashram for treatment, where the conditions are even harsher. He becomes thin and is shaved bald, wearing a torn shirt and shorts in the ashram and chained to the walls. Despite recovering, Sethu is kept chained in the ashram. Sethu attempts to escape twice but fails. One day, Abitha comes to the ashram to visit him while he is sleeping. After waking up, he tries to call out to her, but she leaves without hearing him.

Convinced that Sethu will never recover, Abitha is arranged by a priest to marry her fiancé. Determined to meet her, Sethu escapes successfully and reaches Abitha's house, but he is too late when he notices a crowd of people mourning and sees her corpse, learning that she has committed suicide. Heartbroken, Sethu realises his efforts were in vain. He limps away, ignoring his friends and family, despite their attempts to stop him, and allows himself to be taken back to the institution. The movie ends with Sethu leaving with them with nothing left to live for after his true love's death.

Production
After working as an assistant director under Balu Mahendra for seven years, Bala decided to make his directorial debut and wrote a script loosely based on an incident involving of one of his friends who had fallen in love, lost his mind and ended up at a mental asylum. The film was initially titled Akilan but eventually retitled Sethu. Bala offered the lead role of Sethu to his then roommate Vignesh, who did not accept. Murali was also considered, but the role ultimately went to Vikram. Keerthi Reddy was initially signed on as the lead actress, but was later replaced by Rajshri and then subsequently Abitha.

To prepare for the character, Vikram shaved his head, thinned down to half his size by losing 21 kilograms and grew out his nails and even exposed himself under the sun for hours for skin darkening as the script demanded it. Vikram lived off fruit juice for six months, and once he lost the desired weight, he maintained the look by subsisting on a scanty diet: an egg white, one glass of beetroot or carrot juice and a single dry chapatti through the day. Bala did not want Vikram to accept any other offers during this period to maintain the continuity of his looks and asked him to cease working as a dubbing artist. The film's launch was held in April 1997, and production lasted close to two years as the film languished in production hell. The FEFSI strike of 1997 halted filming across the Tamil film industry from June to December 1997, and as a small budget film, Sethu was unable to progress during the period.

When the strike was called off, the producer left the project and Vikram and Bala's assistant, Ameer, pled with the producer to return, with filming resuming in January 1998. After further slow progression, the film was finally completed in June 1999. M. S. Bhaskar lent his voice for S. S. Raman who appeared as a temple priest in this film. Rathnavelu, who worked as a cameraman, said he gave the asylum scenes a predominantly green tone for the intense psychological impact. Vikram has described the period of production as "the worst phase of his career", as he was weak economically, and "his fire was in danger of dying down". The filming was primarily held at Kumbakonam where scenes were shot at Vishnupuram, Konerirajapuram, Udayalur and Thyagarajapuram agraharam while scenes in the mental asylum were shot at Thiruvizhimizhilai Veezhinadeswarar temple and Thiruvidaimarudhur Maha Lingasamy temple.

Soundtrack
The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja.

Release
The film struggled to find a distributor and only after sixty-seven screenings did the film manage to find a buyer, with most refusing the film due to its tragic climax. At that time, Bala and Vikram used money from Vikram's wife, Shailaja, to organise press previews. Despite garnering good reviews, no one was interested in purchasing the film and it remained finished but unreleased. The film ultimately released on 10 December 1999, and initially began running at a single noon show in a suburban theatre, but gradually built up audiences through word-of-mouth publicity, becoming a sleeper hit. The film ran over 100 days at several cinema halls across Chennai, with Vikram being mobbed by people on the streets as a result of the film's success.

Reception
Sethu received positive reviews from critics. Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu wrote, "AN AWARD winning performance by Vikram, a clear storyline, taut screenplay, powerful dialogues, crisp direction, superb background score – Sethu offers all these and much more". K. N. Vijayan from the New Straits Times described the film as an "unforgettable experience" and described Vikram's performance as "praise-worthy". Kanchana Prakash Rao of Kalki praised the first half but felt the film loses credibility after Sethu gets hurt, panning the film's second half and the ending.

Accolades
Sethu won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil, while also securing wins in the Best Film – Tamil category at the Filmfare Awards and the Cinema Express Awards. Bala won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Director and the Filmfare Award for Best Director – Tamil. The performance also drew accolades for Vikram who won the Filmfare Special Award – South and the Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize for his portrayal of the title character. He was reportedly a strong contender for the National Film Award for Best Actor but lost to Mohanlal.

Legacy
Sethu was a milestone in Vikram's career. The film's success made Bala one of the most sought after directors in Tamil cinema. It continued the trend of films with themes that focused on realism and nativity. K. Jeshi, a journalist for The Hindu, placed it in the category of films which propagates social issues, like Kaadhal (2004), Veyil (2006), Mozhi (2007) and Paruthiveeran (2007). Post-Sethu, Vikram has said that the film would always remain close to him regardless of its commercial success and that it put him on the "right path", with Vikram choosing to adapt the prefix of Chiyaan to his screen name. Owing to its success, the film was remade in Kannada as Huchcha, in Telugu as Seshu, and in Hindi as Tere Naam.