Friends released on 14 January 2001. It received positive reviews and became a commercial success. This film also marked the second collaboration of leading actors Vijay and Suriya after Nerrukku Ner (1997) and was one of the most memorable performances in their careers.
Aravindan, Chandru, and Krishnamoorthy have been inseparable friends since childhood, valuing friendship above all else. Chandru, an orphan who lives with Aravindan’s family, rejects the affection of Aravindan’s sister Amutha to preserve their bond.
While working as painters in Chennai under contractor Nesamani, Aravindan falls for Padmini, who initially sees him only as a friend. Padmini’s cousin Abhirami, jealous and infatuated with Aravindan, tricks him with fake love letters written in Padmini’s name. When Padmini gets engaged to another man, Chandru publicly defends Aravindan and humiliates her, causing the engagement to collapse. Out of spite, Padmini marries Aravindan, intending to ruin his friendship with Chandru. However, during the wedding, the truth about Abhirami’s deceit is revealed, and peace is restored.
Aravindan’s cousin Gautham, who desires Amutha, plots to drive the friends apart. He causes several accidents to frame Padmini, culminating in a sabotaged bullock cart race. When Aravindan races in Chandru’s place and survives, tensions peak. Padmini demands Aravindan end his friendship with Chandru, prompting him to confess a long-held secret: as a child, he accidentally killed Chandru’s mute younger brother. Gautham exposes this to Chandru, leading to a bitter fallout.
After Gautham’s crimes are discovered, Aravindan tries to reconcile with Chandru but falls off a cliff and is presumed dead. Five years later, Chandru, now an army major, learns Aravindan is alive but in a vegetative state. Returning home, he finds Aravindan’s son named after him. When Gautham attacks the family again, Chandru’s cries revive Aravindan, who defeats Gautham. The story ends with the friends and their families reunited.
After appearing together for the first time in Nerrukku Ner (1997), Vijay and Suriya came together again in this film, a remake of the 1999 Malayalam film Friends.[1]Meena was approached to play the female lead as she did in the original Malayalam version. Due to conflicting dates, she could not be part of it.[2][3] Later Jyothika was signed along with Suvaluxmi to play the lead actresses in the film but soon backed out due to date problems and were replaced by Devayani and new girl Vijayalakshmi from Mysore.[4] Shooting was held in a fast pace on Tamil Nadu locations (Ooty, Pollachi, Pazhani, Coimbatore, Udumalaipettai and Chennai).[4] Suriya revealed though his previous films did not do well he agreed to do this film as one of the lead actors since his character has importance despite people warning him not to do a dual hero subject.[5]
Soundtrack
The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja. Lyrics of the songs were penned by Palani Bharathi.[6]Chennai Online wrote "Though the album is not very brilliant, it is full of melody and has a couple of pleasant numbers."[7]
Friends was released on 14 January 2001, Pongal day.[8] Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu stated, "With friendship as the theme, Siddique presents a decent entertainer, which of course could have been crisper."[9] Shilpa Kannan from Zee TV noted "at last, we have one thoroughly enjoyable picture this year" and "except for the end, which is a bit melodramatic, Friends is an excellent movie for debutant director Siddique."[10]Ananda Vikatan rated the film 42 out of 100.[11] Krishna Chidambaram of Kalki felt the director separated two halves differently calling the first half as enjoyable but felt the second half as sentimental and the both should have been equally mixed.[12] Malini Mannath of Chennai Online wrote "It is a fairly engaging entertainer with the first part moving at a fast pace with ribtickling humour and slapstick comedy thrown in. The second half has a jerky narration, the smooth transition of the original somehow missing in the remake".[13] Despite facing tough competition with Ajith Kumar's Dheena, Friends emerged a commercial success, running for more than 175 days in theatres and became a hit for the careers of leading actors Vijay and Suriya.[14] The film was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil.[15]
Home media
The film is digitally available on YouTube in Tamil language. It is available in Hindi dubbed version currently streaming on Ultra Play app.
↑ சிதம்பரம், கிருஷ்ணா (4 February 2001). "பிரெண்ட்ஸ்". Kalki (in Tamil). p.65. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023– via Internet Archive.
↑ Mannath, Malini. "Film: Friends". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 19 August 2003. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
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