Kalaignan

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Kalaignan

Kalaignan is a 1993 Tamil thriller directed by G. B. Vijay and produced by Ramkumar Ganesan. It stars Kamal Haasan and Farheen (credited as Bindiya), with Sivaranjani, Sindhuja, Nirmalamma, and Chi. Guru Dutt in supporting roles. The film released on 14 April 1993 (Tamil New Year) and runs for 143 minutes.

Plot
Indrajith, a popular Tamil pop singer in Bangalore, becomes the prime suspect when backup dancer Sandhya is murdered. Divya, Sandhya’s sister, arrives to uncover the truth and meets Indrajith, leading to a tense cat-and-mouse investigation. Divya stages a staged kidnapping to test Indrajith’s knife skills, while a series of murders involve victims who were linked to Indrajith. As clues accumulate, it’s revealed that his manager, Harichandra Prasad, is the killer, motivated by jealousy of the women who pursued Indrajith. After a dramatic chase and confrontation, the killer is killed, Indrajith’s name is cleared, and Divya and Indrajith are together.

Production and music
The film was initially titled Indrajit before being renamed Kalaignan. G. B. Vijay had earlier worked as an associate director on Vettri Vizhaa and helped Kamal Haasan during filming of action sequences that led to Haasan’s injury, from which he recovered. Farheen (Bindiya) chose Kalaignan over Baazigar. Music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja with lyrics by Vaali. The songs include Endhan Nenjil, set in the Carnatic raga Nalinakanthi, and Dillu Baru Jaane, set in Sankarabharanam.

Release and reception
Kalaignan released on 14 April 1993 and received positive reviews, but it attracted mainly an elite audience and did not perform well at the box office.

Legacy
G. B. Vijay later left feature directing and worked as an ad filmmaker, mentoring Gautham Vasudev Menon while writing dialogues for Minsara Kanavu (1997).