Priya is a 1978 Tamil film directed by SP. Muthuraman

SP. Muthuraman

SP. Muthuraman is an Indian film director who works in the Tamil film industry. He has directed nearly 75 films in Tamil and Telugu. He was one of the most successful commercial directors in Tamil cinema. Initially he worked mainly with Sivaji Ganesan, Jaishankar and Kamal Haasan...

, starring Rajnikanth

Rajnikanth

Rajinikanth is an Indian film actor, media personality, and cultural icon. He made his debut as an actor in the National Film Award-winning motion picture Apoorva Raagangal , directed by K. Balachander, whom the actor considers his mentor....

, Sridevi and Ambarish. The story is an adaptation from writer Sujatha's

Sujatha Rangarajan

Sujatha was the pseudonym of the Tamil writer S. Rangarajan, author of over 100 novels, 250 short stories, ten books on science, ten stage plays, and a slim volume of poems. He was one of the most popular writers in Tamil literature, and a regular contributor to topical columns in Tamil...

 Ganesh - Vasanth novels. It was shot mostly in Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

. It was shot simultaneously and released in Kannada

Kannada language

Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...

 as well.

Plot

Priya (Sridevi) is a movie star, who is exploited by her producer Janardhan (Major Sundarrajan). Janardhan has such a tight control over Priya's financial and personal affairs that he even refuses to let her get married to her boyfriend Bharat (Ambarish).

Just before she flies off to Singapore for a film shoot, Priya seeks the help of Lawyer Ganesh (Rajnikant) to assist her in getting rid of Janardhan.

How Ganesh helps Priya overcome her problems accounts for the rest of this movie, which includes a side story of Ganesh falling in love with a Malay-Indian girl.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features six songs composed by Ilayaraja, with lyrics by Panju Arunachalam.

• "Ye Paadal Onru" - Yesudas, S. Janaki
  S. Janaki
  S. Janaki is an Indian female playback singer. Renowned for her voice modulation abilities, she has sung in many Indian languages, most frequently in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. Throughout a career spanning more than five decades, she has won four National Film Awards and 35...
  
  
• "Akarai Cheemai" - Yesudas
• "Darling Darling" - P. Susheela
  P. Susheela
  Pulapaka Susheela is an Indian playback singer. In a career spanning more than four decades, she has recorded songs in many Indian languages including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Sanskrit, Tulu, Badaga and Sinhalese.-Personal life:She is the daughter of Pulapaka...
  
  
• "Enuyir Neethane" - Yesudas, Jency Anthony
  Jency Anthony
  Jency Anthony is a popular South Indian film playback singer who has worked with the film composers like Ilayaraaja in Tamil films.She was introduced to the Tamil movie industry in the song Vaanathu Poonkili in the movie Thiripurasundari scored by Ilayaraja...
  
  
• "Sri Ramanin" - Yesudas
• "Oh Priya" - Yesudas

Trivia

• It was the first Tamil film to use stereo recording for its music.
• It was the first movie of Rajinikanth which was shot mostly outside India.
• Sridevi appeared in a bikini for the first time in her career; she appeared in one once again in Sigappu Rojakkal
  Sigappu Rojakkal
  Sigappu Rojakkal is a 1978 Tamil thriller film starring Kamal Haasan and Sridevi. Directed by Bharathiraja,music by Ilayaraja and cinematography by P.S.Nivas...
  
  , which was also released the same year.