Jayam Kondaan (2008): watch the full film free, legally

Arjun’s return to Chennai

Jayam Kondaan, translated as The Victor, is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language romantic action film. R. Kannan wrote and directed it in his directorial debut, and Sathya Jyothi Films produced it. Vinay stars as Arjun, with Bhavana and Lekha Washington. The supporting cast includes Vivek, Santhanam, Kishore, Vasundhara Kashyap, Malavika Avinash and Nizhalgal Ravi. Vidyasagar composed the music, Balasubramaniem handled cinematography, and V. T. Vijayan edited the film. After several delays, it opened to worldwide audiences on 29 August 2008.

The story follows Arjun, an IT professional who leaves his London job after his father’s sudden death and returns to India. He plans to use his savings to establish a real-estate business in Chennai. At the bank, though, he finds Rs. 15,700 in an account he believed held Rs. 6.5 million. Suspecting that his father invested the money in India, Arjun begins asking about his father’s friends and discovers a house in Madurai bought with the missing funds.

A house and an unknown family

The Madurai property brings a further shock. Arjun learns that his father had another wife, Chandrika, a French teacher, and a daughter, Brinda. Brinda has gained admission to study at MIT in the United States, but her education loan has been rejected. She wants to sell the house to finance her studies. Arjun asks her not to sell it, maintaining that it was bought with his money. Chandrika believes the house should belong to Arjun and gives him its documents, but Brinda refuses to accept the decision.

Arjun travels to Madurai to sell the property. Its tenants are Durairaj, a chili vendor who was his father’s friend, and Durairaj’s daughter Annapurani. Arjun asks them to vacate the house. To persuade Annapurani, he invents a story that they knew each other as children. Brinda arrives in Madurai intending to stop the sale and turns to Guna, a local goon, for help. Guna comes to the registrar’s office with his wife Poongodhai. A quarrel breaks out between Guna and Arjun, and Poongodhai dies in the melee. Guna then seeks to kill Arjun.

Arjun gets away to Chennai with Brinda. After Chandrika dies, Brinda has no one to care for her, and Arjun asks her to live at his home. She agrees hesitantly. He gradually becomes fond of her and decides to provide money for her education. Annapurani later comes to Chennai for a volleyball match, and a romance develops between her and Arjun. Arjun also learns that he and Annapurani really were close childhood friends. As Guna continues searching for him, Arjun considers returning to London and his former job.

First film for R. Kannan

Jayam Kondaan was shot in locations including Uzbekistan. Bhavana dubbed herself in Tamil for the film. Vidyasagar’s soundtrack contains six songs, and its audio was released worldwide on 3 June 2008.

The film received positive reviews and was lauded by critics for simplicity of presentation. Sify called it a “breezy entertainer” and compared it with Run, Sandakozhi and the Malayalam film Kireedam. Its reviewer considered the script and direction successful because of their straightforward narration and packaging. Sify praised Lekha Washington, calling her the “surprise packet,” and said Kishore fit the role of the bad guy. It found Krishna and Santhanam more effective than Vivek, and described Athisaya as a “revelation.”

Rediff.com called the film a “nice blend of the cinematic and logic.” Its reviewer said Vinay was comfortable in the lead role, with expressive eyes, and also identified Lekha Washington as the surprise package. The review said Bhavana could have had a meatier role. The Hindu’s review said the film had risen above clichés and praised Vinay for selecting it as his second project. Critics credited Kannan for his story and screenplay. Rediff said Balasubramaniem’s camera avoided bizarre angles and called V. T. Vijayan’s editing slick and smooth.

Film details from the Wikipedia article “Jayamkondaan”. Text adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0.