Vaanavarayan is a feudal chieftain, adored and respected by the people of his village. He lives with his grandparents. Following his advice, they abstain from voting in the elections and instead, pool the money given by the candidates to get themselves some basic amenities. Vallavaraayan is his arch enemy. Their enmity is further sharpened when Vaanavarayan wins the hand of Vaitheeswari, whom Vallavaraayan had also wished to wed. Vallavaraayan then convinces the priest of the village temple to mix poison in the holy water that Vaitheeswari drinks. As a result, she becomes incapable of conceiving a baby. But surprisingly, Vaitheeswari soon becomes pregnant-though she has pretended with the help of the mid-wife, to do so to uphold her husband's honour. She takes poison and kills herself unable to bear the grief of being incapable of giving her husband a child and on her deathbed makes Vaanavarayan swear to take Ponni as his wife. Vaanavarayan however refuses until Ponni agrees to marry Sembattai - Vallavarayan's henchman-who abandons her to Vallavarayan's vice. Infuriated, Vaanavarayan attacks Vallavarayan and spares his life after giving him a sermon on how to win the heart of the people.
Cast
Rajinikanth as Kanthavelu Vaanavarayan, fondly referred as Yejamaan by the village people.
Meena as Vaitheeswari Vaanavarayan
Napoleon as Vallavarayan
M. N. Nambiar as Vaanavarayan's grandfather
Manorama as Akhilandeswari, Vaanavarayan's grandmother
Aishwarya as Ponni
Goundamani as Vellaiyangiri, a worker in Vaanavarayan's house
Senthil as Azhagiri, Vellaiyangiri's half-brother and rival, a worker in Vaitheeswari's house
Vijayakumar as Vaitheeswari's father
S. N. Lakshmi as an old lady who acts as a village nurse
After the success of Chinna Gounder, Udayakumar was approached by various producers but he was unsure as to who should play the part of the hero for his next film. Subsequently, he decided to cast Rajini as the hero for his next film. Rajini agreed to act under the direction of Udayakumar. The director expressed his interest to make this film for AVM Productions. Initially, a different script titled "Jilla Collector" was narrated but Udaykumar subsequently opted to film a different script altogether, since AVM Saravanan had felt that the original script might go over budget. The actress Meena was selected as the heroine. Rajini was initially reluctant to have her as the heroine because she had appeared as a child artist for his film Anbulla Rajinikanth and he felt that his fans might not readily accept this pairing. But he eventually agreed to have Meena play the part. Ejamaan was Rajini's 141st film and his 8th collaboration with AVM Productions.
Soundtrack
All Music composed by Ilayaraja while lyrics written by Vaali and R. V. Udayakumar. There are a total of eight tracks for this film. The song "Oru Naalum" is based on Sindhubhairavi Raga.
Release and reception
Ejamaan was released on 18 February 1993. Malini Mannath of The Indian Express wrote, "Yajaman is a well meant film from AVM and from director Udayakumar". K. Vijiyan of New Straits Times wrote, "The film begins well but gets bogged down after the interval and the large number of songs do not help matters".
Legacy
Chinna Gounder and Ejamaan had started the trend of portrayals of village chieftain in films. The success of the films inspired similar themes - including Nattamai. Director Rajmohan directed a film titled Vanavarayan Vallavarayan named after Rajinikanth and Napoleon's characters, and starring Kreshna and Makapa Anand in lead roles. Dhanapal Padmanabhan who directed Krishnaveni Panjaalai, rated Ejaman "as the film that best captured the village flavour and beauty of Pollachi". One of the songs has inspired as a title for the film - Nilave Mugam Kaattu.
