30 Years of Murali and Heera's Idhayam: Four interesting facts about the film

Idhayam, a romantic drama directed by Kathir, hit screens in 1991. The film had Murali and Heera playing the lead and was termed as an iconic love story and was declared a blockbuster at the box office. Music composed by Isai Gnani Ilaiyaraaja was a chartbuster, too. The film was believed to be a trendsetter of the time and was dubbed into Telugu as Hrudayam.

The film marked the debut of director Kathir in the film industry. After the stupendous success of his maiden venture, he went on to carve a niche for himself in the romance genre - with films like Kadhal Desam, Kadhalar Dhinam and Kadhal Virus. He is now making a comeback in the Tamil film industry reuniting with AR Rahman, who had scored the music for Kathir's earlier films.

The soundtrack of the album of Idhayam was composed by maestro Ilaiyaraaja and had lyrics by ace lyricists Vaali and Pirsaisoodan. The album comprised songs like April Mayile (Ilaiyaraaja, Deepan Chakravarthy and SN Surender), Pottu Vaitha Oru Vatta Nila (KJ Yesudas and Ilaiyaraaja), Ohh Party Nalla (Malaysia Vasudevan), Poongodithan Poothathamma (SP Balasubramaniam) and Idhayamae Idhayamae (SP Balasubramaniam). The songs were chartbusters.

In the film, actor Murali plays a lovelorn college-goer who is unable to express his love to his ladylove portrayed by Heera. By the time, the pining lover is able to speak his mind, he suffers from a heart ailment. Murali was lauded for his portrayal and the concept resonated so much so much so that it paved the path for many love stories after that.

Idhayam marked the film debut of Heera Rajagopal. She portrayed a medical student in the film who is unaware of her classmate's love towards her. It is said that the actress was initially apprehensive about making her acting but was eventually convinced after the team's professional approach. She went on to act in films like Nee Pathi Naan Pathi, Thiruda Thiruda, Sathi Leelavathi, Kadhal Kottai and Avvai Shanmugi to name a few. She quit the industry in 1999.