Aalavandhan () is a 2001 Indian psychological action thriller film directed by Suresh Krissna and produced by S. Thanu. An adaptation of the novel Dhayam that was written by Kamal Haasan in 1984, The film stars Haasan in dual roles, with Raveena Tandon, Manisha Koirala, Sarath Babu, Gollapudi Maruti Rao, Madurai G.S. Mani and Milind Gunaji in supporting roles. It has elements of magic realism.
The film was simultaneously shot in Hindi with the title Abhay () with three different actors. Although a commercial failure during its release, Aalavandhan and Abhay won the National Film Award for Best Special Effects.
Plot
Major Vijay Kumar and his group of the Black Cats save a group of tourists held hostage by terrorists in a Kashmir valley. Meanwhile, at a military hospital, Vijay meets his girlfriend Tejaswini aka Teju, a news presenter who he is ready to marry. Teju reveals she is pregnant after she presents her HCG report to Vijay after one of their dates gone wrong. Vijay then reveals to Teju about his plan to visit his twin brother, Nanda Kumar alias Nandu, in a mental asylum who is incarcerated for murdering his stepmother Jayanthi.
Nandu is a cleverly scheming and with good physical strength, yet paranoidal schizophrenic man who has spent most of his life in the asylum, often communicating using metaphors and poetic expressions. Vijay cares about Nandu and looks forward to his release, but Nandu's doctor tells him that Nandu has developed into a psychopath. He is now a danger to society and should not be released.
Vijay and Teju visit Nandu to share the news about their impending marriage, which turns disastrous as Nandu begins to see Teju in the image of their Jayanthi. Seeking to save Vijay from Teju, Nandu manages to escape custody after killing two other inmates Sulthan and Paasha, for a clean getaway, thus leaving no trail. He later meets his maternal uncle, who was responsible for incarcerating him. The man dies of choking upon seeing his nephew. Vijay and Teju get married. The next day Vijay and Teju are shocked to learn of Nandu's escape. Vijay initially refuses to believe it was Nandu who escaped. But, Nandu's doctor believes it was Nandu who escaped, because of the similarity that both Nandu and his murdered buddy Sulthan are circumcised due to health reasons after the postmortem of Sulthan's beheaded corpse, thus proving Nandu is circumcised. Later, Vijay is convinced that it was Nandu.
Nandu visits Vijay's home when he is not there and leaves a message about wanting to kill Teju. He keeps hallucinating his deceased mother in his imagination. While searching for Teju, Nandu kills a drug peddler and falls in love with a socialite Sharmilee by looking at her promotional posters. By chance, he stumbles across Sharmilee at a hotel. Sharmilee ecstatically falls for Nandu upon his antics, and both become close. Both being drugged, Sharmilee playfully whips Nandu, which inadvertently causes him to visualise Jayanthi's whippings and brutally murders her as a result. After returning to his senses, he regrets his actions and tearfully burns Sharmilee's corpse before exiting the room, but leaves behind evidence through which Vijay deduces him as the murderer.
Vijay and Teju leave for Vijay's ancestral home in Ooty to stay safe from Nandu, but he secretly follows them. Vijay and Teju find Nandu's old diary in the house through which they read his past: Vijay's and Nandu's mother Priya committed suicide after realising that Santhosh, their father was having an affair with Jayanthi, who later became their stepmother. Both brothers hate her, especially Nandu. The teacher complains about this, and Nandu justifies that he is only reflecting the home environment. Enraged, Santhosh beats both his sons for disliking his new wife.
One day, Vijay learn that Jayanthi is having an affair with another man and Nandu tries telling this to his father, who pays no heed, and instead beats him. Nandu pleads to his maternal uncle to take him along with him. But as he is suffering from throat cancer, he refuses and suggests a boarding school. Eventually, Vijay leaves with his uncle to a boarding school while Nandu remains home.