Alai Payuthey was released on 14 April 2000, during Puthandu (Tamil New Year).[27] The Hindu said, "The wavy movements are not restricted to the title card alone. Alaipayuthey goes backward and forward in time and the movement holds a thin thread of suspense too. The oscillation from joy and levity to seriousness and sorrow creates impressive waves", The lead pair performance was praised saying, "Shalini once again proves that she is a natural performer while Madhavan sails through the litmus test with ease".[28] Shobha Warrier of Rediff.com gave the film a middling review citing that the film is "old wine in an old bottle" and that "the only person who scores good marks in the film is P. C. Sreeram", saying "he has used his camera as a paintbrush and the strokes are so stunningly beautiful that, once the film is over, one remembers only the visual treat". In regard to performances, the critic mentions that Madhavan "looks pleasant and handsome and does his job splendidly until the end, where he looks totally lost in the most crucial scene" and that Shalini "is very beautiful but not as open as she used to be as a child star".[29] Tamil Star wrote "A technically near-perfect film but lacking in intensity".[30] Krishna Chidambaram of Kalki praised the performances of Shalini and Madhavan while also appreciating the cameos of Aravind Swamy and Kushboo and also for showing post-marriage friction beautifully.[31]
Alaipayuthey was some sort of a milestone in my life: it was the first time I gave serious thought to the idea of romance and relationships as possibly playing out in my life -moving beyond crushes to thinking about what I might like in a person, and the idea of a genuine relationship and what it entailed.
Listening to one song in Alaipayuthey pushes me back into my school days of excitement and hope. Into my third decade of life, a few years wiser with marriage and sudden health issues, that nostalgic trip gives me a few minutes of happiness and memories of wild, carefree (and may I say, delusional) ideas of flirting, romance and marriage.
which has been registered in the minds of everyone who have watched this movie. Once again, it is handled in such a low-key manner, it takes time for us to grasp the gravity of the scene. I think, Mani, after his Iruvar and Dil.. Se, which were pretty serious by their nature, wanted to make a movie which has a lot of light-hearted moments, despite the heaviness that the script demanded, which he shot to perfection in Alaipayuthey. We then get probably the best shot song ever in Tamil cinema, Pachai Nirame, which has some beautifully written lines by Vairamuthu, where the hero compares his love and his ladylove to different colours.
The only thing that has been disheartening me is, half-baked products like Raja Rani being hailed as the next Alaipayuthey. Well, there can only be one Alaipayuthey, and a movie that can come marginally close to that is Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya, directed by the effervescent Gautham Vasudev Menon. Alaipayuthey is the movie that made me utter the word favourite for the first time in my life, and this will stand atop the list of my own collection of favourite movies forever and ever. There has to be no reason that one can find to hate Alaipayuthey. Some might say that there is lack of enough drama, but they have to look deep into the movie to see all the drama unfolding in a subtle way. Another problem is, the movie can be completely understood only by a matured set of audience, which might be a problem for a few. Yet, this was, and is one of the best romantic dramas ever made in Indian cinema, which will make you happy, sad and make you smile at the end, and this movie will definitely stand tall forever.
A.R. Rahman's compositions are among the few songs that I can listen to on repeat without actually getting bored. When someone asks me what my favorite album of his is, my brain becomes a blank slate, and choosing just one is suddenly difficult. I enjoy almost every single album of his as if it's my favourite, but overall, I would have to say that Mani Ratnam's Alaipayuthey is my favourite album of his.
The songs from Alaipayuthey have held a special place in my heart since I was a child. I've been listening to the songs from this album since I was born, without even realising they were from Alaipayuthey. Every single Indian movie I watched on DVD would always start with songs and ads. Almost all of the songs from Alaipayuthey would be featured there, and I would always sing along, especially to 'Pachai Nirame' and 'Snehidhane'. I practically have those songs memorised.
I saw Alaipayuthey for the first time nearly fourteen years after I first heard the songs, after a friend recommended the movie to me. The first song, 'Yaro Yarodi', came early on in the movie, and I was surprised to hear it. It felt like a jolt of nostalgia, the same feeling you get when you meet an old friend after a long time. It was refreshing to hear that song again. (I didn't know that I was in for more surprises with the rest of the songs in the movie.) I kept skipping back and listening to the song over and over again before moving on to the rest of the movie. Indeed, it was something small to get excited about, but it's not every day that something from your childhood pops up again randomly fourteen years later.
Even now, it's quite hard to not get hyped up whenever the songs start playing. There's some excitement inside me that rises, even if it's a song like 'Evano Oruvan'. Just the knowledge that it's from Alaipayuthey makes me want to get up and start singing and dancing along. You can practically relive the whole movie through the nine songs on the album.
Another thing to note about the album is that it has elements of rap, Carnatic, hip hop, acoustic, pop, and folk. Almost all the popular genres can be found in that one album. Even if you don't listen to another album of A.R. Rahman's, you would know his brilliance and versatility just by listening to Alaipayuthey.