Priyanka (1994)

This thought-provoking woman-centric tale delves into the life of Priyanka (Revathi), a straightforward person and daughter of Krishnan (Delhi Ganesh), a post master. As a humble government servant, her father struggles to find a suitable groom for her elder sister (Sudha) and her. Later, her sister elopes with an another man. Shekar (Jayaram), a rich businessman, falls in love with Priyanka at first sight. Gokulnath (Captain Raju) and Shekar's father Sriram (Jaishankar) are business partners and they make a decision : to arrange the marriage between Shekar and Gokulnath's daughter Kamini (Viji Chandrasekhar). Shekar reveals his love to his family and they accept it. Then, Shekar gets married with Priyanka. Gokulnath feels betrayed and decides to take revenge on Shekar's family. Priyanka moves into his bungalow. One day, Priyanka and Shekhar witness, Shekhar's younger brother Vinoth (Raj Chandar) and his friends, raping the young maid-servant Ganga (Seetha). Afterwards, Ganga, in a serious condition, files a complaint against Vinoth. Ravi (Nizhalgal Ravi), a police officer, compels Priyanka to become the principal witness. To save Vinoth from the possibly distrusts its consequences of his heinous action, Shekar's family including Priyanka try to smother it. However, after witnessing Ganga's plight in the hospital, Priyanka decides to change her stand and speak up against her brother-in-law. Ravi is in fact Shekar's man and arrests Vinoth. Susila (Manjula Vijayakumar), Shekar's mother, orders Priyanka to leave the bungalow while Shekar is abroad. Priyanka decides to live with her sister. The matter is taken up in court and Sriram appoints Rudrayya (Nassar), a criminal lawyer who has never lost a case. In return, Shekar asks Priyanka to forget everything and to come back home but she refuses. In court, Priyanka is portrayed as a mentally unstable person by Rudrayya, Shekar's family and surprisingly by her father Krishnan. Priyanka is subsequently sent in a mental hospital by a judicial order and Vinoth orders to kill her. Unable to bear the mental torture in the hospital, she escapes and runs into an alcoholic lawyer, Arjun (Prabhu). Arjun re-opens the rape case. Ganga dies in hospital with a suicide note written by Ravi, but Ganga was an illiterate. What transpires later forms the crux of the story.