Aayiram Jenmangal

Aayiram Jenmangal (transl. A Thousand Births) is a 1978 Indian Tamil-language horror film directed by Durai. The lead cast includes Latha, Vijayakumar, Rajinikanth, and Padmapriya. It is a remake of the 1976 Malayalam film *Yakshagaanam* and was released on 10 March 1978. The film later served as a loose basis for the 2014 Tamil film *Aranmanai*.

The story follows Ravi, who is happily married to Savitri. When Savitri’s brother Ramesh (played by Rajinikanth) returns from Singapore, the group travels to Ravi’s estate for a holiday. That night, Savitri begins experiencing a haunting: an apparition, an eerie song, and the sound of anklets that only she can perceive. Soon, a spirit takes over her body, displacing her own consciousness. Savitri’s personality changes overnight—she walks, talks, and behaves like a different woman. Puzzled, Ramesh watches her closely. He follows as she moves through the hills with the familiarity of a lifelong resident, weeping over two names carved into a tree trunk: “Radha” and “Ravi.” He then eavesdrops as she enters a cottage and tells an old woman she is her deceased daughter, Radha. Radha’s spirit explains that she has lingered as a banshee due to unrequited love. She reveals that if she can have a physical union with Ravi within the five days before the new moon, she will be reborn; if not, she will push Ravi off the same waterfall where she died, so they can unite in the afterlife.

In Ravi’s old bungalow, Ramesh finds a woman’s photograph and a cassette. He confronts Ravi, who confesses that he once loved Radha, the daughter of a late factory supervisor. Their romance flourished across the hills until Ravi secured his father’s approval. But when he returned with the news, he found Radha dead—she had drowned while fleeing an evil suitor named Ranga. Armed with this knowledge, Ramesh foils the possessed Savitri’s attempts to seduce Ravi. On the first night, she sings a seductive song in the bedroom, but Ramesh pulls Ravi away with a false report of a factory fire. On the second night, he slips strong sedatives into Ravi’s milk. On the third morning, at a Labour Day gathering, the transformed Savitri dances wildly; that night, Ramesh sets fire to the summer cottage where she has taken Ravi. On the fourth night, Ranga attacks Ravi, but Ramesh rescues him. On the final night, Radha puts Ramesh to sleep and lures Ravi up the hill