Yejaman

Ejamaan (Yejamaan)
Promotional Poster
Directed by	R. V. Udayakumar
Produced by	M. Saravanan M.Balasubramaniam
Written by	R. V. Udayakumar Gokula Krishna (dialogues)
Starring	Rajinikanth Meena Aishwariya Goundamani Vijayakumar Senthil Napoleon M. N. Nambiar Manorama
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja
Cinematography	Karthik Raja
Edited by	B. S. Nagaraj
Production company	AVM Productions
Distributed by	AVM Productions
Release date	18 February 1993
Running time	153 min
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Box office	₹9.6 crore

Ejamaan (also spelled Yejamaan and Yajamaan) (meaning: Leader) is a 1993 Tamil romantic drama film directed by R. V. Udhayakumar. It stars Rajinikanth, Meena and Napoleon in the lead roles. It was a box office success and completed a 100-days run in theaters. It was later dubbed in Telugu as Rowdy Jamindar.

Vaanavaraayan (Rajinikanth) is a feudal chieftain, adored and respected by the people of his village. He lives with his grandparents (M. N. Nambiar & Manorama). Following his advice, they abstain from voting in the elections and instead, pool the money given by the candidates to get themselves some basic amenities. Vallavaraayan (Napoleon) is his arch enemy. Their enmity is further sharpened when Vaanavaraayan wins the hand of Vaitheeswari (Meena), whom Vallavaraayan had also wished to wed. Vallavaraayan then convinces the priest of the village temple to mix poison in the holy water that Vaitheeswari drinks. As a result she becomes incapable of conceiving a baby. But surprisingly, Vaitheeswari soon becomes pregnant-though she has pretended with the help of the mid-wife (S. N. Lakshmi), to do so to uphold her husband's honour. She takes poison and kills herself unable to bear the grief of being incapable of giving her husband a child and on her deathbed makes Vaanavarayan swear to take Ponni (Aishwariya) as his wife. Vaanavarayan however refuses until Ponni agrees to marry Sembattai (Thalapathi Dinesh)- Vallavarayan's hechman-who abandons her to Vallavarayan's vice. Infuriated, Vaanavarayan attacks Vallavarayan and spares his life after giving him a sermon on how to win the heart of the people.

After the success of Chinna Gounder, Udayakumar was approached by various producers but he was unsure as to who should play the part of the hero for his next film. Subsequently, he decided to cast Rajini as the hero for his next film. Rajini agreed to act under the direction of Udayakumar. The director expressed his interest to make this film for AVM Productions. Initially, a different script titled "Jilla Collector" was narrated but Udaykumar subsequently opted to film a different script altogether, since AVM Saravanan had felt that the original script might go over budget. The actress Meena was selected as the heroine. Rajini was initially reluctant to have her as the heroine because she had appeared as a child artist for his film Anbulla Rajinikanth and he felt that his fans might not readily accept this pairing. But he eventually agreed to have Meena play the part. "Ejamaan" was Rajini's 141st film and his 8th collaboration with AVM Productions.