Appu (2000 film)

Appu is a taxi driver in Mumbai. He had a sister Saradha who committed suicide as her husband sold her to a brothel for money. Appu had a habit of paying prostitutes just to talk to them. One day, Appu meets Seetha and develops affection, but she is also sold by her uncle to a brothel managed by Maharani, a transgender, as he is unable to repay his debt. Appu decides to save Seetha from the brothel by having an affair with Maharani. In the meantime, he finds out his sister was also sold to the same brothel managed by Maharani, so he decides to take revenge. Love blossoms between Appu and Seetha. Appu loses his friend Mano and lover Pooja, as they both get killed by Maharani. They sacrifice their lives for Appu and Seetha. Finally, Appu kills Maharani and unites with Seetha.

During production, the film was briefly titled as Surya before being renamed to Appu.[5] Simran was considered for the lead role before Devayani was finalised.[6]

This film is the Tamil remake of Hindi film Sadak (1991). Prakash Raj played the character of an eunuch. During the shoot of the film, some eunuchs hailing from Thiruvannamalai, threatened that if portions of the film were not reshot, they would initiate large scale protests and do their best to hinder shooting schedules. They were upset that Raj, played the role of a 'sexually handicapped' person who is the villain. They argued that the eunuchs are treated as socially unwanted having little social standing. With such movies will further threaten their status in the society.[7]

One song is shot in South Africa.

The film score and the soundtrack were composed by Deva, all song lyrics were by Vairamuthu. The soundtrack, released in 2000, features 5 tracks.[8]