'Nayakan', directed by Mani Ratnam, with Kamal as the protagonist, is a most loved gangster movie. The film carried many emotions in it, the emotion between a daughter and dad, the emotion between a husband and wife, the emotion of a single father, the emotion of a gangster who strives for the well being of the innocent by fetching them the justice they deserve.
'Thenpandi Cheemayilae' is a heart-wrenching song in the movie which is played back in the emotional portions. The song became more famous than the other songs in the movie, as it made everyone's heart heavy with its tune and lyrics and especially with the vocals of Ilayaraja.
Shurthi Hassan has posted a video on Instagram singing this song captioning that she has always loved this song.