Release
The film released in December 1999 and initially began running at a single noon show at a suburban theatre but gradually built up audiences through word-of-mouth publicity and ran over a 100 days at several cinema halls across Chennai, with Vikram being mobbed by people on the streets as a result of the film's success. Critics lapped up Vikram's performance with a reviewer labeling that "Vikram is a revelation" and that "he is very natural and his acting in last few scenes are just too good and could even be compared with the best we have seen". Similarly, a critic from the New Straits Times described the film as an "unforgettable experience" and described Vikram's performance as "praise-worthy".
The following year, Sethu won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil, while also securing wins in the Best Film category at the Filmfare Awards and the Cinema Express Awards. Bala won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Director and the Filmfare Award for Best Director – Tamil for his directorial debut. The performance also drew accolades for Vikram who won the Filmfare Special Award – South and the Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize for his portrayal of the title character, while reports emerged that he missed out on the National Film Award for Best Actor by a single vote to Mohanlal. Post-success, Vikram has described the film would have been close to him regardless of the commercial success and that it put him on the "right path", with Vikram choosing to adapt the prefix of Chiyaan to his screen name. The success of the film prompted it to be made in Hindi in 2003 as Tere Naam with Salman Khan and Bhumika Chawla in lead roles, it was remade in Kannada as Huchcha which made Sudeep a star, Jeevitha remade the film in Telugu as Seshu with her husband Dr. Rajasekhar playing the lead.
Read more about this topic: Sethu (film)
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