Lightning) is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language romance film directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon in his directoral debut.

The film, starring Madhavan, Abbas and Reema Sen, tells the story of a man stealing the identity of his former college foe, to pursue his lady love, and the eventual repercussions he has to face when his cover is blown before he could come clean.

This contrast in personalities puts the two students at loggerheads throughout their college days, with both of them engaging in constant fights and pranks with each other.

Two years later, Rajesh is a software engineering instructor in Chennai and roams around in his free time with his close friend Chockalingam "Chokku".

While on a trip to Bangalore, he comes across a young woman dancing with children in the rain and gets immediately smitten by her when he sees her face lit by the flash of a lightning bolt.

Some days later, Rajesh, who is back in Chennai, notices Reena again, this time exiting a Ford office cab.

Rajesh, Chokku, and their friends decide to meet Rajiv to somehow convince him to break his engagement with Reena.

Rajesh decides to accept the on-site opportunity in Singapore which he had earlier rejected, to forget Reena.

All songs except "Ivan Yaaro" and "Iru Vizhi Unadhu" ("Ore Nyabagam") were reused in the film's Hindi version Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein by Harris himself.

Madhavan became extremely popular among the youth after the release of Alai Payuthey, but had a setback as his next film underperformed.

[9] Savitha Padmanabhan of The Hindu claimed that the film had a "lot of verve and vigour" and that it was "sure to go down well" with the "yuppie, college-going youngsters".

[14] Minnale was dubbed into Telugu under the name Cheli and also performed well at the box office, owing to Madhavan's popularity in Andhra Pradesh.

[15][16] The success of Minnale led to producer Vashu Bhagnani signing Menon on to direct the Hindi language remake of the film in the same year, Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein (2001), which featured Madhavan reprising his role.

The Hindi version gained mixed reviews and subsequently went on to become an above average grosser at the box office.