Jayam () is a 2002 Indian Telugu-language romantic action drama film written, produced and directed by Teja under the banner Chitram Movies. The film stars Nithiin, Gopichand, and Sadha in the lead roles, marking the acting debut of Nithiin and Sadha. The music was composed by R. P. Patnaik.
The film received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the performances and music, and emerged as a commercial blockbuster. It was remade in Tamil in 2003 under the same title by Mohan Raja, starring Ravi Mohan in his debut as a lead actor, earning him the moniker "Jayam Ravi," with Sadha and Gopichand reprising their roles.
Venkataramana alias "Venky" is from a poor family who meets Sujatha at his college and falls in love with her. After many meetings, Sujatha too reciprocates Venky's feelings. However, Sujatha's father learns about this from an astrologer where he fixes Sujatha's marriage with her cousin Raghu, a womanizer and rogue. Raghu falls in love with Sujatha at first sight, where he warns her to never fall for or marry anyone else. After her engagement, Sujatha meets Venky at the temple, where Raghu also arrives with his gang and thrashes Venky. Despite this, Venky gets determined and warns Raghu that he and Sujatha will get married and will take Sujatha at 7:00 am. Enraged, Raghu tells the family to solemnize the marriage. Sujatha goes into her room to change, but she is actually waiting for Venkat after learning about his message. Venkat and Sujatha escape before Raghu arrives to marry her. After an intense chase, Venky and Sujatha are cornered by Raghu and his men in the forest. Venky and Raghu challenge each other in an intense hand-to-hand combat, where Venky finally defeats Raghu. With Sujatha's father's approval, Venky and Sujatha get married in presence of Raghu and her family members.
The music was composed by R. P. Patnaik, while the lyrics were penned by Kulasekhar. The musical rights of the film was released on Aditya Music. The chorus of the song was recreated in the song "Ra Ra Reddy I'm Ready" from Macherla Niyojakavargam (2021).
Jayam received very mixed reviews from critics with praise towards the cast performances (particularly Nithiin, Sadha and Gopichand) and music.
Jeevi of Idlebrain wrote, "First half of the film would be liked by class people as the style of narration is very poetic. Second half would be liked by masses compared to first half as it has got good action scenes. Over all, it's an average film." Arpan Panicker of Full Hyderabad wrote, "The second half drags and looks silly at times. The fight scenes especially are quite undigestable. There is only so much credit you can attribute to a flag. Jayam turns out to be just an average flick at the end of the day."