Dheena

Dheena is a 2001 Indian Tamil film starring Ajith Kumar and Laila in lead roles. It marks the directorial debut of A. R. Murugadoss. Ajith plays the title role of Dheena, while Suresh Gopi enacts the role of Ajith's older brother. The film, which had musical score by Yuvan Shankar Raja and cinematography by Arvind, was released on January 14, 2001 coinciding with Pongal 2001 and garnered overall positive reviews and proved to be a box office success. The film was dubbed into Telugu and released six years later on April 5, 2007 as Dada in Andhra Pradesh.


Cast

  • Ajith Kumar as Dheenadhayalan
  • Laila as
  • Suresh Gopi as Adhikesavan
  • Divya
  • Sriman
  • Balaji
  • Shyam Ganesh
  • 'Mahanathi' Shankar
  • Rajesh
  • Sheela
  • Nagma

Crew

  • Story, Screenplay, Direction: A. R. Murugadoss
  • Production: P. Karthikeyan
  • Music: Raja
  • Cinematography: Arvind
  • Editing: Suresh Urs
  • Art direction: Mani Raj
  • Stunts: 'Super' Subbarajan
  • Lyrics: Vaali
  • Banner: Vijayam Cine Combines

Soundtrack

Dheena
Soundtrack by Yuvan Shankar Raja
Released December 23, 2000
Recorded 2000
Genre Film soundtrack
Length 25:32
Label Hit Music
Producer Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja chronology
Rishi
(2000)
Dheena
(2001)
Thulluvadho Ilamai
(2001)

The soundtrack was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja and released on December 23, 2000. The songs proved to be very successful upon release and established him slowly in the Tamil film industry. Lyrics were written by Vaali.

Track Song Singer(s) Duration Notes
1 "En Nenjil Ningalane" Harish Raghavendra 4:22
2 "Kathal Website Ondru" Shankar Mahadevan, Harini, Timmy 5:35
3 "Nee Illai Enral" Bhavatharini, Murugan M Iyer 5:27
4 "Sollamal Thottu Chellum Thendral" Hariharan 5:23
5 "Vathikuchi Pathikadhuda" S. P. Balasubramaniam 4:45

Box Office

  • The film was a commercial success grossing $3 million at the box office.

Dheena
Directed by A. R. Murugadoss
Written by A. R. Murugadoss
Starring Ajith Kumar
Laila Mehdin
Suresh Gopi
Nagma
Music by Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cinematography Arvind
Editing by Suresh Urs
Studio Vijayam Cine Combines
Release date(s) January 14, 2001
Country India
Language Tamil

Citizen

Citizen (2001) (Tamil: சிட்டிசன்) is a Tamil film starring Ajith Kumar, Meena, Vasundhara Das and Nagma. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by Deva. The film was one of the front runners in 2001. It is produced by NIC Arts Chakravarthi. Sameera Reddy was originally a part of the cast.It was dubbed into Telugu with same title.[1]


Plot

A district collector, a judge, and a police official are all kidnapped in broad daylight. The kidnapper cocking-a-snook at the establishment, calling himself 'Citizen' and appearing in different disguises to get at his targets. C.B.I. officer Sarojini (Nagma) finally traces the common factor among the kidnapped trio to Athippatti, a small hamlet consisting of fishermen. But to her surprise both the village and its 690 odd inhabitants seemed to have been wiped away from the face of the earth. The diggings tell a story of a mass massacre that must have taken place about a couple of decades back. 'Citizen' is finally apprehended. He comes out with his story of the gory happenings at Athippatti and how he, as a little boy, had been the sole survivor of the nightmare that gripped the village that day from the map of India, twenty years back.

Cast

Actor Role
Ajith Arivanandham, Abdullah, Anthony, Citizen + Subramani
Meena Sevali
Vasundhara Das Indhu
Nagma CBI Sarojini Harichandran
Pandiyan Sopa
Nizhalgal Ravi Collector Santhanam
Devan DGP Devasakayam
Ajay Rathanam ACP Krishnamoorthy

Box office

  • The film ran 110 days
  • The film grossed $1 million at the box office.
Citizen

Official DVD Cover
Directed by Saravana Subbaiya
Produced by NIC Arts Chakravarthi
Written by Sujatha Rangarajan
Starring Ajith Kumar
Meena
Vasundhara Das
Nagma
Music by Deva
Release date(s) June 2001
Running time 172 mins
Language Tamil

Chocklet

Chocolate (2001) is a Tamil film directed by A. Venkatesh. The film stars Prashanth, Jaya Re, Livingston, Suhasini Mani Ratnam, Dhamu and Charlie. The film's score and soundtrack are set to be composed by Deva. The film did well in 2001. It is produced by director, A. Venkatesh.

Plot

Boy meets girl. It's love at first sight. He has no clue who she is -- enter good friends to help in the search. Once located, the girl (Jaya Re) tells the boy (Prashanth) that she would like to try a trial-romance for a week. And if it clicks, they can make a commitment for the long term. Elsewhere, you have Assistant Commissioner of Police Livingston (who happens to be Prashanth's best buddy) and Suhasini. Married, but apart, yet not legally divorced. Livingstone wants his wife back, she isn't having any of it. And, surprise, surprise, no surprise -- Jaya Re happens to be their daughter. Albeit staying in a hostel because, if you please, she has vowed not to acknowledge them as her parents unless and until they get back together. The hero, of course, is blissfully unaware of all this. Meanwhile, Livingstone is busy telephoning his daughter to try and convince her to give up this trial romance business and go for broke because the guy is pure, 24 carat gold. The daughter dutifully accepts papa's recommendation. Meanwhile again, a London-based boy offers for Livingstone's daughter. And Prashanth vows he will get Suhasini to agree -- little knowing that the girl in question is his own lady love.

Chocolate
Directed by A. Venkatesh
Starring Prashanth
Jaya Re
Livingston
Suhasini Mani Ratnam
Dhamu
Music by Deva
Release date(s) 2001
Language Tamil

Cast

Actor Role
Prashanth
Jaya Re
Livingston
Suhasini Mani Ratnam
Dhamu
Charlie



Badri

Badri is a 2001 Tamil–language sports action directed by P.A. Arun Prasad. The film stars Joseph Vijay as a spoiled college brat who turns into a kickboxer to prove as a good son for his father and a good young brother for his elder brother. Bhumika Chawla, Monal, Dhamu and Vivek also starred in the film. The film was scored by popular musician Ramana Gogula, who scored eight songs in the film.

The film was a loose remake of 2000 Telugu–language film, Thammudu . Thammudu starred Pawan Kalyan, Preeti Jhangiani, Aditi Govitrikar, Achyuth, Chandra Mohan and Mallikarjuna Rao. Initially, Thammudu was a remake of 1989 English–language film, Kickboxer and a high influence of 1992 Hindi–language film, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar.



Story

Badrinatha Moorthy (Vijay), who is fondly called as Badri by everyone prefers to be called as Badri. A spoiled college brat, Badri hangs around with a bunch of friends of similar nature. Janaki (Bhumika Chawla), is his neighbour and also his childhood friend. She secretly loves Badri, but never reveals it. Badri's elder brother, Vetrinath (Riyaz Khan) and his father runs a canteen in which Malli (Anu Mohan) is a cook. Vetrinath, representing govt. college, practices kickboxing to participate in the intercollege competition, but is defeated by rival, Rohit from Model college. Badri's gang and his govt. college mates are looked down cheaply by Model college's Rohit and gang and are insulted often. Badri plans to teach them a lesson and tries every trick to woo Lovely (Monal), who is a new entry into model college. Badri pretends as the lone son of a multi-millionaire and wins over Lovely's heart by presenting her a diamond ring on Valentine's Day. He borrows money from Janaki for this. Lovely realizes Badri's true identity through Rohit and ditches him. Janaki's father (M. Vasudevan) blames Badri's father for the money borrowed. His father gets sick of his misdeeds and kick him out of his house. Vetrinath tries to talk Badri out of his problems, and while returning home is attacked by Rohit and his men. Vetrinath lies in hospital and is declared unfit to compete in kickboxing competition. Badri realizes the truth behind Vetrinath's incident and decides to participate in kickboxing competition. But Vetrinath's guru refuses to train Badri, as he questions Badri's integrity. Badri manages to convince his guru and learn kickboxing with all his energies concentrated. He wins over Rohit and also everyone's heart again.

Cast

Actor Role
Vijay Badri
Bhumika Chawla Janaki
Riyaz Khan Vetrinath
Anu Mohan Malli
Monal Lovely
Vivek

Music

Song Singer(s)
Angel K S Chithra, Devi Sri Prasad
King of Chennai Devi Sri Prasad
Kalakala Shankar Mahadevan
Ennoda Laila Vijay
Salaaam Maharaasa Devan, Priya
Stella Maris Tippu, Vivek, Dhamu
Travelling Soldier(a soundtrack English song) Ramana Gokula

Box Office

  • The film grossed $2 million at the box office and was declared a hit upon release.

Badri
Directed by P.A. Arun Prasad
Starring Vijay,
Bhumika Chawla,
Monal,
Vivek
Music by Ramana Gogula
Release date(s) April 16, 2001
Running time 165 min.
Language Tamil

Azhagi

Azhagi (2002) is a Tamil film directed by Thankar Bachchan. The film stars Parthiban, Nandita Das and Devayani. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by Ilaiyaraaja.


Plot

Shanmugam(Parthiban), a veterinary doctor, lives in the city with his wife Valarmati(Devayani) and their two children. In school, Shanmugam was in love with his classmate Dhanalakshmi but fate had forced them to go their separate ways with Dhanalakshmi(Nandita Das) being forced to wed her brother-in-law. One day, Shanmugam spots Dhanalakshmi, who, having lost her husband, now lives a life of poverty on the platforms. After an unsuccessful attempt to find her a job in a friend's house, he hires her as their servant-maid.

Cast

Actor Role
Parthiban Shanmugam (Veterinary Doctor)
Devayani Valarmati
Nandita Das Dhanalakshmi aka Dhanam
Vivek Veterinary Doctor
Pandu Assistant to veterinary doctor, Minister

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features songs composed by Ilaiyaraaja, with lyrics by Pazhanibarathy

  • Paattu Solli Paada Solli - Sadhana Sargam
  • Damakku Damakku Dum - Bavatharani, Chorus
  • Un Kuthama En Kuthama - Ilaiyaraaja
  • Oru Sundari Vandhalam - P. Unni Krishnan, Sadhana Sargam, Malgudi Subha
  • Oliyile Therivadhu Devadhaya - Karthik, Bavatharani
  • Kuruvi Kodanja - Pushpavanam Kuppusamy, Swarnalatha

Sadhana Sargam awarded for best female playback singer in 2002 Indian National Award for the song "Pattu Solli" composed by Ilayaraja

Box Office

  • The film grossed $1 million at the box office.

Azhagi
Directed by Thanga Bachchan
Starring Parthiban
Nandita Das
Devayani
Music by Ilaiyaraaja
Release date(s) India 14 January, 2002
Country India
Language Tamil

Anantham

Anantham is a Tamil serial which airs on Sun TV.


Main Characters

  • Shanthi Suganya
  • Abhirami Brinda Das
  • RK Delhi Kumar
  • Charulatha Sri Priya
  • Karthik (Shanthi’s husband) Kamalesh
  • Madhan (Abhirami’s husband) Satish
  • Asst Commissioner Durai Saakshi Sivaa
  • Priya Vanaja
  • Arjun (RK’s son-in-law) Sanjay
  • Anitha Arjun(RK’s daughter) Vanthana
  • Indhu (Shanthi’s daughter) Baby Indra
  • Rajeswari (RK’s wife) Jahnvi
  • Joint Commissioner Vincent Retired Assistant Commissioner Afsar Babu
  • Shyam (Abhirami’s brother) Venkat
  • Jamuna Lakshmi
  • Ramya (Abhirami’s sister) Aishwarya
  • Srini (Ramya’s father-in-law Mohan Babu


  • Director: Cheyar Ravie , Nithyanandam , Viduthalai

Story

Anandham is a family drama with elements like business rivalry, murders and other intrigues typical of Tamil soaps interwoven into it. It also has several sub-plots, the most prominent of which is a romance. However, unlike the stereotypical Tamil tear-jerker, Anandham depicts successful, independent-minded women rather than women battered by husbands and mothers-in-law.

The patriarch of the family – Radhakrishnan or RK – is an eminent industrialist whose blissful existence is threatened by a series of events involving his four children. Much of the first part of the serial, launched some time in 2005, revolved around two of RK’s daughters-in-law. Shanthi, a widow with a child and married to RK’s second son, Karthik, is the quintessential do-gooder in the serial but much of her early days were consumed by her struggle to gain acceptance in the family.

Shanthi’s tribulations were multiplied by the other daughter-in-law in the family, Abhirami, who had hoped that Karthik would marry her younger sister. Actress Brinda Das, who plays Abirami, turns in a superb performance as the arch villain. Abhirami had married into the RK family primarily to seek revenge on behalf of her late father, who had led her to believe that he had been wronged by RK in business. Soon, Abhirami began to wreak havoc on the RK family, stripping it of its family home and wealth.

The tragedy of losing his family home sent RK into an ashram, where his character began to mellow. Subsequently, he reconciled with Shanthi and later accepted the remarriage of Madhan, who finally had the courage to dissolve his enforced marriage to Abhirami and return to his first love, Rohini.

A little more than a year into the serial, Abhirami, increasingly estranged from her more righteous brother and sister, discovered that she was an adopted child. A good part of the serial since that discovery involved Abhirami and her real parents trying to determine the identity of one another. Abhirami’s real parents were separated from the time she was a baby. Her mother, Muthulakshmi, had left her father, the shady businessman Snakarapandian, after discovering that he had murdered someone for business gain. Muthulakshi lost her child while trying to save herself from pursuers sent by her husband and subsequently moved to Malaysia. She has now returned in a new avatar as the business magnate Charulatha. A year on, Abhirami has reunited with her father. But her mother, who had long been yearning to be reunited with her daughter, now steadfastly refuses to accept a devious daughter.

In the latest phase of the serial, which has since been extended beyond its originally scheduled end date, the focus is again on the gathering storm in the lives of the RK family. Madhan cannot come to terms with the fact that his wife Rohini chose to pursue her ambition of becoming a bank manager and accepting a transfer to Tirupathi while his mother was lying comatose. Rohini’s inability to return to Chennai in time for her mother-in-law’s funeral added further distance between husband and wife. Rohini has since relocated back to Chennai, fearing Sankarapandian’s efforts to reunite his daughter Abhirami with her former husband.

Meanwhile, two new characters have been introduced, Manisha, the former girl-friend of Karthik while he was on army duty in Kashmir, and Rocky, their son born out of wedlock and now living in an orphanage in Chennai and closely cared for by his aunt, Karthik’s sister Anitha.

As in every long-running serial, there are many sub-plots and supporting characters in this serial. But the sub-plot that stands out and led to a spike in the serial's popularity ratings involves a romance revolving around the character of Assistant Commissioner Durai, popularly known as A C Durai by the huge fan following that the hunk Saakshi Sivaa[1] has garnered through the role. Durai is a conscientious police officer whose blind devotion to duty cost him the affections of his girl-friend Priya, who was subsequently adopted by the RK household, allowing for the seamless switch from the main story to the sub-plot. After about half a year of estrangement, the couple reunited and were set to tie the knot when jealousy set in -- Priya misinterpreted Durai’s relationship with an undercover police officer, Jamuna, masquerading as Sangkarapandian’s long-lost daughter. Durai then decided to put the marriage in abeyance until Priya gained sufficient trust in him. In the latest twist in the romance, Priya tries to demonstrate her maturity through self-sacrifice. She tries to persuade Durai to marry Jamuna, whose husband-to-be was killed by a vengeful Sankarapandian on the day of their intended marriage.

The serial is projected to run at least till the end of the year and many viewers are yearning for "anandham" through a happy ending in the saga of A. C. Durai's love life.

This serial has ended... Now this producers is starting a new serial titled Kalyanam, starring "The Eye Queen of Kollywood Meena" in the lead , Brinda Das ,Saakshi Sivaa, Delhi Kumar, Rajkanth and many more smallscreen fames.



Alli Thandha Vaanam

Alli Thandha Vaanam is a South Indian Tamil film released in 2001, starring Prabhu Deva, Murali, Laila, Poornitha, & Prakash Raj.

Plot

Satyam (Prabhu Deva) is the no-good son of billionaire Mouli. Disappointed Mouli asks Satyam to spend three months alone on the streets of Chennai to learn the value of money. He would have no money, and could not use the information of who he actually was to gain favor with anyone.

So Satyam sets out, and from the very start, meets Laila, who plays an overexuberant youth girl, who cries or laughs constantly. In the next frame, he saves Meenakshi (Neha) in the style of MGR from would-be rapists, and in the third, meets Julie (Baby Kalyani) and gets together with her. Julie has her own sad story which sounds equivalent to the far better film "Kutty." He sees Meenakshi again, and the two of them fall in love.

Julie and Satyam steal a suitcase from Madhavan (Murali) but later that night find out it is full of medicine. Without his medicine, Madhavan falls unconscious. Satyam goes to return the medicine, sees him unconscious, takes him to the hospital, and learns he is going to need five lakhs to save this man he almost inadvertently killed.

So Satyam enters the house of billionaire Rajiv, pretending to be a long-lost son. Prakash Raj as a villain who is after Mouli's money and Prabhu Deva's life.

Does Prabhu Deva learn his lesson and come out unscathed forms the rest of the movie Alli Thantha Vannam.

Track listing

  1. Kasu Kasu [Udit Narayanan, Shruti] (4:44)
  2. Kannale Miya Miya [Unni Menon, Srivardhini] (4:53)
  3. Thoum Thoum [Hariharan, K. S. Chitra] (4:57)
  4. Chikku Chikku [Tippu] (4:24)
  5. Anthi Karukkayile [Swarnalatha] (2:34)
  6. Thattan Kedakkalaiyoo [Swarnalatha] (4:26)
  7. Vadi Vadi Nattukkattai [Shankar Mahadevan, Sujatha] (3:13)
Alli Thandha Vaanam
Directed by Sridhar Prasad
Starring Prabhu Deva
Murali
Laila
Prakash Raj
Poornitha
Vivek
Mouli
Music by Vidyasagar
Country India
Language Tamil

Aalavandhan

Aalavandhan (Tamil) is a 2001 released thriller film. The film directed by Suresh Krishna, stars Kamal Haasan in a dual role, along with Raveena Tandon and Manisha Koirala as his love interests. The film's score is composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Present actor Jayam Ravi served as an assistant director.

This movie was simultaneously released in Telugu and Hindi as Abhay. The film is an adaptation of a novel called Dayam that was written by Kamal Haasan in 1984.


Plot


Kamal Haasan pictured with Manisha Koirala in the film.

Vijay (Kamal Haasan) is the commander of an anti-terrorist squad. He gets engaged to Tejaswini (Raveena Tandon) who is pregnant with their child. Vijay's brother Nandu (also played by Haasan) is psychotic and is in a mental asylum. Vijay takes Tejaswini to the asylum so that Nandu can meet her. In his delusions, Nandu decides that she is his evil stepmother. Nandu, who killed his stepmother when he was twelve, decides that he must kill Tejaswini to protect Vijay.

Nandu escapes from the asylum and begins to look for Tejaswini. In the process, he encounters drugs and kills other people under their influence. The rest of the movie deals with the encounters between Nandu and Vijay, who is determined to save his fiancee even if it means that he has to kill his brother.

Cast

  • Kamal Hassan ... Major Vijaykumar (Vijay) and Nandakumar (Nandu)
  • Raveena Tandon ... Tejaswini
  • Manisha Koirala ... Sharmilee (Cameo)
  • Vallabh Vyas ... Dr. Srinivasa Rao
  • Milind Gunaji ... Lt. Col. Santosh Kumar
  • Sarath Babu ... Tejaswini's dad
  • Anu Haasan ... Kamal's mother

Crew

  • Director: Suresh Krishna
  • Producer: Kalaipuli S. Dhanu
  • Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
  • Lyrics: Vairamuthu
  • Cinematography: Tirru
  • Editor: M. Kasi Vishwanathan
  • Background Score: Mahesh
  • Art Director: Samir Chanda
  • Stunt Coordinator: Vikram Dharma

Soundtrack

Song Singer(s)
Aalavandhan Shankar Mahadevan
Kadavul Paadhi Kamal Haasan
Africa Kaatupuli Nandini
Siri Siri Kamal Haasan, Mahalakshmi Iyer
Unazhagukku Shankar Mahadevan, Sujatha Mohan

Box Office

  • The film was a commercial failure but continued to top the year's charts grossing $5 million at the box office.
  • Jayam Ravi worked as an assistant director in this film.
Aalavandhan
Directed by Suresh Krishna
Produced by S. Thanu
Written by Kamal Haasan
Starring Kamal Haasan
Manisha Koirala
Raveena Tandon
Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Cinematography Tirru
Release date(s) 2001
Running time 178 minutes
Language Tamil
Budget $4 million

12B

12B is a 2001 Tamil movie starring Shaam, Simran Bagga, Jyothika, Vivek, Moon Moon Sen and Sunil Shetty and music composed by Harris Jeyaraj. This movie is based on 1998 English movie Sliding doors. The film is directed by cinematographer, Jeeva. This movie marks Shaam's debut as an actor. This movie was a hit. It was dubbed in Hindi as Do Raaste - 12B and released on DVD in 2005. This film was inspired by the hollywood movie Sliding Doors.


Plot

The film begins with a young man named Shakthi (Shaam) leaving his house one morning en route a job interview, when he spots a beautiful girl Jothika aka Jo (Jyothika) walking down the street and he's both attracted to and distracted by her. He begins to follow her and in the process, accidentally misses his bus and is mugged. The film then pauses at this point as a voice over begins to tell the viewer that we are about to examine how Shakthi's life will be impacted, by missing the bus or by making to the bus.

The Shakthi who makes the bus, gets to the job interview on time and gets the job of a bank manager and a beautiful young co-worker Priya (Simran Bagga) falls in love with him. The catch there is that this Shakthi is still in love with the same woman who his alternate self (who missed the bus) loves, but try as he may, something keeps preventing him from getting to her. That thing turns out to be his alternate self (that is the him who missed the bus). He is well off in life but miserable because he can't get the girl he loves.

The Shakthi who missed the bus, arrives at the interview too late and is thrown out of the bank. On his way back home, he passes by a junkyard where he spots an old friend (Vivek) who gives him a job as a mechanic and life goes on. The next day, while crossing the street, he spots the dream girl from the day before and begins to follow her again until he is able to get her attention and they begin a relationship. One day, Jo's friend (Sunil Shetty) comes to visit and it turns out he too is in love with her and wants to marry her, but the girl is so much in love with Shakthi and vice versa.

Due to some misconceptions Jo and Shakthi (who missed the bus) separate. On the other end, Priya expresses her love for Shakthi (who made it to the bus). The climax scene is cliched and Shakthi (who makes the bus) while reciprocating his love for Priya is met with an accident. At the same moment Shakthi (who missed the bus) is also grivieously hurt in the same freak accident while he tries to patch up with Jo. Shakthi and his alternate self are admitted in the hospital.

The film ends with Priya wailing over the death of Shakthi (who makes to the bus) catching a glimpse of Shakthi (who missed the bus) patching up with Jo at the hospital.

The movie started as a big hit but it was average.

Cast and crew

  • Cast : Shaam, Simran, Jyothika, Vivek, Moon Moon Sen, Sunil Shetty, Siva
  • Director : Jeeva
  • Producer : Vikram Singh
  • Music : Harris Jeyaraj
  • Cinematography: Jeeva
  • Edited by: V.T.Vijayan
  • Art Direction: Thotta Tharani
12B

12B DVD Cover
Directed by Jeeva
Produced by Vikram Singh
Written by Bhagyaraj
Starring Shaam
Simran Bagga
Jyothika
Vivek
Moon Moon Sen
Sunil Shetty
Shiva
Music by Harris Jeyaraj
Release date(s) May 15, 2001
Running time 150 min
Language Tamil

Unnai Kodu Ennai Tharuvane

Unnai Kodu Ennai Tharuvan (Tamil: உன்னை கொடு என்னை தருவேன்) (English: Give Me Yourself, And I'll Give You Me) is a Tamil film starring Ajith Kumar, Parthiban and Simran. It was released in June 2000.

Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen
Directed by Vikraman
Starring Ajith Kumar
Parthiban
Simran
Nassar
Ramesh Khanna
Release date(s) 2000
Language Tamil

Thenali

Thenali is a Tamil film which released on November 7, 2000 and was directed by K. S. Ravikumar. This film is a blatant copy of the Hollywood movie What About Bob?, and has Kamal Haasan and Jayaram playing the lead roles with female leads played by Devayani and Jyothika Saravanan. It turned out to be a box-office hit. The film also included Meena, B. H. Abdul Hameed, and director K. S. Ravikumar in cameo appearances. The film's music was scored by Academy Award-Winning composer A.R. Rahman.


Plot

Thenali (Kamal Hassan) is a man who fears anything and everything due to his earlier life in Sri Lanka. Dr. Panchabhootham (Delhi Ganesh) and his assistant (Ramesh Khanna), who are the doctors treating Thenali, are jealous of a relatively junior doctor Dr. Kailash (Jayaram) getting all the media attention. They send Thenali to Dr. Kailash because the former will make people mad because of his antics and expected him to do the same on Dr.Kailash, who is on a vacation to his home in Kodaikanal where his wife Jalaja(Devayani) and two children lived. The expected happens. Thenali falls in love with Janaki (Jyothika), the younger sister of Dr. Kailash, which was vehemently opposed by the latter. The whole film is about how Dr. Kailash goes mad with the antics of Thenali and even begins to suspect that his wife has an affair with Thenali, as she has a soft corner for the latter. He even tries to kill Thenali by tying him to a tree with a time bomb, which Thenali (not knowing it is a bomb) removes and puts it in the doctor's house, causing it to explode and Dr. Kailash, seeing this, suffers a paralytic attack.

Evantually, Thenali marries Janaki and cures Dr. Kailash through shock treatment by bringing Meena, Abdul Hameed and K.S. Ravikumar and makes Meena act as his Sri Lankan wife.

Box Office

  • The film grossed $4 million at the box office.
  • Mohanlal was originally planned to do the role, eventually done by Jayaram.[citation needed]
  • Similarly Simran Bagga was originally planned to take up the role, eventually done by Jyothika Saravanan, as the former was too busy in the industry.
  • This came after Hey Ram, which was a no-show at the box-office and huge disappointment for Kamal Hassan. Inspired by the success of Thenali, Kamal Hassan followed up on other laughter-riots Pammal K. Sambandam and Panchathanthiram.

Cast

Actor Role
Kamal Hassan Tenali Soman
Jayaram Dr. Kailash
Devayani Jalaja
Jyothika Janaki
Meena Actress Meena
Delhi Ganesh Dr. Panchabhootham

Sound Tracks

  • Athinni Chittini | Hariharan , Chitra Sivaraman, Kamal Hassan
  • Swasamae Swasamae | S.P.Balasubrahmanyam , Sadhana Sargam
  • Injiringo Injiringo | Kamal Hassan , Chitra
  • Porkalam Ingae | Srinivas , Gopika Poornima
  • Aalangatti Mazhai | Kamal Hassan, Srinivas, Sujatha
  • Thenali | Shankar Mahadevan
Thenali
Directed by K.S. Ravikumar
Produced by Sivaraj,
Venkatraj
Written by Crazy Mohan
Starring Kamal Haasan
Jayaram
Devayani
Jyothika Saravanan
Meena
Ramesh Khanna
Ravikumar
Abdul Hameed
Charle
Delhi Ganesh
Music by A.R. Rahman
Release date(s) November 7, 2000
Language Tamil

Pennin Manathai Thottu

Pennin Manathai Thottu is a South Indian Tamil film released in 2000.


Pennin Manathai Thottu

Directed by S.Ezhil
Produced by M.gajamaideen
Starring Prabhu Deva
Jaya Sheel
Sarath Kumar
Aishwarya
Kaveri
Vivek
Vaiyapuri
Mouli
Music by S. A. Rajkumar
Release date(s) 2000
Country India
Language Tamil


Parthen Rasithen

Parthen Rasithen is a Tamil movie starring Prashanth, Simran, Lawrence Raghavendra, Laila and Dhamu and music composed by Bharadwaj. The film is directed by Saran.

Storyline

After two successive hits in Kaadhal Mannan and Amarkkalam, Saran is one of the few new filmmakers with an acceptable hit ratio and is a director to be reckoned with in Kodambakkam. He keeps his reputation intact with Paarthen Rasithen, his third feature. After the hotel in Kaadhal Mannan, and the cinema theater in Amarkkalam. Saran decided that the location where the movie should be taken is on PTC buses. The movie has a good story that keeps us guessing regarding the path it is going to take, a genuinely surprising twist, some nice characterizations and good comedy. Shankar(Prashanth) is a graduate of nautical science(BSC Nautical Science), waiting for a job in the shipping industry. He is a tenant in the house of Banu(Simran), who is his good friend and confidante. They spend almost all their time together and she seeks him out as a refuge from her step brother Panneer(Raghuvaran), whom she dislikes but is forced to live together with. Shankar falls in love with Sarika(Laila). She reciprocates but problems and misunderstandings plague their romance.

After the electric trains in Alaipayuthey, its the omnipresent, green-colored PTC buses(one in particular) that serve as the carriers of love for Prashanth and Laila here. Right from their first meeting to their expression of love to their misunderstandings, the buses play an important part in their love story. These sequences are nicely done with supporting characters like Dhamu, Vaiyapuri and Fathima Babu providing nice support. Making Laila move from a ladies special to the crowded, regular bus when she wants to meet Prashanth and making her take the ladies special to express her displeasure later are clever ways Saran has used the backdrop of the buses.

Just when the movie seems to be falling into the familiar rut of lovers being separated because of silly misunderstandings, the twist rejuvenates it. It is unexpected, perfectly timed and makes us sit up. Though the remainder of the movie doesn't do full justice to the avenues opened up by this twist, the twist itself is strong enough to bring us back into the movie.

Apart from the characters of Simran and Laila, who are polar opposites of each other, Vinu Chakravarthy's foul-mouthed, hot-headed character is another interesting one. His sequences raise laughs, especially his rant at the doctor in the hospital. But the care that has gone into making these characters interesting doesn't seem to have been applied to any of the other roles. Raghuvaran's character seems rather poorly defined and Raghavendra Lawrence's villainous role loses its shine because of his exaggerated mannerisms. They should have been limited to his dance.

After a seemingly long time, the comedy here is funny without being crude, loud or vulgar. Though the initial, disconnected scenes seem like a result of bad editing, Dhamu and Vaiyapuri have several funny punchlines scattered throughout. Their schemes to trap Charlie and the ways the tables are turned on them each time are both witty and clever. But their last scheme is a straight lift from Maanaseega Kaadhal where it was Vaiyapuri who was the target of the same trick.

Simran is the star of the show here. She proved in Vaali that she was not all glamour but also had the goods when it came to acting and she cements that reputation here. Her expressive eyes speak volumes whether radiating happiness or showing fiery anger and her dialog delivery enhances her performance in the second half. Quite possibly the best performance of her career so far. She also looks beautiful, especially in the dream sequence. Prashanth has ways to go in the histrionics department but makes up for it somewhat with his stunts. Laila looks cute but is completely sidelined by Simran. I don't think she speaks more than a dozen lines in the entire movie. Bharadwaj's soundtrack is excellant and hummable.

Cast and crew

  • Cast : Prashanth, Simran Bagga, Laila, Lawrence Raghavendra, Raghuvaran, Charle, Dhamu
  • Director : Saran
  • Cinematography : a.venkatesh
  • Editing : Suresh Urs
  • Producer : Thiruvengadam
  • Music : Bharadwaj

Trivia

  • Simran Bagga's first film as villain.
  • The film was a super hit in box-office.
  • It ran for 150 days.

Parthen Rasithen
Directed by Saran
Produced by Thiruvengadam
Starring Prashanth,
Simran,
Laila
Raghuvaran
Lawrence Raghavendra
Dhamu
Charle
Music by Bharadwaj
Release date(s) 2000
Language Tamil

Palayathu Amman

Palayathu Amman (2000 film) is a 2000 Tamil religious film directed by Rama Narayanan. This movie stars Meena, Ramky,Divya Unni and Saranraj.

Plot

The film starts with a saint in a gurukulam announcing his students that Devi(Goddess)'s birth to kill the evil shall come soon. The satan(Saranraj) kills the saint but the Devi's birth is not stopped. It grows up as a child for Divya Unni and Ramky.

The child gets all kinds of harm from the Satan but the Goddess Palayathu Amman(Meena) saves it every time. At the same time, Divya Unni thinks that Meena wants to take away her child so tries to save it from her.

At last, the child is kidnapped and about to be killed when Palayathu Amman kills the Satan and returns the child to her parents.

Cast

  • Meena as Palayathu Amman
  • Baby Akshaya as the child
  • Divya Unni as Akshaya's mother
  • Ramky as Akshaya's father
  • Saranraj as Satan
  • Senthil as a devotee
  • Vivek Ulavan comedy.
Palayathu Amman
Directed by Rama Narayanan
Starring Meena
Ramki
Senthil
Divya Unni
Release date(s) 2000
Language Tamil

Paarvai Ondre Podhume

Paarvai Ondre Podhume is a South Indian Tamil film released in 2000.

Paarvai Ondre Podhume
Starring Kunal Singh
Monal Nawal
Karan
Ramji
Music by Bharani
Country India
Language Tamil

Paarvai Ondre Podhume

Paarvai Ondre Podhume is a South Indian Tamil film released in 2000.

Paarvai Ondre Podhume
Starring Kunal Singh
Monal Nawal
Karan
Ramji
Music by Bharani
Country India
Language Tamil

Mugavari

Mugavari (Tamil: முகவரி) (English: Address) is a Tamil movie starring Ajith_Kumar, Jyothika, Raghuvaran, Vivek, Cochin Haneefa, K.Vishwanath and Jai Ganesh. The music is composed by Deva. The story revolves around the conflicting emotions of ambition, love and responsibility. The film was directed by Durai.

Plot

Sridhar (Ajith_Kumar) has been trying to become a music director for eight years. In spite of having earned an M.A., his only dream is to become a music director (he even calls the eight-year wait a "penance"). His family, consisting of his father (K.Vishwanath), his brother Shiva (Raghuvaran), his sister-in-law Shantha(Sitara) and his sister (Preitha Raghav), is fully supportive of him. He runs into Viji (Jyothika) and their friendship soon blossoms into love. She helps him get a foot in the door in the industry but bad luck spoils his chances. When Viji's sister's marriage is finalised suddenly, Viji's father (Jaiganesh) asks her to get married too. But he is understandably worried when he learns that Sridhar is unemployed and following a dream that has not been realised for 8 years.Her father even offers a job to him also. But he refuses to do that since his primary goal is to become music director. The matters ends there when her father arranges marriage with some other. He fails in love. Back in Sridhar's home, Shiva suffers a heart attack. To support his family he takes up a job. But he continues with hope that in future his dream may come true. In the end, a short clip is shown of a few years later of Sridhar living his dream, implying that it finally came true.

Box Office

  • The film was a commercial success grossing $2 million at the box office.

Cast and crew

  • Cast : Ajith_Kumar, Jyothika, Vivek, Raghuvaran, K.Vishwanath, Cochin Haneefa
  • Director : Durai
  • Cinematography : Ajayan Vincent
  • Editing : B.Lenin
  • Producer : SS Chakaravarthy
  • Music : Deva
  • Written By: Balakumaran

Mugavari
Directed by Durai
Produced by Chakravarty
Written by Balakumaran
Starring Ajith_Kumar,
Jyothika,
Suchindra,
Vivek
Music by Deva
Release date(s) February 2000
Language Tamil

Minnale

Minnale (English: Lightning) (Tamil: மின்னலே) is a 2001 Tamil film written and directed by Gautham Menon. It is a stylized romantic and musical comedy. The film stars Madhavan, Abbas, Reema Sen, Vivek and Nagesh. The film's score and songs are composed by Harris


Plot

The movie opens in an engineering college in Ooty. Samuel (Abbas) is a computer engineering student, and is one of the top and good students in the college, while Rajesh (R. Madhavan) is a mechanical engineering student and is a rowdy in the college. A mutual problem between the two groups puts Sam and Rajesh at loggerheads and both of them pull pranks on each other to get the other in trouble. It culminates into a fist fight but is broken soon. They both graduate from the School soon and hope to never to see each other ever again in their lives and Samuel goes abroad for higher studies.

A few years later, Rajesh has becomes responsible and mature and has settled into a nice office job as a software engineer. Rajesh lives with his librarian grandfather Subbuni (Nagesh), who means the world to him and he even turns down a very lucrative job assignment in Singapore to be with his grandfather. Rajesh, on a trip to a friend’s wedding in Bangalore, comes across Reena (Reema Sen) and is smitten by her beauty but doesn’t get to meet her. To his pleasant surprise he sees her again in Chennai but is again unable to meet her and is disappointed.

A friend of Rajesh, Chockalingam (Vivek), spots Reena’s friend in a market one day and recognizes her from the wedding pictures in Bangalore earlier. Together with Rajesh, they pry on the girl for more information on Reena and learn her phone number and that she is engaged to be married to someone named Rajiv, whom she has never met but has only spoken on the phone. Goaded by his grandfather and his friends, Rajesh decides to enter Reena’s life pretending to be Rajiv. Within a few days of hanging out with each other, both fall in love with each other and couldn’t be happier. But before Rajesh could tell Reena the truth, the real Rajiv had come to Chennai and both their families gather together. Reena is shocked to learn that the person she loves is not Rajiv.

Rajesh comes clean with Reena and pleas to be forgiven but Reena is adamant that she doesn’t want to talk to Rajesh anymore. So Rajesh and his friends decide to meet Rajiv and ask him to break up the engagement with Reena. They are surprised to learn that Rajiv a.k.a Rajiv Samuel is the same bitter enemy of Rajiv from his College. Rajiv becomes enraged when he learns the truth but believes that Reena was duped and refuses to break up the engagement. After repeated attempts to talk to Reena fail and when Rajiv and Reena’s wedding is fixed, Rajesh sadly accepts this.

Heartbroken and unable to live in the city anymore, he accepts a low paying job overseas and plans to leave. Reena, finally realizes that even though she was duped by Rajesh, she had indeed fell in love with him. Rajiv senses this on the eve of their wedding. Just before Rajesh boards his plane, Rajiv appears and says that they are still bitter enemies but he couldn’t marry a girl who doesn’t love him. Reena appears and embraces Rajesh.

Cast and crew

Cast

  • Madhavan as Rajesh Shivakumar
  • Abbas as Rajiv Samuel
  • Reema Sen as Reena Joseph
  • Vivek as Chockalingam (Rajesh's friend)
  • Nagesh as Subbuni (Grandfather)
  • N. Krishna as a Lorry Driver

Crew

  • Director: Gautham Menon
  • Music: Harris Jayaraj
  • Cinematography: Rajasekhar
  • Editing: Suresh Urs
  • Playback Singers: Unnikrishnan, Bombay Jayashree, Harish Raghavendra

Production

  • The film was initially titled O Lala.
  • The filming was done in Chennai,Ooty and Malaysia
  • The film was later dubbed into Telugu as Cheli

Box Office

  • The film grossed $2 million at the box office.
  • This was then remade in Hindi as Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein directed by Gautham Menon and starring Madhavan, Dia Mirza and Saif Ali Khan, but apart from a few centers the film was not well received by the audience.[citation needed]
  • However, film music director Harris Jeyaraj, who made his debut in this film in both Hindi and Tamil, turned out to be the most sought after music directors in the Tamil film scene after his mesmerizing music in the films Majunu, Vettaiyadu Velaiyadu, Samy and others.[citation needed]
  • It should be noted that although the film didn't turn out to be a hit in Hindi, the music was well acclaimed by the Bollywood personalities like the director Subhash Ghai.[citation needed]
  • The director of Sillunu Oru Kaadhal, N. Krishna made a cameo appearance in the film as a lorry driver.

Soundtrack

  1. Azhagiya Theeye (Harish Raghavendra, Timmy)
  2. Iru Vizhi (Devan)
  3. Maddy Maddy (Timmy , Karthik)
  4. Nenjai Poopol (Harris Jayaraj)
  5. Oh Mama Mama (Shankar Mahadevan, Tippu)
  6. Pooppol Poopol (Tippu, Karthik)
  7. Vaseegara (Bombay Jayashri)
  8. Venmathiye Venmathiye Nillu (Roop Kumar Rathod, Tippu)
  9. Verenna Verenna Vendum (Unnikrishnan , Harini)
Minnale
Directed by Gautham Menon
Produced by Dr. Murali Manohar
Written by Gautham Menon
Vipul Shah
Starring Madhavan
Abbas
Reema Sen
Vivek
Nagesh
N. Krishna
Music by Harris Jayaraj
Release date(s) 14 February 2001
Running time 150 mins
Language Tamil

Maayi

Maayi is a South Indian Tamil film released in 2000.Recent Tamil movies have tried to incorporate twists and suspense and surprise endings in an effort to lure people into the theatres. Among such movies, SuperGood Films Maayi stands out solely because it is so ordinary and unremarkable. The movie succeeds in presenting a memorable character but doesn't go much further. Satisfying fans of Sarathkumar by giving him a strong role and highlighting the good qualities of the man he portrays seems to be the only aim of the movie. There is almost no story to speak of and a flashback with an overload of sentiments is the only substantial portion in the movie.'Kakka' Radhakrishnan also takes part in these proceedings. S.A.Rajkumar's tunes are pleasant.

Plot

Maayi (Sarathkumar) is the well-respected, do-gooder in the village. He sees women in the village as his sisters and even conducts their marriages. He is a man who is ready to kill his father(Vijayakumar) when he learns that he had a second wife. But the father opts to kill himself rather than face his son and so, Maayi brings his stepsister Lakshmi (Suvalakshmi) to live with him. When the local MLA(Rajan. P. Dev) comes to him for support, he refuses and the MLA loses the election. But his son(Anand), who admires Maayi, marries Lakshmi. Meanwhile Bhuvaneswari (Meena), Maayi's sister's daughter, who comes to the village from Bangalore, wishes to marry him. Revealing his sad past, Maayi tells her why he can never think of marrying any woman.

Sarathkumar carries the movie very well on his shoulders. The close cropped hair, twirled moustache and casually tied dhoti suit him very well and even his posture while sitting or walking seems studied and invokes respect. Maayi becomes Maayaandi when provoked and Sarathkumar performs both sides of the character with aplomb. His reasons for always sitting on the ground and drinking only 'koozhu' are delivered well and are impressive. But his larger-than-life role results in the others in the cast barely making an impression. Meena also has performed very well in this movie like Sarathkumar

Sarathkumar making such a strong impression may also be because the rest of the movie is so weak. Most of the movie is nothing but a string of incidents, each of which brings out one more side of the too-good-to-be-true Maayi. His visit to the collector's office helps explain why he always sits on the ground while Indu's wedding proves his brotherly ties to women in his village. We also have a corrupt policeman so Sarathkumar can flex his muscles in a fight sequence(the actor who loses his money in this sequence makes an impression in spite of having just this one scene).

The flashback, supposedly a true incident from the past, is very touching. The plight of the mother is very sad and the moment when her son asks her to hug him melts our hearts. Though Master Mahendran overacts, the whole sequence is quite powerful. Though the reason why the happenings in the flashback should make Sarathkumar decide not to marry is not instantly clear, his explanation makes it believable. The same effect is not delivered by the climax. It seems rushed and too convenient.

The comedy is a situations that end up in Vadivelu once again being at the receiving end of blows from 'Kovai' Sarala. The first sequence where Vadivelu visits a girl's house raises some laughs but the quality goes downhill from there.

Later Meena was forced to married another guy. But during the marriage the guys family misunderstood that Meena and Sarthkumar are lovers and stopped the marriage. In the end; Sarathkumar married Meena.

Cast

Actor Role
Sarathkumar Maayaandi as Maayi
Meena Bhuvaneswari
Suvalakshmi Lakshmi
Vijayakumar Father of Maayi
Manorama
Vadivelu
Kovai Sarala

Soundtrack

Nilaave Vaan Nilaave - Sujatha


Thennagam Aallum - SP. Balasubramaniam


Megam Udaiyuthe - Rajesh, Janaki


Sooriyane - Janaki


Oley Oley - Arun Mozhi, Swarnalatha


Maayi
Directed by Surya Prakash
Produced by R. B. Chowdry
Starring Sarath Kumar
Meena
Vadivelu
Manorama
Kovai Sarala
Music by S A Rajkumar
Release date(s) 2000
Country India
Language Tamil

Kushi

Kushi (English: Happy) is a Tamil movie of 2000, starring Vijay and Jyothika.


Plot

The story opens in Calcutta where a boy, Shiva (Vijay) is born to a wealthy couple, a Tamilian father and a Bengali mother. After many close-up shots of a woman in labour, the camera shifts to a village in Tamil Nadu, where a baby girl Jennifer (Jyothika) is born in a middle class Christian family. After some encounters when they are too young to be aware of each other, they finally meet in Madras Christian College. Though having feelings for each other, their own egos prevent them from expressing these feelings and finally even cause them to fight and split. But the need to unite another couple, whose union is being opposed by the girl's father, forces them to work with each other. In the end, they reunite and the scene closes with an on-screen lip-to-lip kiss.

Cast

Actor Role
Vijay Shiva
Jyothika Jennifer (Jenny), Selvi
Vivek Vicky
Nizhalgal Ravi Shiva's Dad
Shilpa Shetty Special appearance in the song Macorina
Shaam Friend

Soundtrack

There 6 songs composed by Deva

  • Macarena Macarena - Devan, Sowmya, SJ. Suryah
  • Megam Karukuthu - Harini
  • Mottu Onru - Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam
  • Kattipudi Kattipudida - Shankar Mahadevan, Vasundhara Das, Ganga, Sri Ram
  • Oh Vennila - Unnikrishnan, Anuradha Sriram [this is a copy of the song 'Canção do Mar' by Dulce Pontes]
  • Oru Ponnu Onnu - Hariharan, Anuradha Sriram


Awards

Jyothika won the Filmfare award for the Best Character Artist for this movie

Box Office

  • The film grossed 60 crores at the box office.
  • The film was remade into Telugu of the same name starring Pawan Kalyan and Bhoomika Chawla. It was remade into Hindi (2003). The name is also the same and the main characters are Kareena Kapoor and Fardeen Khan.

Kannukkul Nilavu

Kannukkul Nilavu (English: The Moon in my Eyes) is a 2000 Indian Tamil language film starring Joseph Vijay, Raghuvaran, Srividya, Kaveri and Shalini. [1]


Plot

Gautam Prabhakar (Vijay) is searching for Gayathri (Kaveri), who was an innocent girl that kept coming to him for help of many sorts. He comes across Surya and Chandra (Charlie and Dhamu) and Hema (Shalini). They try to cheat Gautam (like many others) but fail in doing so. Hema finally realizes that he may actually have a disease. She and her father, Dr. Rajsekhar (Raghuvaran) try to help him out. After examing his subconscious mind, Raghuvaran finds out that he's suffering from split personality and has forgotten a lot of things. Raghuvaran finds out that he has not come to Pondicherry in search of Gayathri but he's looking for Shanmugham ("Thalaivasal" Vijay) and his two friends, Sounder and Prakash ("Nizhagal" Ravi) whom Gautam feels have killed Gayatri, but who is actually still alive. Hema and her father don't cure Gautam right away, fearing that he may become incurable if he realizes the truth and becomes a killing maniac. Hema falls in love with Gautam. His mother (Srividhya) is worried about her son's situation, so she comes to where he is at. Because of the love shown by his mother, Gautam slowly recovers all the missing details about why and how he got to where he is. He sets off to kill the three people and succeeds in gathering two of them. However, due to him wanting all three of dead at once and a plan made by the entire crew, Gautam realizes the truth. Gautam starts a new life with Hema after his mother and her father's acceptance.

Soundtrack

  • Oru Naal Oru Kanavu I - K. J. Yesudas, Anuradha Sriram
  • Nilavu Paatu - Hariharan
  • Roja Poonthotam - P. Unni Krishnan, Anuradha Sriram
  • Adida Melathai - S. P. Balasubramaniam, S. N. Surendar, Arun Mozhi
  • Sinnan Chiru - K. S. Chitra
  • Enthan Kuyil - P. Unni Krishnan, Anuradha Sriram
  • Iravu Pagalai - K. J. Yesudas
  • Oru Naal Oru Kanavu II - K. J. Yesudas
  • Iravu Pagalai in movie - Joseph Vijay
  • Sinnan Chiru in movie - Joseph Vijay

Kannukkul Nilavu

Official DVD Box Cover
Directed by Fazil
Produced by Mohan Natarajan
Starring Vijay
Raghuvaran
Srividya
Shalini
Kaveri
Charle
Music by Ilayaraja
Release date(s) IndiaJanuary 14, 2000
Running time 170 min
Country India
Language Tamil

Kandukonden Kandukonden

Kandukondain Kandukondain (Tamil: கண்டுகொண்டேன் கண்டுகொண்டேன்) (English: I Have Found It) is a 2000 Tamil musical and romantic film. Directed and co-written by Rajiv Menon and produced by Kalaipuli S. Dhanu, it stars Ajith Kumar, Abbas, Mammooty, Tabu and Aishwarya Rai in the lead roles. Srividya and Raghuvaran, prominent actors from the south Indian film industry, played other pivotal roles in the movie. Vikram, Revathi & Jayageetha has dubbed for actor Abbas, Tabu and Aishwarya Rai respectively.

The film is based around, Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility and features two young sisters with differing views on love who find themselves with three suitors. The elder sister attracts the attention of an aspiring film director, while a wounded commando falls for her younger, hopelessly romantic sister but hesitates because he is much older than she. Meanwhile, the younger sister meets and falls for a businessman with a passion for poetry. However problems lap up from different directions, resulting in emotional turmoil for both sisters. Whom the sisters marry at the end of the film form the crux of the story.

The film opened to Indian audiences after several delays, on May 4, 2000 just after the Tamil New Year, and in the process became one of the biggest multi-starrers in Tamil cinema history. The film received positive reviews on the actors' performances and the complex storyline, with the film went on to become a major hit at the South Indian box office. Owing to its success, it was later dubbed into the Telugu language and released as Priyuraalu Pilichindi. Scored by A. R. Rahman, it spawned a successful soundtrack. Furthermore, the film went on to win several awards in different competitions, with Shankar Mahadevan winning a National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer in the process.


Synopsis

Sowmiya (Tabbu) and Meenakshi aka Meenu (Aishwarya Rai) are the two daughters of Lakshmi (Srividya). Sowmiya is a literate who is a principal in a school in her village. Meenakshi knows music and dance. She is fond of poetry. The other rich man in meenu's village is Major Bala (Mammooty). He falls in love with Meenu. But Meenu falls in love with Srikanth (Abbas). Manohar (Ajith Kumar) is a director who comes to Meenu's house for a shooting. He falls in love with Sowmya and Sowmya too falls in love with Manohar. He convinces Sowmya to wait to be married until the direction of his first film. After their grandfather's death, Sowmya and her family moved away to Chennai. In Chennai, Sowmya finds a respectable job in a software company while Meenu became a playback singer. At the same time, Srikanth's financial company faces a loss and he has to return the money to the depositors. He has to marry a minister's daughter to get the money back. After knowing this, Meenu falls in a ditch and was rescued by Bala. Realizing that Bala truly loves her, Meenu falls in love with him. Meanwhile, Manohar is directing his first film. The heroine in the film is Nandhini Varma and people spread the news that Nandhini Varma and Manohar have fallen in love. His first film is a big commercial success, so he goes to Sowmya's house in Chennai. He finds that Sowmya is going to California. When Manohar is going out of Sowmya's flat he sees her on the balcony. He asks her to marry him and she agrees. Meenu's marriage and Sowmya's marriage takes place in the same day.

Cast and characters

As per other Rajiv Menon films, the supporting cast was extensive with several guest appearances by artists like A. R. Rahman.

  • Mammooty as Bala, who has lost his leg in an army mission in Sri Lanka and uses a wooden leg. His drinking habits, make him unpopular initially but his kind-hearted work and his occupation of being a florist help attract Meenakshi. He carries love for her and is annoyed with Srikanth, but opts to help her out then nurse his own ambitions.
  • Ajith Kumar as Manohar, a film director, who opts not to continue his father's business despite having studied in America. He is determined to direct his own feature film, but his relationship with Sowmiya slows him down, prompting the couple to quarrel and have misunderstandings.
  • Abbas as Srikanth, a prominent Indian businessman, who like Meenakshi has a passion for claasical music. He first appears as a "dream boy" to Meenakshi, only to marry a mortgager's daughter, after his business nearly collapses.
  • Aishwarya Rai as "Meenakshi", a loving and an optimistic young woman, who aspires to become a singer. Furthermore, her passions include poems of Bharathi, a famous Tamil poet. She has ambitions of how her husband should be and is surprised to find that Srikanth fits the bill.
  • Tabu as Sowmiya, the responsible elder sister of Meenakshi and Kamala, who is branded as being "unlucky" for prospective grooms, following the death of her fiance. Despite opting to avoid marriage altogether, she begins an emotional topsy-turvy relationship with Manohar.
  • Srividya as Mahalakshmi, the mother of Sowmiya and Meenakshi, who lives as a widow with her father, estranged from her brother.
  • Raghuvaran as the boss of Sowmiya, who helps her regain confidence in life, by offering her a place in an American company.
  • Manivannan as Sivagnanam, Plays the uncle to Bala, who tries to help him get together with Meenakshi. Provides comic relief.
  • Shamili as Kamala, the youngest sister of Sowmiya and Meenakshi who has a passion for science.
  • Pooja Batra as Nandhini Verma, the actress who has a crush on Manohar.
  • Dino Morea as Vinod, the guy who wanted to get married to Meenakshi, but she refused his offer.

Production

Development

Prabhu Deva who had worked earlier in Rajiv Menon's debut fillm Minsara Kanavu introduced Kalaipuli S. Thanu to Rajiv Menon, in mid 1998. Initially the film was planned as a low budget film, concentrating more on the characters rather than "star" power. Rajiv Menon practically met all the leading ladies of Tamil and malayalam cinema at that time. But it was Tabu who agreed almost instantly. So did Ajith, who, at that time, was hospitalised with a back injury and didn't have any great offers. Rajiv Menon met Aishwarya Rai in Mumbai and narrated her the script, to which she readily agreed. It just happened that she had some dates free and it was then in February 1999, producer Kalaipuli S. Dhanu announced the film Kandukondain Kandukondain, with Rajiv Menon making his second appearance as a director. As like his previous film, A. R. Rahman was signed onto compose the music to Vairamuthu's lyrics. Sujatha Rangarajan wrote the dialogues for the film, while Menon decided not to serve as the film's cinematographer, allowing Ravi K. Chandran to handle the camera. Choreography duties were shared between Brinda and Raju Sundaram, whilst, Vikram Dharma handled the stunts in the movie. Most of the shooting is done on location in Karaikudi. The script was an Indian version of Jane Austen's novel, Sense and Sensibility, more precisely an adaptation of Ang Lee's 1995 film version of Sense and Sensibility, which had won an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium for Emma Thompson. But nowhere in the credits does one see any acknowledgment of the fact that the story is an adaptation for Jane Austen's novel. In fact, Rajiv Menon takes this credit for himself. This may be due to the fact that while the broad structure of the story does follow the outline of the Austen plot, there are major variations in the Indian version making it a very different work.

Almost all leading actors were approached for various roles in the movie, finally Mammootty and Ajith Kumar were given lead roles in the film while Abbas was in a supporting role after Prabhu Deva and then Prashanth opted out of the film.[2] Senior actor Srividya was selected to play the mother of the heroines, whilst Manivannan, Raghuvaran and Nizhagal Ravi were also given senior roles in the film. Shamili, Ajith's sister-in-law, made her first appearance as an actress since her National Award-winning role in Anjali, whilst Bollywood actors Pooja Batra and Dino Morea appeared in cameos. Menon's mother, Kalyani Menon, noted music director, A. R. Rahman and Malaysia Vasudevan Gangai Amaran all made cameo appearances as themselves in the project.

Soundtrack

Kandukondain Kandukondain
Soundtrack by A. R. Rahman
Released 2000 (India)
Recorded Panchathan Record Inn
Genre Film soundtrack
Label Sa Re Ga Ma
Producer A. R. Rahman
A. R. Rahman chronology
Alaipayuthey
2000
Kandukondain Kandukondain
2000
Rhythm
2000
Song Artist(s)
Enna Solla Pogirai Shankar Mahadevan
Smayiyai Devan, Clinton Cerejo, Dominique Cerejo
Kanamoochi K. S. Chithra
Suttum Vizhi Hariharan
Konjum Mainakkale Sadhana Sargam
Kanamoochi (Duet) K. S. Chithra, K. J. Yesudas
Yengae Enathu Kavithai K. S. Chithra, Srinivas
Kandukondain Kandukondain Hariharan, Mahalakshmi Iyer

Credits

Cast

  • Ajith as Manohar (Edward Ferrars )
  • Mammootty as Bala (Colonel Brandon from Sense and Sensibility)
  • Tabu as Sowmya (Elinor Dashwood)
  • Aishwarya Rai as Meenakshi (Marianne Dashwood )
  • Abbas as Srikanth (John Willoughby)
  • Pooja Batra as Nandini Varma
  • Dino Morea as Vinod
  • Srividya as Mahalakshmi (Mrs. Dashwood)
  • Raghuvaran as Sowmya's Boss
  • Manivannan as Bala's Friend ( Sir John Middleton )
  • Nizhalgal Ravi as Mahalakshmi's brother (John Dashwood )
  • A. R. Rahman as Himself (Special Appearance)

Crew

  • Director: Rajiv Menon
  • Screenplay: Rajiv Menon
  • Story: Rajiv Menon
  • Dialogue: Sujatha Rangarajan
  • Producer: A. M. Ratnam & Kalaippuli S. Dhanu
  • Music: A. R. Rahman
  • Cinematography: Ravi K. Chandran
  • Editor: Suresh Urs, Antony
  • Art Director: R.K. Nagu, Sabu Cyril
  • Choreography: Rekha Prakash, Brinda & Raju Sundaram
  • Lyrics: Vairamuthu
  • Stunts: Vikram Dharma

Box office

The film grossed $4.5 million at the box office.

Awards

Shankar Mahadevan won a Silver Lotus Award for Best Male Playback Singer for the song "Illai, Illai, Solla Oru Kananu Ponthum".


Kandukondain Kandukondain
Directed by Rajiv Menon
Produced by Kalaipuli S. Dhanu
A.M. Rathnam
Written by Story
Jane Austen
Dialogue
Sujatha Rangarajan
Screenplay
Rajiv Menon
Starring Mammootty
Ajith Kumar
Aishwarya Rai
Abbas
Tabu
Srividya
Raghuvaran
Manivannan
Shamili
Nizhalgal Ravi
Music by A. R. Rahman
Cinematography Ravi K. Chandran
Editing by Suresh Urs
Anthony
Release date(s) May 4, 2000 (2000-05-04)
Running time 151 min.
Country India[1]
Language Tamil