| Jeans | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Shankar |
| Screenplay by | Shankar |
| Story by | Shankar |
| Dialogues by | |
| Produced by | Ashok Amritraj Dr. Murali Manohar |
| Starring | Prashanth Aishwarya Rai |
| Cinematography | Ashok Kumar |
| Edited by | B. Lenin V. T. Vijayan |
| Music by | A. R. Rahman |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 172 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
| Budget | ₹20crore[1] |
Jeans is a 1998 IndianTamil-languageromantic comedy film written and directed byShankar, and produced byAshok Amritraj andMurali Manohar. The film starsPrashanth andAishwarya Rai in the lead roles, whileLakshmi,Radhika Sarathkumar,Nassar,Senthil andRaju Sundaram play supporting roles. The background score and soundtrack were composed byA. R. Rahman, whileAshok Kumar and the duoB. Lenin andV. T. Vijayan handled the cinematography and editing, respectively.
Jeans released on 24 April 1998 and was themost expensive film to be made in Indian cinema at that time. The film won fourTamil Nadu State Film Awards, theFilmfare Award for Best Music Director – Tamil (Rahman) and theNational Film Award for Best Special Effects. It was also India'sofficial submission for theAcademy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Nachiappan is a widowed, wealthy, and successfulIndian American restaurateur based inLos Angeles. He has two sons – Viswanathan "Visu" and Ramamoorthy "Ramu" – who are identical twins. They both are medical students and spend their evenings helping out their father alongside the restaurant's chief cook, Juno. One evening, when Visu & Ramu go tothe airport to do their lunch supply, Visu sees an Indian Tamil family fromChennai – Madhumitha "Madhu", her younger brother Madhesh, and their grandmother Krishnaveni – having some problems with the immigration authorities. Visu pitches in to help and learns that they just flew in from India so that Krishnaveny can undergo a surgery to remove her brain tumour. After many confusions, the trio meets with Ramu also. The twins arrange for the three to reach their host.
Krishnaveni is admitted in the hospital where Visu works as aresident doctor and the surgery is performed. Visu soon realises that Krishnaveni is paralysed as she was operated on the wrong side of her brain due to a mix-up with another patient. He appeals aggressively to the doctors and has the error corrected by another surgery, then spearheads an angry fight for compensation. The hospital compensates US$2 million to avoid a court case. Due to these actions, Madhu soon falls in love with Visu.
Krishnaveni soon realises that Madhu and Visu are in love and extends the family's stay in the US by lying that she has a headache. However, Nachiappan objects to the romance as he wants his sons to marry identical twin girls. In a flashback, it is revealed that Nachiappan had an identical twin brother Pechiappan, who lives inKaraikudi and is a simpleton. They both married for love in their youth, but Pechiappan's wife Sundarambal tortured and abused Nachiappan's pregnant wife Meiyaththa so badly that the latter died after giving birth to Visu and Ramu. Nachiappan eventually left the house along with Visu and Ramu to prevent Pechiappan and Sundarambal from separating over Meiyaththa's death.
Krishnaveni decides to solve the problem by lying to Nachiappan that Madhu does have an identical twin named Vaishnavi, who was raised separately in an orthodox Brahmin household. The reason for their separation is claimed that "having twins would bring bad luck on their family". Nachiappan falls for the lie and leaves for India along with Visu, Ramu, Juno, Krishnaveni, Madhu and Madhesh in order to "meet" Vaishnavi and fix the marriages of Visu and Ramu with Madhu and Vaishnavi respectively. Krishnaveni has Madhu pose as Vaishnavi, who contrary to Madhu, is very demure and traditional in nature. Ramu immediately falls for the act, unaware that Vaishnavi is Madhu. Meanwhile, Pechiappan, whose marriage with Sundarambal has worsened due to the latter's inability to have children, attempts suicide. Nachiappan rescues him and hatches a plan to unite both the families through Visu's and Ramu's marriage plan. Nachiappan impersonates Pechiappan and leaves for Karaikudi, where with his business sense and practical nature, he rescues Pechiappan's failing restaurant business and eventually reforms Sundarambal as well. Pechiappan takes Nachiappan's place and stays with Visu and Ramu.
Eventually, Madhu, realising that Ramu is madly in love with her alter-ego, decides to stop acting as Vaishnavi as she feels she is hurting Ramu's as well as Visu's feelings through her act. Visu too finds out in parallel that Vaishnavi does not exist. Before Madhu can reveal the truth to Visu, he suddenly yells at her for deceiving him and subsequently immediately leaves her house along with his family, but Ramu tells Visu that Madhu had lied to him due to her love towards him and convinces him to reconcile with her. Ramu further manages to convince his father, unaware that he is his uncle Pechiappan, to get Visu and Madhu married. Pechiappan immediately agrees the marriage. When Nachiappan realises the truth and finds out that Visu and Madhu are getting married, he immediately rushes to Chennai with Sundarambal and stops the wedding. At this point, it is revealed that both Nachiappan and Pechiappan had impersonated each other in order to reunite both the families. Sundarambal manages to convince Nachiappan to get Visu and Madhu married since Madhu, by posing as Vaishnavi, had done the same thing that Nachiappan and Pechiappan did. Left with no choice, Nachiappan agrees the marriage of Visu and Madhu. Later, at their reception, Madhesh entertains the couple and guests with computer-generated special effects.
The concept of the lead actor playing multiple roles in the film was common in Tamil cinema withRajinikanth doing so inMoondru Mugam (1982) andKamal Haasan in some films. However, unlike those films, Jeans was regarded as an oddity in the sense that the conservative Ramamoorthy character was not well written and did not have a defined purpose.[2]
Made on a then-record budget of₹20 crore (equivalent to₹90 crore or US$11 million in 2023), the film was completed in a year and a half.Jeans, unlike Shankar's other films, was the first to be shot outside of India for major portions of the film. The producers of the film wereAshok Amritraj andJ. Murali Manohar, both of whom made theirTamil film debuts withJeans.[8] Amritraj did not work on any Tamil film afterwards.[9] The film reunited Shankar with his award-winning technical crew from his previous filmIndian, whilst the cast was finalised by him after he had completed the story.[10]
A difference of opinion exists regarding how the film got its name. According to Amritraj, the titleJeans was selected due to being ahomophone of "genes", and "seem[ed] very appropriate to the movie",[10] while Shankar said, "Young people are associated with denim wear and soJeans is an apt title".[8]
The film's launch was held at theAVM Studios inVadapalani,Chennai in December 1996. TheJeans invitation was printed, wrapped in denim and hand-delivered by Shankar to his close colleagues and friends in Chennai, which included prominent actors in the Tamil film industry.[11] The cast and crew of the film wore their favourite pair of blue jeans to the launch, as requested by the film's producers.[11]
The original actor considered for the dual roles of Viswanathan and Ramamoorthy wasAbbas, who opted out due to call sheet problems.[11][12] The role eventually went toPrashanth, who sacrificed seven films in the process, and chose to work exclusively on the project during the period.[11]Aishwarya Rai,Miss World 1994, was the next choice for the roles of Madhumitha and Vaishnavi and collaborated with Shankar after she had been unable to work with him in his previous ventureIndian.[11] Rai initially attempted to dub in her own voice,[8] but was later dubbed over bySavitha Radhakrishnan.[13] The supporting cast includedSenthil andRaju Sundaram, with the latter making his debut as an actor. Prominent supporting actressesLakshmi andRadhika were signed up for the film, whilstGeetha agreed to appear in a guest appearance. Another supporting role was taken byS. Ve. Sekhar after playback singerS. P. Balasubrahmanyam opted out of the role.[11] Shankar wantedGoundamani to appear in a dual role, but due to the actor's unavailability, the genre of the film was changed from comedy to romance; the roles offered to Goundamani went toNassar.[14][15]
The other substitution in the project involved the cinematographer. Despite reports that Shankar would again sign-onJeeva, whom he had worked withinKaadhalan,Gentleman andIndian,Santhosh Sivan was announced as the cinematographer for the film. Though between the time of the announcement and the finishing stages of the film, cinematographerAshok Kumar was publicised as the official cinematographer for the film. In mid-1997, theFilm Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI) went on strike and in the midst of this, the film's art directorThota Tharani, a FEFSI supporter, refused to sacrifice his position in FEFSI and stopped working inJeans.[11] Without much choice, Shankar signed a newcomer Bala to take over the set design and artwork for the film. The film's art direction is credited to both Thota Tharani and Bala.S. T. Venky was signed up to deal with the special effects in the film, withJeans. The film also was assisted in graphics effects created byPentafour Software.[11]
The actual present scenes of the story are filmed in United States and fewTamil Nadu cities especially inChennai,Karaikudi andMadurai. the fantasy song scenes set in the United States, the team toured various American cities with a tour party of 35 technicians, including eight fromHollywood.[16] The initial scenes of the Nachiyappan family's catering company were filmed inLas Vegas, whilst other scenes were shot in California at theUniversal Studios, where the shooting of foreign films is usually not permitted. However, with influence from the film's producer Ashok Amritraj they were able to obtain special permission to film a few scenes inside. Besides theKing Kong set,Jeans was also shot in the "simulated earthquake experience" sets.[11]
The filming in Los Angeles received much publicity as well as the filming at theGrand Canyon inArizona. OtherJeans shooting locations in the United States of America included theValley of Fire,Manhattan Beach, Malibu Lake and many scenic spots throughout California. Scenes canned at the Los Angeles International Airport featured local actors as customs officers.[11] The song "Columbus" was picturised at the shores ofVenice Beach, California with some foreign male and female dancers.[11] The song was named afterChristopher Columbus and was described as "a pastiche ofMTV music videos andBaywatch".[17] Shankar also filmed inNew Jersey and New York City at theWorld Trade Center when co-producer Michael Salomon and his wife,Luciana Paluzzi visited the sets ofJeans.[11] The subplot about a botched brain surgery was noted by some critics to have been inspired by a true incident involving actressSridevi's mother, though the makers did not confirm this.[18]
After a 45-day schedule in the United States, Shankar and the team returned to India to film a couple of scenes in the climax. The team then visited several other countries to picturise the song "Poovukkul", with featured scenes with seven prominent buildings in the world, dubbing Rai as the "eighth wonder of the world".[8] Shankar admitted that due to no real list being present, thought had been put into which wonders were selected.[19] The team made a thirty-day trip around the world stopping to can scenes at theLeaning Tower of Pisa, theEmpire State Building, theGreat Wall of China, theTaj Mahal, theEgyptian pyramids, theColosseum and theEiffel Tower.[20] Prashanth's costumes for this song were designed byAnu Parthasarathy.[21]
During the shooting in Paris,Diana, Princess of Wales haddied and shooting was delayed as a result of her death.[11] The team initially wanted to capture a top angle shot of theStatue of Liberty which got cancelled due to snowfalls in afternoon.[22] For the song "Anbe Anbe", Kasi designed the costumes of Rai based on the paintings drawn byRaja Ravi Varma as suggested by Shankar.[23] That song was shot on an elaborate set with hundreds of actors and according to Ashok Kumar, "Ten generators were put to use, and we did special lighting, deliberately exaggerating the reds, yellows and blues with fog and smoke effects".[24] Three weeks prior to the release of the film, on 1 April 1998 a screening was held labelled theMaking of Jeans with prominent personalities invited; however, the short film showed the real manufacture of jeans courtesy of a company named Diana Garments. The prank was claimed by a Tamil journal who utilised anApril Fools joke.[19]
The soundtrack ofJeans was composed byA. R. Rahman, with lyrics byVairamuthu for all songs[25] The song "Anbe Anbe" is set to the ragaKapi,[26] "Kannodu Kanbathellam" is set toAbheri,[27][28] "Poovukkul" is set toSankarabharanam,[29] and "Varayo Thozhi" is set toMohanam.[30] The audio launch took place in March 1998. To make the audio cassettes more "elegant and memorable", cassette store owners were told to wrap the cassettes in jeans clothing before giving them to customers.[31]
All lyrics are written byVairamuthu.
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Enakke Enakka (Hairabba)" | Unnikrishnan, S. P. B. Pallavi | 6:39 |
| 2. | "Columbus Columbus" | A. R. Rahman | 4:29 |
| 3. | "Poovukkul Olinthirukkum (Adhisayam)" | Unnikrishnan,Sujatha Mohan | 6:48 |
| 4. | "Kannodu Kaanbadhellam" | Nithyasree Mahadevan | 4:52 |
| 5. | "Varayo Thozhi" | Sonu Nigam,Shahul Hameed,Harini, Sangeetha Rajeshwaran | 5:46 |
| 6. | "Anbe Anbe" | Hariharan,Anuradha Sriram | 5:06 |
| 7. | "Love Theme" | Harini,Anupama,Febi Mani | 2:01 |
| 8. | "Punnagayil Thee Mooti" | Hariharan | 2:27 |
All tracks are written byA. M. Rathnam and Siva Ganesh.
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hayirabba" | P. Unnikrishnan, S. P. B. Pallavi | 6:39 |
| 2. | "Columbus Columbus" | A. R. Rahman | 4:29 |
| 3. | "Poovullo" | P. Unnikrishnan,Sujatha Mohan | 6:48 |
| 4. | "Kannulatho Choseve" | Nithyasree Mahadevan | 4:52 |
| 5. | "Raave Naa Chaliyaa" | Sonu Nigam,Shahul Hameed,Harini, Sangeetha Rajeshwaran | 5:46 |
| 6. | "Priya Priya Champodde" | Srinivas | 5:06 |
| 7. | "Gundello Gayanni" | Srinivas | 2:27 |
All tracks are written byJaved Akhtar.
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hai Rabba" | Udit Narayan,Kavita Krishnamurthy | 6:39 |
| 2. | "Columbus Columbus" | Sonu Nigam, Raqueeb Alam | 4:29 |
| 3. | "Ajooba" | Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam | 6:48 |
| 4. | "Kehta Hai Mera" | Kavitha Krishnamurthy | 4:52 |
| 5. | "Kehne Do Dadi" | Sonu Nigam,Kavita Paudwal,Sukhwinder Singh, Sangeetha | 5:46 |
| 6. | "Tauba Tauba" | Hariharan,Anuradha Sriram | 5:06 |
Jeans had a limited release on 14 April 1998,[19] and a wide release on 24 April.[31] With 240 prints, it holds the 1998 record for a Tamil film.[35][31][36] The team also released 35 prints of the film in Malaysia, a record at the time.[37] The film completed 100 days of screening in the theatres in the state ofTamil Nadu, and the Tamil version was commercially successful.[38][39][40] Shankar later revealed that the film's box office performance improved with time.[41] The film performed well in Malaysia, running for over 100 days in cinemas.[42] The reason for the film's success was attributed to theTamil Nadu government's ability to fight piracy.[43] The film was dubbed in Telugu asJeans and released on 9 May 1998,[44] which was also commercially successful.[45] The film was later dubbed that same year and released in Hindi under the same title,[46] which performed poorly at the Mumbai box office.[47]
Rajitha fromRediff.com praised the characters of Prashanth, Aishwarya Rai and Nassar as "ever dependable", whilst singling out praise for Radhika whom she describes that " with her startling cameo, sweeps the acting honours". The reviewer praised the technical crew describing Venky's FX as a "virtual reality", Ashok Kumar's cinematography as "throughout and outstanding", Raju Sundaram's choreography as "memorable" and A. R. Rahman's score as "entirely hummable". Shankar's directorial attributes were described to be to a "perfect flow of narrative and a penchant for demanding and getting perfection out of every element of his cast and crew" and that the film was an "easy fit".[18] V. Maheshwara Reddy ofThe Indian Express called the film a "hilarious comedy" and drew significant praise to the performance of Aishwarya Rai and the music of Rahman.[3]
D. S. Ramanujam ofThe Hindu said, "Many historic landmarks in the world are captured, and director Shanker employs all these factors gainfully in Amritraj Solomon Communications'Jeans, but gives a go-by to the storyline (story and screenplay are also his)".[5] VRR ofDeccan Herald described the film as a "colossal waste", criticising Shankar's story and direction and the performances of Prashanth and Lakshmi.[48] R. P. R. ofKalki wrote Shankar in this film may have understood how the story can get bogged down if there is too much desire to scare with grandeur and felt love between Prashanth and Aishwarya and relationship between brothers has been needlessly dragged though he praised Rahman's music; however he felt the cinematographer failed to capture locations thrillingly.[49]
Regarding the Telugu dubbed version, Giddaluri Gopalrao ofZamin Ryot wrote that with all of the special features and full commercial value, this film is diverse, quirky and entertaining.[50] A critic fromAndhra Today wrote, "Had it been supported by a good story, it would have been a great movie".[51]
Jeans wassubmitted by India as its entry for theBest Foreign Language Film for the71st Academy Awards,[52] but did not make the final shortlist. The decision to submitJeans met with widespread criticism as it was seen as a populist film.[53][54][55][56][57] The film won fourTamil Nadu State Film Awards: Best Comedian (Senthil), Best Female Playback Singer (Nithyasree Mahadevan), Best Choreographer (Raju Sundaram) and Best Costume Designer (Kasi).[58] It also won theFilmfare Award for Best Music Director – Tamil (Rahman),[59] and theNational Film Award for Best Special Effects.[60]
In November 2013, Prashanth announced that he had registered the titleJeans 2 and was completing the pre-production works of a sequel to the 1998 film. The film was set to be directed and produced by Prashanth's fatherThiagarajan, who revealed that production would begin in May 2014 and that they were trying to bring members of the original team back for the venture.[61][62] In January 2014, Ashok Amritraj stated that he was not involved in the sequel and questioned the viability of the project, citing that he did not believe that Prashanth and his father had the rights to make a sequel.[63] In February 2016, Prashanth reaffirmed that the sequel was in development.[64]
