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| Nanban | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Shankar |
| Screenplay by | |
| Dialogues by |
|
| Based on | 3 Idiots byRajkumar Hirani |
| Produced by | Manohar Prasad Ravi Shankar Prasad |
| Starring | |
| Narrated by | Srikanth |
| Cinematography | Manoj Paramahamsa |
| Edited by | Anthony |
| Music by | Harris Jayaraj |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 188 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
| Box office | ₹150 crore[1] |
Nanban (transl. Friend) is a 2012 IndianTamil-languagecoming-of-agecomedy drama film directed byShankar and produced byGemini Film Circuit. The film starsVijay,Jiiva,Srikanth,Sathyaraj,Ileana D'Cruz,Sathyan andAnuya, withS. J. Suryah andVijay Vasanth in cameo appearances. It is a remake of theRajkumar Hirani's 2009Hindi-language film3 Idiots, which itself is based onChetan Bhagat's novelFive Point Someone. The film follows Venkat, Senthil and Srivatsan, who are on the search for their long lost friend, Panchavan Parivendhan.
Gemini Film Circuit acquired the remake rights for3 Idiots in January 2010. Several directors were approached to direct it, with Shankar finalised in that October. Vijay was signed to portrayAamir Khan's role in the film, however, he walked out due to schedule conflicts in December. After trying to getSuriya on board, which failed, Vijay was again brought on board. Casting process completed in February 2011, andprincipal photography commenced the same month. It was shot sporadically in several legs, beforewrapping by late-October. Filming locations includedOoty,Dehradun,Pondicherry,Chennai,London andBuckingham. The film has music composed byHarris Jayaraj, cinematography handled byManoj Paramahamsa and editing byAnthony Gonsalves.
Nanban released on 12 January 2012 worldwide in theatres to positive reviews from critics. The film was also screened at theMelbourne Film Festival.Indian Express reported the film grossed₹1.50 billion at the box office.[1]
Wildlife photographer Venkat Ramakrishnan receives a call from his old college friend Srivatsan, who claims to know the whereabouts of Venkat's long-lost friend, Panchavan "Pari" Pariventhan. Venkat and another friend, Sevarkodi Senthil, rush to meet Srivatsan, who reveals that Pari is inOoty. They set off to find him.
In a flashback, Venkat is forced to study engineering by his father. He befriends Senthil, whose family relies on him to escape poverty, and Pari, a carefree student passionate about learning. Their college principal, Virumandi Santhanam (Virus), is strict and unsympathetic.
Paneerselvam, a student passionate about engineering, is denied graduation by Virus for missing a project deadline. Paneer explains to Virus that he had been delaying his submission of his project to focus on his dad's health. Pari and his friends complete his project for him but only for them to find out that he had committed suicide. Pari tries to change Virus's views on academic pressure and suicide but is rebuffed.
Virus sends letters to Venkat's and Senthil's families about their poor performance. The trio crashes Virus's daughter's wedding for food and meets Riya, Virus's other daughter. Virus warns Venkat and Senthil that Pari is a bad influence. Senthil moves in with Srivatsan, who valuesrote learning. Pari and Venkat prank Srivatsan, leading to public humiliation and a bet on future success between Pari and Srivatsan.
Pari influences Riya to break up with her money minded fiancé Rakesh. Senthil's father has a heart attack, and Pari helps save him, leading Senthil to reconcile with Pari. Riya falls for Pari. The friends finish their exams with Pari scoring the highest.
In the present, Venkat, Senthil, and Srivatsan reach Ooty and meet someone revealed to be the real Pariventhan. He reveals that their friend is actually Pappu, the son of the Pariventhan family's gardener, who assumed Pari's identity while the real Pari studied abroad. They learn Pappu is inDhanushkodi and head there.
During their final year of college, Pari and Riya begin a relationship. After a break-in at Virus's house, Virus threatens Senthil with expulsion unless he testifies against Pari. Unwilling to disappoint his family or Pari, Senthil attempts suicide but is saved by his friends. Virus rescinds his expulsion threat, and Senthil secures a job. Venkat convinces his father to let him pursue wildlife photography.
In the present, Venkat and Senthil bring Riya from her wedding to find Pari. In the past, Virus decides to set a hard exam to fail Senthil and prevent him from obtaining the job. Pari and Venkat steal the exam paper without his knowledge, but Senthil refuses to cheat and throws it away. Eventually, Virus notices that the exam paper has been stolen from his office and expels the trio.
Following the trio's expulsion, Ria, having given the office key to the trio, finally confronts her older sister, Shwetha, and her father by revealing that her brother, who was presumed to have died in a train accident, actually committed suicide due to the pressure his father had put him through into becoming an engineer, since he wanted to pursue his own dream by becoming a writer instead, but only to simply write a suicide note.
Later, Shwetha goes into labour during a flood and the roads to the hospital are inaccessible, but the trio successfully manage to help deliver the child. As a result, Virus revokes the expulsion and allows the trio to take their final exams. After taking the final exams, Pari disappears on graduation day.
In Dhanushkodi, Venkat, Senthil, Riya, and Srivatsan reunite with Pari, now revealed as Kosaksi Pasapugazh, a successful entrepreneur. Srivatsan accepts defeat.
FollowingGemini Film Circuit's purchase of the remake rights for3 Idiots in January 2010, there was much speculation in regards to the three title roles played byAamir Khan,R. Madhavan andSharman Joshi in the original.[6] Gemini Film Circuit approached noted directorsShankar,Vishnuvardhan andS. Dharani to replaceRajkumar Hirani as the director, with the approval from Shankar leading to him being signed.[citation needed] Despite speculation that he was set to pull out from directing his first remake as it would be a step down from his previous film,Enthiran, Shankar stated his commitment in October 2010.[7][8] He later added that, "he came across3 Idiots during the making ofEndhiran, and it was that moment he decided to break his self-imposed rule – making only original movies – and decided to direct his first remake venture."[citation needed]
"When I was shooting forEndhiran [..] I wanted to see an action film but I ended up watching a comedy. My mind was not on the film but I saw the audience continuously laughing. I got involved in the film and I felt so good at the end of it. It was a wonderful feeling and I thought our Tamil audience must also experience this. However,Nanban is not a literal translation of3 idiots. The movie had to be fresh and yet retain its soul. I wanted to bring it as close as possible to the Tamil audience by making it earthy and simple".
Harris Jayaraj andYuvan Shankar Raja were approached to compose the soundtrack, with Shankar settling for the former with whom he had worked in the 2005 filmAnniyan earlier.[a] Meanwhile,Manoj Paramahamsa, whose work inVinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa andEeram had been critically acclaimed, was signed on as the cinematographer. Sound designerResul Pookutty and visual effects designerV. Srinivas Mohan joined the crew, following a successful collaboration inEnthiran.[11]
For the lead role, played in3 Idiots byAamir Khan, initial reports suggested thatSuriya,Mahesh Babu andRam Charan[12] were front-runners. During the Telugu version's promotion, which Charan attended as chief guest, he said that he declined the role not knowing that Shankar would direct the film.[12] A special screening for the film industry includedVijay, who expressed his desire to work in the film, and was subsequently signed up by Gemini Film Circuits to portray the lead role.[13][14] However, by mid-December 2010, soon after trial shoots were held, Vijay walked out the film following disputes over his dates, with Suriya being labelled as his likely replacement.[15][16] Reports claimed that talks with Suriya failed, since the actor had demanded salary increase and dubbing rights for theTelugu-version of the film.[17] Suriya's reasons for refusing the offer was later confirmed not to be true, with Suriya himself revealing that he had opted out only because of other film commitments and "did not want to keep Shankar waiting".[18] As a result, Vijay was once again finalised for the role.[17][19]
The roles of the other two title characters took considerably longer to confirm.
R. Madhavan was initially approached to reprise his role from the original but made it clear that he was unwilling to be a part of the remake, citing the film had already "gone down in history".[20] Early indications suggested thatUdhayanidhi Stalin had replaced him but the claims were false.[13] In November 2010, reports emerged thatVinay Rai orNakul were set to play the role, however Vinay cited that he refused the project as the role was not as meaty as the other two characters.[21] Consequently, the production house signedSrikanth to play the role, after seeing his performance inDrohi, which had come after several box-office failures for him.[22]
Sharman Joshi's role was originally offered toSilambarasan, but after discussions, it was revealed that Silambarasan could not do as he felt he didn't suit the character.[23][24] Subsequently, the role was offered toSiddharth, a protégé of Shankar, who also went on to refuse the project.[25] Despite further reports thatArya andJiiva were being considered, the latter signed on and agreed with Shankar that he would play Joshi's role instead of Madhavan's.[26][27]
The role played byKareena Kapoor in the original was offered toAsin Thottumkal. HoweverIleana D'Cruz was signed on for the film after attempts to castKatrina Kaif in the film had failed.[28]
The role of the professor, played in3 Idiots byBoman Irani, was given toSathyaraj, despite early indications thatPrakash Raj would be approached.
Omi Vaidya was unable to reprise his role from the original. Later, Shankar approachedDileep to play the role, but he too opted out and comedianSathyan Sivakumar was signed on to essay his role after failed attempts to signSricharan ofPayanam fame.[29]S. J. Surya signed on to appear in a guest role, portraying the role enacted byJaved Jaffrey.[30][31]
Anuya Bhagvath was signed up for a supporting role as Ileana D'Cruz's elder sister, played in the original byMona Singh.[32] Stage artist Sreedevi Gengiah was selected to play Jiiva's sister.[33]
Raju Jeyamohan was initially chosen to play the older version of Rinson Simon's character Millimeter, but was later removed as his eyes did not match Rinson Simon's; the role went to Vikas.[34]
The first schedule of filming was held inOoty, where scenes involving Ileana, Srikanth and Jiiva were shot.[35] During the second schedule scenes involving the lead cast were canned atForest Research Institute,Dehradun andPondicherry Engineering College and Stanley Medical College where the classroom scenes were shot,Pondicherry and a car chase at various places inChennai,[citation needed] while two songs were filmed inLondon andBuckingham during the third schedule.[36] Some significant parts of the film were shot in Chennai atSun Studios, Kothandapani Studios and theAmpa Skywalk Mall, as well asKoyambedu water tank for three days, for which an Akila crane was used. Further filming, including the climax, was held at various locations inEurope,Andamans andCoimbatore. Filming wrapped in October with a song featuring Vijay and Ileana, which was choreographed byFarah Khan.[37][38] Shankar wanted to paint a train for the song sequence, so the team decided to stick paper and then paste the painting on it. Art director Muthuraj hired some 250 artists from various states who were well versed in folk drawings and finished the entire job at breakneck speed and returned the train in time.[39]
The film is aremake ofRajkumar Hirani's3 Idiots (2009),[40] which itself was adapted from the novelFive Point Someone – What not to do at IIT! byChetan Bhagat. The film deals with the theme that one shouldn't run behind success and rather pursue his/her own interests. If one develops the right skill anything is possible. According to Gauthaman Bhaskaran ofHindustan Times, "Nanban's message is profound [..] given India's exploitative and unimaginative education system. The film lambasts bookishness, the mad chase for marks, [..] the joy of discovering. Parental and peer pressure and the frightfully huge fees for professional courses push boys and girls into performing puppets. The higher your grades, the closer you are to securing a centum, the brighter become your chances of making it in life".[41]
The film shows characters having various interests. The character Pari is against the educational system and insists his classmates not to run behind grades rather derive pleasure by understanding and assimilating things while his principal Virumandi Sandhanam aka Virus (Sathyaraj) wants students to become a book worm to excel in academics. Venkat is interested in wildlife photography but his parents compel him to study engineering. Senthil hails from a poor family and is compelled to study a professional course only to bail out his family from all troubles.
The film also uses real inventions by little-known people in India's backyards. The brains behind the innovations were Remya Jose, a student from Kerala, who created the exercise-bicycle/washing-machine; Mohammad Idris, a barber from Meerut district in Uttar Pradesh, who invented a bicycle-powered horse clipper; and Jahangir Painter, a painter from Maharashtra, who made the scooter-powered flour mill which was featured in the original Hindi film.[42]
The soundtrack and background score was composed byHarris Jayaraj, collaborating withShankar for the second time afterAnniyan (2005). This film also marks Vijay's first collaboration with Harris Jayaraj. The album features six tracks, with lyrics being provided byPa. Vijay, Viveka,Na. Muthukumar andMadhan Karky, the latter two penning lyrics for two songs each. Notably, Karky's lyrics in "Asku Laska" include more than 16 different languages. The full soundtrack album was released on 23 December 2011.[citation needed]
Prior to the release,Nanban was voted the "most expected film" of 2012 through an online public poll conducted byVikatan.[43] The film was released on 12 January 2012 forPongal in 925 screens worldwide.[citation needed]
Nanban advance booking opened well in Chennai city and suburbs.[44] It had the highest number of 77 shows in a single day at Mayajaal multiplex in Chennai at that time.[45] The film opened in nearly 625 screens in Tamil Nadu.[46] It was released in 50 screens in Chennai[47] and 31 screens in Hyderabad.[48] It released simultaneously in UK, the US, Malaysia and Singapore.[49]Nanban became the first Tamil film to be released with Frenchsubtitles in France.[citation needed] It also became the first film to get exempted from the 30 per cent entertainment tax inTamil Nadu by the new scheme introduced by theGovernment of Tamil Nadu.[50]
Telugu film distributorDil Raju bought the theatrical rights ofSnehitudu, theTelugu dubbed version ofNanban forAndhra Pradesh market.Snehitudu was released on 26 January 2012.[51]
The film had its television premiere onStar Vijay on 1 May 2012, four months after its theatrical release and registered aTRP of 11.1 points.[52]
Nanban received positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 49 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.8/10.
Sify called it an "engaging film with noble intentions. It deserves viewing because films like this are hard to find".[53] Pavithra Srinivasan fromRediff.com gave the film 3/5 stars, describing it as "the perfect feel-good fare for the festive season, despite minor glitches".[54] Malathi Rangarajan fromThe Hindu wrote: "Nanban is an enjoyable cocktail of humour with some sentiment and sadness thrown in for that extra appeal. Once again Shankar proves the master craftsman that he is".[55] Anupama Subramanian fromDeccan Chronicle gave the film 3/5 stars, while labelling it as a "feel-good film with a larger message and a brilliant feat by Vijay which makes the film a not-to-be-missed one!"[56] Venkateswaran Narayanan fromTimes of India noted several anachronisms in the film (such asYouTube being used in 2002 when it was actually launched in 2005) but wrote: "Such minor cribbing apart, all is well withNanban because Shankar's retelling of3 Idiots retains its soul and has its heart in the right place".[57]Zee News wrote: "Nanban is a must watch, grab your tickets now. It's the best gift Vijay could have given to his diehard fans this Pongal".[58]CNN-IBN said that it was "sweet and satisfying".[59]Ananda Vikatan rated the film 44 out of 100.[60] Acclaimed actorKamal Haasan appreciated Vijay's performance in the movie and lauded the team's effort in making such a good entertainer.[61][62] Jeevi fromIdlebrain.com with regards to the Telugu dubbed versionSnehithudu commented that "the magic of 3 idiots is missing", and gave 3/5 stars.[63]
In Chennai city, the film netted₹22.7 million (US$270,000) in its first weekend and 64% of the takings,[64] and₹49.5 million (US$590,000) at the end of the first week, staying at first rank.[65] The film accounted for 66% of the takings at the Chennai box office on its second weekend and 64% on its third weekend. The film grossed around₹78.9 million (US$930,000) in Chennai after seven weeks, out of which about₹10 million (US$120,000) came from Sathyam Cinemas multiplex.[66] InCoimbatore andNilgiris area,Nanban opened in 70 screens and netted₹52 million (US$620,000) in the first week.[46] It also got a great opening at theBangalore box-office,[67] where it was still featured in Top 5 even one month after its release.[68] The film's gross collection after its first week from 4 circuits of Coimbatore was around₹55 million (US$650,000), the highest yield sinceEndhiran.[citation needed]
Nanban was released in 7 screens in Australia and grossed$76,580 in its first weekend.[69] Overall it had grossed $110,422.[70][71] In UK, it collected $173,789 in its first week with a per screen average of $7,241 in 24 theatres. After its 4-week run the film collected £214,735 (₹16.6 million) and became the 4th highest grosser in UK.[72] It also secured the first place in the Malaysian box-office in the first week released in 37 screens,[73] and collected a total of $871,959 after a six-week run.[74]It collected a sum of₹5.8 million (US$69,000) after 18 days at the Australian box office, whereas it had collected₹38.2 million (US$450,000) at the Malaysian box office within the same period.[75]
| Ananda Vikatan Awards[76] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Category | Nominee | Result | ||
| 2012 | Best Actor | Vijay(Shared WithThuppakki) | Won | ||
| Big Tamil Melody Awards | |||||
| Year | Category | Nominee | Result | ||
| 2012 | Best Music Director | Harris Jayaraj | Won | ||
| Vijay Awards | |||||
| Year | Category | Nominee | Result | ||
| 2012 | Entertainer of the Year | Vijay | Won | ||
| Favourite Film | Nanban | Nominated | |||
| Best Supporting Actor | Sathyaraj | Won | |||
| Best Comedian | Sathyan | Nominated | |||
| Best Music director | Harris Jayaraj | Nominated | |||
| Best Art director | Muthuraj | Nominated | |||
| Best choreographer | Farah Khan | Nominated | |||
