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| Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Gautham Vasudev Menon |
| Written by | Gautham Vasudev Menon |
| Produced by | Elred Kumar P. Madan J. Ganesh Jayaraman |
| Starring | Silambarasan Trisha |
| Cinematography | Manoj Paramahamsa |
| Edited by | Anthony |
| Music by | A. R. Rahman |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Red Giant Movies Radaan Mediaworks |
Release date |
|
Running time | 167 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (transl. Will you cross the skies for me?) is a 2010 IndianTamil-languagemusicalromantic drama film written and directed byGautham Vasudev Menon, starringSilambarasan andTrisha. Jointly produced byElred Kumar, Jayaraman,VTV Ganesh andP. Madan under the bannerEscape Artists Motion Pictures and RS Infotainment, the film was distributed byUdhayanidhi Stalin'sRed Giant Movies. The story was simultaneously shot inTelugu asYe Maaya Chesave, starringNaga Chaitanya andSamantha.[1]
Launched after a wave of publicity posters with no details about the cast and crew,Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa began its first schedule of filming in February 2009. Shooting continued through 2009, with the film garnering significant media interest, with schedules in Malta and the United States.[2] Before release, it became the first Tamil project to have a music soundtrack premiere outside of India, with a successful launch at theBritish Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTAs) in London. The film featuressoundtrack composed byA. R. Rahman, cinematography byManoj Paramahamsa and editing byAnthony.
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa explores the complicated relationship between aHinduTamil boy, Karthik Sivakumar, and aMalayaliChristian girl, Jessie fromAlappuzha,Kerala. Karthik falls in love with Jessie only to be met by her indifference and reluctance as they belong to different religions and her strict conservative family will never consent to their union. The film released on 25 February 2010, along with the Telugu version to advance bookings worldwide.[3] It was later remade inHindi asEkk Deewana Tha, also directed by Menon, with a different ending.[4] A short film/sequel titledKarthik Dial Seytha Yenn, again directed by Menon with Silambarasan and Trisha reprising their roles, was released in May 2020.
Karthik is aMechanical Engineering graduate inChennai with poor results who aspires to become a filmmaker instead of an engineer. His friend introduces him to Ganesh, a cinematographer. With Ganesh's help Karthik becomes a film director's assistant. Karthik's family, who areTamil Hindus, rent the ground floor of Jessie's house. Jessie is from a conservativeMalayaliNasrani Christian/Syrian Catholic family fromAlappuzha, who lives upstairs.[5]
Karthik falls in love with Jessie the moment he sees her on the street in front of their house. He tries to interact with Jessie, who is afraid of speaking to men around her strict father, and ends up angering her. Karthik confesses his love for her but she does not accept. A few days later, Karthik learns from his sister that Jessie has gone to Kerala to visit her grandmother. He and Ganesh go to Kerala to look for her. After several days, he finds her and apologises. She introduces him to her family in Kerala as her "classmate". Jessie denies she has any feelings for him but agrees to only be his friend. However, on the train journey back home, Karthik purposely sits closely next to her and kisses her a few times but she eventually gently slaps him to make him stop. Karthik is convinced that Jessie loves him and repeatedly expresses his love towards her while she continues rejecting him by stating that her parents would not allow them to be together. She says that both of them are from different religious and ethnic backgrounds, and she is also a year older than him. The two meet several times and Jessie begins to realize that she also likes Karthik, but wants to refrain from any problems because she knows her father wouldn't accept the union. Eventually, due to various misunderstandings between Jessie's brother, Jerry (Ranjith Velayudhan) and Karthik, her parents learn of their supposed affair. They fix Jessie's marriage to another man. The wedding day arrives and midway through the ceremony, Jessie refuses to marry the groom, displeasing everyone in her family. Karthik, who had, without anyone's knowledge, come to Kerala to witness the wedding is ecstatic and secretly visits Jessie at her home. It is then that Jessie admits she has indeed fallen in love with him. Karthik and Jessie continue to see each other without the knowledge of their parents.
At this point of time, Karthik goes toGoa on a 45-day film shoot, where he gets rather busy. Meanwhile, the topic of Jessie's marriage comes up again at her home when the guy whom she refused to marry earlier pays them a visit. Panicking, Jessie calls Karthik and tells him that she wants to elope with him. Karthik, since he is traveling through less than ideal places, tells Jessie to stay in Chennai for now, and that soon he would be back and they can discuss. Jessie then stops taking Karthik's calls and so he goes back one night to check on Jessie. He learns that Jessie has decided to break up, as the relationship is not peaceful due to her parents' disapproval. She says she has agreed to marry a boy of their choice. When Karthik pleads her not to do it, she tells him that a time had come when she was willing to elope, but the moment was gone. She doesn't want Karthik to wait for her too long, as he has his dreams to fulfill. Karthik later learns that she is married and has settled in the UK.
Two years later, Karthik meets Nandini. She falls in love with him, but Karthik rejects her by saying that he hasn't yet gotten over Jessie. He then comes up with a script for his first film, which happens to be his very own love story and is shot in Tamil. He calls uponNaga Chaitanya as the film's protagonist, Nandini(Samantha) as the female lead and Ganesh as the film's cinematographer. The film is eventually titled "Jessie". While shooting for the film in New York, he sees Jessie and she comes to speak with him. Angry at her parents for not allowing her to be with Karthik, Jessie moves to New York. She admits that she is not married and is still in love with him, and he too says she is still in his heart. Karthik and Jessie spend time with each other around New York City. Karthik proposes yet again and they get married the same day. This is actually revealed to be the end scene in Karthik's film – which Karthik and Jessie in real life are watching together in the theatre. After the film ends, it is revealed to the audience that Jessie had in fact seen Karthik in New York but had not come forward to meet him. She is married now and hence asks Karthik to move on. She tells Karthik that they cannot lead a life which is full of obstacles as well as without parents' approval and hence they depart separately, to lead different lives and different destinies.
After making a series of action films, Gautham Vasudev Menon actively chose to make an "out and out love story" at the insistence of his close associates, and marked a return to the genre for the first time sinceMinnale (2001). Initially titledVennilavae Vennillavae, inspired by the title of a song fromMinsara Kanavu, Menon started writing the film as a simple love story which slowly became an intense love story, as the scripting phase progressed. Stating that the film would narrate the romantic tale of two people called Karthik and Jessie over a period of almost three years, he revealed that the film would be "conversation driven" and hoped "everybody will identify with the lead pair".[6] Menon took the script to producerManjula Ghattamaneni, who asked him to narrate the film to her brotherMahesh Babu and the movie was aTamil andTelugu bilingual. Menon initially felt that the film would not suit the actor, but later agreed preliminary terms to make it in Telugu titledJessie with the actor and haveA. R. Rahman as the music composer, as he was impressed with the story.[citation needed]
Continuing from the earlier proposed theme ofVennilavae Vennillavae, Menon later chose to use the second line of the song to title his film asVinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, after it was suggested by the cinematographerManoj Paramahamsa.[7] Menon discussed a Tamil and Telugu version of the script with several actors includingDhanush,Jai andAllu Arjun who had wanted changes to be made to the climax, and described being "one week away" from starting the project with a debutant actor.[8][9][10][11] But in late January 2009, Menon confirmed that he was in discussions withSilambarasan andTrisha to portray the lead roles from the script. After finding out that Silambarasan had dates available as a result of the delay in the shoot ofVignesh Shivan'sPodaa Podi (2012), Menon chose to halt the production of his ongoingChennaiyil Oru Mazhaikaalam and finalise pre-production work onVinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa.
Menon added that Silambarasan was "apt for this kind of a film" and was "ready to experiment and try something different" from his usual film roles, prompting him to agree to star in the film.[7] As Menon was working with Trisha onChennaiyil Oru Mazhaikaalam, he chose to use her dates forVinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa instead.[12] To pique interest before the official announcement, the makers released a series of film posters featuring Silambarasan and Trisha inspired from previous classic Tamil films. The team used posters inspired fromGeethanjali (1989),Minsara Kanavu (1997),Dil Se (1998),Alaipayuthey (2000) andKaakha Kaakha (2003). Other members of the technical crew included Menon's regular collaborators editorAnthony, art directorRajeevan, costume designerNalini Sriram and lyricistThamarai. The project was jointly produced byEscape Artists Motion Pictures andRS Infotainment, withElred Kumar,Ganesh, Madhan as producers.[citation needed]
For the role of a mentor to Karthik's character, Menon first approachedVivek, but he turned down the opportunity. Later, one of the film's producers,Ganesh, was cast in the role, in what later became his breakthrough film as an actor.[13][14] Chennai-based modelJanani Iyer was recruited to portray the role of an assistant director who falls in love with Karthik, but the role was later reshot withSamantha, who worked as the lead actress of the film's Telugu version. Janani Iyer was subsequently seen in the background of several scenes where Karthik is shown to be a part of a film production team.[15]Ashwin Kakumanu also auditioned for the role of Jessy's brother in the film and was selected, but eventually did not feature after having a clash of dates.[16] SingerChinmayi dubbed for the lead actresses - Trisha and Samantha in the Tamil and Telugu, respectively.
Scenes were shot in the lakes ofAlappuzha during April 2009 for a month, with thehouseboats doubling up as caravans.[17]
In May, the team moved toMalta to film the song sequences for "Hosanna" and "Omana Penne", choreographed by Flexy Stu.[18] For the particular song sequences in the film, Menon wanted "churches, water and caves" and convinced the producers to finance a trip to Malta, and in the process, the team became the first South Indian film to shoot in the country. Scenes were shot in places includingValletta,Mdina,Gozo andComino, as well as in lanes, alleys, eight churches and during the time of a village feast. The makers brought along a crew of twenty-six people to Malta, with ten local workers also helping on the production. The shoot lasted ten days and cost approximately €90,000.[19][20]
In October 2009, the team flew to theUnited States to complete the final filming schedule. Scenes were shot throughout locations inManhattan andNew Jersey, with particular shots filmed atBrooklyn Bridge,Central Park andTimes Square. But 70% of filming took place inChennai andHyderabad as well.[21]
The soundtrack was composed byA. R. Rahman.Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa marked the beginning of a collaboration between Rahman, Silambarasan andGautham Vasudev Menon.[22]
The world premiere was held atBAFTA in London on 25 December 2009 and later it was relaunched inChennai on 6 January 2010. The album consists of seven tracks.[23] The audio received good pre-release response and was marked as No. 1 in Asia, in advance bookings.[24] It retained the same tunes for the Telugu version of the film,Ye Maaya Chesave and the Hindi remake,Ekk Deewana Tha.
The film was given aU/A certificate by theIndian Film Certification Board because, according to Menon, they believed "the love in the film was too intense for a child to understand".[25]
Sify said that it was "Very good" further citing "The film is a must watch for those who cares for cinema of sense and substance. It stresses the fact that Tamil cinema has to break the mould if it aims to grab eyeballs. Gautham Menon has crafted a movie that will stay in our hearts for a long, long time."[26]
Pavithra Srinivasan ofRediff.com called the film a "Must watch" further citing "The best part about VTV is that it revolves around people, rather than events. It's like putting a camera into the intimate, everyday life of two people and following them on their adventures. The characters go through a whirlwind of emotions, laugh and cry, and take you along with them." However, the reviewer points out certain drawbacks in the film citing "On the minus side, VTV suffers from the same defect as Vaaranam Aayiram: the second half lags in pace. The dialogues and confrontations are repetitive. There's a would-be love-track that seems unnecessary before the story takes off again."[27]
Malathi Rangarajan fromThe Hindu said "Twenty two-year old Karthik's true-to-life overtures, reactions and recklessness are just as you would expect from a director of Menon's calibre. It is his authentic depiction of Jessie's confusion that's all the more amazing – Menon's complete understanding of a woman's psyche bowls you over! So do the young lovers!"[28] Aravindan D. I. ofnowrunning.com gave the film three stars out of five and said "Gautam Vasudev Menon's "Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya" is a clean romantic story without any deviation or sub-plots."[29]
Chennai Online said,Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (VTV) is an excellent effort on the part of Gautam Vasudev Menon in narrating a clean romantic story without any deviation from the plot" and further cited "As is Menon’s forte, the dialogues and the execution of scenes are top-notch. The joys of falling of love and the pangs of separation have been portrayed well. The way Simbu nurtures his love for Jesse and the positive but ambiguous reactions from Trisha to his overtures are very nice indeed."[30]
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa took a grand opening, grossing around₹9.7 million (US$110,000) in its first three days in Chennai.[31]
In February 2018,Gautham Vasudev Menon announced a sequel to the film, titledOndraga. This film will be aroad movie –hyperlink film which will focus on Karthik and his best friends from college travelling to theUnited States to attend a wedding ten years after the events of the first film.[36] Initially, Menon had statedR. Madhavan would be playing the role of an older Karthik. After Madhavan dropped out of the project, Silambarasan agreed to reprise the role he originally played.Trisha andSamantha Ruth Prabhu will also be reprising their roles from the first film.Tovino Thomas andPuneeth Rajkumar will be playing the roles as Karthik'sMalayalam andKannada friends respectively. Telugu actorsAllu Arjun,Nani,Sai Dharam Tej,Varun Tej andVijay Deverakonda have been approached to play the role of Karthik'sTelugu friend. ActressesTamannaah andAnushka Shetty are being considered as a third female lead.[37][38]
The short film referring the characters Karthik and Jessie, titledKarthik Dial Seytha Yenn starringSilambarasan andTrisha was released on 21 May 2020.[39]
The dialogue "Inga Enna Solludhu" spoken by VTV Ganesh inspired a 2014 film ofsame name which was produced and acted by Ganesh.[40] The sequence when Karthik (Silambarasan) leans on the gate when he is in love with Jessie in the song "Hosanna" is parodied bySanthanam inNeethaane En Ponvasantham (2012).[41] The scene where Karthik proposes to Jessie is spoofed inKannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal (2020). In the film, Pratap (played byGautham Vasudev Menon) gifts Jessie (played byRitu Varma) a necklace.[42] The scenes and dialogues were parodied inTamizh Padam 2 (2018).[citation needed] The song "Omana Penne" inspired a film of the same name, but being titled asOh Manapenne (transl. Oh Bride).[43]