| Naan Kadavul | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Bala |
| Written by | Jeyamohan(dialogue) |
| Screenplay by | Bala |
| Based on | Yezhaam Ulagam by Jeyamohan |
| Produced by | K. S. Sreenivasan |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Arthur A. Wilson |
| Edited by | Suresh Urs |
| Music by | Ilaiyaraaja |
Production company | Vasan Visual Ventures |
| Distributed by |
|
Release date |
|
Running time | 127 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
| Budget | ₹7 crore[1] |
| Box office | ₹18 crore |
Naan Kadavul (transl. I am God) is a 2009 IndianTamil-languageaction drama film directed byBala and produced by K. S. Sreenivasan under Vasan Visual Ventures. The film is based on the Tamil novelYezhaam Ulagam byJeyamohan, who also penned the film's dialogues. The film starsArya, alongsidePooja Umashankar,Rajendran,Krishnamoorthy, Azhagan Thamizhmani and Vijaya Bharathi. The music was composed byIlaiyaraaja, while cinematography and editing were handed byArthur A. Wilson andSuresh Urs respectively.
Naan Kadavul was released on 6 February 2009 to critical acclaim from critics.[2] The film earnedNational Film Awards, including the Best Director Award, four Vijay Awards, three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and two Filmfare Awards. It was also shown at film festivals, such as the 2008Fantastic Fest and the 2009Beloit International Film Festival.[3][4]
A father leaves his son Rudhran inKashi, Varanasi due to astrological reasons. 14 years later, the father, repenting his act, goes to Kashi with his daughter in search of Rudhran and finds him there, but is shocked to learn that Rudhran has become anAghori, a fierce, tigerishsadhu who givesmoksha and prevents the soul from getting reborn. Nevertheless, the father brings Rudhran back toTamil Nadu as he had promised Rudhran's mother. Thandavan, a ruthless person, oversees a group of physically and mentally challenged beggars. Among the beggars is Hamsavalli, a blind girl, who was separated from her group of street actors. Hamsavalli soon becomes a victim of Thandavan's cruelty.
Meanwhile, Rudhran leaves his house to find his place in a small cave near a hill temple. Despite pleas from his mother and Hamsavalli, Rudhran refuses to come back home. Thandavan makes a deal with a businessman to sell some of his beggars to him for a tidy profit. The man forcefully takes the beggars away and returns with a man with a deformed face, trying to force Hamsavalli to marry him for₹10 lakhs. Thandavan orders his men to bring Hamsavalli, whose friends take her to Rudhran for help. Rudhran fights Thandavan's men and kills the businessman, where he is arrested by the local police, who are forced to leave him as they are not able to locate the body and are afraid of forcing a confession from Rudran for fear of being cursed.
Hamsavalli seeks protection and solace from thechurch, but Thandavan finds Hamsavalli and tortures her as she refuses to marry the deformed man, thus making him lose the money. An enraged and humiliated Thandavan beats up Hamsavalli. Thandavan appears face-to-face against Rudran and fights him, where Rudhran kills Thandavan. A badly wounded Hamsavalli finds her way to Rudhran and beseeches him to free her from her misery and the earthly life. Hamsavalli also pleads with Rudhran to grant her moksha so that she never has to be born again. Rudhran fulfills her wish and slashes Hamsavalli's throat, performs her last rites and returns to Kashi.
After the release ofPithamagan (2003), Bala began to work on a script for a film for which he sought inspiration from a scene inAnbe Sivam which had inspired him to make his film, referring to a scene whereKamal Haasan states toMadhavan that "when we love others unconditionally without any expectation, we become Gods".[6][7] It was announced that the film would starAjith Kumar in the lead role and produced byA. M. Rathnam.[8][9] Ajith signed a contract for the film stating that he would work in the film for 150 days, and the project was titledNaan Kadavul.[10] However Ratnam, the producer of the film dropped out in December 2004, opting to concentrate on his Telugu filmBangaram and his son's venture,Kedi.[11] Early sources indicated that Cleeny, sister of actressGopika, would play the lead role in the film although this later proved to be untrue andMeera Jasmine was selected.[12][13] As pre-production work continued, Ajith grew his hair for the role and subsequently appeared in a song in the much-delayed film,Varalaru with the long hair he grew forNaan Kadavul, when doing patchwork.[14] The film was briefly shelved in August 2005 and Ajith moved on to sign other films such asP. Vasu'sParamasivan, which was initially set to be produced by Bala, andPerarasu'sThirupathi.[15] The film then re-emerged and in April 2006, Bala announced the technical crew of the film revealing thatArthur A. Wilson would be cinematographer, Krishnamoorthy as art director and thatIlaiyaraaja would score the film's music. Pre-production on the film began in early 2006, with Bala's assistants already scouting for ideal filming locations in the city ofVaranasi.[16] Ajith announced that the shoot of the film would start in the city in May 2006, with the actor refusing to speculate the story of the film.[17] However, as the film yet again failed to take off, Ajith finally pulled out of the project in June 2006 stating he could wait no longer for Bala.[6][18][19]
It was reported thatNarain, who also made his debut withChithiram Pesuthadi, would do the role but producers wanted a more saleable name, and henceArya was signed up.[20] Arya was eager to appear in the film but had already given dates toSaran forVattaram, and unsuccessfully attempted to drop out of that film to allot dates forNaan Kadavul. Saran's refusal meant that Arya had to wait and complete the film before joining Bala's team.[8][21] Bala stated in an interview that to play the character of Rudran, he needs a person who doesn't have mercy when we look into his eyes. So he opted Ajith first and later chosen Arya to play the character of Rudran.Bhavana was signed for the film after the success ofChithiram Pesuthadi, replacing Meera Jasmine. Ravi, director of Vignesh starrerAacharya and Kannan, director ofRaasaiyya, made their debuts as actors with this film.[22]Rajendran, a fight master who earlier appeared in a small role in director Bala's previous filmPithamagan was selected to play main villain thus making his debut as full-fledged actor.[23] The film also introduced 175 new faces to the screen in which most of them being physically challenged people.[6] The film was consequently launched in June 2006 at Hotel Green Park, Chennai withP. L. Thenappan's Sri Rajalakshmi Films as producers.[24] Arya grew his hair out for the film.[25]
The photo shoot of the film was held in August 2006 with Arya and Bhavana and images of Arya were released showing him in different postures ofYoga including Sirasasanam and Padmasanam. The film's first schedule began later that month inNazarethpettai, near Chennai.[26] Shoots continued in Kasi and Varanasi in January 2007, with Arya opting against working in any other films tillNaan Kadavul was complete.[27] Producer Thennapan also backed out of the film in early 2007 but Srinivasan of Vasan Visual Ventures took over swiftly.[28]
Bhavana also walked out of the film in early 2007 as she was unable to allot dates for the film and a search for another new cast member began.Meenakshi,Anjali andParvathy Thiruvothu were heavily linked to the role to replace Bhavana, but Bala opted against selecting either.[29][30] Subsequently,Karthika, who had been seen in small budget films such asThootukudi andPirappu, was booked as heroine and she was made to beg in the streets ofPeriyakulam during an audition. However Bala was still unimpressed.[31] Hindi actress,Neetu Chandra, was flown down toTheni for a test shoot but Bala felt she did not have the looks for the role of a beggar girl.[32] ActressPooja was later finalised as lead actress in September 2007 and joined the sets of the film inPeriyakulam in late 2007.[33] She revealed that she went to the audition of the film only after being compelled by directorSeeman and thought twice about accepting the film due to her commitments in a Sinhalese film, before the producer of that film released her from her contract.[34]
This film features 7 songs composed byIlaiyaraaja. The audio was released on 1 January 2007. Lyrics have been penned byVaali except for the trackPitchai Paathiram which has been penned by Ilaiyaraaja himself and the title song "Maa Ganga" written by Bharath Achaarya. The song "Matha Un Kovilil" was reused from Raja's own song which he had composed forAchchani (1978).
The song "Maa Ganga" is set inYaman, "Om Sivoham" is set inPantuvarali, and "Pitchai Paathiram" is set inVakulabharanam. The songs, "Kannil Paarvai" and "Oru Kaatril Alaiyum", are set inRasikapriya, whereas "Matha Un Kovilil" and "Amma Un Pillai Naan" are set toSindhu Bhairavi.
Malathi Rangarajan ofThe Hindu called it "a rare offering for intrepid folks who plump for true-to-life depictions".[35]The Times of India wrote, "At a time when the clutter of routine commercial cinema gets to you, it's apt that you resort to an eerie film likeNaan Kadavul."[36] Pavithra Srinivasan ofRediff.com gave the film a rating of three out of five stars, writing, "Naan Kadavul is definitely worth a watch for its superb secondary characters, setting and music", but noted weaknesses with the script, describing it as lacking "punch." Svrinavasan wrote, "Aside from mumbling mantras at strategic points, Rudhran doesn't do anything much ... Very little of the sharp-sightedness that's gone in showcasing the world of beggars has gone into the mental make-up of Rudhran, and it shows."[37]Sify wrote, "WatchNaan Kadavul, because it's one of those films that won't easily get out of your head long after the film is over."[38]
| Award | Category | Nominee | Outcome | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 56th National Film Awards | Best Director | Bala | Won | |
| Best Make-up Artist | U.K. Sasi | Won | ||
| 57th Filmfare Awards South | Best Tamil Actress | Pooja | Won | |
| Best Tamil Director | Bala | Won | ||
| Best Tamil Actor | Arya | Nominated | ||
| Best Tamil Film | K. S. Sreenivasan | Nominated | ||
| Best Tamil Supporting Actor | Rajendran | Nominated | ||
| Best Tamil Lyricist | Ilayaraja for "Pitchai Paathiram" | Nominated | ||
| Tamil Nadu State Film Awards | Best Female Character Artiste | Pooja | Won | [39] |
| Best Villain | Rajendran | Won | ||
| Best Cinematographer | Arthur Wilson | Won | ||
| Vijay Awards | Best Director | Bala | Won | |
| Best Actress | Pooja | Won | ||
| Best Villain | Rajendran | Won | ||
| Best Make up | U.K. Sasi | Won |
