Sangamam
| Sangamam | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Suresh Krishna |
| Produced by | V. Natarajan |
| Written by | E. Ramadoss |
| Screenplay by | Suresh Krishna |
| Story by | Bhoopathy Raja |
| Starring |
|
| Music by | A. R. Rahman |
| Cinematography | S. Saravanan |
| Editing by | Suresh Urs |
| Studio | Pyramid Films International |
| Release date(s) | 16 July 1999 |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Sangamam (Tamil: சங்கமம்) is a 1999 Tamil musical romance film directed by Suresh Krishna and produced by V. Natarajan of Pyramid Films. The film featured Rahman and newcomer Vindhya in the lead roles with Manivannan, Vijayakumar and Radharavi essaying other important roles. The film's music was composed by A. R. Rahman, while Saravanan handled the cinematography. The film opened in 1999 and though the soundtrack won awards and rave reviews, the film became a financial failure.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
This film depicts the disputes between two forms of the musical genres. One being purely Classical (Carnatic) and the other being rural folk (Tamil Nadu folk). The film clearly shows the egos, hatred and ignorance faced by both the forms of music towards each other. The climax ends with a beautiful note which joins both the music genres. Hence the name Sangamam.
[edit] Cast
- Rahman
- Vindhya
- Manivannan
- Vijayakumar
- Radharavi
- Vadivelu
- Delhi Ganesh
- Srividya
- Charle
- S. N. Lakshmi
- Lavanya
- Venniradai Moorthy
- Madhan Bob
[edit] Production
V. Natarajan launched a film to be directed by Suresh Krishna and A. R. Rahman was signed on to compose the music for the film in early 1998, while he was also working with the producer Natarajan in Rhythm and Udhaya.[1] In an interview in August 1998, A. R. Rahman revealed that he was working on " a very small budget movie caled Sangamam which is based on classical and folk dance".[2] The film would feature his namesake and brother-in-law, Malayalam actor Rahman in the lead role with newcomer Vindhya roped in to play the lead female role.[3]
During production it was reported that the film would be a remake of the 1968 film Thillaanaa Mohanambal which starred Sivaji Ganesan and Padmini, but this was subsequently found to be untrue.[4]
The film was briefly delayed in 1999 as A. R. Rahman was too busy to complete the background score for the film, with producer V. Natarajan initially refusing to pay him, causing further delays for the producer's next venture, Rhythm.[5]
[edit] Release
The film opened to mixed reviews with a critic citing that "Sangamam is a credible movie with good music by A.R.Rahman and superlative performance by Manivannan". The critic added that "Rahman does justice to his role and has brought a certain dignity and understatement to his character" but that "Vindhya, the heroine is the only weak link".[6] Sandya of Indolink.com mentioned to "see it for the songs, like it for the songs, forget the movie", labelling that Vindhya "couldn't act for nuts".[7] The film was also set to be dubbed and released in Telugu under the same name, but the financial losses suffered had deterred the version.[8]
The music of the film was critically acclaimed and won several awards in 2000. Vairamuthu won the National Film Award for Best Lyrics for his lyrics in the song ""Mudhal Murai Killipparthaein...", securing his fourth such award.[9] The film won four Tamil Nadu State Film Awards with Rahman picking up Best Music Director, Vairamuthu for Best Lyrics and S. Janaki won the Best Female Playback singer award for the song "Margaazhi". Krishnamurthy won the Best Art Director reward for his work in the film.
[edit] Soundtrack
| Sangamam | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman | ||||
| Released |
1999
|
|||
| Recorded | Panchathan Record Inn | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 34:30 | |||
| Label | Pyramid | |||
| Producer | A. R. Rahman | |||
| A. R. Rahman chronology | ||||
|
||||
The film's music was composed by A. R. Rahman and itt was the first time the composer ventured into the classical - rural folk category of subject. The music album of this also made news for the first time rapport of the veteran musician M. S. Viswanathan pairing up with A. R. Rahman. The soundtracks also boasts of prominent singers like S. Janaki, Hariharan, Unni Krishnan, Nithyasree Mahadevan, Sujatha and Shankar Mahadevan. The soundtrack features 6 songs composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics by Vairamuthu. Rahman won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director for the soundtrack he composed.
| Track # | Song | Singer(s) | Duration |
| 1 | Mazhai Thulli | Hariharan, M. S. Viswanathan | 6:49 |
| 2 | Varaha Nadhikarai | Shankar Mahadevan | 6:17 |
| 3 | Sowkiyama Kannae | Nithyashree Mahadevan | 5:55 |
| 4 | Mudhal Murai | Srinivas, Sujatha | 6:10 |
| 5 | Margazhi Thingal Allava | S. Janaki, P. Unnikrishnan, Madhumitha[10] | 6:57 |
| 6 | Allala Kanda | Hariharan, M. S. Viswanathan | 2:19 |
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.pvv.ntnu.no/~kailasan/old_news.htm
- ^ http://m.rediff.com/chat/rahmchat.htm
- ^ http://www.rediff.com/movies/1999/feb/12ss.htm
- ^ http://www.pvv.ntnu.no/~kailasan/bits.htm
- ^ http://gopalhome.tripod.com/arrbio.html
- ^ http://www.pvv.ntnu.no/~kailasan/sangamam/review.htm
- ^ http://www.indolink.com/tamil/cinema/Reviews/articles/Sangamam_131554.html
- ^ http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.movies.local.indian/browse_thread/thread/aba73775db26224/96c094c90f77f1d9
- ^ http://rrtd.nic.in/HONOURS%20%20CONFERRED%20-2000.htm
- ^ http://www.hindu.com/2000/11/27/stories/09270703.htm
[edit] External links
- Sangamam at the Internet Movie Database
