Kaavalan

Kaavalan
File:Kaavalan promo poster.jpg
Directed by	Siddique
Written by	Siddique
Produced by	C. Romesh Babu
Starring	Vijay Asin Thottumkal Rajkiran Roja Selvamani Vadivelu
Cinematography	N. K. Ekambaram
Edited by	Gowri Shankar
Music by	Vidyasagar
Production company	Ekaveera Creations
Distributed by	Cinema Paradise
Release date	15 January 2011 (2011-01-15)
Country	Template:Film India
Language	Tamil
Budget	₹ 35 crore

Kaavalan (Tamil: காவலன்; English: Bodyguard) is a 2011 Tamil romance film written and directed by Siddique. Starring Vijay and Asin Thottumkal in lead roles, the film is the remake of the director's own previous Malayalam film Bodyguard. The film features Rajkiran, Roja, Mithra Kurian and Vadivelu in supporting roles and musical score composed by Vidyasagar. The film's prinicpial shoot commenced in April 2010 and was completed by November 2010. Following several hurdles, Kaavalan released on 15 January 2011 to good reviews from audiences and critics alike

Plot

Boominathan (Vijay) idolises Muthuramalingam (Rajkiran) and upon the request of his parents, accepts to work with the latter as his Bodyguard. There enters Muthuramalingam's rival, who had lost his daughter since she committed suicide,the reason being rejection by Muthuramalingam's son. While Boominathan protects Muthuramalingam, his rival threatens the life of his daughter Meera (Asin). Boominathan is sent to college along with Meera and Madhu for protecting them from the threat. Meera tries to distance from Boominathan by calling him from Private Number and Boominathan falls in love with the girl without knowing it is Meera herself. At one point, Meera too feels herself getting attracted to Boominathan and expresses her desire to meet him in person.What happens then forms the crux of the film.

Cast

• Vijay as Bhoominathan
• Asin as Meera Muthuramalingam
• Rajkiran as Muthuramalingam
• Roja as Devika Muthuramalingam
• Mithra Kurian as Madhu
• Vadivelu as Ammavasai
• Livingston
• Mahadevan
• Krishna Kumar as Karthik Muthuramalingam
• Nizhalgal Ravi
• Yuvashree
• M. S. Bhaskar
• Madhan Bob
• Guinnes Pakru

Production

Development

File:Kavalan press meet stills photos 03.jpg

Director Siddique, Vijay and Asin during an official press meet

During the post-production stages of Bodyguard, Siddique had the idea of remaking the film in Tamil. He later announced his decision to remake the film with enhancements in the script to better suite the Tamil audience. The film was initially referred to as "Kaavalkaaran," which transliterally means "bodyguard" in Tamil. After rumours of the title being changed to Kaaval Kaadhal, the film was officially confirmed to be titled as Kaavalan in August 2010. The reason for the name confusion and its eventual permanent change was due to the complications in obtaining the rights to the title of "Kavalkaran" from M. G. Ramachandran's producers. They refused to sell the title to Vijay, leading to the rechristening of the title to Kaavalan.

Casting

With the announcement of the remake, Siddique had finalized Vijay to play the lead role, reminiscent to their previous venture Friends (2001), which was also a remake of Siddique's own Malayalam film. Asin Thottumkal was signed up to pair with Vijay for the third time after their previous pairings in Sivakasi (2005) and Pokkiri (2007), also giving Thottumkal a comeback in Tamil cinema after her last appearance in Dasavathaaram (2008). Vadivelu, Rajkiran, and Roja Selvamani were also signed up for supporting characters. The film's principal shoot began in April at Kumbakonam.

Filming

An incident occurred on sets in April, where Asin, her father, and her make up assistants had fainted in their caravan after being exposed to a gas leak. They were treated in hospital the same day and were eventually discharged. The second shoot schedule occurred in Vellore. Vijay and Asin, along with director Siddique and rest of crew had taken part in the shooting at the Vellore Institute of Technology. A song was shot at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, making it Vijay's second trip to the country for a film shoot after Kuruvi.

Release

After the failure of Vijay's 2010 film Sura, the TN Film Exhibitors Association (TFEA) distributed a circular advising theaters not to screen the actor's future films until he compensated for the losses his movies had incurred. Vijay was asked to pay 30% of an estimated ₹9 crore loss suffered by theaters, or about ₹3 crore. Kaavalan ran into turmoil as the Theatre Owners’ Association threatened not to release the movie. The movie's release was postponed from December 17 to January 15, citing the lack of theaters available to release the movie. The Actor shelled out his salary and extra 4crs to release the movie with the help of producer Aascar Ravichandran .

The trailer was world premiered on December 16 in the Bay Area, California, USA, notably the first time a Tamil film trailer was launched outside India. Speaking at the event, Vijay made a request to his USA fans to provide support for the growth of Tamil Nadu.

Reviews

Sify - Perfect Pongal Outing Rediff - Vijay of Yore is Back - 2.5/5 Behindwoods: Vijay (re)turns romantic! Feel good – Feel emotional! - 2.5/5

Soundtrack

Untitled

Kaavalan's audio launch was held on December 8, 2010. The soundtrack has been received positively by critics.

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Vinnai Kaapan"	Pa. Vijay	Tippu, Shweta Mohan	4:30
2.	"Yaradu"	Yugabharathy	Karthik, Suchitra	4:27
3.	"Step Step"	Vivega	Benny Dayal, Megha	4:36
4.	"Sada Sada"	Yugabharathy	Karthik	4:15
5.	"Pattamboochi"	Kabilan	KK, Rita	3:48