Naan Mahaan Alla (2010 film)
Naan Mahaan Alla | |
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![]() Audio poster | |
Directed by | Suseenthiran |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography | R. Madhi |
Edited by | Kasi Viswanathan |
Music by | Yuvan Shankar Raja |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Cloud Nine Movies Ayngaran International |
Release date |
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Running time | 131 mins |
Country | Template:Film India |
Language | Tamil |
Naan Mahaan Alla (Tamil: நான் மகான் அல்ல; English: I'm No Saint) is a 2010 Tamil-language drama-thriller film written and directed by Suseenthiran. It stars Karthi, Kajal Aggarwal, Jayaprakash and Soori. It features music scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja and cinematography handled by R. Madhi and was produced by K. E. Gnanavelraja and distributed by Dayanidhi Azhagiri's Cloud Nine Movies.[1] The film, not related to the namesake 1984 Rajinikanth-starrer,[2] but based on a real life incident,[3] released on 20 August 2010 to positive reviews.[4][5]
It was later dubbed in Telugu as Naa Peru Shiva, released across 230 screens in Andhra Pradesh and became a success there too.[6]
Plot
Jeeva (Karthi) is a typical Chennai youngster. His father Pragasam (Jayaprakash), a call taxi driver, showers love and affection on him. They lead a simple life and derive happiness in whatever they do. One day, Jeeva comes across Priya (Kajal Aggarwal) at the wedding of their mutual friends. The two fall for each other. He doesn't tell her about his feelings and knows that she likes him. He plays hard to get until their mutual friend tells Priya about Jeeva's infatuation. Jeeva tries to make her become more independent. One day he goes up to Priya's father against her pleas and tells him of their love. Jeeva eventually secures a good job as that is one of the requirements for him to marry Priya. Eventually Priya becomes acquainted with Jeeva's family and is accepted as the future bride. When all seems to go well, a murder attempt on Jeeva’s father disturbs everything. Jeeva’s father had witnessed a girl being taken by a group of sociopathic teenagers in his taxi. The girl gets killed and Jeeva's father decides to knock on the doors of justice. Sensing trouble, the gang murders him. The death of his father shatters Jeeva. He vows to take revenge on the killers. He sets out on a mission to identify the culprits and goes running around the town baying for their blood. How he avenges his father forms the rest of the story.
Cast
- Karthi as Jeeva
- Kajal Aggarwal as Priya
- Jayaprakash as Pragasam
- Soori as Ravi
- Raviprakash as Sudharsan
- Rajeevan
- Vijay Sethupathi
- Vairavan
- Lakshmi Ramakrishnan as Jeeva's mother
- Neelima Rani as Sudha
- Krishna Priya as Keerthi Pragasam
- Vinod Kishan
- Thanjai Mahendran
- Ramachandran
- Aruldass as Kutti Nadesan
Production
Development
After his first feature film Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu, released in February 2009, became a success, receiving much critical acclaim as well, director Suseenthiran started to work on the script for his next film. Initially planning to do one titled Azhagarsamiyin Kudhirai, which failed to commence due to financial problems, he decided to first direct a film featuring a known lead actor, before coming back to that film.[7] He was ready with the script by August 2009, revealing details about the project. While his previous work was based on sporting incidents in a rural background, this one was said to be a "total city subject", shot entirely in Chennai.[8] An action family entertainer, it would deal about problems in city life, according to Suseenthiran.[8] On 19 August 2009, it was announced that the film was titled Naan Mahaan Alla and would be produced by K. E. Gnanavelraja under the banner of Studio Green, who earlier had produced Surya's Sillunu Oru Kadhal and the award-winning Paruthiveeran by Ameer Sultan, which incidentally also starred Karthi in the lead role.[9] It was reportedly based on a real-life incident that happened to one of the relatives of director Suseenthiran.[10] He scripted the film for five months.[11]
Casting
While Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu (Suseenthiran's first feature film) starred mostly newcomers, he chose Karthi for the lead role in this film as he felt that Karthi has an "innocence in his face" that was needed for this role and that he could "convey charm, innocence and being jolly at the same time".[8] For the lead female role, Kajal Aggarwal, who had appeared in Tamil films as Pazhani, Saroja and Modhi Vilayadu, was roped in. Suseenthiran chose her after seeing her performances in the Telugu films Chandamama and Magadheera. He felt that her "cute expressions" were what he needed for that character.[8] While Karthi's character is a middle-class bank employee, Aggarwal would play an employee in a mobile phone company.[8]
Soori, who also played a comedic role in Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu was again included, while Jayaprakash, who essayed several supporting roles and rose to fame with his performance in Pasanga was chosen to play Karthi's father.[11] As in his previous film, Suseenthiran introduced several new artists,[11] such as five boys who played the villains.[12] According to the director, he found three of them "loitering on a popular road in the city", whilst cinematographer Vijay Milton's assistant Ramachandran and cinematographer Aruldass debuted and played pivotal roles.[13]
Filming
Filming began, after ten days of rehearsals,[11] on 4 September 2009 and was held in cities as Chennai, Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.[9] In mid-September, reported locations included East Coast Road (ECR) near Chennai[14] and later in the environs of the highways near Poonamallee in Chennai.[15]
Soundtrack
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The soundtrack of Naan Mahaan Alla is composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, making this his third collaboration with Karthi, after scoring highly successful results with Paruthiveeran (2007) and Paiyaa (2010),[16][17] and his first with director Suseenthiran, who worked with V. Selvaganesh for his previous film. The soundtrack album, which was released on 16 July 2010 at Sathyam Cinemas, Chennai,[18] features five songs, with lyrics penned by Na. Muthukumar and Yuga Bharathy. The song "Va Va Nilava Pudichi" is repeated at the end of the album, with singer Rahul Nambiar credited for both. Nambiar, however, stated on his Facebook site that two versions were recorded featuring his and Haricharan's voice, respectively, but that both songs in the album were rendered by Haricharan only and his own version wasn't included at all. The songs were later dubbed for the Telugu version Naa Peru Shiva. The Telugu album was launched on June 25, 2011.[19]
Only three songs were used in the film in their entirety, with "Oru Maalai Neram" being left out completely. The album received favorable reviews, with "Iragai Pole" in particular, sung by composer Yuvan Shankar Raja, becoming very popular.[20] Before the soundtrack release, Yuvan claimed on Twitter that the song was one of his favorites, on which he had worked for days.[21] Interestingly, after seeing the entire film, he was said to have remixed and completely reworked that song, altering the orchestration inter alia, to match it with the visuals.[22] He garnered accolades for the film's score as well. As per Suseenthiran, the music was "crucial" in the second half of the film, which was the reason for opting for Yuvan Shankar.[11] According to Karthi, Yuvan had worked for 12 days for the score of the second half, which has "hardly any dialogues", adding that he was the one "who narrates the story in the second half through his music".[22]
No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Va Va Nilava Pudichi" (Singer credited as Rahul Nambiar) | Na. Muthukumar | Rahul Nambiar | 04:47 |
2. | "Iragai Pole" | Yugabharathy | Yuvan Shankar Raja, Tanvi Shah | 05:19 |
3. | "Oru Maalai Neram" (Not featured in the film) | Na. Muthukumar | Javed Ali, Shilpa Rao | 04:46 |
4. | "Theivam Illai" | Yugabharathy | Madhu Balakrishnan | 04:41 |
5. | "Va Va Nilava Pudichi II" (Singer credited as Rahul Nambiar) | Na. Muthukumar | Rahul Nambiar | 04:47 |
Total length: | 24:21 |
Release
Reception
Naan Mahaan Alla received positive reviews, with Top10Cinema.com labelling Naan Mahaan Alla as "outstanding", proceeding to highlight that "almost everything works: the plot and screenplay, performances, technical panoramas",[23] while Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff.com described it as "almost perfect", giving it 3 out of 5.[24] Sreedhar Pillai of Sify.com also gave a very positive verdict, stating that director Suseenthiran comes up with a "rocker of a film" that is "refreshingly fresh, innovative and packaged in a breezy manner within the commercial format", adding that it is "engrossing and racy".[25] Furthermore, he praised lead actor Karthi's "power packed" performance, citing that he "nails the character to perfection" and "carries the film to its winning point". Similarly Times of India reviewer Bhama Devi Ravi, gave 3.5 out of 5, claiming the film to be "entertaining almost till the end", whilst addressing high praise to both Suseenthiran, who according to her is "turning out to be a treasure", and Karthi, whose performance she described as his "best work yet".[26] Behindwoods gave the movie 2.5 out of 5 and said "Although there are a few slow patches, Suseendiran should be appreciated for coalescing the energy and entertainment of a mainstream film with a sensitivity of a realistic one. He has the wholesome attention of the audience in most parts."[27]
Box office
The film opened well,[28][29] and made a steady progress in the Chennai box office,[30][31][32] eventually becoming a very successful venture.[33] In five weeks Naan Mahaan Alla made a collection of ₹ 5 crore; 4.47 crore was collected in Chennai city alone.[34]
Accolades
Award | Category | Name | Outcome |
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Best Character Actor | Jayaprakash | Won | |
Best Villain | Mahi, Anbu, Iman, Vinoth and Arun | Won | |
Best PRO (Public Relations Officer) | John | Won | |
Best Supporting Actress | Neelima Rani | Won | |
Best Music Director | Yuvan Shankar Raja | Nominated | |
Best Male Playback | Yuvan Shankar Raja for Iragai Pole | Nominated | |
Best Actor | Karthi | Nominated | |
Best Villain | Vinod | Nominated | |
Best Art Director | Rajeevan | Nominated | |
Best Stunt Director | Anal Arasu | Won | |
Best Editor | Kasi Viswanathan | Won |
References
- ^ "Karthi - Tamil Movie News - Dayanidhi opts for Karthi... Udhayanidhi prefers Arya - Karthi | Arya | Naan Mahaan Alla | Madharasapattinam". Behindwoods.com. 2010-06-22. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
- ^ "Eagerly awaiting Karthi's Naan Mahaan Alla: Rediff.com Movies". Movies.rediff.com. 2010-08-18. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
- ^ "Actor Karthi - Tamil Cinema Actor Interview - Karthi | Naan Mahaan Alla | Kajal Agarwal | Paiyaa | Tamannah - Behindwoods.com". Videos.behindwoods.com. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
- ^ "Friday Fury- August 20". Sify.com. 2010-08-20. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
- ^ "Naan Mahaan Alla - Behindwoods.com - Tamil Top Ten Movies - Naan Mahaan Alla | Karthi | Kajal Agarwal | Suseendran | Yuvan Shankar Raja | Cloud Nine". Behindwoods.com. 2010-08-20. Retrieved 2010-08-24. [dead link]
- ^ August 12, 2011 By Anupama Subramanian DC chennai (2011-08-12). "Karthi hits T'wood big time". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Director Suseendiran - Tamil Cinema Director Interview - Suseendiran | Vennila Kabbadi Kuzhu | Naan Mahaan Alla | Azhagar Saamiyin Kudirai | Gautham Menon - Behindwoods.com". Videos.behindwoods.com. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
- ^ a b c d e "Karthi is My Hero - Susi". top10cinema.com. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
- ^ a b "It's Naan Mahan Illai for Karthi!". Times of India. 2009-08-19. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
- ^ "Bride hunting starts for Karthi - Tamil Movie News". IndiaGlitz. 2010-07-30. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
- ^ a b c d e Rangarajan, Malathi (2010-07-01). "Good tidings continue". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
- ^ "Suseendran's fantastic five - Tamil Movie News". IndiaGlitz. 2010-09-03. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
- ^ "Suseenthiran to release a telegu film?". The Times Of India. 2010-09-03.
- ^ "Naan Mahaan Alla shooting in ECR". Ayngaran. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
- ^ "http://www.top10cinema.com/news/1041/karthi-shoots-for-naan-mahaan-alla". top10cinema.com. Retrieved 2009-09-28.
{{cite web}}
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- ^ June 1, 2010 (2010-06-01). "Naan Mahan Alla - Movie Preview". Southdreamz.com. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "NAAN MAHAAN ALLA MUSIC REVIEW - NAAN MAHAAN ALLA MP3 DOWNLOAD - TAMIL MOVIE NAAN MAHAAN ALLA MUSIC REVIEW - TAMIL SONGS DOWNLOAD - TAMIL FILM MUSIC - NAAN MAHAAN ALLA MP3 - NAAN MAHAAN ALLA SONGS". Behindwoods.com. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
- ^ "Naan Mahan Alla audio launched!". Sify.com. 2010-07-16. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
- ^ "Naa Peru Shiva Audio Release". Retrieved 30 June 2011.
- ^ "Naan Mahaan Alla Has Been Passed With 'U/A' | News - General". Top 10 Cinema. 2010-08-04. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
- ^ "I have sung one of my favourites in NMA: Yuvan - Tamil Movie News". IndiaGlitz. 2010-07-07. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
- ^ a b "Actor Karthi - Tamil Cinema Actor Interview - Karthi | Naan Mahaan Alla | Kajal Agarwal | Paiyaa | Tamannah - Behindwoods.com". Videos.behindwoods.com. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
- ^ "Naan Mahaan Alla | Movie Review". Top 10 Cinema. 2010-08-20. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
- ^ "Naan Mahaan Alla is almost perfect: Rediff.com Movies". Movies.rediff.com. 2010-08-20. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
- ^ "Movie Review:Naan Mahaan Alla". Sify.com. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
- ^ BHAMA DEVI RAVI, TNN, Aug 21, 2010, 06.11pm IST (2010-08-21). "Naan Mahaan Alla movie review: Wallpaper, Story, Trailer at Times of India". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "NAAN MAHAAN ALLA MOVIE REVIEW". Behindwoods. Retrieved August 2011.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help) - ^ "Naan Mahaan Alla - Behindwoods.com - Tamil Top Ten Movies - Naan Mahaan Alla | Karthi | Kajal Agarwal | Suseendran | Yuvan Shankar Raja | Cloud Nine". Behindwoods.com. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
- ^ "Naan Mahaan Alla - Behindwoods.com - Tamil Top Ten Movies - Naan Mahaan Alla | Karthi | Kajal Agarwal | Suseendran | Yuvan Shankar Raja | Cloud Nine". Behindwoods.com. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
- ^ "Naan Mahaan Alla - Behindwoods.com - Tamil Top Ten Movies - Bale Pandiya Vamsam Naan Mahaan Alla Inidhu Inidhu Irandu Mugam". Behindwoods.com. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
- ^ "Naan Mahaan Alla - Behindwoods.com - Tamil Top Ten Movies - Inithu Inithu Bale Pandiya Drohi Naan Mahaan Alla Boss Engira Baskaran". Behindwoods.com. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
- ^ "Naan Mahaan Alla - Behindwoods.com - Tamil Top Ten Movies - Bale Pandiya Drohi Vandae Maatharam Naan Mahaan Alla Boss Engira Baskaran". Behindwoods.com. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
- ^ "Naan Mahaan Alla - Behindwoods.com - Tamil Top Ten Movies - Bale Pandiya Drohi Vandae Maatharam Naan Mahaan Alla Boss Engira Baskaran". Behindwoods.com. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
- ^ "TOP 20 CHENNAI BOX OFFICE COLLECTION OF 2010 - Behindwoods.com - Tamil Movie Slide Shows - Endhiran | Nandalala | Myna | Singam | Paiyaa | Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa | Naan Mahaan Alla | Uthama Puthiran | Angadi Theru". Behindwoods.com. 2010-08-20. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
- ^ February 14, 2011 (2011-02-14). "4th Edison Awards 2011 Winners". reviews.in.88db.com. Retrieved 2011-05-19.
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Nominees of Idea Filmfare Awards South". Indiaglitz. Retrieved 1 June 2011.