Vaanam

Vaanam
Theatrical-release poster
Directed by	Krish
Screenplay by	Krish
Dialogues by	S. Gnanagiri
Story by	Krish
Based on	Vedam
Produced by	VTV Ganesh R. Ganesh
Starring	Silambarasan Bharath Prakash Raj Anushka Shetty Santhanam Sonia Agarwal Saranya Ponvannan
Cinematography	Nirav Shah Gnana Shekar V. S.
Edited by	Anthony
Music by	Yuvan Shankar Raja
Production companies	VTV Productions Magic Box Pictures
Distributed by	Cloud Nine Movies
Release date	29 April 2011 (2011-04-29)
Running time	161 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Vaanam (Sky) is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Krish. A remake of his Telugu film, Vedam (2010), it has an ensemble cast of Silambarasan, Bharath, Prakash Raj, Anushka Shetty, Santhanam, Sonia Agarwal and Saranya Ponvannan. The score and soundtrack were composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja; cinematography and editing were by Nirav Shah and Anthony, respectively. The film, produced by VTV Ganesh and R. Ganesh, was distributed by Dayanidhi Azhagiri's Cloud Nine Movies.

Vaanam is a hyperlink film. Its story revolves around the lives of five people from different walks of life, illustrating how their fates intertwine on New Year's Eve at a Chennai hospital. Released on 29 April 2011, it received mostly-positive reviews and was a box-office success.

Plot

Thillai "Cable" Raja is a cable operator born and raised in a Chennai slum. He bemoans his poverty and wants to become rich by marrying his girlfriend, Priya. Raja cons her into believing he is well-off, and adopts a refined persona for her. He is accompanied by Seenu, his best friend, and guided by bhajan singer Ganesh. When Priya asks him to buy expensive tickets to a New Year's Eve gala, Raja is very short of money. After a failed attempt at chain-snatching in which he crosses paths with the police, he heads to a hospital with theft on his mind.

Bharath Chakravarthy, an aspiring rock star from Bangalore, is irresponsible but well-meaning. His mother disapproves of his dream and wants him to become an army officer. When Bharath's band misses their flight to a concert because of him, he drives them to Chennai via road. He and his girlfriend, Laasya, are attacked by religious fanatics and are aided by strangers; this makes him reflect on life. When they arrive in Chennai, their vehicle collides with an auto rickshaw carrying a pregnant woman. Forgoing the concert, Bharath and Laasya rush her to the hospital.

Saroja is a sex worker at Rani Amma's brothel on the Tamil Nadu-Andhra border. When she discovers that her life is in danger while working there, she escapes to Chennai with her sister Karpooram in the hope of starting a business venture. Hounded by thugs and the police, they are led into a trap. In a fight, Karpooram is mortally wounded in a fight, and Saroja carries her to the hospital.

Rahimuddin Qureshi and his wife, Zara, lost their unborn twins in a Coimbatore riot. Zara becomes pregnant again a few months later and Rahim goes to Chennai to find his younger brother, who had run away after the riot. Rahim is in repeated conflict with Shivaram, an anti-Muslim police officer who suspects him of terrorism. He is brutally assaulted by Shivaram and admitted to the hospital under close supervision.

Lakshmi is the daughter-in-law of a poor weaver in Thoothukudi. When the weaver cannot repay a loan from cruel moneylender Narasimman, Narasimman kidnaps Lakshmi's bright young son and refuses to release him until the debt is paid. Lakshmi arrives in Chennai with her father-in-law, hoping to sell one of her kidneys to obtain money. She undergoes the surgery and receives money, which is insufficient. Raja steals Lakshmi's money, and she and her father-in-law attempt suicide.

Conscience- stricken, Raja confesses to Priya and returns the money with some of his own; Lakshmi forgives him. Rahim learns that terrorist leader Mansoor Khan and his gang are planning to kill the people in the hospital. He tries to escape, but when he sees Bharath wheeling in a pregnant woman he is reminded of his wife and offers to help them. The terrorist strike begins, and several people are shot to death. Raja, Bharath, Rahim, and Saroja lead a small group of survivors to an empty room.

Raja and Bharath kill a terrorist, and Bharath takes several bullets in his shoulder to save Saroja. Rahim saves Shivaram from a shooter and encounters his brother, who is part of the terrorist gang. Rahim's brother shoots himself, and Khan reveals himself as a suicide bomber ready to explode. Raja sacrifices himself by pulling Khan and falling out a window; an explosion follows.

Bharath, who lost one of his hands, is hailed as a national hero. Saroja and Karpooram begin a new life, hoping to find redemption. Lakshmi and her father-in-law pay off Narasimman and give her son a good education. Shivaram apologizes to Rahim and asks for forgiveness; Rahim accepts him as a brother. Raja is mourned by Priya and his community, and Ganesh and Seenu see him as a martyr.

Cast

• Silambarasan as Thillai "Cable" Raja
• Bharath as Bharath Chakravarthy
• Prakash Raj as Rahimuddin Qureshi
• Santhanam as Tantanatan Seenu
• Ganesh as "Bhajana" Ganesh
• Anushka Shetty as Saroja
• Sonia Agarwal as Zara Rahim
• Saranya Ponvannan as Lakshmi
• Vega as Laasya
• Jasmin as Priya
• Radha Ravi as the police inspector
• Jayaprakash as Mansoor Khan
• Ravi Raghavendra as the kidney surgeon
• Ravi Prakash as ACP Shivaram
• Pramila Rani as Raja's mother
• Master Sanjay as Pandi
• Nikki as Karpooram
• Dhandapani as Narasimman
• Sandhya Janak as Bharath's mother

Archival footage from Vedam:

• Brahmanandam as Bhairavan
• Prudhvi Raj as the sub-inspector
• Vajja Venkata Giridhar as Gopi

Production

Development

Producer R. B. Choudary bought the rights to Vedam to remake it in Tamil, and two stars were reportedly signed. Silambarasan and producer VTV Ganesh had seen Vedam at the Casino Theatre in Chennai. They approached Krish Jagarlamudi, director of Vedam, to direct the remake in his Tamil debut. Silambarasan began shooting the film in early July, and was also expected to work on Podaa Podi. Silambarasan reportedly lost a project with N. Linguswamy and Dayanidhi Azhagiri, who were unhappy that he began to shoot this film without informing them (and further delaying their film). Krish slightly modified the original script, expanding the Muslim character and changing the musician character.

Casting and filming

Anushka Shetty was initially hesitant to star in the film and came aboard since Krish was the director. However, she dismissed reports that she denied the film and eventually confirmed that she would reprise her role from the original, citing that "at no point did I refuse to be a part of this project". Manchu Manoj was also supposed to reprise his original character and enact the rockstar role in Vaanam but opted out. He was subsequently replaced by Bharath.

Sneha Ullal was initially hired to make her Tamil debut with this film and play Silambarasan's love interest. Vega Tamotia was hired to play a rock musician, played originally by Lekha Washington, being paired to Bharath, while producer Ganesh would appear in a cameo role, too. In September 2010, Sonia Agarwal was also signed up for a pivotal role, returning to acting after four years, replacing Siya Gautham as Zara, the wife of Prakash Raj's character, which she was initially supposed to play in the original version itself, but eventually missed due to personal problems. Compared to the original, however, she cited that she would have more scenes and one "extra song". Manoj Bajpayee was initially considered to reprise his role from Vedam; however, the role was ultimately played by Prakash Raj. Telugu actor Ravi Prakash was hired to play the same role he did in the original version, making his Tamil film debut. In early 2011, as Ullal, who had already shot for significant portions, was replaced by Delhi-based model Jasmin Bhasin. Bhasin completed her portions in 15 days and also dubbed for herself, had initially auditioned for the rock musician role of Vega Tamotia. Furthermore, scenes shot with Jagan were removed from the project, and then filmed with Santhanam after Jagan had fallen out with Silambarasan. Anushka Shetty's personal makeup man Nikki plays a transgender in the film, reprising his role from the original. Krish, who made a cameo in Vedam as a saamiyar, reprised his role in this film.

Themes and influences

The five central characters, which originated from Vedam, subtly represent the five natural elements—aether, air, water, fire, and earth. Due to the film's multi-narrative format of several short stories joining together in the climax, it drew similarities to films such as Amores perros (2000), Aayutha Ezhuthu (2004), Crash (2004) and Babel (2006). Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu noted how the ensemble cast of Vaanam adds to the film's appeal similar to that of Babel.

Music

Main article: Vaanam (soundtrack)

While Krish worked with composer M. M. Keeravani for the score and soundtrack of the original film, Yuvan Shankar Raja was approached and assigned as the music director of Vaanam to produce original songs and score. a novel attempt, the song "Evan Di Unna Pethan" was separately released as a single track to promote and popularise the film. The track was initially planned to be launched in London, but after several complications and delays, it was officially unveiled on 1 December 2010, at the Citi Center, Chennai, four months ahead of the actual audio launch.

While the original soundtrack consisted of eight tracks, the Vaanam soundtrack featured only five tracks, including the earlier released single. The entire soundtrack album was finally launched on 30 March 2011 at the Residency Towers in Chennai in a simple manner.

Release

Vaanam was initially slated to release on 11 February 2011, to coincide with the Valentines Day weekend. However, the release of the film was pushed to 9 April 2011 before the film was eventually released on 29 April 2011.

Reception

Box office

The film collected ₹72 lakhs at the Chennai box office in its first weekend, notably without much publicity.

Critical response

Vaanam garnered mostly positive responses. Rediff's Pavithra Srinivasan rated it as three out of five and stated that Vaanam was "engaging", further adding that "if you ignore the minor lapses, you've got a reasonably engaging story, and a moving climax". Sify.com's critic felt the film was "very good", citing that the "this short story genre [...] manages to work well for the new age audience. Almost all the stories are deftly told, with the mandatory twist in the climax which keeps you riveted". The reviewer further praised the director and his team as they "push the cinematic envelope and bring savvy freshness to Tamil cinema". Malathi Rangarajan from The Hindu said "Pithy, poignant, funny and serious as the situation warrants, dialogue (Gnanagiri) is a highpoint of Vaanam. Climax is another. Krish seems to have cut and pasted a few scenes from the Telugu original – they give a dubbed-film feel to Vaanam. Coming after the stupendous hit, VTV, Vaanam should be another significant film in STR's career". A critic from The New Indian Express wrote that " Relaying a warm message of compassion and hope, ‘Vaanam’, with it’s different take, is worth a watch".

Baradwaj Rangan wrote that his "glass-half-full side wants to deliver a smallish pat on Vaanam's back and label it [...] a "praiseworthy attempt", especially within mainstream parameters", while the "glass-half-empty side" was "still shaking angry fists at what could have and should have been a milestone", criticising that "half the story strands are simply not interesting enough".

Accolades

Silambarasan received the ITFA Best Actor Award for his performance in Vaanam. Santhanam received the Chennai Times Award for Best Actor in a Comic Role.

Controversies

In July 2011, Bharath alleged that he did not receive much attention for being in the film and stated that he was completely overlooked during the film's promotions. He added that he was given favourable publicity during his first multi-starrer Pattiyal (2006), and that Vaanam gave importance to "only one face" – its main lead Silambarasan. In response to this, Silambarasan denied any involvement in the film's promotional strategy and hinted that the film's success was largely dependent on his star image.

"Evan Di Unna Pethan" faced severe opposition for its allegedly provocative lyrics by Silambarasan. A women's rights organisation in Chennai criticised the lyrics and issued a statement to Silambarasan for the lyrics being "chauvinistic" that "demean women". Further it was argued that "music needs to appeal to larger sections than to the 'thrill-seeking' youth who are often misguided into 'cheap thrills' because of such songs", demanding censorship. However, several prominent people from the film industry came to support stating that there have been more objectionable scenes in films in the past and that there were "bigger issues in society" and applying censorship was not "the ideal way out in democracy".

External links

• Vaanam at IMDb