Unnale Unnale

Unnale Unnale & Neevalle Neevalle
Directed by Jeeva
Produced by Viswanathan Ravichandran
Written by Jeeva
S. Ramakrishnan
Starring Vinay Rai
Sadha
Tanisha Mukherjee
Music by Harris Jayaraj
Cinematography Jeeva
Edited by V. T. Vijayan
Distributed by Aascar Film Pvt. Ltd[1]
Release dates
  • 14 April 2007 (2007-04-14)

[2]

Running time
 162 minutes
Country India
Language Tamil
Telugu
Malayalam

Unnale Unnale (Tamil: உன்னாலே உன்னாலே, English: Because of You) is a 2007 Tamil musical romance film. It was later dubbed into the Telugu language as Neevalle Neevalle.[3] Directed and co-written by Jeeva and produced by Oscar Ravichandran its stars Vinay Rai, Sadha and Tanisha Mukherjee in lead roles. With Srinath, Raju Sundaram and Sathish Krishnan in supporting role and has Lekha Washington, Aravind Akash, Uma Padmanabhan, Vasundhara Kashyap in cameo roles. Raju Sundaram also worked as a choreographer in the film.

The film revolves around the aftermath of a relationship between a careless man and a serious woman. Despite being in a relationship, the latter walks out on the former due to his antics with other women. However, the man changes his ways and on a business trip to Melbourne, he encounters another woman. This other woman's boss turns out to be the man's former lover. The events that follow and who the man eventually gets together with form the crux of the story.

The film opened to Indian audiences after several delays, on 14 April 2007, coinciding with the Tamil New Year. Despite receiving mixed reviews on the actors' performances, the film went on to win the box office battle on Tamil New Year's Day and become a major hit at the South Indian box office.[4]

Plot

The film opens with two people – a man (Aravind Akash) and a woman – interviewing civilians' thoughts on love and the opposite sex. After a mixture of answers, they cease their questions and the credits roll. The credits end as a boy, after being rejected by his girlfriend, commits suicide by jumping onto a passing car. Karthik (Vinay Rai) walks off disturbed to his girlfriend Jhansi's (Sadha) office. There, he is criticized by her for his antics with other women and his lack of passion for their love. She walks off, ending their relationship.

Karthik is then shown as a civil engineer in Chennai, still playful and fun-loving. Accepting a request from his manager to go on a six months business trip to Melbourne, he bids farewell to his friends (Raju Sundaram and Sathish Krishnan). On the plane, he encounters a playful, flirtatious girl, Deepika (Tanisha Mukherjee), whom he sits next to during the flight. After spending hours together, they become good friends and exchange details. However, by coincidence, Deepika is travelling to Melbourne to work in the same company as Jhansi, who is settled there. Together they seem to conveniently bump into Karthik at every corner, prompting an unwelcome reunion for Jhansi and Karthik.

While Deepika takes a liking to Karthik, Jhansi still ignores him, even though Karthik has ambitions of getting back together. At a restaurant, Karthik bumps into a fellow Tamilian (Srinath) and explains his love for Jhansi. The story then moves two years back for a flashback of events. Karthik had met Jhansi at a festival at a temple, where she played a prank on Karthik and his friends. Taking a liking to her, Karthik begins to follow Jhansi intentionally, hoping for her to fall in love with him. Soon after this happens, she becomes more and more suspicious of Karthik. This comes to a head when Karthik acts as the boyfriend of his friend's (Raju Sundaram) girlfriend, Pooja, (Paloma Rao), only for Jhansi to get confused and mistake him. His reputation as a trusting boyfriend takes another turn for the worse, when at a wedding, the bride (Lekha Washington) gives him a kiss after he improvises a song.

As the pair have a love-hate relationship, the break-up beckons when Jhansi sends her friend (Vasundra) undercover to go flirt with Karthik, however, he lies claiming he was at home ill, prompting Jhansi to end their relationship. At the end of the flashback, Srinath suggests to Karthik, that its more important to move on than think regretfully and Karthik gets over his relationship with Jhansi. However, finding out about Deepika's love towards Karthik, Jhansi becomes jealous and reinstates her love for Karthik. Soon, as she sees Deepika and Karthik's compatibility and understanding her faulty, she finally understands what went wrong in their relationship. Then, Karthik tells her through a meaningful conversation that he still loves her, not Deepika. After this, Jhansi run away to Sydney anonymously.

At the end of the film, the male interviewer who appeared at the start questions Jhansi on her decision to leave anonymously, however she refuses to answer, at first. Later, she replies that though she still loves Karthik, she was unable to understand Karthik well. She knew it would not work out and she did not want to hurt Karthik further, thus becoming the sole reason for her departure. She then confirms that she met up with Deepika recently, and had found that she is married to Karthik and has a child. She then walks away, claiming her future lies in her own hands and she is happy the way she is now.

Cast

The cast from the film was minimal, mainly focused on the three lead actors.[5]

Production

The key elements

The entire production of the film took about a year and a half to be completed and released.[6] Prior to Unnale Unnale, Jeeva had directed three films, 12B, Ullam Ketkumae and Run, a Hindi film. Unnale Unnale became his last finished film prior to his death on the sets of his next film, Dhaam Dhoom.[7]

The film was originally announced under the title of July Kaatril (In the Winds of July)[8] with a scheduled casting of Arya, Sonia Agarwal and Parvati Melton.[9] However all three of the proposed lead cast opted out of the film. Agarwal cited that her marriage was on the cards and she would find it difficult to sign on for a year, whilst the other two were unable to star in the film due to undisclosed reasons.[10]

In an interview, Jeeva, said "Romance always finds a special place in Tamil films. My new film July Kaatril is also about love", confirming it was a romantic flick.[11] While Harris Jayaraj was signed on as the music director with Kavignar Vaali and Pa. Vijay assisting him with the lyrics, Jeeva's wife, Aneez, debuted as a costume designer.[12]

Casting, location and music

Birrarung Marr pedestrian bridge seen in the song "Mudhal Naal Indru".

The casting of Vinay Rai, after Arya opted out, as Karthik was due to some similarities with the character. Vinay made his debut into the film industry after modelling and featuring in a couple of Tulu advertisements.[13] However, they finalised the choice of the actor only after the script was ready. The choice of Sadha was more difficult and since Anniyan she had received many negative reviews and the film became important to rekindle her success.[14] The role of Deepika went to Tanisha Mukherjee, who despite being a leading heroine's sister (Kajol), she was yet to maintain a hit film. Mukherjee, came down to South India to look for new opportunities and attracted the producer into signing her on. She immediately expressed her satisfaction with the character and consented for the role. The camaraderie that the lead actors shared during the filming, added on to their good performances. Raju Sundaram and Sathish were picked for their dancing skills while actresses Paloma Rao, Lekha Washington, Aravind Akash and Vasundra all played floating cameos in the film.

The film was mostly shot in Melbourne, Australia overlooking the Melbourne Docklands.[15] The climax was shot in Sydney while the beginning and the flashback was picturized in various cities across South India.[16] For the film's music and soundtrack, Jeeva renewed his previous association (12B and Ullam Ketkumae) with Harris Jayaraj. Playback singer, Chinmayi dubbed for Tanisha Mukherjee,[17]

Release

Reception

Unnale Unnale was released worldwide alongside Mayakannadi, Madurai Veeran and Arputha Theevu on Tamil New Year's Day, 14 April 2007.[18] Owing to the success of the film, the number of reels grew to about hundred. The film completed 100 days of screening in the theaters in the state of Tamil Nadu.[19] The reception in Malaysia was equally successful and was released in six major metropolises for up to 9 weeks, the film collected $114,883 (then approximately ₹5 million) within its 50-day run.[20]

Critical acclaim and controversies

Despite its relative commercial success, the film received mixed reviews on the storyline and the performances of the actors themselves. Rediff.com praised Sadha but describe Tanisha Mukherjee's and Vinay Rai's performances as mediocre,[21] while the reviewers at SearchIndia.com contradict the statement, praising Tanisha and criticizing the other pair. The film made business for Vinay, who signed up many films after the project.

Home media

The DVD version of the film was released on 8 August 2007 in the United Kingdom. This DVD release was distributed by Ayngaran International all around the world. It is available in 16:9 Anamorphic widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, progressive 24 FPS, widescreen and NTSC format.[22]

Soundtrack

Unnale Unnale
Soundtrack album by Harris Jayaraj
Released 18 December 2006 (2006-12-18)
Genre Film soundtrack
Length 27:34
Label Sa Re Ga Ma
Producer Harris Jayaraj
Harris Jayaraj chronology
Pachaikili Muthucharam
(2007)		 Unnale Unnale
(2007)		 Munna
(2007)

The film has six songs composed by Harris Jayaraj with the lyrics primarily penned by Vaali and Pa. Vijay. The audio of the film released nationwide on 24 January 2007, three months prior to the movie release.[23] Sify gave a positive rating stating "Full marks to Harris Jeyaraj for the songs especially the “Unnale Unnale…”, “June Pona…” and the background score which stays long after you leave the hall. They are picturised aesthetically in never-seen-before locations with utmost care going into details. "[24] The soundtrack was highly acclaimed and won the "Youthful Album of the Year" award at "Tamil Music Awards".Harris Jayaraj was also nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director and the Vijay Award for Best Music Director.

Original Tracklist
No. TitleSinger(s) Length
1. "June Pona"  Krish and Arun 6:02
2. "Hello Miss Imsaiyae"  G. V. Prakash Kumar and Anushka Manchanda 4:31
3. "Vaigasi Nilavae"  Haricharan and Madhushree 5:41
4. "Mudhal Naal"  KK, Pop Shalini and Mahalaxmi Iyer 4:27
5. "Unnale Unnale"  Krish, Karthik and Harini 4:43
6. "Ilamai Ulasam"  Krish and Pop Shalini 2:10
7. "Siru Siru Uravugal"  Krish 1:58
Telugu Tracklist

All lyrics written by Bhuvana Chandra. 

No. TitleSinger(s) Length
1. "June Pothe"  Krish and Arun 6:02
2. "Hello Miss Imsaiyae"  G. V. Prakash Kumar and Chinmayee 4:31
3. "Vaishaka Vennela"  Haricharan and Swarnalatha 5:41
4. "Modhalennadu"  Naresh Iyer, Pop Shalini and Mahalaxmi Iyer 4:27
5. "Neevalle Neevalle"  Krish, Karthik and Harini 4:43
6. "Yavvana Ullasam"  Krish and Pop Shalini 2:10

References

  1. ↑ "Charmingly presented". The Hindu. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  2. ↑ "Unnale Unnale promises clean fare". Indiaglitz.com. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  3. ↑ "Neevalle Neevalle". Indiaglitz.com. Retrieved 2007-11-04.
  4. ↑ "Business booms for Tamil cinema". The Hindu. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  5. ↑ "Unnale Unnale (2007)". Nowrunning.com. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  6. ↑ "A Summer Treat for Cinema Lovers!". OneIndia.com. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  7. ↑ "Asin, Trisha mourn Jeeva". OneIndia.com. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  8. ↑ "July Kaatril is now Unnale Unnale". Indiaglitz. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  9. ↑ "Ajith's Akbar eyes Parvathi". Behindwoods.com. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  10. ↑ "Wedding bells ring for Sonia Agarwal, too". ApunkaChoice.com. Retrieved 2006-10-06.
  11. ↑ "July Kaatril is now Unnale Unnale". Indiaglitz.com. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  12. ↑ "Unnale Unnale Review". Cinechance.com. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  13. ↑ "Unnale Unnale". Indiaglitz.com. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  14. ↑ "Sada pins her hopes on Unnale Unnale". OneIndia.com. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  15. ↑ "Paloma's Unnale Unnale". Indiaglitz.com. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  16. ↑ "Kajol's sister in Unnale Unnale". OneIndia.com. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  17. ↑ "Chinmayi dubs for Lekha Washington". 2008-06-09. Indiaglitz. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
  18. ↑ "A Summer Treat for Cinema lovers!". OneIndia.com. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  19. ↑ "Bingo!! Chennai 600 028 and Unnale Unnal". Kollywoodtoday.com. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  20. ↑ "Malaysia Box Office". Boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  21. ↑ "Topsy turvy Unnale Unnale with mature ending". Rediff.com. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  22. ↑ "Unnale Unnale". Ayngaran.com. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  23. ↑ "Jayaraj's 'Unnale...' is hit Tamil album". Nowrunning.com. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  24. ↑ Movie Review : Unnale Unnale

External links

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