Nanban Movie Online (DVD)

Nanban Movie Online (DVD)

Nanban (English: Friend) is a 2012 Tamil comedy-drama film directed by Shankar,[1] featuring an ensemble cast that includes Vijay, Jiiva, Srikanth, Ileana D'Cruz, Sathyan and Sathyaraj.[2] The plot of the film illustrates the embankment of two friends on a quest for a lost buddy, who was once an optimistic and successful student. On their journey, they recount their college life and special moments that the three shared up until their lost friend secretly parted ways after convocation. During their quest, the two encounter a rivaling classmate who once made a long forgotten bet with them, a funeral that goes impossibly out of control, and a wedding they must crash.

The film's soundtrack and background score was composed by Harris Jayaraj and cinematography was handled by Manoj Paramahamsa. It is a remake of Rajkumar Hirani's 3 Idiots (2009), which itself was adapted from the novel Five Point Someone – What not to do at IIT! by Chetan Bhagat. The film was produced by Gemini Film Circuit, who had purchased the remake rights of 3 Idiots in early 2010. A lengthy and controversial delay in casting caused commencement of filming to be pushed to a year later. Filming took place for a total of eight months in various locations in Europe and India.[3] The film released to critical acclaim and went to become an All-time Blockuster.[4][5] Its dubbed version in Telugu, Snehithudu, released on 26 January 2012 in Andhra Pradesh, also received good response at the box office.[6][7][8] Nanban was screened at the Melbourne Indian Film Festival on 12 June 2012. ‘Nanban’ has smashed few records in the opening week in the collection and it’s turned as the highest grosser of all Vijay films and Trade Pundits declared the movie as Blockbuster. Nanban is also the second highest Grossing movie ever in Tamil Cinema after Rajni’s Enthiran.[4]

Plot

Venkat Ramakrishnan (Srikanth), Sevarkodi Senthil (Jiiva) and Panchavan Parivendan (Vijay) are three engineering students who share a room in the residence of Ideal Engineering College (IEC), Chennai. Venkat is studying engineering to pursue his father's wishes over his own wish — to become a wildlife photographer. Senthil is studying to raise his family's fortunes and get them out of poverty. On the other hand, Pari studies for his simple passion in machines and devices. Pari believes that success in studying is not achieved by solely memorizing definitions given by textbooks or professors, but by understanding and applying the concepts. He believes that one should follow excellence, not success, as success will come itself if excellence is followed.

However, this different approach is sneered upon by the faculties, including the deen of the college, Professor Virumandi "Virus" Santhanam (Sathyaraj). In contrast, Virus' favorite student, Srivatsan (Sathyan), also known as "Silencer", believes in mindless memorizing over understanding, in order to reach his goals of corporate and social status. Meanwhile, Pari falls in love with Virus' daughter who was a medical student Ria (Ileana D'Cruz) when he, Venkat and Senthil accidentally crash her sister's wedding banquet to obtain a free meal, which infuriates Virus. Virus labels Pari and his friends as "idiots" and continually attempts to break Pari's friendship with Venkat and Senthil.

Things further escalate when the three friends drunkenly break into Virus's house one night to allow Pari to confess his love to Ria, and urinate on the front door before fleeing. The next day, Virus threatens to rusticate Senthil unless he squeals on Pari. Not wanting to betray his friend or let down his family, Shalen attempts suicide and ends up paralyzed. Following his recovery, Senthil discards his fear of the future. Encouraged by Pari, both Senthil and Venkat gain courage to do what they were afraid to do before. Senthil takes a frank approach in an interview for a corporate job, while Venkat convinces his parents to allow him to pursue his love of wildlife photography, both successful in their endeavors.

When Virus discovers that Senthil successfully obtained a job offer, he conspires to prevent him from getting the job by creating an exam paper so tough that will deliberately fail Shalen. When Ria learns of his plan, she helps Pari and Venkat by providing them with the keys to her father's office. However, Virus catches them and expels them on the spot. Ria angrily confronts him, revealing that his son, Ria's brother, committed suicide when he could not get into IEC, like Virus demanded, even though he had no interest in engineering and instead wished to be a writer. At the same time, Ria's pregnant older sister Swetha (Anuya Bhagvath) goes into labor. A heavy rainstorm cuts all power and floods the streets, making it impossible for the ambulance to reach Swetha, and Ria is stuck at her hospital, where she had fled. Pari,Venkat and Senthil come to the rescue, along with other students from IEC. Over phone and webcam, Ria instructs She tells Pari to deliver the baby via voice over IP. After the baby is apparently stillborn, Pari resuscitates the baby by leading the students in saying "All is well". Virus reconciles with Pari and his friends, and allows them to stay for their final exams.

Their story is framed as intermittent flashbacks from the present day, ten years after Srivatsan bet that he'd become more successful than Pari. Having lost contact with Pari, who disappeared during the graduation party and went into seclusion, after five years, Senthil and Venkat begin a journey to find him. They are joined by Srivatsan, now a wealthy and successful professional in the USA, who is looking to seal a deal with a famous scientist and prospective business associate named Kosaksi Pasapugazh. When they find Pari's house in Ooty, they find a completely different man: the real Pari (S. J. Surya).

From him, they come to know that their friend was a destitute servant boy "Pappu" who loved learning, while he, the real Pari, disliked study. After seeing the boy's intelligence, the family agreed to let the servant boy study in Pari's place instead of laboring. In return, the real Pari would pocket his qualifications and after graduating, the servant boy will cease all contact. The real Pari reveals that Pappu is now a schoolteacher in Dhanushkodi. At the same time, they find out that, without Pari, Ria decided to marry the same price-obsessed banker that Pari initially talked her into dumping, and they go to rescue her from the wedding in Coimbatore. Venkat and Senthil find Ria and arrive at Pari’s school. Ria and the fake Pari rekindle their love, while Srivatsan mocks Pari for becoming a lowly school teacher. He asks Pari to sign a "Declaration of Defeat" document. When Pari's friends ask what his real name is, he reveals that he is actually Kosaksi Pasapugazh himself, and explains that teaching is just a hobby for him. Upon learning this, Srivatsan accepts his defeat and pleads his case with Kosaksi Pasapugazh to establish the business relationship he was after.

[edit]Cast

Vijay as Panchavan "Pari" Pariventhan/Kosaksi "Pappu" Pasapugazh

Jiiva as Sevarkodi Senthil

Srikanth as Venkat Ramakrishnan

Ileana D'Cruz as Ria Santhanam

Sathyaraj as Virumandi Santhanam (Virus)

Sathyan as Srivatsan (Silencer)

Anuya Bhagvath as Swetha Santhanam

Manobala as Bose

Uma Padmanabhan as Mrs. Ramakrishnan

Indrans as Govindan

Vijay Vasanth as Paneerselvam

S. J. Surya as Panchavan "Pari" Pariventhan (Guest appearance)

Shankar in a special appearance

[edit]Production

La Defense Office was one of the highlights in the song "Asku Laska"

Development

Following Gemini Film Circuit's purchase of the remake rights for 3 Idiots in January 2010, there was much speculation in regard to the three title roles essayed by Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi in the original.[9] Gemini Film Circuit approached noted directors Shankar, Vishnuvardhan and S. Dharani to replace Rajkumar Hirani as the director, with the approval from Shankar leading to him being signed.[10] Despite speculation that he was set to pull out from directing his first remake as it would be a step down from his previous film, Enthiran, Shankar stated his commitment in October 2010.[11][12] He later added that, "he came across 3 Idiots during the making of Endhiran, and it was that moment he decided to break his self-imposed rule – making only original movies and decided to direct his first remake venture."[13] As Shankar's norm music director, A. R. Rahman couldn't be retained for the project due to his busy schedules, Harris Jayaraj and Yuvan Shankar Raja were approached to compose the soundtrack,[14] with Shankar settling for the former with whom he had worked with in the 2005 action film Anniyan earlier.[15] Meanwhile, Manoj Paramahamsa, whose work in Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa and Eeram had been critically acclaimed, was signed on as the cinematographer.[16] Sound designer Resul Pookutty and visual effects designer V. Srinivas Mohan joined the crew, following a successful collaboration in Enthiran.[17]

Casting

File:Crystal palace.jpg

The Crystal Palace in Buen Retiro Park, another highlight in the song "Asku Laska"

For the lead role enacted by Aamir Khan, initial reports suggested that Suriya was the front runner, who however dismissed the link citing that his commitments had left him busy.[18] A special screening for the film industry included Vijay, who expressed his desire to work in the film, and was subsequently signed up by Gemini Film Circuits to portray the lead role.[19][20] However, by mid-December 2010, soon after trial shoots were held, Vijay walked out the film following disputes over his dates, with Surya being labelled as his likely replacement.[21][22] Reports claimed that talks with Surya failed, since the actor had demanded salary increase and dubbing rights for the Telugu-version of the film.[23] Surya's reasons for refusing the offer was later confirmed not to be true, with Surya himself revealing that he had opted out only because of other film commitments and "did not want to keep Shankar waiting."[24] As a result, Vijay was once again finalized for the role.[23][25]

The roles of the other two titular characters took considerably longer to confirm. Madhavan was initially approached to reprise his role from the original but made it clear that he was unwilling to be a part of the remake, citing the film had already "gone down in history".[26] Early indications suggested that Udhayanidhi Stalin had replaced him but the claims were false.[19] In November 2010, reports emerged that Vinay Rai or Nakul were set to play the role, however Vinay cited that he refused the project as the role was not as meaty as the other two characters.[27] Consequently, the production house signed Srikanth to play the role, after seeing his performance in Drohi, which had come after several box-office failures for him.[28] Sharman Joshi's role was originally offered to Silambarasan, but after discussions, it was revealed that Silambarasan could not associate himself with the character.[29] Subsequently the role was offered to Siddharth, a protege of Shankar, who also went on to refuse the project.[30] Despite further reports that Arya and Jiiva were being considered, the latter signed on and agreed with Shankar that he would play Joshi's role instead of Madhavan's.[31][32] The role played by Kareena Kapoor in the original, was reported to be played by either Shruti Haasan or Asin. However Ileana D'Cruz was signed on for the film after attempts to feature Katrina Kaif in the film had failed.[33] The college professor's role was given to Sathyaraj, despite early indications that Prakash Raj would be approached. Omi Vaidya was unable to reprise his role from the original and comedian Sathyan Sivakumar was signed on to essay his role, while S. J. Surya signed on to appear in a guest role, portraying the role enacted by Javed Jaffrey.[34] Anuya Bhagvath was also signed up for a supporting role.[35]

Filming

The first schedule of filming was held in Ooty, where scenes involving Ileana, Srikanth and Jiiva were shot.[36] During the second schedule scenes involving the lead cast were canned at Dehradun and a car chase at various places in Chennai,[37][38] while two songs were filmed in London and Buckingham during the third schedule.[39] Some significant parts of the film were shot in Chennai at Sun Studios and the Ampa Skywalk Mall,[40][41] as well as in the Koyambedu water tank for three days, for which an Akila crane was used.[42] Further filming, including the climax, was held at various locations in Europe, Andamans and Coimbatore.[43] Filming was wrapped-up in October with a song featuring Vijay and Ileana, which was choreographed by Farah Khan.[44][45] The filming process lasted for eight months.[46]

Soundtrack

Nanban

Original cover

Soundtrack album by Harris Jayaraj

Genre Feature film soundtrack

Label Gemini Audio

Producer Harris Jayaraj

Harris Jayaraj chronology

7aam Arivu

(2011) Nanban

(2011) Oru Kal Oru Kannadi

(2012)

The soundtrack and background score was composed by Harris Jayaraj, working with Shankar for the second time after Anniyan (2005), while scoring for a Vijay-starrer for the first time. The soundtrack, consisting of six original songs, was released on 23 December 2011, at Hindusthan College of Arts and Science in Coimbatore, before Jayaraj's concert, Harris: On The Edge, commenced at the same venue.[47] Lyrics were provided by Pa. Vijay, Viveka, Na. Muthukumar and Madhan Karky, the latter two penning lyrics for two songs each. Notably, Karky's lyrics in "Asku Laska" include more than 16 different languages.

The release of the Telugu version album Snehithudu was held on January 19 in Hyderabad. It was attended by Ram Charan Teja, Vijay, Shankar, Ileana, Srikanth, Harris Jayaraj, Sathyaraj, S. J. Surya, Sathyan and Dil Raju. Also present were Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Sharman Joshi, who were part of the original film 3 Idiots.[48][49]

Tracklisting

No. Title Lyrics Singer(s) Length

1. "En Frienda Pola"   Vivega Krish, Suchith Suresan 3:57

2. "Heartilay Battery"   Na. Muthukumar Hemachandran, Mukesh 5:35

3. "Asku Laska"   Madhan Karky Vijay Prakash, Chinmayi, Suvi 6:21

4. "Endhan Kann Munnae"   Madhan Karky Aalap Raju 2:10

5. "Irukaanaa"   Pa. Vijay Vijay Prakash, Javed Ali, Sunidhi Chauhan 5:10

6. "Nalla Nanban"   Na. Muthukumar Ramakrishnan Murthy 4:25

Total length:

26:58

Professional ratings

Review scores

Source Rating

600024.com [50]

Behindwoods [51]

Rediff [52]

The album received generally positive reviews. IndiaGlitz.com wrote that the music album is "ready to mesmerize you".[53] Behindwoods.com labelled it a "winner all the way", adding that it had "good variety all through the album [...] and ample scope for festivities in the theater".[51] Top10cinema.com wrote that it had three songs that "strike spectacularly with its rich music and commendable lyrics", calling it a "good work by Harris".[54] 600024.com mentioned: "Overall, this Nanban is your well-Known Friend".[50] KollyTalk.com called it "Youthful and refreshing".[55] On the contrary, Pavithra Srinivasan from Rediff wrote that there was "nothing new about the music in Nanban", concluding that Harris Jayaraj had "obviously taken the safe route, sticking to his usual template for most of the songs in this album".[52]

Release

Prior to the release, Nanban was voted the "most expected film" of 2012 through an online public poll conducted by Vikatan.[56] After being certified with a 'U' rating by the Censor Board,[44] the film was released on 12 January 2012 for Pongal.[57]

Nanban advance booking opened well to full houses in theaters, with good sales from theaters in Chennai city and suburbs.[58] It has had the highest number of shows in a single day at Mayajaal multiplex in Chennai to date.[59] The film opened in nearly 625 screens in Tamil Nadu, including 27 screens in Chennai city.[3] It released simultaneously in UK, where it opened in 25 screens,[60] the US, Malaysia and Singapore.[61] Nanban became the first Tamil film to be released with French subtitles in France.[62] It also became the first film to get exempted from entertainment tax in Tamil Nadu by the new scheme introduced by the Government of Tamil Nadu.[63]

Telugu film distributor Dil Raju bought the theatrical rights of Snehitudu, the Telugu dubbed version of Nanban for Andhra Pradesh market. Snehitudu was released on January 26, 2012.[64] The satellite rights of the film was sold out to STAR Vijay for a record price of 12 crores.[65][66]

Critical response

The film opened to highly positive reviews. Sify called it an "engaging film with noble intentions. It deserves viewing because films like this are hard to find".[67] Behindwoods.com rated the film 3.5/5 and wrote: "Nanban has got more than something for everyone. It is very unlikely that a person finds such a wholesome package unsatisfying. All is absolutely well!"[68] Pavithra Srinivasan from Rediff.com gave the film 3/5 stars, describing it as "the perfect feel-good fare for the festive season, despite minor glitches".[69] Malathi Rangarajan from The Hindu wrote: "Nanban is an enjoyable cocktail of humour with some sentiment and sadness thrown in for that extra appeal. Once again Shankar proves the master craftsman that he is".[70] Anupama Subramanian from Deccan Chronicle gave the film 3/5 stars, while labelling it as a "feel-good film with a larger message and a brilliant feat by Vijay which makes the film a not-to-be-missed one!"[71] Venkateswaran Narayanan from Times of India wrote: "All is well with Nanban because Shankar's retelling of 3 Idiots retains its soul and has its heart in the right place".[72] Zee News wrote: "Nanban is a must watch, grab your tickets now. It’s the best gift Vijay could have given to his diehard fans this Pongal".[73] IndiaGlitz.com named it a "clear entertainer", "a whiff of fresh air from the mindless masala movies" and a welcome change".[74] Rohit Ramachandran of nowrunning.com rated it 3/5 stating that "Nanban is Rajkumar Hirani's 3 Idiots staged and presented by Shankar in a different language with grandeur. The base material is solid and Shankar obediently traces it. Out comes an uplifting entertainer that will draw raves from viewers of all kinds".[75] Oneindia.in gave a positive verdict and wrote, "All is well. It is a Shankar's Sankrathi feast for the audience! Do not hesitate to watch Nanban even if you have seen 3 Idiots".[76] CNN-IBN said that it was "sweet and satisfying".[77] Acclaimed actor Kamal Hassan appreciated Vijay's performance in the movie and lauded the team’s effort in making such a good entertainer.[78][79][80] Jeeva from Idlebrain.com with regards to the Telugu version Snehithudu commented that "the magic of 3 idiots is missing", and gave 3/5 stars.[81] Indiaglitz stated that Snehithudu was a "passable remake".[82] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an audience rating of 96% based on nearly 1200 votes.[83] TruthDive commented "Nanban’ is definitely a special treat for both Shankar and Vijay’s fans, and a wholesome entertainment for everyone who loves good cinema! ‘Nanban’ will surely attract the youth crowd".[84]

[edit]Box office

India

The film opened with 100% occupancy in both multiplexes and single screens in Tamil Nadu District including Chennai and other cities.[3] It also witnessed 90% occupancy in other countries.[85] Nanban grossed around 15 crore (US$2.99 million) on the opening day and the opening four-day weekend worldwide collection totaled at 61 crore (US$12.17 million).[86] The film netted 2.27 crore (US$452,865) in its first weekend,[87] and 4.95 crore (US$0.99 million) at the end of the first week, staying at first place at the Chennai box office.[88][89] It has grossed around 5.89 crore (US$1.18 million) in Chennai after seven weeks,[90] Out of which approximately 1 crore (US$199,500) came from Sathyam Cinemas multiplex.[91] In Coimbatore and Nilgiris area, Nanban opened in 70 screens and netted 5.20 crore (US$1.04 million) in the first week.[3] In Kerala, it grossed 1.39 crore (US$277,305) on the opening day.[92] Nanban also got a great opening at the Bangalore box-office,[93] where it was still featured in Top 5 one month after release.[94] The collections from 4 circuits of Coimbatore were around 5.5 crore (US$1.1 million) in its initial month.[4] Nanban celebrated 100 days at the box-office on 20 April 2012.[95][96]

Overseas

Nanban that was released in 7 screensgrossed $76,580 ( 40.59 lakhs) at the Australian box office in its first weekend.[97] Overall it had grossed $110,422 [Rs. 57.86 lacs].[98][99] In UK, it collected $173,789 in its first week with a per screen average of $7,241 in 24 theatres. After its 4 week run in UK the film collected £ 2,14,735 ( 1.66 crores) and became the 4th highest grosser in UK. It also secured the first place in the Malaysian box-office in the first week released in 37 screens, and collected a total of $871,959 ( 2.28 crores) after a 6 week long run.