Kaadhal Kondein

<p>In 2003, Vinod, an orphan, has grown up under the care of church father Rozario. He is an introvert but a genius. He scores well in his +2 exams and gets free admission into one of the top engineering colleges in . He is forcibly sent to to study in an engineering college, where he is a complete misfit in class. Though shunned by the rest of his class, Divya, a fellow student, becomes his best friend, and he gradually warms up to her. Vinod excels in his studies, and everyone begins to see him differently. His feelings for Divya soon turn into love, but he realises that Divya considers him only as a friend and learns that she is in love with another classmate, Aadhi. Divya’s father is enraged on learning of her love. He locks her up in her room and prevents her from contacting anyone. Vinod comes and requests to meet her on the pretext of purchasing second-hand clothes for himself. Pitying Vinod, her father allows him to meet Divya. Vinod escapes with Divya and convinces her that she will meet Aadhi in . Vinod has set up a secret place in Araku to execute his plan of wooing Divya. He makes her stay with him, while convincing her to stay by talking about Aadhi’s arrival. On one such day, he reveals information about his past. In 1995, near the forest of , a gang runs a brick factory which employs only children as labour. The gang’s leader is a ruthless money-lending lady who buys orphans for work. The boys and girls are enslaved under highly inhuman conditions and work for 16 hours a day. Vinod, a 13-year-old-boy, is sold by his uncle and aunt for money after his parents died in an accident. He befriends three boys and one girl of the same age. One day, Vinod tries to inform the cruelty the children are exposed, to an officer who later accepts a bribe and leaves. He is then sent to solitary confinement within a metal box under the sun as punishment. Vinod’s female friend agrees to the sexual advances made by the owners husband in exchange for freeing Vinod from the metal box, yet she dies during the sexual assault and the murder is covered up. Weeks later, the boys, led by Vinod, rebel and kill the entire gang. They manage to vandalise the place and escape, following which the takes over the plant, and all children are admitted into an orphanage run by Father Rozario. Divya is touched by his past. Incidentally, the police and Aadhi arrive at the place. While Vinod was away to get some food, they try to explain to Divya that Vinod is a psychopath, with the evidence of a dead body in his earlier residence. Divya scoffs at their claims, citing his gentlemanly behaviour over the days that she has been alone with him. Vinod, learning that the police have arrived at the scene, begins to indulge in violence. He opens fire, killing a police constable. Forcing them out of their hideout, he manages to evade the police inspector and Aadhi and successfully brings Divya back to their original place of stay. Divya soon identifies the wolf in the sheep’s clothing. Vinod pleads with her, telling Divya that all he wanted in his life was her presence, but she called him a friend and stated her inability to accept him as her partner for life. Meanwhile, Aadhi regains consciousness and comes back to attack Vinod and rescue his girlfriend. A violent fight follows, where Vinod treats Aadhi with disdain. The fight culminates with Vinod, Aadhi, and Divya teetering at the edge of a slippery cliff. While Divya clutches a tree bark tightly, Vinod and Aadhi slip out and barely manage to hold either of her hands. Divya is forced to choose between her boyfriend and friend. Aadhi’s pleas notwithstanding, Divya does not have the heart to kill Vinod, who smiles at Divya and he himself leaves hand falling to his death. The film closes with a dead Vinod looking up, with a smile on his face. In the late 1990s, had written a script and had first narrated the story to his brother in their shared bedroom at home, before asking him to play the lead role of Vinod. The film, later titled , became Selvaraghavan’s official directorial debut after he wrote and “ghost-directed” (2002). , who was a part of , was to play one of the lead roles but was replaced by newcomer from Mumbai. This is the debut film for actress . For , director Selvaraghavan and music composer came together again after their earlier successful collaboration in , for which Selvaraghavan worked as a writer. The soundtrack of was released on 20 March 2003, featuring seven tracks with lyrics written by and . The music, especially the film score, received universal critical acclaim, establishing composer Yuvan Shankar Raja as one of the “most sought after music directors” in the . appreciated the album writing “Self confidence is the most crucial element in success. That’s what is seen in these compositions. The success of ‘Thulluvatho Ilamai’ hasn’t made him lose his [Yuvan] balance in any way. He isn’t boasting about his musical skills, instead, he merges his music with the film and is bringing out the best in him. These days, even soundtracks of Tamil films are succeeding only rarely. ‘Kaadhal Kondaen’ can be sure of one thing- music is a big hit”. The song “Kadhal Mattum Purivathillai” is based on “Räven” by the Swedish-Finnish folk band , while “Manasu Rendum” is based on ” ” by Indonesian singer . More than a year after the release of the film, an “original soundtrack” was released, that followed the -style. It was said to be the first time, that an original soundtrack was released for a film in India as the soundtracks released in India do not contain any film score pieces but full songs that feature in the film itself. The OST of contains 20 tracks overall, which includes the seven earlier released tracks, four “montage” bit songs, that featured in the film, but not in the soundtrack, and nine pieces from the actual film score, which were titled “Theme Music”. All music is composed by . The film opened in July 2003 to critical acclaim and commercial success. A reviewer from noted, “[Selvaraghavan’s] story, screenplay, dialogue and direction are focused and hit the bull’s eye straightway — hardly missing the mark.” Malini Mannath of wrote “The film-maker willing to experiment with lesser explored subjects needs to be commended for taking ‘the road not taken’, and for his efforts to give a different fare to the audience. ‘Kadhal Konden’ is an engaging entertainer, worth a watch”. Visual Dasan of praised the acting of Dhanush and Sonia Agarwal, Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music and the cinematography. Sonia Agarwal won the . Since its release, the film has been remade into several Indian languages; bought the rights to remake the film in with Dhanush intended to reprise his role, but the project did not materialise. The film was later remade in as (2004), in as (2009), and in as (2004). The film proved to be a career breakthrough for both Selvaraghavan and Dhanush in the Tamil film industry. The success of the song “Devathaiyai Kandaen” prompted to name his after the song title.</p>