Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal

<p>Ranjankudi Anbarasu Murugesa Boopathy Ohondhiran, known as Rambo, is born into a family subject to a curse that states that anyone who weds into the family will die. Rambo’s father, determined to break the curse, marries a local teacher named Minah Kaif while his brothers and sister remain unmarried. However, the curse strikes when Rambo’s father accidentally slips from a tower and dies, announcing his son’s birth. Minah suffers a shortly after and becomes . Rambo’s uncles, aunt, and the whole village believe that the birth of Rambo brought negative luck that his father tried so hard to fight. Rambo grows up believing that he emanates ill luck wherever he goes. When his mother suffers a in his presence, he runs away from the village for good, believing that his proximity to her makes her ill. Rambo works two jobs to earn a living. During the day, he is a cab driver. At night, he is a at a pub. He meets Khatija Begum at the pub, and the two develop friendships. One day, Rambo confronts Khatija’s violent boyfriend, Mohammed Mobi, after he slaps her. Khatija breaks up with Mohammed and begins spending more time with Rambo. While driving his cab, Rambo also meets Kanmani Ganguly, a saleswoman who raises her younger sister, Minmini, and her differently-abled brother, Bhargav. Kanmani seeks a husband who will allow her siblings to live with her after marriage, but she struggles to find one. Khatija and Kanmani develop feelings for Rambo, which Rambo reciprocates, and both women propose to him on the same day. Though Rambo is surprised that two fabulous women have fallen for him, he quickly realises that only their love has turned his bad luck around for good, so he accepts both proposals. Not knowing how to proceed with his double love life, he gets help from , a host, who makes Rambo concoct a story that he has a that makes him forget events that happened during the day and night alternately. The ruse falls apart when Rambo reveals that he has memories of both women and is equally in love with both; it is up to them to sacrifice their love for the other person. Kanmani and Khatija refuse to do so and stand by their decision to marry Rambo. The three move in together, and though both women dislike each other at first, they strike up a friendship after the unexpected death of Khatija’s father. The two women find out from a friend of Rambo’s that the reality show was staged and kick him out of the house. Rambo’s friend asks them to travel to the village one last time to see Rambo’s mother, who is seriously ill. Rambo decides not to go back as he fears his presence could worsen her condition. When he is forced to go, his mother miraculously recovers, leading the village to believe Rambo’s presence now brings good luck. They beg Khatija and Kanmani to marry Rambo so the family’s curse can be broken and all his aunts and uncles can get married. The women eventually agree and host a ceremony for his entire family, not only Rambo. After the rest of the family is married, Khatija and Kanmani leave the wedding, each sacrificing their love so the other person can marry Rambo. One year later, the three meet again, with Rambo saying their relationship was enough to break the . After the two women leave, Rambo shocks his neighbour by telling him that has started chatting with Rambo as his new girlfriend. Rambo tosses his phone and leaves Katrina waiting for him online. In 2016, announced that would play the lead role in his next film, titled ; it would mark their second collaboration after (2015). Produced by , the film was supposed to go into production in August 2016, but failed to materialise; Sethupathi moved on to act in (2017) and Vignesh decided to direct (2018). He also decided to direct a film produced by starring . After this film was shelved, on 14 February 2020 ( ), Vignesh officially re-announced with Sethupathi still attached. He produced the film under his own banner, , along with Lalit Kumar of . Vijay Kartik Kannan and served as cinematographers. The film marked the debut of Shweta Sabu Cyril (daughter of art director ), who joined the film’s team as the production designer. In February 2020 and were announced as the lead actresses. Sethupathi and Nayanthara earlier acted in and (2018), where Sethupathi appeared in a cameo role, and Sethupathi reunited with Samantha after (2019). Vignesh announced through his on 21 March 2021 ( ), that Bhargav Sundar, who has , would be joining the cast. He had been cast after the makers approached the Down Syndrome Association of Tamil Nadu. In December 2021, former Indian cricketer was announced to be making his acting debut in Tamil with this film. In the first look released on 15 November, Vignesh revealed the names of Sethupathi, Nayanthara and Samantha’s characters as Rambo, Kanmani and Khatija respectively. It was announced in December 2021 that dance choreographer would make her acting debut with the film, as part of the film’s supporting cast. was supposed to start in April 2020 but was delayed due to the . That May, the production house announced that filming would begin that August. On 10 December 2020, the film officially began production in . The film continued production through January 2021, and on 10 February 2021, Vignesh announced that the shooting of the second schedule had ended. By August 2021, shooting was happening in . In late August 2021, a video from the shooting spot surfaced into the internet. It had the lead actors recreating the song “Valai Osai” from (1988), and also wearing similar costumes. In early December 2021, the makers began post-production activities for the film, including dubbing works. On 9 December, Vignesh kickstarted the final shooting schedule in . Principal photography on 30 March 2022. The film was edited by . The film’s seven-song soundtrack was composed by in his 25th album of the film and third collaboration with Vignesh as a director, after and . The duo released the first single “Rendu Kaadhal” on 14 February 2021, Valentine’s Day. Anirudh sang this song with female vocals accompanied by and Aishwarya Suresh Bindra. Though Vignesh announced that the second single would be released in July 2021 in an online interaction with fans, the song, which was later titled “Two Two Two,” was eventually released on 18 September, which coincided with the director’s birthday. This song also had vocals by Anirudh, along with female singers and Sanjana Kalmanje. The track received positive response from music critics, and actresses shared and praised the song through social media. On 3 January 2022, the third single track “Naan Pizhai”, which had vocals by Ravi G and was released. Ravi was approached to sing the track after Anirudh and Vignesh liked one of his covers during the lockdown. In an interview with Srinivasa Ramanujam of , Ravi said “What’s most heartening is that it is a melody, which itself is a difficult proposition for composers to churn out in this age of fast-paced peppy numbers. The opportunity to explore such melodies in the film music space is scarce. The first time I listened to the track version, I had goosebumps. That it has clicked with audiences is great news for musicians.” The track crossed above 7 million views in YouTube within a week of its release there. On 20 April 2022, the fourth single “Dippam Dappam” was released, which had vocals by and Anirudh. All lyrics are written by . released on 28 April 2022. It was initially slated for a theatrical release in December 2021 but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the release was delayed. The film was later dubbed in Telugu as . The distribution rights of the film were bought by . The film was distributed in the UK and Europe by Ahimsa Entertainment. The film began streaming on from 27 May 2022. The film grossed over (equivalent to 74 crore or US$8.8 million in 2023) in worldwide box office, becoming one of the of the year. The film received mixed reviews. Soundarya Athimuthu of gave the rating 2.5 out of 5 stating that “The makers have hinted at it quite well because just like how Vijay Sethupathi as Rambo in the film smartly tries to justify cheating on two women at the same time, Director Vignesh Shivan with his quirky comedy, some beautifully placed emotional dialogues and heart touching lyrics also cheekily cheats the audience – making them believe that this is a one of a kind love story while all he did was, reimagine the rom-com genre by twisting the tale of the usual storyline – “two girls fight over a guy”. But what feels somewhat good is that the hero is not completely rewarded at the end despite his mistakes as one would anticipate.” Manoj Kumar R of gave the film’s rating 2 out of 5 stating that “The latent nature of adult comedy in this movie is a big turn off. This film aims to play into the wild fantasies of a lovelorn man by subtly sexualising the leading ladies. But, it’s neither clean humour nor an outright adult comedy. It’s a mess. The main reason is Vignesh’s indecisiveness. He wants to keep the film safe for people to watch it with family. And at the same time, sprinkle it with just enough double meaning dialogues and scenes so that people get the hint. It also wants to be a double-meaningful director ‘s , a spoof film, and Vignesh’s 2015 hit . You can’t have it both ways.” Logesh Balachandran from gave 2.5 stars out of 5 stars and noted that “however manage only to recreate the same in parts.The mere presence of Vijay Sethupathi, Nayanthara and Samantha helps to elevate even ordinary scenes despite the sloppy writing. A single-shot scene in which Vijay Sethupathi delivers a lengthy dialogue again showcases the prowess of the actor and how a good actor can make a scene interesting.” Srivatsan S from noted that “Except for a few scattered laughs, this Vignesh Shivan directorial remains firmly bland despite featuring three brilliant actors” However, critic Haricharan Pudipeddi noted that “The film, nevertheless, is salvaged by decent comedy and Anirudh’s splendid music. Vijay Sethupathi is at his effortless best on screen, and alongside both Nayanthara and Samantha, we get some lovely moments between the trio. The film does feel dragged post interval but by the end, it makes up for the problematic plot.” Avinash Ramachandran from gave 2.5 out of rating and said that “For almost half its running time, explores the idea of a specific type of mental illness. Around halfway point, it seems like the film realises its folly and the makers dodged the ‘wrongful representation’ bullet.’ Priyanka Thirumurthy of gave 2.5 stars out of 5 and said that “Vijay Sethupathi has done an admirable job in the role given to him. We only wish that when such a firecracker cast was brought together, the script was fitting for their talent.”</p>