Kanimozhi

<p>Rajesh has a habit of writing his daily life in a diary, while interpreting negative incidents in his life into happy incidents. He comes across a pretty girl named Anu, who he is smitten by but cannot muster the courage to tell her his feelings. Meanwhile, Koushik also takes a liking to Anu and uses a different method to convey his feelings. Whom Anu falls for forms the crux of the story. After the success of ‘s production, , the director, , recommended his assistant Sripathy Rangasamy to Siva for a potential collaboration. Venkat Prabhu also recommended as a joint producer. Sripathy had written the story of in college and built the screenplay around a story based on philosophy. Siva titled the film , after getting permission from the politician of the . After working in two films where Sripathy had been an assistant director, was signed to play the leading role of Rajesh. The director suggested that he had wanted an actor who “looked 21” and Jai was “the best bet”. was signed on as the lead actress and made her debut in Tamil films. Padamsee was approached after Sripathy was sent images of her portfolio by a model-coordinator from . She agreed to do the film after consent from her father, theatre personality . , in his film debut, was cast as one of Jai’s friends after Siva saw him at an event celebrating the 100th day of ‘s release. ‘s associate P. Chidamparam was selected to make his début as cinematographer with . was signed for the project ten minutes into a meeting with the makers of the film. Notably, T. Siva’s maiden production featured music composed by Satish Chakravarthy’s father. Venkat Prabhu’s editing team of and was retained for the project. The film was launched in a ceremony in Chennai in late March 2010 organised by the producers. performed songs from the film at the event, while noted actor compered. Following the launch, the film started the first schedule in April and completed the shoot within 46 days, shorter than the average Tamil film takes. Furthermore, unlike other most other Indian films, was shot with live sound, while a special silent camera was also used. The sound was mixed at in Mumbai and audiographed by Anandar Chandrahasan. The cast had spoken their lines on the set, with only Padamsee’s voice being dubbed since she is not a native Tamil speaker. The song “Muzhumadhi” was dubbed as the “underwater song” and was completed entirely through the use of graphics, while final mixing for many scenes were record at the Sterling Sound studio, United States. In June, the work progressed with Padamsee and Jai filming scenes at in , . The song recorded at the studio ended the filming portions of the project, which was wrapped up on 18 June 2010. Despite being a love story, the lead pair had only shot together for two weeks, although they have since stated that they bonded during the filming, helping the on-screen chemistry of the characters. Post production works began in July 2010, preparing for a release in August. However, the film was delayed and works finished in September 2010. The soundtrack to was composed by , for whom it became his first theatrical release, as his previous album was delayed. The audio was released in a large function on 18 August 2010 at Kalaignar Arangam, with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, and noted actor being the chief guests and receiving the first copy of the soundtrack. An animated trailer, the first of its kind in Indian cinema, featuring Jai and Padamsee was screened at the audio launch event and released online on September 2010. A final press meet, two weeks before release, was held on 13 November 2010 with most of the cast in attendance. The producers held a premiere for on 25 November 2010, Chennai. Padamsee, whose Telugu film released on the same day, was unable to make the premiere after suffering from . had a wide released the following day. Upon release, the film received mixed reviews from critics. labelled the film as “OK” and that for “the intentions alone, the makers of Kanimozhi deserve a thumbs-up”. Jai’s role was appreciated and described as “endearingly likeable”, while Padamsee “looked pretty and was photographed well” but “could have invested more energy and expression to her character”. The critic added that Swati’s scene in the climax “scores”, and that music by Sathish Chakravarthy “are just about ok but come as speed breakers”. The critic cites that “most scenes lack the energy that was required to elevate this film into a different level” and the final result is a “promising but sadly tiresome film” but that it will make you “leave the theatre with a smile on your face”. , branded the film as “average” claiming it “could have been much better”. The critic said that “the debutant filmmaker’s portrayal of characters is appealing” but that “the film fails to offer grippingness at several points”. They said Jai was “too raw and naturalistic” and Padamsee was like a ” Doll without reaction”. However, Vijay Vasanth’s acting was described as “appeasing” and Swati’s cameo in the climax was praised in the review. Pavithra Srinivasan of praised the film’s intentions but criticising the final product. Karthik Subramanian of said the film is “a real test of your patience” but revealed it was a “genuine attempt at creating realistic cinema that also entertains”, praising the story and the screenplay. He however concluded that the script was limited, and the actors’ performances were therefore limited. In January 2012, it was announced that the film was being dubbed in Telugu by producer Jakkula Nageshwara Rao as . However, this led to alleging that T. Siva had committed acts of fraud and forgery by trying to dub and sell the rights of to others and thus requested the Tamil Nadu Film Producers’ Council to take action. She claimed that she entered into an agreement with T. Siva, proprietor of Amma Creations, on 28 January 2010, for purchasing the entire rights to and thus secured 50% for any subsequent dubbed versions. Heiden said that Siva had entered into an agreement with third parties for dubbing the film in Telugu, alleging that he forged her signature and sold the rights. Production work continued and the Telugu version’s producer held the logo launch of the film during a match at the with actresses , , , and being the chief guests. It was retitled as to capitalise on the success of ‘s previous Telugu dubbed film . The audio was released after a function held at another CCL match in with CCL director Srinivasa Murthy and being prominent guests. The Telugu version geared up for release in March 2012, but the Madras High Court issued a stay order against the release of the film’s Telugu version as per Heiden’s complaint.</p>