''Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada'' () is a 2016 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

-language romantic

action thriller film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

written and directed by

Gautham Vasudev Menon Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu cinema, Telugu and Hindi cinema, Hindi films th ...

. The film stars

Silambarasan Silambarasan Thesingu Rajendar, nicknamed as Simbu or his initials S. T. R., is an Indian actor, filmmaker and musician in Tamil cinema. He began his acting career by playing roles as a child artist in films directed by his father T. Rajendar, b ...

and

Manjima Mohan Manjima Mohan is an Indian actress who primarily appears in Malayalam and Tamil films. She started her career as a child artist in Malayalam films. she made her debut as a lead actress with ''Oru Vadakkan Selfie'' (2015) in Malayalam and ''A ...

, while

Baba Sehgal Harjeet Singh "Baba" Sehgal, is an Indian rapper. He was widely acclaimed to be the first Indian rapper. He is also involved in various other areas of the entertainment industry, and works in several different languages' media. He was a contesta ...

plays the role of a corrupt cop. The film revolves around a youngster who embarks on a road trip with his lady-love during which he meets with an accident which causes things to get out of control.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

commenced in November 2013, however, in June 2014, filming schedules were postponed until Menon completed his other project ''

Yennai Arindhaal ''Yennai Arindhaal'' () is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film co-written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, and produced by A. M. Rathnam. The film stars Ajith Kumar, Trisha Krishnan, Anushka Shetty and Arun Vijay and re ...

(2015)'' with Ajith Kumar. Filming recommenced on 21 February 2015, majority of shooting was done in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The film features

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

and soundtrack album composed by

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

, with lyrics by

Thamarai Thamarai (born 10 November 1975) is a noted Tamil poet and lyricist. She is a prominent figure in the Tamil literary world. She made her debut in the Tamil film industry through the 1998 film Iniyavale, which was directed by Seeman and music ...

. It was simultaneously made in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

as ''

Sahasam Swasaga Sagipo ''Sahasam Swasaga Sagipo'' () is a 2016 Indian Telugu-language romantic action thriller film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. It was produced by Miryala Ravinder Reddy, under ''Dwaraka Creations''. The film stars Naga Chaitanya a ...

'' with

Naga Chaitanya Akkineni Naga Chaitanya (born 23 November 1986) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Telugu cinema. He made his acting debut with '' Josh'' (2009) and his breakthrough came with Gautham Vasudev Menon-directed ''Ye Maaya Chesave'' (2010). ...

replacing Silambarasan and Manjima Mohan in the same role. This film's title is based on a song from ''

Mannathi Mannan ''Mannathi Mannan'' (; ) is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language swashbuckler film directed and produced by M. Natesan. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran, Anjali Devi and Padmini. The film, written by Kannadasan, had musical score by Viswanathan–Ra ...

'' (1960).

Plot

The protagonist, whose name is not mentioned, is revealed to be a care free

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

student and bike enthusiast, accompanied by his close friends Mahesh, Shyam, Srikanth and ''Auto'' Selvam. He has two sisters and two love stories that revolved around him in the past, one is Sukanya, and the other, Mallika. He now considers his new bike, ''Thunderbird'', as his first love ever. However, he meets and falls in love with Leela, a friend of his sister, Maythrie, who stays in his house to complete her studies. He plans a long road trip in his bike to

Kanyakumari Kanniyakumari (; , referring to Devi Kanya Kumari), also known as Cape Comorin, is a city in Kanniyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent and the southernmost city in mainland Ind ...

along with his friend Mahesh, but he ditches his friend in the last minute and is accompanied by Leela instead. They head to Kanyakumari via Salem,

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

, and

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populatio ...

. The protagonist also humorously finds out about Leela's gluttony, over food. On the trip, they go to a village and stay for a night, where they are taken care by a kind-hearted villager. The next day, they reach Kanyakumari and see the sunrise. During the course of the trip, Leela falls for him. After the trip, he agrees to drop her at her home, in

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarter of the Kolhapur district. In, around 2 C.E. Kolapur's name was 'Kuntal'. Kolhapur is ...

. On their way to Maharashtra, they meet with a road accident. The protagonist injures his shoulder and proposes to her, before fainting, as if he was about to die. The next day he wakes up to find himself in a hospital. He feels that something is wrong after phoning Leela. The same day, Leela's parents are attacked by some unknown assailants. The protagonist and his friend, Mahesh, visit the hospital that Leela and her parents are in. The three of them discover that Leela was the target of the attack. The protagonist decides to save Leela. But they encounter a corrupt cop, Kamath, who, with a help of a gangster, Hiren, kill Leela's parents. Unfortunately, Mahesh is also killed in the incident. The protagonist is devastated by this and vows to avenge Mahesh and Leela's parents's death at any cost. Leela and the protagonist go into hiding, where Kamath tries to trace them out, even in Mahesh's funeral. Kamath finally reaches his house, in Chennai, where another friend of the protagonist, poses as the owner of his bike, with fake proof. Deceived, Kamath returns to Maharashtra. Two years later, Kamath is preparing to receive his new superior police officer, in Kolhapur. The new officer is none other than the protagonist himself; he is now the new DCP of Kolhapur, who went into a self-imposed exile, studied for the UPSC exam, and chose IPS, despite being eligible for IAS, to fulfill his vengeance. Finally, his name is revealed to be 'Rajinikanth Muralitharan'. He also reveals the reason behind hiding his name so far; his mother, being a big fan of Rajinikanth, without any hesitations, named him so, as soon as he was born. Whenever anybody came to know of his name, they would look at him for an extra few seconds, which is why, he seldom states his name to others. Rajini then reveals that he has unravelled what happened two years ago to Kamath. Leela's biological father, Nathuram Dubey, is a politician in Maharashtra, and the candidate for Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He planned to kill Leela as she was his illegitimate daughter and thus, a danger to his political ambitions. Kamath, with the help of Hiren, executed his plan. Rajini discovered that Leela's actual mother, Anamika, knew of the incident. After his probation, Rajini devised a plan to eliminate everyone involved in the scheme. Nathuram is arrested and brought into the station. Kamath, defeated, tries to kill Rajini, but accidentally shoots Nathuram. Finally, Rajini assassinates Kamath, in self-defense, avenging Mahesh' and Leela's parents' deaths. He gets a vacation, based on personal trauma, and returns home. He picks up Leela from the village they stayed in, on their way to Kanyakumari. Later, they both go on a bike trip to Kanyakumari, again, only for Rajini to propose to Leela.

Cast

as DCP Rajinikanth Muralitharan *

as Leela Raman *

as Kamath, the corrupt cop *

Sathish Krishnan Sathish Krishnan is an Indian actor, dancer and choreographer, who has worked in Tamil films. Career After winning the first season of the reality dance show, Maanada Mayilada, Sathish was first seen portraying Vinay Rai's friend in Jeeva's ...

as Mahesh * Daniel Balaji as Hiren, the gangster * Nagineedu as Raman * R. N. R. Manohar as Mahesh's father *

Anjali Rao Anjali Rao is an Australian-Indian global television news anchor and broadcast journalist. She starred on season 5 of ''The Real Housewives of Melbourne''. Rao has spent over 25 years in television journalism, as an anchor and correspondent f ...

as Maythrei *

Krrish Menon Krrish is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Tamil and Malayalam cinema. He made his debut in the commercially successful Yennai Arindhaal directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon starring Ajith Kumar in 2015. Then went on to play one of the ...

as Atul *Mathew Varghese as Muralitharan, Rajinikanth's father *Sujata Panju as Rajinikanth's mother *Vasantha as Leela's mother *Chalakudy Sunil as Maharashtra cop *K K Menon as Somnath Naik *Prasad Athalye as Yashwant Tripude *Vishwanath as Nathuram Dubey, a corrupt politician, Leela's father *Priya Rajkumar as Anamika, Leela's mother *Samragni as young Anamika *Saran Bhaskar as Maythrei's stalker *R. Shyam as Shyam *Vicky Vijai as Srikanth *R. S. Karthik as Auto Selvam *Amruth as Rajinikanth's friend *Rishabh as Inspector Thambe *Anandhi as Mallika *Chandru BCS as Duty Doctor *Madurai Mohan as Villager *Jaydev Subramaniam as Hospital receptionist *Samson T Wilson as Hospital gangster *Elyas Khan as Hospital gangster *Sunitha Ojha as Nurse *Bullet Babu as Ambulance driver *S Sayath as a Taxi driver *Khaleel L as Maharashtra cop *Anil Bala as Maharashtra cop *Birlaa Bose as Chennai cop *Prayas Mann as Maharashtra cop *

as a Police Officer (cameo)

Production

Pre-production

After the success of ''

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa ''Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, starring Silambarasan and Trisha. Jointly produced Elred Kumar, Jayaraman, VTV Ganesh and P. Madan under the ban ...

'',

narrated the script to Vijay along with ''Yohan Adhayam Ondru'' script as the actor felt it wouldn't suit his image and for the audience. Menon announced in October 2013 that he would produce and direct a film featuring Simbu in the lead role after the following success of ''Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa''.

Development

In an interview with the Bangalore Mirror, Menon stated that the film was originally titled ''Sattendru Maarathu Vaanilai'' and described the film as one which starts as a "love story" and then enters a "violent / action space". Menon outlined the storyline of the film, stating, "It is the story of a happy-go-lucky guy (played by Silambarasan) who is looking to do normal things in life but then, a situation is thrown at him and it changes everything", adding that the story is inspired by the scene in the film ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caa ...

'' where a bruised

Michael Corleone Michael Corleone is a fictional character and the protagonist of Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather''. In the three ''Godfather'' films, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Michael was portrayed by Al Pacino, for which he was twice-nominate ...

plots revenge against the corrupt policeman McCluskey. Menon had previously portrayed cops as heroes but in this film, he revealed that the cop was the antagonist. When he was writing the second half of the film, he ensured not to watch films in the other genre. In December 2013,

was officially confirmed to compose the songs, while Dan Macarthur was confirmed as the film's cinematographer.

was chosen to portray a negative role as a cop.

Filming

While the team was still in the process of casting a female lead opposite Silambarasan, principal photography began in mid-November 2013 with a ten-day schedule in

Adyar, Chennai Adyar is a large neighbourhood in south Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is located on the southern banks of the Adyar River. It is surrounded by the Tharamani in the West, Thiruvanmiyur to the South, Besant Nagar in the East, Kotturpuram in ...

, with scenes featuring Silambarasan and

were shot. Later, filming continued for ten days with

Pallavi Subhash Pallavii Subhash Shirke (born 9 June 1984) is an Indian actress. A model turned actress, she began her career in Marathi plays, films and TV shows and later appeared in Hindi TV shows. She has worked in various Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Si ...

as the female lead. Further, the shooting progressed during the nights, in and around Kalakshetra and

Thiruvanmiyur Thiruvanmiyur is a largely residential neighborhood in the south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Thiruvanmiyur witnessed a spike in its economy with the construction of Chennai's first dedicated technology office space, the Tidel Information Te ...

. A second schedule began in early December 2013 featuring scenes with the lead cast in urban Chennai. The film was shot for thirty days and was put on hold until Menon completed filming ''

'' (2015). In 2015, Pallavi Subhash could not allot bulk dates to the film and was replaced by Former Malayalam Baby Artist

, as Female lead. She was cast after actor

Vineeth Srinivasan Vineeth Sreenivasan (born 1 October 1984) is an Indian playback singer, actor, film director, screenwriter, producer, lyricist, creative director and dubbing artist. He predominantly works in the Malayalam cinema. He is the son of actor an ...

made Menon watch the trailer of ''

Oru Vadakkan Selfie ''Oru Vadakkan Selfie'' () is a 2015 Indian Malayalam-language road-comedy film directed by G. Prajith and scripted by Vineeth Sreenivasan. The film features Nivin Pauly, Manjima Mohan, Aju Varghese, Neeraj Madhav and Vineeth Sreenivasan. The mu ...

'' and then Manjima was auditioned and selected for the role. Filming began from 21 February 2015, re-shooting all previous scenes with Manjima Mohan. By September 2015, four songs were filmed and the team was left with 20 days of work. By November 2015, ninety percent of the filming was completed. The next schedule comprised 30 allotted days. On 17 February 2016, the climax portions were being filmed in Adyar, Chennai. However, a stunt made Silambarasan suffer facial injuries, postponing the filming schedules.

Music

A. R. Rahman's inclusion in the project was confirmed by December 2013, marking his second collaboration with Silambarasan and Gautham Menon after their critically acclaimed

soundtrack. As per the urgency of shooting, a single track with lyrics penned by Madhan Karky was recorded within three hours by the composer at his studio in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Recording of the songs recommenced from February 2015. By September 2015, recording of all the five tracks by

was completed. For the sixth track, Rahman was yet to see the film and score it, which was later on added as the theme music. The soundtrack album has five songs, all placed in the first half of the film. The first single, "Thalli Pogathey", was released on 23 January 2016, and became popular among listeners, as the lyric video of the song crossed 20 million views. The second single, "Rasaali", was released on 2 June 2016, followed by the third single track "Showkali", on 10 August. The full album was exclusively launched in iTunes on 9 September 2016. A month later, the album was released digitally on 7 October 2016, and a physical release on 10 October 2016. The album received highly positive reviews from critics and audiences. Sharanya CR from The Times of India rated 4 out of 5, stating that "This one's not just for Rahmaniacs, but for all the music lovers, too" Behindwoods rated the album 3.5 out of 5, stating that "Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada is an apt album from the creative combination of AR Rahman - Gautham Menon. This duo never disappoints!" Sify rated the album 4 out of 5, viewing that "‘Acham Yenbathu Madamaiyada’ has AR Rahman in scintillating form with 5 masterpiece songs. GVM's success ratio with his music composers is intact, and the album is bound to be renowned for the quality of lyrics it has produced. This album works instantly & one doesn't need the excuse ‘Rahman songs are slow burners’ here. It is so refreshing to see a Rahman album being uncomplicated and work in the first instance!"

Release

The film was initially titled ''Sattendru Maaruthu Vaanilai'' in December 2013. The title refers to lyrics of the song "Nenjukkul Peidhidum", from Menon's 2008 film ''

Vaaranam Aayiram ''Vaaranam Aayiram'' () is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon and produced by Venu Ravichandran of Aascar Films. The film stars Suriya in dual lead roles as father and son, with Sam ...

''. However, the title could not be retained as the producers K. Ethiraj and Dr. Saravanan completed a different film with the same title which was censored and tax exempted. A fifty-second teaser of Menon's film that was released on 3 February 2014. However, in February 2015, the title was revealed as ''Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada''. The teaser was released on 29 August 2015. The first trailer was released on 31 December 2015. The film was released on 11 November 2016.

Home media

The satellite rights of the film were secured by Sun TV.

Box office

It earned 3.65 crore on the first day. In the next two days, the movie added a close to 7 crore to take its first-weekend tally to 10.10 crore. It has to be noted that the major chunk of the business have come from Chennai and

Chengalpet Chengalpattu, previously known as Chingleput, is a city and the headquarters of Chengalpattu district of the state Tamil Nadu, India. The town is located near to the industrial and IT hub. It is the headquarters of the district and is away fro ...

regions. AYM collected 25.60 crore total after the first week of release.

Accolades

; 64th Filmfare Awards South 2017 * Best Music Director –

* Best Lyricist –

(for "Thalli Pogathey") * Best Female Debut –

;

IIFA Utsavam The annual IIFA Utsavam rewards the artistic and technical achievements of the South Indian film industry. The ceremony is organised by Wizcraft International, the team behind the IIFA Awards, and represents Tamil cinema, Telugu cinema, Malay ...

* Best Music Director Award (Tamil) –

;

6th South Indian International Movie Awards The 6th South Indian International Movie Awards is an awards event held at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, Abu Dhabi on 30 June and 1 July 2017. SIIMA 2017 will recognize the best films and performances from the past year, along with speci ...

* Best Music Director Award (Tamil) –

; Kollywood Cinema Awards * Best Music Director Award (Tamil) –

;

Edison Awards Edison Awards is an American company that runs an annual competition honoring excellence in innovation in a broad range of categories. Company The Edison Awards were established by the American Marketing Association in 1987 and has been an in ...

* Best Actor (2016) (Tamil) –

Legacy

The song "Thalli Pogathey" was parodied by Rajendran and

Kovai Sarala Kovai Sarala is an Indian actress and comedian, who prominently plays supporting roles in Tamil and Telugu films. She has won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Comedian three times, for her performances in '' Sathi Leelavathi'' (1995), '' ...

in ''

Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan ''Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan'' (), also known as ''AAA'', is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film, written and directed by Adhik Ravichandran and produced by S. Michael Rayappan. The film stars Silambarasan in a triple role, ...

'' (2017) also starring Silambarasan. In the film Idhu Namma Aalu starring Silambarasan featured the song "Thalli Pogathey" as the Ringtone of the phone for Simbu's character. The line "Yeno Vaanilai Maaruthey" from the song "Thalli Pogathey" inspired a short film of the same name. The song "Thalli Pogathey" inspired a film of the same name. The film

Putham Pudhu Kaalai ''Putham Pudhu Kaalai'' () is a 2020 Indian Tamil-language anthology film, consisting of five short film segments, directed by Sudha Kongara, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Suhasini Maniratnam, Rajiv Menon, and Karthik Subbaraj. The film features an ense ...

has a segment story called 'Avalum Naanum' directed by Gautham Menon, which is after the song Avalum Naanum.

References

External links

* {{A. R. Rahman 2016 films 2010s Tamil-language films Films shot in Turkey Films scored by A. R. Rahman Indian multilingual films Films directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon Indian road movies Indian action thriller films Films shot in Chennai Indian romantic thriller films 2016 multilingual films 2016 action thriller films 2010s road movies 2010s romantic thriller films