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''King'' is a 2002 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
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Prabhu Solomon Prabhu Solomon (born 7 May 1969) is an Indian film director who has primarily worked on Tamil films. After making his debut in 1999, he had a middling career before rising to prominence with the success of the romantic tragedy film ''Mynaa'' (2 ...
and produced by Krishnakanth. The film stars Vikram and Sneha, while
Vadivelu Kumaravadivel Natarajan (born 12 September 1960), known professionally as Vadivelu, is an Indian actor, comedian and playback singer, having acted in supporting and lead roles in Tamil cinema. He gained widespread acclaim in Kollywood in the 2 ...
,
Nassar Nassar ( ar, نصار, lit=helper, protector, supporter, victory-maker), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer ...
,
Janagaraj Janagaraj is an Indian actor who has appeared in over 200 films predominantly in Tamil cinema as a comedian or in supporting roles. He also starred in few Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi films. Early life Janagaraj was born to Vadivelu and Muthu ...
, and
Santhana Bharathi Santhana Bharathi is an Indian film director and actor who has primarily worked in Tamil cinema. Career Santhana Bharathi originally wanted to be a director but didn't get the right opportunity, even after working for a well known director ...
play supporting roles.
Dhina Dhina (also credited as Dheena) ( ta, தினா; born on 15 January 1966) is an Indian film and television series composer from Tamil Nadu, India. Biography and career Dhina first worked as an assistant musician under popular composer G. K ...
scored the film's music, and
G. Ramesh G. Ramesh is an Indian cinematographer and director, who has worked in the Hindi and Tamil film industries. Career Ramesh made his debut as a cinematographer with the romantic drama '' En Uyir Nee Thaane'' (1998), before working on Prabhu Sol ...
handled the cinematography. It released in September 2002.


Plot

Raja Krishnamoorthy ( Vikram) is the only son of Shanmugam (
Nassar Nassar ( ar, نصار, lit=helper, protector, supporter, victory-maker), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer ...
), and they live in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
. One day while travelling, their car meets with an accident, and both get admitted to the hospital. Dr. Cheenu (
Santhana Bharathi Santhana Bharathi is an Indian film director and actor who has primarily worked in Tamil cinema. Career Santhana Bharathi originally wanted to be a director but didn't get the right opportunity, even after working for a well known director ...
) is their
family doctor Family medicine is a medical specialty within primary care that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, genders, diseases, and parts of the body. The specialist, who is usually a primary ...
who diagnoses their
blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...
and finds that Shanmugam is infected with
multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...
. Cheenu, being a close friend of Shanmugam, tells Raja that Shanmugam’s life is expected to last for 60 days and requests Raja to keep his father happy, to which Raja agrees. Raja insists that his father get back to India to meet his family. A small flashback is shown where Shanmugam married a girl by his choice against his family's wishes, which made him leave home with his wife. Shanmugam relocated to Hong Kong and set up a business there. Shanmugam’s wife died when Raja was born, and Shanmugam took care of Raja afterward. Raja knows that his father longs to meet his family again, so he decides to get the family united. Raja and Shanmugam leave to India to meet their family members. Everyone in the family is surprised upon seeing Shanmugam. They share some memories with him, except his father (
Janagaraj Janagaraj is an Indian actor who has appeared in over 200 films predominantly in Tamil cinema as a comedian or in supporting roles. He also starred in few Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi films. Early life Janagaraj was born to Vadivelu and Muthu ...
), who is still angry at him. Raja, on the other, hand is skilled in
magic tricks Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of illusion, stage magic, and close up magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural means. It ...
and
mimicry In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. Often, mimicry f ...
and impresses everyone in the family with his skills. Tamil ( Sneha) is the daughter of Murthy who was a close friend of Shanmugam. Being orphaned, she lives with the family. She is responsible, loved by everyone in the family, and also takes care of everyone with love and affection. Raja decides to love Tamil after knowing that his father likes her. Raja proposes his love to Tamil, but she declines and says she will marry only the man as per their family’s wish. Raja creates a scene that Shanmugam's father should talk with Shanmugam, and if not, Raja will commit suicide. Shanmugam also gets united with his father. Raja keeps on frequent touch with Cheenu to keep him updated with Shanmugam’s condition. One day, Raja gets a
headache Headache is the symptom of pain in the face, head, or neck. It can occur as a migraine, tension-type headache, or cluster headache. There is an increased risk of depression in those with severe headaches. Headaches can occur as a result ...
and becomes
colorblind Color blindness or color vision deficiency (CVD) is the decreased ability to see color or differences in color. It can impair tasks such as selecting ripe fruit, choosing clothing, and reading traffic lights. Color blindness may make some aca ...
. Shanmugam’s mobile gets a call from Cheenu. Raja modulates as Shanmugam on the call and actually understands that the disease is actually for him and not his father. Raja continues speaking like his father to confirm the symptoms related to the disease but tries to behave normally. Raja understands that his father has requested Cheenu to lie to Raja, so that Raja will be happy while also making his father happy. Raja feels sad knowing that he has only a few more days to live but does not disclose this to his father and Cheenu. Cheenu calls Raja and informs about a research going on for multiple sclerosis in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and insists him to take Shanmugam there to get treated, which might provide a chance for revival. Raja understands that the therapy is intended for him. Raja convinces his father to get back to Hong Kong, for which he agrees. Everyone in the family does not want Shanmugam and Raja to leave and insist them to stay with them. Raja says that there are some pending works and that they need to get back immediately. On the day of leaving, Tamil proposes her love to Raja, for which he does not reply. The movie ends with both Raja and Shanmugam leaving for treatment.


Cast

* Vikram as Raja Krishnamoorthy * Sneha as Tamil *
Nassar Nassar ( ar, نصار, lit=helper, protector, supporter, victory-maker), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer ...
as Shanmugam *
Vadivelu Kumaravadivel Natarajan (born 12 September 1960), known professionally as Vadivelu, is an Indian actor, comedian and playback singer, having acted in supporting and lead roles in Tamil cinema. He gained widespread acclaim in Kollywood in the 2 ...
as Hollywood Director *
Janagaraj Janagaraj is an Indian actor who has appeared in over 200 films predominantly in Tamil cinema as a comedian or in supporting roles. He also starred in few Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi films. Early life Janagaraj was born to Vadivelu and Muthu ...
as Shanmugam's father *
Santhana Bharathi Santhana Bharathi is an Indian film director and actor who has primarily worked in Tamil cinema. Career Santhana Bharathi originally wanted to be a director but didn't get the right opportunity, even after working for a well known director ...
as Dr. Cheenu * Sumithra *
Anu Mohan Anu Mohan (born 24 August 1990) is an Indian actor who works in Malayalam films. Career He made his debut in the 2011 film, ''Orkut oru Ormakut''. He also played the antagonist in Roopesh Peethambaran's '' Theevram''. Anu Mohan is the young ...
*
Madhan Bob S. Krishnamoorthy (born 19 October 1953) professionally known as Madhan Bob, is an Indian actor and comedian, appearing in many Tamil films in supporting roles. Madhan Babu is known for his amusing facial expressions, laughter and protruding ey ...
* Chaams as Hollywood Director's assistant (uncredited)


Production

''King'' was the first production venture of S. K. Krishnakant, who had earlier worked as the production executive for
Lakshmi Movie Makers Lakshmi Movie Makers is an Indian film production and distribution company headed by K. Muralidharan, V. Swaminathan and G. Venugopal. History Lakshmi Movie Makers experienced significant success in the mid-1990s, with several projects such a ...
. The film was written and directed by A. X. Solomon who had directed the Arjun-
Sonali Bendre Sonali Bendre (born 1 January 1975) is an Indian actress primarily known for her work in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu films. She did modelling assignments prior to making her acting debut with '' Aag'' (1994), which won her the Filmfare Award for Ne ...
starrer ''
Kannodu Kanbathellam ''Kannodu Kanbathellam'' () is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film written and directed by Prabhu Solomon in his directorial debut. The film has Arjun and Sonali Bendre, while Suchindra, Ruchita Prasad, Manivannan, Crazy Mohan ...
'' in 1999, under the name Prabhu. However, as that film did not perform to expectations at the box office, the director wanted to be credited as A. X. Solomon for his second Tamil film. He has since gone on to make a career under the name of
Prabhu Solomon Prabhu Solomon (born 7 May 1969) is an Indian film director who has primarily worked on Tamil films. After making his debut in 1999, he had a middling career before rising to prominence with the success of the romantic tragedy film ''Mynaa'' (2 ...
. The film was initially titled as ''Vikadan'' with
Suvaluxmi Suvaluxmi (born 19 August 1977) is a former Indian actress who predominantly appeared in Tamil films. She also appeared in Bengali, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada films. Career As a child, Suvaluxmi was passionate about Indian classical and folk d ...
being the first choice of lead actress. During the same period Vikram had accepted another film titled ''King'' where he was set to play dual roles, but the film eventually was shelved, hence the title ''King'' was chosen to replace ''Vikadan'' in this project. Vikram took up magic lessons and learned how to roller-blade for his role in the film.


Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by
Dhina Dhina (also credited as Dheena) ( ta, தினா; born on 15 January 1966) is an Indian film and television series composer from Tamil Nadu, India. Biography and career Dhina first worked as an assistant musician under popular composer G. K ...
. All lyrics written by
Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Ramasamy (born 13 July 1953) is an Indian lyricist, poet, and novelist working in the Tamil film industry. He is a prominent figure in the Tamil literary world. A master's graduate from the Pachaiyappa's College in Chennai, he first ...
.


Release

The film did not fare well commercially. Post-release, Solomon revealed that he was unconvinced about Vikram portraying the lead role, feeling that he was too old to play Nassar's son, but the actor insisted that the project go ahead. Delays in the production in the film meant that Vikram's star image had risen and reviewers labelled the film as a disappointment upon release. The director noted that the story was written with the expectation of a small-time actor in the lead role, and hence Vikram's sudden popularity worked against the film. He revealed that his early career in film involved making significant compromises and was strictly against the type of cinema he had actually ventured to make.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King (Film) 2002 films Films set in Hong Kong 2000s Tamil-language films Indian drama films Films directed by Prabhu Solomon 2002 drama films