''Moondru Per Moondru Kadal'' (; ) is a 2013 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

romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

co-edited, co-written and directed by

Vasanth Vasanth is an Indian director well known in Tamil language films for directing films such as ''Keladi Kanmani'' (1990), ''Aasai'' (1995), ''Nerrukku Ner'' (1997), ''Rhythm'' (2000) and ''Satham Podathey'' (2007). Career Vasanth began his car ...

. It stars Arjun, Cheran, Vimal,

Surveen Chawla Surveen Chawla (born 1 August 1984) is an Indian actress and dancer who appears in Hindi films and television. She started her career with television shows like Kahin to Hoga and Kajjal. She is known for her roles in movies and shows like ''Hat ...

, Muktha Bhanu and Lasini. The film features music composed by

Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja or Abdul Haliq (born 31 August 1979) is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer and singer-songwriter. He mainly scores music for Tamil films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use of Wes ...

. Cinematography and editing were handled by Bhojan K. Dinesh and S. N. Fazil respectively. The film was released on 1 May 2013.

Plot

Varun ( Vimal) and Anjana’s (Lasini) love story happens in the

Ooty Ooty (), officially known as Udhagamandalam (also known as Ootacamund (); abbreviated as Udhagai), is a city and a municipality in the Nilgiris district of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north west of Coimbatore and so ...

mountains (in Tamil literature, they are referred to as Kurinji); Gunasekar ( Cheran) and Mallika’s ( Muktha Bhanu) story happens in

Tuticorin Thoothukudi (formerly Tuticorin) is a port city, a municipal corporation and an industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city lies in the Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal. Thoothukudi is the capital and ...

seashore (Neidhal); and Paul Harris Rosario (

Arjun Sarja Srinivasa "Arjun" Sarja is an Indian actor, producer, and director who works predominantly in the Tamil film industry, in addition to Kannada and Telugu languages as well. Referred to by the media and his fans as " Action King" for his roles in ...

) and Divya’s (

) story happens in the city (Marudham). The story revolves around these couples and the trials and tribulations they face. Varun explains the story of his life where he had fallen with Anjana in spite of knowing that her engagement has been called off, but he later sacrifices his love after hearing Guna and Mallika's story. Guna is a

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

who runs an organisation called "Punnagai," a rehabilitation center for jail prisoners. Mallika, a

physiotherapist Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

, silently pines love for him. When Guna failed to unite a prisoner (

Aadukalam Naren Narayanan (better known as Aadukalam Naren) is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil and few Telugu films, mainly in supporting roles. He made his début in 1997 film ''Raman Abdullah'' but he got noticed for his role in the 2011 film, ''Aa ...

) with his family, Mallika does the job. Impressed with her, he handles the responsibility of taking care of Punnagai to her and leaves the town. Another story is of Harris, a

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

coach, and his student-cum-lover Divya (Varun claims Divya is his childhood friend, but there is no scene where they are together). Divya is disappointed for losing the swimming match, and her father Thiruvengadam (

Thambi Ramaiah Thambi Ramaiah is an Indian actor, director and comedian who works in the Tamil film industry. He has also worked occasionally as a lyricist. He directed three films, ''Manu Needhi'' (2000), '' Indiralohathil Na Azhagappan'' (2008) and '' Maniy ...

) advises another coach named Elango (

John Vijay John Vijay (born 20 November 1976) is an Indian actor who plays supporting roles in Tamil films. He has also worked in a few Malayalam, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada films. Career John Vijay did his M.Sc. in Visual Communication from Loyola College ...

) to replace Harris with another coach, but Divya is adamant that Harris should be her coach. Meanwhile, Harris gets involved in a bike accident where his legs and hands have been hurt, but he encourages Divya to take part in the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

swimming match. Divya practices for the match rigorously and wins the competition by finishing it in less than 56 seconds. In 2016, Varun narrated these stories because they prompted him to write a novel called "Moondru Kaadhal". Harris arrives at the press conference of the book release and says that he is alive because of Divya. She is the epitome of goodness and confidence, and he narrates that though she had won the match, she died due to

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

on the swimming pool. The film ends with Harris uttering ''Kaadhal Ketpadhalla Koduppadhu'' ("Love is not to be asked but to be given").

Cast

* Arjun as Paul Harris Rosario aka Paul * Cheran as Gunasekar * Vimal as Varun *

as Divya * Muktha Bhanu as Mallika * Lasini as Anjana, Varun's love interest *

as Thiruvengadam (Divya's father) *

Shanthi Williams Shanthi Williams is an Indian film and television actress who has played supporting roles in various Tamil and Malayalam movies and serials. Career Williams came into the industry as a child artist at the age of 12. Williams started her acting ...

as Guna's mother *

Ravi Raghavendra Ravi Raghavendra is an Indian actor who appears in Tamil films and television serials. Career and personal life Raghavendra has appeared on television and in films since the 1980s, often playing supporting roles. He has also worked in theatre. ...

as Varun's father *

as Elango *

as Prisoner *

Bosskey Bosskey is an Indian actor, Radio Jockey, Cricketer, Television anchor,Sathyan *

Appukutty Sivabalan, better known as Appukutty, is an Indian actor and comedian, who mainly appears in Tamil films. He became recognized following his performance in ''Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu''. His role as Azhagarsami in ''Azhagarsamiyin Kudhirai'' was prai ...

* Ritvik Varun in a special appearance *

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

in a special appearance *

Blaaze Lakshmi Narasimha Vijaya Rajagopala Sheshadri Sharma Rajesh Raman (born 15 October 1975), professionally known as Blaaze (), is an Indian Tamil language playback singer and rapper in Indian cinema who specializes in writing and performing rap m ...

in a special appearance

Production

Development

In July 2011, reports confirmed that

would start directing his next film, titled as ''Moondru Per Moondru Kaadhal'', four years after his last film ''

Satham Podathey ''Satham Podathey'' () is a 2007 Tamil-language psychological thriller film written and directed by Vasanth and produced by Shankar and Senthilnathan. It stars Prithviraj, Padmapriya and Nithin Sathya whilst Nassar, Suhasini, Premji and R ...

'' was released. Vasanth reportedly had been waiting with the script for three years to "get the right actors". He further noted that the film was not a love story but a "story about love". The film would consist of three love stories featuring the three lead characters, which play out in three landscapes: by the seaside, in the mountains and on the plains. Bharath Kumar, a fan of Vasanth's films, came forward to produce the film along with his friends under his newly launched Mahendra Talkies banner. ''Moondru Per Moondru Kaadhal'' was started on 9 August 2011.

Casting

The director had hired Arjun, who had worked with Vasanth in ''

Rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recu ...

'' (2000) before, and director-turned-actor Cheran for the lead roles, while stating that four newcomers would be selected for another male lead and the three lead female roles. By November 2011, sources suggested that

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

might be chosen for the third lead role, but the actor denied being approached by the team, while later the month it was speculated that Vasanth would introduce his son to play the role. In January 2011 eventually, Vasanth confirmed that Vimal had been finalized. Muktha Bhanu, formerly credited as Bhanu, was chosen to portray one of the female leads, while Shruti Iyer, a ''Kingfisher Calendar Model Hunt'' model from Mumbai and participant of I AM She 2010 beauty pageant, and Punjabi actress

agreed to play the other two lead roles, making their Tamil film debuts. Shruti Iyer was rechristened and credited as Lasini in the film. Furthermore,

National Film Award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directora ...

winning actors

and

were selected for supporting roles, providing

comic relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episo ...

. Despite knowing Tamil, Lasini, a native of Palakkad, had to train to improve her Tamil accent. Chawla, despite already knowing how to swim, did additional training to prepare for her role and Muktha Banu had to speak in

Nagercoil Nagercoil, also spelt as Nagarkovil ("Temple of the Nāgas", or Nagaraja-Temple), is a city and the administrative headquarters of Kanyakumari District in Tamil Nadu state, India. Situated close to the tip of the Indian peninsula, it lies on an ...

slang for her scenes.

Filming

Shooting for the film began by late 2011 in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, and was continued in

in November and December 2012. In July 2012, the crew moved to the hill station of

to film major portions. Another schedule was later held in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

Music

Vasanth hired

as the composer, with whom he had previously worked in '' Poovellam Kettuppar'' (1999) and his last project ''

'' (2007). In an interview, the director stated that Yuvan Shankar Raja had put in about seven months of work for this film, while describing the genre of the soundtrack as

post-modern music Postmodern music is music in the art music tradition produced in the postmodern era. It also describes any music that follows aesthetical and philosophical trends of postmodernism. As an aesthetic movement it was formed partly in reaction to m ...

. The soundtrack album features six songs with lyrics penned by

Na. Muthukumar Nagarajan Muthukumar (12 July 1975 – 14 August 2016) was a Tamil poet, lyricist, and author. Best known for his Tamil language film songs, he received the most Filmfare Awards for Best Lyricist in Tamil and was a two-time recipient of the Nat ...

. Composing was started even before the film was launched, with the first song being recorded on 9 August 2011. Popular Bollywood singer

Sonu Nigam Sonu Nigam (born 30 July 1973) is an Indian singer, music director and actor. He has been described in the media as one of the most popular and successful playback singers of Hindi Cinema and Kannada Cinema. He has been honoured by the Govern ...

originally sang the melody titled "Mazhai Mazhai Mazhaiyo Mazhai", which was recorded in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. The final version, however, featured Karthik's vocals.

Neha Bhasin Neha Bhasin (born 18 November 1982) is an Indian singer and songwriter. She is known for her playback work in Bollywood, Tollywood, Kollywood and independent songs in the genre of Indian pop and punjabi folk music. Bhasin has received seven Fi ...

, who had sung the well received song "Pesugiren" in ''Satham Podathey'' before, lent her voice for another song in the album.

Nandini Srikar Nandini Srikar (born 10 August 1969) is an Indian singer and performer. Her popular songs include Jo Bheji thi Duaa from the Bollywood movie, ''Shanghai'', "Bhare Naina" from '' Ra.One'' and "Kannamma" from '' Rekka''. Early life She was born ...

of ''

Ra.One ''Ra.One'' is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language superhero film directed by Anubhav Sinha. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan in double roles and Arjun Rampal as the titular antagonist, with Kareena Kapoor, Armaan Verma, Shahana Goswami, Tom Wu, Da ...

'' fame crooned a solo "Aaha Kadhal", which, too, was recorded in Mumbai, while composer

Ramesh Vinayagam Ramesh Vinayakam (born 7 July 1963) is an Indian composer, arranger, singer, songwriter, music producer. Early life Ramesh Vinayakam was born Ramasubramaniam (AKA Ramsubbu) to Tamil parents Vinayakam and Valli. He went to A. M. Jain College a ...

sang a peppy number titled "Stop the Paatu" for the album. A teaser trailer of "Stop The Paatu" was released online in September 2012 and garnered positive response. The composer himself performed the song "Unakkagave" which was dubbed as the first

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...

track in Tamil cinema. Yuvan Shankar Raja later revealed that he had not composed a single new tune for the film, but that all were stock songs he had earlier recorded which were chosen by Vasanth. The final mixing was done by Kausikan Sivalingam in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, according to Vasanth. The album was launched in a critically acclaimed event on 25 January 2013 at the Park Sheraton Hotel 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 ...

. The entire cast and crew of the film, besides noted film personalities, including directors

K. Balachander Kailasam Balachander (9 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an Indian film maker and playwright who worked mainly in the Tamil cinema. He was well known for his distinct film-making style, and the Indian film industry knew him as a master of un ...

K. S. Ravikumar K. S. Ravikumar (born 30 May 1958) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, primarily working in Tamil films. Career 1990–1997 Ravikumar worked as co-director on R. B. Choudary's production ''Pudhu Vasantham'' direct ...

K. Bhagyaraj Krishnasaamy Bhagyaraj (born 7 January 1953) is an Indian director, actor, screenwriter, music director, producer and politician active mainly in Tamil films. He has also written and directed Hindi and Telugu films and TV serials. As an actor ...

N. Lingusamy Nammalvar Lingusamy, (born 14 November 1967), is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and film producer in Tamil cinema based in Chennai. Lingusamy made his directorial debut with ''Aanandham'' in 2001 and followed by '' Run'' (2002), '' S ...

, Sasi and actors

Shanthanu Bhagyaraj Shanthanu Bhagyaraj (born 24 August 1986) is an Indian actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil language films. The son of actors K. Bhagyaraj and Poornima Bhagyaraj, Shanthanu appeared as a child artist in his father's '' Vettiya Madichu Ka ...

Khushbu Khushbu Sundar (born Nakhat Khan; 29 September 1970) is an Indian actress, politician, film producer and television presenter. She is known for her works predominantly in Tamil, besides Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada films. She is a rec ...

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam-language films, he is the recipient of several ...

were present at the function which was host by television anchors

Ma Ka Pa Anand Ma Ka Pa Anand is an Indian actor and television presenter who has been working with Star Vijay. He has hosted '' Super Singer, Athu Ithu Ethu'', ''Kings of Dance'', ''KPY Champions'', '' Mrs. Chinnathirai'', ''The Wall'', ''Cinema Kaaram C ...

and

Divyadarshini Dhivyadharshini "DD" Neelakandan is an Indian television host and actress who prominently works in Tamil film and television industry. Initially making her debut as an actress, she featured in supporting roles in films including Kamal Haasa ...

. The songs from the album were also performed live on stage by the original artists.

Release

''Moondru Per Moondru Kadhal'' was released on 1 May 2013 alongside '' Ethir Neechal'' and ''

Soodhu Kavvum ''Soodhu Kavvum'' () is a 2013 Indian Tamil-language black comedy crime film written and directed by Nalan Kumarasamy. It features Vijay Sethupathi, Bobby Simha, Ashok Selvan, Ramesh Thilak, Karunakaran and Sanchita Shetty in the lead roles. ...

''.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. S Saraswathi from

Rediff Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City. , it had more than 300 e ...

gave 2.5 stars out of 5 and wrote "''Moondru Per Moondru Kadhal'' lacks the intensity expected of a Vasanth film, but makes up for it with its exceptional music.

Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...

said "MPMK is technically chic and Vasanth has made an interesting film which has its shares of romantic break-up`s and heart breaks" and rated the film as average. Behindwoods gave 2 stars out of 5 and stated "Vasanth’s ''Moondru Per Moondru Kadhal'', although eulogizes love, works in parts with music and camera helping the story but his style has not been felt powerfully in the film. Indiaglitz wrote "To sum up, the director's usual foray is missing and might work in bits with the help of some breezy music, help from the cast and some good cinematography". in.com rated the film 2.5 out of 5 and wrote "MPMK is not entirely bad and those who love pure romantic flicks can watch it once provided if you can sit through the bland first hour of the film."

Baradwaj Rangan Baradwaj Rangan is an Indian film critic, writer, and formerly the deputy editor of ''The Hindu''. He later became a senior editor of Film Companion. Rangan won the National Film Award for Best Film Critic in 2006. Before joining ''The Hindu'' ...

of the Hindu wrote "But the film isn’t worked out very well. It doesn’t build the way it ought to, and the various strands don’t come together satisfactorily — they hang loose."

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2013 romantic drama films 2013 films Films shot in Ooty Films scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja Films directed by Vasanth 2010s Tamil-language films Hyperlink films Indian romantic drama films