''Nothing but Life'' is a 2004 bilingual

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

film directed by

Rajiv Anchal Rajiv Anchal (born 20 December 1956) is a film director, screenwriter, and sculptor who works in Malayalam language cinema. In 1997, he made ''Guru'', India's official submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. His fir ...

for an Indian production house dealing with matters of health. The experimental film featured actors

R. Madhavan Ranganathan Madhavan (born 1 June 1970) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, and producer who predominantly appears in Tamil and Hindi films. Madhavan has won four Filmfare Awards South and three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. Madhava ...

Neha Pendse Nehha Pendse Bayas (born 29 November 1984) is an Indian film and television actress. She was born and brought up in Mumbai. Pendse was introduced on India-based satellite television channel Zee Marathi's ''Bhagyalakshami''. She has acted in sev ...

Kaveri The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery, the anglicized name) is one of the major Indian rivers flowing through the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Kaveri river rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri (hill), Karnataka, Brahmagiri range in th ...

, Nassar and

Sreenivasan Sreenivasan (born 6 April 1956) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, dubbing artist and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Sreenivasan has starred in over 225 films. Sreenivasan wrote the screenplays of films such as ...

. The film had been made simultaneously in Malayalam and released later on as ''Made in USA'' on May 6, 2005.

Plot

Roby Thomas migrates to the U.S. with the help of a priest and works as a barman in a casino in Las Vegas. Roby is a simple youngster who believes in helping people in distress but he has a suicidal tendency. The film focuses on the inner turmoil of a youngster who seems to have a positive attitude towards life and emphasizes the importance of inter-personal relationship and friendship.

Cast

Production

Madhavan Madhavan may refer to: People * James Madhavan (died 1973), Fijian politician * Kavya Madhavan (born 1985), Indian actress * Mahesh Madhavan (born 1963/64), Indian businessman, CEO of Bacardi * N. S. Madhavan (born 1948), Indian writer * O. Madha ...

signed the film in June 2004 and began shooting for the film almost immediately. The film was initially titled ''Life in Las Vegas'', before the makers decided on different titles in English and Malayalam. Actress Kaveri as heroine and actress Neha Pendse made her debut in South Indian films, whilst Nassar and Sreenivasan reprised the roles of the doctor alternatively in the English and Malayalam versions respectively. The film was shot within 40 days in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

and

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, whilst scenes were later recorded in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. The movie was shot using high-density television camera with cine lenses instead of a TV lens.

Release

The Malayalam version of the film opened to audiences 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 ...

on 6 May 2005 gathering mixed reviews. Whilst one reviewer cited that "given the present crisis in Malayalam films where good themes are in short supply, "Made in USA" is certainly a welcome change"; another cited that the movie "left audience confused", describing the film as "plainly mediocre". The film became a financial failure at the Kerala box office, gaining poor collections. The English film played across film festivals such as at the Kerala International Film Festival and then prepared for a release in India in August 2006, with director indicating that the film will be released across multiplex cinemas nationwide. The film won Surya S. Nair a Kerala State Award for her dubbing work in the film. The film was later dubbed in 2008 into Tamil and released as ''Ananda Punnagai'', and then in Telugu as ''Anjali in America''.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for this film was composed by Vidyasagar and Biju Kurian. Biju Kurian has composed a song for the film, Vidyasagar has composed the remainder. Lyricists were O. N. V. Kurup and Rajiv Alunkal. The background score for this film was recorded by

Ouseppachan Mechery Louis Ouseppachan (born 13 September 1955), known mononymously as Ouseppachan, is an Indian film composer and singer who primarily works in Malayalam films. He is a recipient of National Film Award, Filmfare Award and Kerala State ...

.http://malayalasangeetham.info/php/MovieDetails.php?mid=1687&encode=utf

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0415943, title=Nothing but Life 2004 films 2000s Malayalam-language films English-language Indian films Indian multilingual films Films scored by Vidyasagar 2004 multilingual films Films directed by Rajiv Anchal