''Once More'' is a 1997 Indian
Tamil-language
romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...
film directed by
S. A. Chandrasekhar
S. A. Chandrasekar (born 2 July 1945) is an Indian film director, producer, writer, and actor who primarily works within Kollywood. He made his directorial debut with ''Aval Oru Pachai Kuzhanthai'' (1978), He got his breakthrough with ''Sattam ...
. The film stars
Sivaji Ganesan
Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Gan ...
and
Vijay.
Simran,
Saroja Devi,
Manivannan
S. Manivannan Rajagopal (31 July 1953 – 15 June 2013), better known by his mononym Manivannan, was an Indian film director, actor and activist who worked mainly in Tamil cinema and also worked in a few Telugu & Malayalam films. In a care ...
,
Charle
Velmurugan Thangasamy Manohar (born 6 March 1960), professionally credited as Charle, is an Indian actor who works in Tamil cinema. He has acted in more than 800 Tamil films as a comedian and supporting actor. He was named after the English co ...
,
S. S. Chandran and
Anju Aravind play supporting roles. The film was remade 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 ''
Daddy Daddy'' (1998).
''Once More'' released on 4 July 1997 and became a commercial success.
Plot
Vijay, a young businessman, whose only one aim in life is to have fun, is the managing director of a big tea estate in Ooty. His company goes on a big loss because of his mismanagement. Vijay spends most of his time in partying and flirting with girls whenever he feels like. To manage the loss to his company, Vijay invites his father Rajashekar, who is in the United States, to come to India to sign some documents. Rajashekar dies in a plane crash on his way to India. Vijay's maternal uncle Ashok comes up with the idea of having another elderly person to act as Vijay's father for a while until the documents are signed. So they visit a senior home in Coimbatore, where they meet Selvam, one of the inmates, and they request him to act as Vijay's father. He agrees to it and starts to act as Vijay's father.
Selvam observes the careless, take-it-easy life style of Vijay and is reminded of his old days when he used to be like Vijay. Selvam is very affectionate towards Vijay and he considers him as his son. Vijay finds out about Selvam's past life, that Selvam was married to Shantha and they have been living separated for the past 34 years. He wants them to get united and he searches and finds the whereabouts of Shantha. Meanwhile, Kavitha joins Vijay's company and she talks to Vijay in her own style. Vijay is knocked out by Kavitha's beauty and he falls in love with her. Then, their love gets into trouble because of Kavitha's mother. Now, Vijay tries to unite Selvam and Shantha. In return Selvam tries to unite Vijay and Kavitha. Kavitha first tries to kill Vijay to avenge her sister Anju, who committed suicide due to Vijay rejecting her love for him. But through Ashok and Selvam, Kavitha understands Vijay's good heart reunites with him. Also, Selvam and Shantha meet once again and get married 'Once More'. The film hence ends with a happy note.
Cast
Production
The director,
S. A. Chandrasekhar
S. A. Chandrasekar (born 2 July 1945) is an Indian film director, producer, writer, and actor who primarily works within Kollywood. He made his directorial debut with ''Aval Oru Pachai Kuzhanthai'' (1978), He got his breakthrough with ''Sattam ...
, convinced
Sivaji Ganesan
Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Gan ...
to feature in the film after
Sathya Sai Baba
Sathya Sai Baba (born Ratnakaram Sathyanarayana Raju; 23 November 192624 April 2011) was an Indian guru. At the age of fourteen he claimed that he was the reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba, and left his home to serve his devotees.
Sai Baba's ...
told him to continue acting for this role. Scenes from ''
Iruvar Ullam Iruvar Ullam may refer to:
* Iruvar Ullam (1963 film), an Indian Tamil-language romance film
* Iruvar Ullam (2021 film)
''Iruvar Ullam'' () is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language family drama film directed by G. Ramesh and starring Vinay Rai, Payal Ra ...
'' (1963) were also featured extensively in the film, being used as flashback scenes depicting the backstory of Ganesan and
B. Saroja Devi's characters. Saroja Devi considered ''Once More'' to be a sequel to ''Iruvar Ullam''.
The film marked the debut of actress
Simran in Tamil cinema, with ''Once More'' and her other Tamil film, ''
V.I.P.
A very important person or personage (VIP or V.I.P.) is a person who is accorded special privileges due to their high social status, influence or importance. The term was not common until sometime after World War 2 by RAF pilots.
Examples incl ...
'' both releasing on 4 July 1997. Simran had earlier rejected Tamil films including
Bharathiraja
Bharathiraja (born 17 July 1941) is an Indian film director and actor who works mainly in the Tamil film industry. Making his debut in 1977 with ''16 Vayathinile'', he is known for realistic and sensitive portrayals of rural life in his films. ...
's proposed ''Siragugal Murivathillai'', and had garnered popularity in the Tamil film industry prior to the release of her first film. She worked on ''Once More'' alongside her commitments for ''V.I.P.'', ''
Nerrukku Ner'' (1997) and ''
Poochudava'' (1997).
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of the film was composed by
Deva, while the lyrics were 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 fi ...
and
Palani Bharathi.
Critical reception
K. N. Vijiyin ''
New Straits Times
The ''New Straits Times'' is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print (though not the first), having been founded as ''The Straits Times'' on 15 July 1845. It was relaunched as the ' ...
'' wrote that the film was a good family entertainer. ''
Ananda Vikatan
''Ananda Vikatan'' is a Tamil-language weekly magazine published from Chennai, India.
History and profile
''Ananda Vikatan'' was started by Late Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926 as a monthly publication. The issue for December 1927 ...
'' rated the film 39 out of 100.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Once More (Film)
1997 films
Films scored by Deva (composer)
1990s Tamil-language films
1997 romantic comedy films
Indian romantic comedy films
Films directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar