''Prema Baraha'' (), titled ''Sollividava'' () in Tamil, is a 2018 Indian

romantic drama 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 ...

film written and directed by

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 ...

. It was produced by his wife

Niveditha Arjun Niveditha Arjun is an Indian actress, producer and dancer. After making her acting debut with M. S. Rajashekar's Kannada Movie '' Ratha Sapthami'' (1986) under the stagename of Asha Rani, she opted against an acting career and continued pursui ...

under his home studio of Sree Raam Films International, and made simultaneously in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

and

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 ...

languages. The film stars

Chandan Kumar ChandanKumar, mononymously known as Chandan, Indian is an actor who works in Kannada films, Kannada and Telugu televsion . He is known for his work in the television soap opera ''Radha Kalyana'' and later '' Lakshmi Baramma'', in which he playe ...

and

Aishwarya Arjun Aishwarya Arjun is an Indian actress who has acted in Tamil and Kannada movies. She made her film debut in the Tamil film ''Pattathu Yaanai'' in 2013. Personal life Aishwarya Arjun was born in Bengaluru , Karnataka and is the daughter of p ...

, with different ensemble casts for the two versions.

Jassie Gift Jassie Gift is an Indian film music composer and playback singer. He composes songs and sings for Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu films. He became famous after the success of his song "Lajjavathiye" from the film '' 4 The People''. He won ...

composed the soundtrack and score.

H. C. Venugopal H. C. Venugopal is an Indian cinematographer, who has worked in the Kannada and Tamil film industries. Career H. C. Venugopal is a cinematographer who has predominantly worked for Kannada films. He has been active since the late 1990s, regular ...

was

director of photography The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

and Kay Kay edited the film. The two versions of the film were released worldwide on 9 February 2018. During its release, this film had a grand opening and it became a commercial success at the box office of Karnataka, but had a decent run in Tamil.

Plot

Sanjay (

) and Madhu (

) are two journalists from rival news organizations who do not have the best equation. However, when the two of them are forced to work together when they are covering the

Kargil War The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referr ...

, there is a bond that is forged between the two.

Cast

; Kannada version * Darshan in a special appearance in "Jai Hanumantha" *

Chiranjeevi Sarja Chiranjeevi Sarja (died 7 June 2020) was an Indian actor who appeared in Kannada films. Hailing from a family of actors, Sarja acted in more than 20 films in a career spanning 11 years. Early life and family Sarja was born as the first child ...

in a special appearance in "Jai Hanumantha" *

Dhruva Sarja Dhruva Sarja (born 6 October 1988), is an Indian actor who appears in Kannada films. He made his acting debut in the 2012 film, ''Addhuri''. Career Sarja debuted in films with the 2012 film ''Addhuri''. His portrayal of Arjun as the male lead, ...

in a special appearance in "Jai Hanumantha" * Amandeep Chawla in a special appearance in "Jai Hanumantha" ;Tamil version *

Yogi Babu Yogi Babu (born 22 July 1985) is an Indian actor and comedian, who appears in Tamil films. A three time Ananda Vikatan Cinema Award winner, he performed in '' Aandavan Kattalai'' (2016), ''Kolamavu Kokila'' (2018) and ''Pariyerum Perumal'' (20 ...

as Yogi *

Nellai Siva Tirunelveli (, ta, திருநெல்வேலி, translit=Tirunelveli) also known as Nellai ( ta, நெல்லை, translit=Nellai) and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tami ...

as Traffic police officer *

Shobi Paulraj Shobi Paulraj is an Indian choreographer in the Kollywood and Tollywood industry. Founder of IBO Dance Studio, he has also choreographed in Bollywood movie, Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty, starring Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha'' Fil ...

in a special appearance in "Jai Hanumantha"

Production

In December 2015, Arjun announced that he was set to produce and direct a bilingual Kannada and Tamil romantic film featuring his daughter

in the lead role. He had initially narrated three stories to his daughter, who was most satisfied with a script on two journalists falling in love during the

of 1999. While he was working on the screenplay, Arjun spent a week in the studios of

Asian News International Asian News International (ANI) is an Indian news agency that offers syndicated multimedia news feed to news-bureaus in India and elsewhere. Established by Prem Prakash in 1971, it was the first agency in India to syndicate video news and , is t ...

and went through all the material they had on Kargil. Kannada actor Chetan Kumar was signed on to feature as the lead actor in the project, thus making his debut in Tamil films. In May 2016, Chetan Kumar backed out of the project, unhappy with his characterisation in the film, and was replaced by another Kannada actor

. For her particular role, Aishwarya Arjun carefully observed the style and characteristics of

Barkha Dutt Barkha Dutt is an Indian television journalist and author. She has been a reporter and news anchor at NDTV and Tiranga TV. She currently runs her own digital news channel called 'MoJo Story'. She is also an opinion columnist with ''The Hindus ...

, who worked as a journalist during the 1999 conflict. The film was launched in May 2016, with promotional stills from a shoot released shortly after. The film's first schedule was completed in July 2016, with

Suhasini Suhasini Maniratnam (born 15 August 1961) known mononymously as Suhasini, is an Indian actress, director, producer and writer in the Tamil film industry. She has worked as an actress in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. She made her ...

and

K. Viswanath Kasinadhuni Viswanath (born 19 February 1930) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor, known for his works primarily in Telugu cinema. He is recipient of five National Film Awards, seven state Nandi Awards, ten Filmfare Awards South ...

also joining the film's cast. The film was then shot in Dharamsala, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kerala, Mumbai, Switzerland, and Italy. In August 2017, the Tamil title was changed from ''Kadhalin Ponveedhiyil'' to ''Sollividava''. The Kannada title of ''Prema Baraha'' is derived from Arjun Sarja's song ''Prema Baraha Koti Taraha'' from the film '' Prathap'' (1990).

Soundtrack

has composed the score and songs for the film, with Divo releasing the soundtrack in Kannada and

U1 Records U1, U.I or U-1 may refer to: Mathematics *U(1), the degree one ''unitary group'' Military *U-1, the USAF and US Military's designation for the De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter light transport aircraft *U-1, Soviet designation for Avro 504 traine ...

in Tamil. The heroine introduction theme included in the album was composed by

Aruldev ArulDev is a music director from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He has scored music for South Indian films. Early life ArulDev is an Indian film music composer from Madurai. His father was an accordion player and an orchestra organizer. Career Film ...

. The title track is based on the song "Prema Baraha" from the Kannada film '' Prathap'' (1990). ;Kannada version ;Tamil version

Critical reception

Kannada version

A critic from ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'' wrote that "Watch this film if you're a fan of the stereotypical commercial fare, replete with comedy, sentiments, action and romance". A critic from ''

Deccan Chronicle ''Deccan Chronicle'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded by Rajagopal Mudaliar in the 1930s & currently owned by Samagrah Commercial Pvt Limited. It is published in Hyderabad, Telangana, by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited ( ...

'' opined that "Unfortunately, the brilliant actor Arjun Sarja falls short in deploying the right force and making use of the right kind of ammunition for this kind of lovely mission".

Tamil version

A critic from ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' said that "What lets the film down is Arjun's unfocussed writing, un-missable lectures on nationalism and using stock Kargil war footage liberally instead of staging the war". A critic from ''

The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naid ...

'' stated that "On the whole, it's just a run-of-the-mill romantic film which has almost no redeeming factors".

References

External links

* * {{Arjun Sarja 2010s Tamil-language films Films directed by Arjun Sarja 2018 films Indian multilingual films Indian romantic drama films 2018 romantic drama films 2010s Kannada-language films Films scored by Jassie Gift Films shot in Chennai Films about terrorism in India Films shot in Mumbai Films shot in Switzerland Films shot in Kerala Films shot in Hyderabad, India Films shot at Ramoji Film City Kashmir conflict in films 2018 multilingual films