''Rhythm'' is a 2000 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
musical drama film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...
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 ...
and produced by
V. Natarajan
Pyramid Natarajan is a former Indian actor and producer, who has appeared in character roles in Tamil cinema. He made his breakthrough as an actor playing a role in Mani Ratnam's ''Alaipayuthey (film), Alaipayuthey'' (2000) portraying the role ...
. The film stars
Arjun in lead role with Meena,
Jyothika
Jyothika Saravanan (; born 18 October 1978) is an Indian actress, model and film producer who predominantly appears in Tamil films. ,
Ramesh Aravind
Ramesh Aravind is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter and television presenter who predominantly works in Kannada films and television. In a career of over 34 years, Aravind has been appeared in over 140 films including several Tamil and T ...
,
Lakshmi
Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...
,
Nagesh
Nagesh (born Cheyur Krishnarao Nageshwaran; (27 September 1933 – 31 January 2009) was an Indian actor, mostly remembered for his roles as a comedian in Tamil films during the 1960s. Nagesh was born in Dharapuram. He acted in over 1,000 film ...
, and
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 ...
in other important roles. The music was composed by
A. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...
, while cinematography was predominantly handled by
P. S. Vinod
P. S. Vinod is Indian cinematographer who works in Telugu cinema, Telugu, Bollywood, Hindi and Tamil cinema, Tamil films. He debuted as an independent cinematographer with the 2000 Tamil film ''Rhythm (2000 film), Rhythm'' and then went to work ...
, and
Sreekar Prasad edited the film. The film was released on 15 September 2000, receiving positive reviews from critics.
Plot
Karthikeyan (
Arjun) is a photographer-editor working in ''Indian Express'' in
Bombay
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- ...
. Chitra (
Meena
Meena () is a sub-group of Bhils. They speak Meena language. They started adopting the Brahmin worship system. Its name is also transliterated as ''Meenanda'' or ''Mina''. Historians claim that they belong to the Matsya tribe. They got the sta ...
) is a bank employee. Both reside in
Navi Mumbai
Navi Mumbai (), is a planned city situated on the west coast of the Indian subcontinent, located in the Konkan division of Maharashtra state, on the mainland of India.
Navi Mumbai is part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The city is ...
. Karthik meets Chitra while opening a bank account. While returning home, he again meets her in a train. He offers his seat, but she does not want to accept it. During a train strike, he invites her to travel in an auto to reduce expenses, but she declines. When Chitra hesitated to travel in the same train with Karthik, he becomes exasperated and explains that he only talked to her because both are from the same locality, both are Tamilians, and he promises her that he will never talk to her again. After some days Chitra voluntarily talks to him. Karthik, in return, accompanies her to a police station to get back her snatched handbag. Karthik invites Chitra to his home to meet his parents.
Karthik's parents like Chitra and all become friends. Weeks later, Karthik's mother requests Chitra to tell Karthik to get married. When she conveys his parents' wish, Karthik explains about his late wife Aruna (
Jyothika
Jyothika Saravanan (; born 18 October 1978) is an Indian actress, model and film producer who predominantly appears in Tamil films. ). Eight years earlier Karthik was a police officer with the bomb defusing squad. Though Aruna did not want Karthik to endanger his life every now and then, she does not tell him to quit, due to her respect of his desire to work as defuser. While Karthik and Aruna are in
Tirupur
Tiruppur or Tirupur ( ) is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Tiruppur is the administrative headquarters of Tiruppur district and the fifth largest city as well as an urban agglomeration in Tamil Nadu. Located on the banks of Noyyal Ri ...
to attend Aruna's friend's marriage, Karthik is pulled to
Coimbatore
Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...
to defuse a bomb, and he accomplishes. But Karthik's colleague and friend Ajay loses a leg in another defusion work. Karthik goes to Chennai to meet Ajay, who tells him about Aruna's fears. Karthik quits from Bomb squad and informs Aruna. Aruna, in a bid to soon meet Karthik, leaves to
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 ...
by train. Due to a signalling error, her train collides head on with another train and she passes away. Karthik then quit the police job and moved to Mumbai .
Chitra then tells Karthik about her life. She was a graduate 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 ...
living with her brother's family and searching for a job. She meets
SBI officer Srikanth (
Ramesh Aravind
Ramesh Aravind is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter and television presenter who predominantly works in Kannada films and television. In a career of over 34 years, Aravind has been appeared in over 140 films including several Tamil and T ...
) through various accidental events, and they fall in love. While Chitra's family do not object to the marriage, Srikanth's
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...
parents in
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 ...
object to the marriage. Srikanth disobeys them and marries Chitra. Within hours of the marriage, Srikanth receives news that his mom is on death bed. When he goes to
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 ...
, he finds that his dad lied to him, and his mother banishes him forever. Distraught, he leaves to Chennai by train, and died in the same train accident as Aruna. As per her husband's earlier wish, Chitra adopts a baby boy, Shiva. Her brother got a good job offer in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
and Chitra forced them to leave her. She got Srikanth's job from the bank due to his untimely demise and thus she had moved ahead. Knowing all this, Karthik's parents want them to get married.
Shiva moves close to Karthik and his family, while Chitra tries to prevent relations with Karthik. Karthik's father (
Nagesh
Nagesh (born Cheyur Krishnarao Nageshwaran; (27 September 1933 – 31 January 2009) was an Indian actor, mostly remembered for his roles as a comedian in Tamil films during the 1960s. Nagesh was born in Dharapuram. He acted in over 1,000 film ...
) understands Karthik's interest towards Chitra. He asks her to marry Karthik. She refuses, and once for all, avoids Karthik. Karthik understood her intention and stayed away from her. Chitra meanwhile gets confused regarding second marriage due to the trouble given by her neighbour's husband and Shiva's passion for Karthik. Chitra's neighbour once attempts to rape her; she manages to escape. Karthik, who heard about it, attacks the man for misbehaving, and makes him vacate Mumbai.
After much thought, Chitra decides to marry Karthik for herself and her son. She plans to meet him at the station to express her decision. While returning home, she meets her mother-in-law (
Lakshmi
Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...
) waiting for her. Chitra's mother-in-law requests her to come and live with her as she is very alone after her husband's death. Chitra applies for transfer and leaves to Ooty with her mother-in-law. She has not dared to meet Karthik and she leaves without informing him. Karthik and his family are very much disappointed by this.
After some months, Chitra panics on seeing a news about a bomb blast at Mumbai ''Indian Express'' and verifies Karthik's safety. Karthik leaves for Coonoor on an official assignment. There he meets Chitra with her mother-in-law in a shopping center. Chitra introduces him to her and tells about Aruna's death in the same train accident where Srikanth died. On hearing this, Chitra's mother-in-law invites Karthik to have lunch with them the next day. This delights Shiva. He eagerly waits for Karthik and leaves school well before, but is stuck in a traffic jam for a long time. Meanwhile, Chitra explains about her decision to marry him, and later changed it as her mother-in-law requested her to live with him.
Karthik leaves without meeting Shiva to catch the train. This disappoints Shiva. When Chitra tried to console him, he blames her because she did not keep the promise that he, Chitra, Karthik, and his parents to live together. Chitra's mother-in-law hears this, understood the meaning of it and she realised the mistake she made. She catches Karthik at the station and requests him to marry Chitra. Karthik and Chitra leave for Mumbai and get married, which delights Shiva and Karthik's parents.
Cast
; Special appearances
Production
Development
Originally announced with pre-release stills in websites in 1997, the movie was four years in the making, a fairly long production time in the Indian film industry. Producer
Pyramid Natarajan
Pyramid Natarajan is a former Indian actor and producer, who has appeared in character roles in Tamil cinema. He made his breakthrough as an actor playing a role in Mani Ratnam's ''Alaipayuthey'' (2000) portraying the role of Madhavan's father ...
signed
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 ...
for the project while he was working on ''
Aasai
''Aasai'' () () is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film, written and directed by Vasanth and produced by Mani Ratnam. The film stars Ajith Kumar and debutant Suvaluxmi, with Prakash Raj, Rohini, Poornam Viswanathan, Nizhalgal Ra ...
'' (1995).
Casting
Arjun was cast as after another hero backed out.
[ Meena, who was supposed to star in Vasanth's '' Nee Paadhi Naan Paadhi'' was cast as the heroine for this film while A. R. Rahman, who was supposed to work in ''Aasai'' worked as the music director.][ For a further lead role of Arjun's wife, Vasanth considered ]Vindhya
The Vindhya Range (also known as Vindhyachal) () is a complex, discontinuous chain of mountain ridges, hill ranges, highlands and plateau escarpments in west-central India.
Technically, the Vindhyas do not form a single mountain range in the ...
and Sanghavi
Sanghavi (born Kavya Ramesh) is an Indian actress and a model known for her work predominantly in Telugu and Tamil language films. She was one of the leading actresses in South Indian cinema for a decade from 1993 to 2004. In her career spannin ...
, before finalising Jyothika
Jyothika Saravanan (; born 18 October 1978) is an Indian actress, model and film producer who predominantly appears in Tamil films. , the sister of actress Nagma
Nagma Arvind Morarji (born Nandita Arvind Morarji on 25 December 1974) is an Indian politician and former actress. She was a popular lead actress in the 1990s. She made her cinematic debut in the film '' Baaghi'' opposite Salman Khan in 1990. ...
, who was signed on to make her Tamil debut with the film, although '' Vaali'' ended up releasing before ''Rhythm''. A. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...
was signed on to compose the music for the film ahead of Vidyasagar, and worked on the project simultaneously with two other productions of Natarajan, ''Udhaya
''Udhaya'' is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language action drama film which was directed by Azhagam Perumal which released on 26 March 2004. The film stars Vijay and Simran, while Vivek, Nassar and Rajesh play supporting roles. The soundtrack for the f ...
'' and ''Sangamam
''Sangamam'' () is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language musical romance dance film co written and directed by Suresh Krissna and produced by V. Natarajan of Pyramid Films. The film stars Rahman and newcomer Vindhya with Manivannan, Vijayakumar, Radha ...
''. P. S. Vinod
P. S. Vinod is Indian cinematographer who works in Telugu cinema, Telugu, Bollywood, Hindi and Tamil cinema, Tamil films. He debuted as an independent cinematographer with the 2000 Tamil film ''Rhythm (2000 film), Rhythm'' and then went to work ...
was selected to make his debut as cinematographer instead of V. Manikandan
V. Manikandan is a leading cinematographer who works as the cinematographer for a number of major box office hits in Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam. He is an ad film cinematographer with more than 3000 ad films to his credit.
He won the Best Cin ...
, while the team also credited Arthur A. Wilson
Arthur A. Wilson (born 16 March 1968) is an Indian cinematographer. He has predominantly worked in south Indian films of languages such as Tamil and Telugu. He is best known for his successful movies ''Anbe Sivam'', ''Naan Kadavul'', and '' Ims ...
as an additional cinematographer and R. D. Rajasekhar
R.D. Rajasekhar is an Indian cinematographer who predominantly works in films of Indian languages such as Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi. He is a recipient of the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Cinematographer.And film fare Award a ...
was also given special thanks in the title card. Early reports suggested the film would be inspired by the 1995 Hollywood film, '' A Walk in the Clouds'', but this proved untrue. It was also rumoured that the film would run along the lines of the 1998 film ''Pooveli
''Pooveli'' () is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Selva. An unofficial remake (with Indian twist) of ''A Walk in the Clouds'' (1995), the film stars Karthik, Abbas, Kausalya and Heera Rajagopal. The film's score and sound ...
'', and this had also caused a delay in the making. During the initial stages of shoot, Vasanth considered renaming the film to ''Poo Pookkum Osai'', but later kept the original title.
Filming
After a 15-day schedule in Bombay, the unit shifted to various locations to picturise a song sequence and the song "Nathiye Nathiye" was shot at the locations of Mysore
Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
, the Shivanasamudra
Shivanasamudra Falls is a waterfall on the border of Malavalli taluk, Mandya district and Kollegala taluk, Chamarajanagara district of the state of Karnataka, India. It is situated along the river Kaveri, which forms here the boundary to the Ch ...
dam, and the Thriveni Sangama. The team also shot in South India in Chalakudy
Chalakudy is a municipal town situated on the banks of Chalakudy River in Thrissur district of the Kerala state in India. It is the headquarters of Chalakudy taluk. It is the base camp for travellers to Athirappilly Falls and Vazhachal Falls. ...
and 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 ...
, before the unit moved North to Haridwar
Haridwar (; ) is a city and municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. With a population of 228,832 in 2011, it is the second-largest city in the state and the largest in the district.
The city is situated on the righ ...
, Badrinath
Badrinath is a town and nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. A Hindu holy place, it is one of the four sites in India's Char Dham Hindu pilgrimage, pilgrimage and is also part of India's Chota Char Dham pilgr ...
and the Gangotri
Gangotri is a town and a ''Nagar Panchayat'' (municipality) in Uttarkashi district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is 99 km from Uttarkashi, the main district headquarter. It is a Hindu pilgrim town on the banks of the river Bhagirathi ...
. Scenes were also shot at Juinagar Station in New Bombay.
The film languished in development hell
Development hell, development purgatory, and development limbo are media and software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in development for an especially long time, often moving between different crews, scripts, game engi ...
after shooting was over, with the producers reluctant to notify what was keeping the release delayed. The delay of the film led to Vasanth directing three other films in between ''Nerukku Ner
''Nerrukku Ner'' () is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Vasanth and produced by Mani Ratnam. The film stars Vijay, Suriya, Simran, and Kausalya, while Raghuvaran, Shanthi Krishna, Baby Jennifer, Karan, ...
'', '' Poovellam Kettuppar'' and '' Appu'', as he waited for the release. At some point due to the long delay in its release, unconfirmed news was circulating that production had been shelved due to financial constraints. Natarajan blamed A. R. Rahman for the delay and it was reported that the producer had not yet settled the payment for Rahman's work in ''Sangamam
''Sangamam'' () is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language musical romance dance film co written and directed by Suresh Krissna and produced by V. Natarajan of Pyramid Films. The film stars Rahman and newcomer Vindhya with Manivannan, Vijayakumar, Radha ...
'', and therefore he was dragging his feet on completing the work for ''Rhythm''. The producer supposedly toyed with the idea of replacing Rahman with another music director in both ''Rhythm'' and his other film ''Udhaya'' but ran out of money to even complete the shooting of ''Rhythm''. The producer then persuaded Rahman to complete work on the music of ''Rhythm'' so that he could make money from music sales and complete the movie.
Release
The film won very positive reviews with 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 ...
claiming "Vasanth has created a smooth, flowing timbre, with very little harshness in the line of events that take place", describing it as an "appreciable effort". Indolink.com gave the film a positive review, citing that "Arjun has definitely matured as an actor and as polished as ever as Karthikeyan" and that "a lot of care has gone into Meena's make-up and acting in this film". The critic also praised the performances of the supporting cast, while adding that "Rhythm's actual beauty lies in the hands of its cameramen, Vinod and Arthur Wilson and music director, A. R. Rahman." A reviewer from TMCafe noted the film has "outstanding performances from the lead, brilliant pairing, and a sumptuous story."
Another critic labelled that "Handled better, ''Rhythm'' could have turned out to be a must-watch film, though it is still definitely far better than the run-of-the-mill ones", criticizing that the "director seems preoccupied with the so-called commercial ingredients, which only mar the overall impact of the film." The film was also dubbed and released 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 ...
under the same title.
Awards
''Rhythm'' won Shivakumar the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Audiographer
The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Audiographer is given by the state government as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil (Kollywood) films.
The list
Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won. ...
, while Meena picked up Best Actress
Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress awar ...
at the Cinema Express Awards and Jyothika won the Best Sensational Actress Award at the same Event along with Khushi.The hit pair Arjun and Jyothika was also Nominated at the Cinema Express Award for best Onscreen pair, which was lost to Prashanth - Simran Pair.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of film features five songs composed by A. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...
, with lyrics 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 ...
. The song titles and lyrics were inspired by the five elements wind, water, fire, sky and Earth. A. R. Rahman used the verse "Dheem Thana Na" as the pallavi
A pallavi has multiple connotations in carnatic music. It is the first part of any formal composition (Krithi) which has three segments - Pallavi, Anupallavi and Charanam (which can be one or more). Pallavi is usually also an abbreviation of R ...
(thematic line) in "Nadhiye Nadhiye" after Vasanth told Rahman that he liked that line.[ Three songs were later reused in the Bollywood movie '' Lakeer – Forbidden Lines''. The song Thaniye gained popularity and ]Shankar Mahadevan
Shankar Mahadevan (born 3 March 1967) is an Indian singer and composer who is part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio that writes music for Indian films.
Personal life and early career
Shankar Mahadevan was born in Chembur, Mumbai into a Tami ...
sang this song in the Super Singer Episode in Star Vijay
Star Vijay is an Indian Tamil language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Disney Star (formerly Star India), a subsidiary of Asianet Star Communications. The channel's headquarters is in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Star Vijay change ...
.
Telugu (Dubbed)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhythm (Film)
2000 films
Films about widowhood in India
Films shot in Mumbai
2000 romantic drama films
Films directed by Vasanth
2000s Tamil-language films
Films scored by A. R. Rahman
Films shot in Chalakudy
Films shot in Ooty
Films shot in Mysore
Indian romantic drama films
Films shot in Thrissur