''Rojavanam'' () is a 1999 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

romantic drama 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), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typica ...

directed by

Selva Selva () is a coastal comarque (county) in Catalonia, Spain, located between the mountain range known as the Serralada Transversal or Puigsacalm and the Costa Brava (part of the Mediterranean coast). Unusually, it is divided between the provinc ...

. The film stars Karthik, Laila and Malavika in lead roles. The film's score and soundtrack were composed by

Bharathwaj Ramani Bharathwaj known professionally as Bharadwaj is an Indian music director, composer, singer-songwriter, and music producer, predominantly known for his work in Tamil cinema. He is trained in Hindustani, Western and Carnatic music and is a ...

Plot

Muthu ( Karthik) is the favourite employee at Rojavanam, an old age home jointly by two friends ( Ravi Kumar and

Nizhalgal Ravi Ravichandran Samanna (born 16 April 1956), known professionally as Nizhalgal Ravi, is an Indian film, television and voice actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has performed in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films and television series. He st ...

) in Ooty. Sindhu ( Malavika) is a psychology student staying near to the home who falls in love with Muthu. But Muthu develops a liking towards Roja ( Laila), the daughter of his boss, and later learns that the boss and his friend had decided long ago that their children would be married, and this has resulted in the friend's son Siva (

Akash Akasha or Akash (Sanskrit ' ) means space or sky or æther in traditional Indian cosmology, depending on the religion. The term has also been adopted in Western occultism and spiritualism in the late 19th century. In many modern Indo-Aryan la ...

) growing up enamoured of Roja. Roja also has a liking towards Muthu and her father accepts Muthu as his son-in-law, but his friend, angered at this, decides to bulldoze Rojavanam to the ground. Muthu steps in to solve the problem and convinces Roja to marry Siva as per their parents wishes, so that Rojavanam will be saved. Muthu makes Roja understand Siva's love for her and gets them both married. Siva and Roja's parents feel happy and Rojavanam is saved. In the end, Sindhu is married to Muthu.

Cast

* Karthik as Muthu * Malavika as Sindhu * Laila as Roja *

as Siva *

Kuyili Kuyili is a fictional character introduced by K Jeevabharathi in his book "Velu Nachiyar". She was portrayed as an army commander of queen Velu Nachiyar who participated in campaigns against the East India Company in the 18th century. She is ...

as Roja's aunt * Ravi Kumar *

* M. N. Nambiar *

M. S. Viswanathan Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan (24 June 1928 – 14 July 2015), also known as M.S.V., was an Indian music director, singer and actor who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry. He was popularly known as ''Mellisai Mannar''. He compose ...

* Manorama *

Ramesh Khanna Ramesh Khanna (also spelt as Ramesh Kanna) is an Indian actor and film director who has worked in Tamil cinema. He has acted in a number of supporting and comedian roles. Early life Khanna was born on 12 June 1954 in Chennai and third child to ...

Jai Ganesh Jai Ganesh (1946 – 11 February 2001) was an Indian Tamil film actor. He had supporting roles in the films ''Aval Oru Thodar Kathai'' and ''Attukara Alamelu'', among others. His most popular roles have been as a supporting actor or as a villa ...

Kaka Radhakrishnan T. V. Radhakrishnan, better known as Kaka Radhakrishnan ( – 14 June 2012) was an Indian actor who acted in Tamil language films from the year 1940. He is also notable for having introduced his childhood friend, Sivaji Ganesan, into films. Car ...

Thalapathy Dinesh Thalapathy Dinesh (also spelled Thalapathi Dinesh) is an Indian action choreographer who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He started his career in the cinema as an extra fighter in '' Naan Sigappu Manithan'' and later he became as a stunt master and ...

Ragasudha Ragasudha or Raagasudha is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Tamil and Kannada film industries, she also acted in few Malayalam and Telugu movies as well. Personal life Ragasudha is the daughter of Malayalam actress K. R. Savithr ...

Production

The team of the successful tamil 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 ...

'' (1998) came together to make ''Rojavanam'' and chose Karthik to essay the lead role again. Initially the team approached

Isha Koppikar Isha Koppikar (born 19 September 1976) is an Indian actress, model and politician who has mostly appeared in Hindi cinema. She has also acted in several Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Marathi films. Background Koppikar was born in Mahim, Bombay (no ...

to play the lead female role, but her unavailability led to the team casting newcomer Laila. Four songs were shot abroad in France and Geneva, Switzerland. Jai Akash, a Tamilian of Sri Lankan origin settled in London, sent his modelling photographs to the "Star Search" service run by

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 ...

's entertainment portal website TamilTalkies.com during the late 1990s.

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 ...

, when casting a new actor to portray a small role in the film, used the "Star Search" platform and selected Akash to be in the film.

Critical reception

Balaji wrote:"honorable intention doesn't translate into more than average viewing". Indolink called it "real bore". ''Kalki'' wrote "Director Selva got an amazing concept about old age home but since love was given too many importance, it felt like thorns hanging from the strung flowers".https://archive.org/details/kalki1999-08-22/page/n13/mode/2up

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Bharathwaj collaborating with the

team for the second time. 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 first ...

and Pazhani Bharathi. * "I Have Fallen" (Enna Idhu) -

P. Unnikrishnan Parakkal Unnikrishnan (born 9 July 1966) is an Indian Carnatic vocalist and playback singer. Early life and background Unnikrishnan was born to K. Radhakrishnan and Dr. Harini Radhakrishnan in Palakkad, Kerala. The family home, Kesari Kutee ...

Anuradha Sriram Anuradha Sriram (born 9 July 1970) is an Indian carnatic and playback singer and child actress who hails from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. She has sung more than 700 songs in Tamil, Telugu, Sinhala, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali and Hindi f ...

* "Unnai Partha Kangal" - Hariharan * "Maname Maname" -

Srinivas Srinivasa (Sanskrit ) is a Hindus, Hindu name. The term Srinivasa is Vaishnavism, Vaishnava in origin, the combination of two Sanskrit words, ''Shri'' (श्री) and ''nivasa'' (निवास). It is a name for males in India as well as a fa ...

* "Maname Maname" - SPB * "Adi Aathadi" - SPB * "Pollacchi Santhaiyile" -

Yugendran Yugendran (born Yugendran Vasudevan on 20 December 1976) is an Indian actor and singer who has sung hundreds of songs in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. He is also an occasional music director and host. Personal life Yugendran is the son of the ...

References

{{Kavithalaya Productions 1999 films 1990s Tamil-language films Films scored by Bharadwaj (composer) Films directed by Selva (director)