''Saivam'' () is a 2014 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
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
written, directed and produced by
A. L. Vijay
A. L. Vijay, known professionally as Vijay, is an Indian film director who works in the Tamil film industry. An assistant director with Priyadarshan, he debuted as director with films such as '' Kireedam'' and the critically acclaimed ''Madr ...
. The film features
Nassar
Nassar ( ar, نصار, lit=helper, protector, supporter, victory-maker), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer ...
in the lead role and child actress
Sara Arjun
Sara Arjun (born ) is an Indian child actress who mainly appears in Tamil and Hindi films and commercials. Sara had appeared in a series of commercials and a short Hindi film before the age of six. In 2010, she was signed on to portray a lea ...
plays another pivotal role. The film's cinematography was handled by
Nirav Shah
Nirav Shah (born 16 November 1974) is an Indian cinematographer. He has worked on a number of major box office hits in Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam since his debut with the 2004 Hindi film '' Paisa Vasool''.
Career
After having worked as an as ...
and music composed by
G. V. Prakash Kumar. The film was released on 27 June 2014 to positive reviews. 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 ''
Dagudumootha Dandakor
''Dagudumootha Dandakor'' is a 2015 Indian Telugu-language comedy drama film, produced by Ramoji Rao on Ushakiran Movies & First Frame Entertainment banner, presented by director Krish and directed by R. K. Malineni. Starring Rajendra Prasad, S ...
'' (2015), with Sara Arjun reprising her role from the original film.
Plot
Kathiresan is the head of a large family which consists of three sons and a daughter and their respective families. The families get together at the house for vacation. When the entire family goes to their temple on a given day, certain ill-fated events occur. The family believes that it is because it had forgotten to perform a ritual sacrifice which involves the slaughter of a rooster. This thought is fueled all the more by each family member blaming this to be the cause for all their problems both at home and at work. Kathiresan decides to sacrifice Paappa, their pet rooster, in the upcoming festival, and the family is assured that all their problems will disappear eventually after the ritual. Then, suddenly, Paappa goes missing.
The members of the family are shocked at Paappa's disappearance and begin searching for it. It is revealed out that Kathiresan's granddaughter Tamizhselvi hid Paappa in the attic in order to save it from getting slaughtered, as she loves Paappa so much that she cannot stand to see it die. The rest of the story revolves around Tamizhselvi's attempts to save Paappa from being slaughtered and the family's attempts to find the rooster and performing the ritual.
Ultimately she convinces everyone not to kill Paappa, as God if he care for one species should care for others too. In the end, everyone realises the truth and turn vegetarian indicating that they wouldn't harm any species.
Cast
*
Nassar
Nassar ( ar, نصار, lit=helper, protector, supporter, victory-maker), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer ...
as Kathiresan
*
Sara Arjun
Sara Arjun (born ) is an Indian child actress who mainly appears in Tamil and Hindi films and commercials. Sara had appeared in a series of commercials and a short Hindi film before the age of six. In 2010, she was signed on to portray a lea ...
as Tamizhselvi
*
Luthfudeen Baashaa as Senthil
* Twara Desai as Abhirami
*
Suresh Suresh is an Indian masculine given name originating in the Sanskrit word ' (compound of ' and '). Its meaning is "Ruler of Gods" and it has been used an epithet for the Hindu gods Indra, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
People named Suresh include:
*Sur ...
as Meiyappan
*
Shanmugarajan
Shanmugarajan is an Indian actor who appears in Tamil films.
He is an alumnus of The American College in Madurai and National School of Drama
National School of Drama (NSD) is a theatre training institute situated at New Delhi, India. It i ...
as AL. K. S. Swamigal
*
Vidya Pradeep
Vidya Pradeep (born 13 April 1990) is an Indian actress and scientist. She is currently working as a scientist in the United States. Her films include ''Saivam'' (2014), ''Pasanga 2'' (2015), and '' Thadam'' (2019)
Career
After completing her ...
as Thenmozhi, Tamizh's mother
*
George Maryan
George Maryan (born 23 March 1963) is an Indian actor and comedian, who has appeared in Tamil cinema. He started his career in theatre, before working in Tamil cinema and has often collaborated with film-makers A. L. Vijay, Sundar C and Priyada ...
as Raja
*
Rajyalakshmi
Rajyalakshmi Chandu, better known by her stage name Sankarabharanam Rajyalakshmi (born 18 December 1964) is an Indian actress. She was a prominent lead actress during the 1980s in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam films. She was well noted fo ...
as Dhanalakshmi
* Ray Paul as Saravanan
* Lakshmanan Ganesh as Ganeshan
* Shakti as Kumaran
* Rahil haider
*
KS Suchitra Shetty Usha
* Kousalya as Vishalakshi
*
Kalyani Natarajan
Kalyani Natarajan is an Indian actress who has appeared in Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi-language films. She played prominent roles in ''Saivam'' (2014), ''Pisaasu'' (2014) and ''Mahanubhavudu'' (2017).
Career
Kalyani had an interest in theatre an ...
as Meenakshi
* Vittal as Ramanathan
* Ravi as Balamurugan
* Master Rahil Singhi as Karthik
* Kala as Kala
* Savithri as Kamatchi
* Malathi as Servant
Production
In June 2013, Vijay revealed that after the completion of ''
Thalaivaa
''Thalaivaa'' () is a 2013 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by A. L. Vijay. It stars Vijay in the title role. The film, produced by Chandraprakash Jain, features background score and soundtrack composed by G. ...
'' (2013), he would work on a rural based subject featuring child actress
Sara Arjun
Sara Arjun (born ) is an Indian child actress who mainly appears in Tamil and Hindi films and commercials. Sara had appeared in a series of commercials and a short Hindi film before the age of six. In 2010, she was signed on to portray a lea ...
of ''
Deiva Thirumagal
''Deiva Thirumagal'' () is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language melodrama film written and directed by A. L. Vijay and produced by M. Chinthamani and Ronnie Screwvala that features Vikram in the lead role as a mentally disabled adult with the matu ...
'' fame in the lead role. Reports initially suggested that
Vikram would also play a character but his unavailability meant that the director had chosen to approach
Arya
Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...
instead. Arya however denied reports, stating that Vijay had yet to approach him and only then would he consider portraying a role. Vijay announced his new production studio, Think Big Studios, would make the film and stated that the film would be about a child's love for her rooster. Most of the team's technical crew including the composer G. V Prakash and the cinematographer, Nirav Shah, worked without taking any remuneration for the film as an ode to their friendship with Vijay. The first look poster of the film, featuring a rooster, was released on 16 November 2013 indicating that the film's production was underway. The team, featuring mostly a new cast, completed most of the schedule in a thirty-day stint in
Karaikudi
Karaikudi is a Greater municipality in Sivaganga district, Sivagangai district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 21st largest urban agglomeration of Tamil Nadu based on 2011 census data. It is part of t ...
,
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
.
Vijay released more information regarding the cast in January 2014 and announced that the son of actor
Nassar
Nassar ( ar, نصار, lit=helper, protector, supporter, victory-maker), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer ...
,
Luthfudeen
Luthfudeen (born 30 April 1994) is an Indian actor, who has appeared in Tamil language films. The son of actor Nassar, Luthfudeen made his debut as an actor by appearing in A. L. Vijay's ''Saivam'' (2014), before working in Vijay's '' Idhu En ...
, would make his acting debut in the film and would have the stage name of Senthil. He would appear alongside another debutant, Twara Desai, while
Nassar
Nassar ( ar, نصار, lit=helper, protector, supporter, victory-maker), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer ...
would play Senthil's grandfather in the film. Filming was completed within forty days and a series of promotional stills featuring the lead cast were released before a press release in March 2014.
Talking further about the movie, Vijay revealed that ''Saivam'' would be about family values and hoped it would instill lost family traditions into the audiences, noting that he was inspired by his visits back to his home village.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack album is composed by
G. V. Prakash Kumar, who regularly composes for
A. L. Vijay
A. L. Vijay, known professionally as Vijay, is an Indian film director who works in the Tamil film industry. An assistant director with Priyadarshan, he debuted as director with films such as '' Kireedam'' and the critically acclaimed ''Madr ...
's films. The album features five songs, with two instrumental tracks; all songs were written by
Na. Muthukumar
Nagarajan Muthukumar (12 July 1975 – 14 August 2016) was a Tamil poet, lyricist, and author. Best known for his Tamil language film songs, he received the most Filmfare Awards for Best Lyricist in Tamil and was a two-time recipient of the Nat ...
. Singer
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 ...
's eight-year-old daughter
Uthara Unnikrishnan
Uthara Unnikrishnan (born 2004) is an Indian playback singer. In 2015, she won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer at the 62nd National Film Awards for her rendition of the song "Azhagu" from the 2014 Tamil film ''Saivam'', ...
recorded the song "Azhagu". The song also had an instrumental version performed by Navin Iyer. The song was highly praised by critics, in which
Scroll.in
''Scroll.in'', simply referred to as ''Scroll'', is an Indian digital news publication owned by the Scroll Media Incorporation. It publishes content in both Hindi and English languages. Founded in 2014, the website and its journalists have won ...
in November 2016 listed as one of the five songs which introduces to the classic carnatic ragas.
The film's soundtrack was released on 28 May 2014 at a launch event 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 ...
.
An ambience of a village was created outside the venue, while all male guests were asked to wear a
dhoti
The dhoti, also known as veshti, vetti, dhuti, mardani, chaadra, dhotar, jaiñboh, panchey, is a type of sarong, tied in a manner that outwardly resembles "loose trousers". It is a lower garment forming part of the ethnic costume for men in the I ...
to the event. The album was released by
Gautham Vasudev Menon
Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu cinema, Telugu and Hindi cinema, Hindi films th ...
,
Anushka Shetty and
Amala Paul
Amala Paul (born 26 October 1991) is an Indian actress who mainly appears in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Malayalam cinema, Malayalam and Telugu cinema, Telugu films. She made her acting debut by appearing in a supporting role in the Malayalam-language ...
, while each song from the film was introduced to the audience by different film personalities including
Jayam Ravi
Mohan Ravi (born 10 September 1980), better known by his stage name Jayam Ravi, is an Indian actor who works in the Tamil film industry. He has won a Filmfare Award and three SIIMA Awards. The son of veteran film editor A. Mohan, Ravi made his ...
,
Vijay Sethupathi
Vijaya Gurunatha Sethupathi (born 16 January 1978), known professionally as Vijay Sethupathi, is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Tamil films. He is a recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award.
Fo ...
and
Siddharth.
The album received positive reviews from critics. Behindwoods rated the album 2.75 out of 5 stating it as "An album of pure melodies and emotions."
Milliblog reviewed it as "A short, sweet and sincere sounding album from GV Prakash Kumar, headlined by Uthara’s singing debut!" Top10Cinema reviewed it as "The songs of ‘Saivam’ come as a package of mellifluous and folk treat. After a long time, we have a pleasant touch of chords from GV Prakash and he does all the best that can favour his favourite pal Vijay. Of course, this duo is sure to get over the top again with this album."
Release
The film was initially slated to release on 1 May 2014, but due to a court order by SG Films, the film's release was put on hold. The film was released on 27 June 2014.
Udhayanidhi Stalin
Udhayanidhi Stalin (born 27 November 1977) is an Indian film producer, actor, and politician who prominently works in the Tamil cinema. He is the Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development of Tamil Nadu in the ministry led by his father, ...
's
Red Giant Movies
Red Giant Movies is an Indian film production and distribution company headed by actor, politician and businessman Udhayanidhi Stalin.
History
The proposed venture of the studio was meant to be a collaboration between director Thamizhvaanan ...
acquired the distribution rights.
As a part of the film's promotion, the makers unveiled an online game based on this film, in which revolves around a rooster, trying to evade the people from catching it. The theatrical trailer was released on 28 May 2014, at the film's audio launch.
Reception
Rediff praised the movie, saying "Good dialogues, great characterisation with opportunities for everyone to prove themselves, plenty of humour and a light-hearted romance makes this family drama an extremely engaging affair."
The Times Of India said, "In all of his films so far, Vijay has struggled with the pacing but here, he is bang on and the slightly laid-back pace of the film fits its setting beautifully. It is no surprise that Saivam is his best — not to mention, his most original — film yet."
The Hindu's Baradwaj Rangan praised the movie as "a film that infuses artistry into a generally light-hearted entertainment. You can sense that Saivam is an all-round labour of love. There isn’t an iota of cynical calculation in it."
Awards
Baby Utthara Unnikrishnan won the
National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer
The National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India since 1968 to a female playback singer for the best renditions of songs from soundtracks within the Indian film industry ...
, becoming the youngest winner of the prestigious award.
"62nd National Film Awards: Complete list of winners"
IBN Live. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015. Lyricist Na. Muthukumar
Nagarajan Muthukumar (12 July 1975 – 14 August 2016) was a Tamil poet, lyricist, and author. Best known for his Tamil language film songs, he received the most Filmfare Awards for Best Lyricist in Tamil and was a two-time recipient of the Nat ...
, also received the National Award for Best Lyricist.
References
External links
*
{{A. L. Vijay
Films directed by A. L. Vijay
2014 films
Films scored by G. V. Prakash Kumar
2010s Tamil-language films
Tamil films remade in other languages