''Sasanam'' () is a 2006 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 film directed by Mahendran. The film set in the Chettinadu backdrop features

Arvind Swamy Arvind Swamy (born 18 June 1970) is an Indian actor, model, entrepreneur and television presenter known for his work in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam films. He was introduced as an actor by Mani Ratnam with the blockbuster ...

Gautami Gautami Tadimalla (born 2 July 1969), known mononymously as Gautami, is an Indian actress and politician who has worked mainly in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films in addition to Hindi, and Kannada films. She was one of the leading South India ...

and

Ranjitha Ranjitha (born Sri Valli) is an Indian actress. She has acted in a number of Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films. Career In 1991, Ranjita, did her first Telugu film, under the screen name Madhu Bala ''Kadapa Reddemma''. It was written ...

in leading roles, while Balabharathi composes the music and Nambiyathiri handles cinematography. The film began production in the mid-1990s but was only released in 2006 due to production trouble, with all three of the lead actors retired at the time of release.

Plot

Muthiah (

) and his wife Visalakshi (

) are a loving couple, and they come across Saroji (

) who with no one to go for, takes refuge in Muthiah's house. Muthiah and Saroji develop soft corner towards each other. The rest is what transpires between the trio, exploring the nuances of an extra-marital affair.

Cast

as Muthiah (Ramanathan) *

as Visalakshi *

as Saroji *

Thalaivasal Vijay Thalaivasal Vijay is an Indian actor and dubbing artist. He was born on 4 August 1962 in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India. He has acted predominantly in numerous Tamil and Malayalam films. Career Vijay's debut film was '' Thalaivaasal'' (1992) ...

Sabitha Anand Sabitha Anand is an Indian actress who has performed in Tamil and Malayalam movies and serials. She was one of the lead actresses in the 1980s. She is the daughter of Jacoob Abdu Rahman Anand, an Indian actor in Malayalam movies during the 1960 ...

Sujitha Sujitha (born 12 July 1982) is an Indian actress who works in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam TV serials. She is known for portraying "Dhanam" in ''Pandian Stores'' and in Kerala she is popular for portraying "Unnimaya" in the Asianet TV serial '' ...

Vellai Subbaiah Vellai Subbaiah was an Indian actor who had appeared in more than 500 films and 1000 stage plays. He featured mostly in comedy roles and also minor roles. He is well known for his dialogue, "Thirumba Thirumba pesura nee..." in the movie Nesam ...

Production

The film began production in the mid-1990s and Balabharathi composed the music while Lenin and Vijayan were signed on as editors. Former State Assembly Speaker and senior AIADMK leader K. Kalimuthu penned a song for the film which was sung by

Chithra Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra (born 27 July 1963), always credited as K. S. Chithra or Chithra, is an Indian playback singer and Carnatic musician. In a career spanning over four decades, she has recorded over 25,000 songs in various I ...

, Sriram and Sathyanarayana. By January 1999, the film was described to be ready for release and Mahendran moved on to work on other projects. By 2000, the film was referred to as "delayed, believed dead" by the media, with reporters suggesting that Gouthami's change since signing the film would hinder any chances of release. During production, the film's budget became overrun so Mahendran approached the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) to take over the financing of the film in 2000. To avoid the film being delayed further due to financial problems, the lead actor

opted against receiving any salary for the film. The film later finally geared up for release in mid-2006 and during the time of release,

and

had already quit the Tamil film industry, while

was semi-retired.

Soundtrack

Soundtrack was composed by Balabharathi. *Pudhiya Kalai – Sriram, K. S. Chithra *Aasaigalai Nenjukulle –

Malaysia Vasudevan Vasudevan (15 June 1944 – 20 February 2011), known as Malaysia Vasudevan, was a Malaysian-Indian playback singer and actor in Tamil cinema. Early life Malaysia Vasudevan's parents were from Palakkad. Chattu Nair of Ottappalam and Amma ...

*Poove Nee – KS Chithra *Vaazhkayin Vaasal – KS Chithra

Release

''Sasanam'' opened to average reviews with a reviewer citing that the film "tugs your heart strings, striking the right chord though a bit slow and old fashioned in shot compositions and presentation". In regard to performances, the critics adds that "Gouthami returns after a break and she is excellent as Visalakshi. Ranjita is the only drawback and she is not convincing as a dancer and is not able to get her expressions correctly" and that Arvind Swamy is "first rate opting for a restrained mode in which he is able to bring out the pathos and hidden feeling of the character very well." The film was later shown during the 7th annual film festival of India at

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

from 21 August 2009.

References

External links

* {{J. Mahendran 2006 films Films directed by Mahendran (filmmaker) 2000s Tamil-language films Films with screenplays by Mahendran (filmmaker)