''Sundara Travels'' is a 2002

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

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by Asokan. The film stars Murali,

Radha Radha ( sa, राधा, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is worshiped as the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. She is the avatar of goddess Lakshmi and is also de ...

, and

Vadivelu Kumaravadivel Natarajan (born 12 September 1960), known professionally as Vadivelu, is an Indian actor, comedian and playback singer, having acted in supporting and lead roles in Tamil cinema. He gained widespread acclaim in Kollywood in the 2 ...

Vasu The Vasus () refers to a group of deities in Hinduism associated with fire and light. They are described to be the attendant deities of Indra, and later Vishnu. Generally numbering eight and classified as the Ashtavasu, they are described in the R ...

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 ...

, and

Vinu Chakravarthy Vinu Chakravarthy (15 December 1945 – 27 April 2017) was an Indian actor, screenwriter and director who is known for acting in more than 1000 movies in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Badaga and Malayalam mostly as a comedian, supporting actor or in ...

appear in supporting roles. Written by Govind Padman and Mahesh Mithra, it is a remake of their Malayalam film ''

Ee Parakkum Thalika ''Ee Parakkum Thalika'' () is a 2001 Indian Malayalam-language Slapstick film, slapstick comedy drama film starring Dileep (actor), Dileep, Harisree Asokan, Nithya Das and Cochin Haneefa. It was Film director, directed by Thaha and written by V. ...

'' (2001). The music was composed by Bharani, with editing done by P. C. Mohanan. The film released on 30 August 2002.

Plot

Gopikrishna ( Murali) owns an old bus which was received as compensation for his father's road accident. Gopi now faces many consequences due to the bus's pathetic condition. He had sold many valuable things to maintain this bus, and his friend Azhagu (

) was his only companion and the bus's cleaner. A mouse had eaten Azhagu's passport and spoiled his chances of going abroad. Some part of the film's comedy involves Azhagu running behind the mouse for revenge. A live TV show in which Gopi insults the City Traffic Commissioner (

) lands him in more trouble when the latter commands Gopi to leave the city with the bus. His other friends, advocates, and well-wishers try to help him with a bank loan to run a mobile kitchen (Tattukada) from his bus. The plot took a turn when a girl named Vasanthi (

) enters the bus as a nomad, but she was actually Gayathri, the daughter of an influential and politically powerful minister (

P. Vasu Vasudevan Peethambharan, known professionally as P Vasu, is an Indian director, writer and actor who works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam language films. In a career spanning three decades, Vasu has directed over 64 films.

) in Puducherry. Her father forced her to join politics, which made her leave home. Initially, Gayathri declines to leave the bus, despite Azhagu's and Gopi's constant efforts. The police traces her and takes her back to her father's custody. Her father was making arrangements for her marriage with someone else. Meanwhile, Gopi realized that he could not live without Gayathri. Gopi and Azhagu secretly entered her house, and finally, all ended well by winning the heart of Gayathri's father.

Cast

Production

Malayalam hit "

" starring Dileep, Harisree Ashokan and Nitya Das and directed by Thaha was made as "Sundara Travels" in Tamil. While Thaha directed the Malayalam version, Asokan directed the Tamil one, the lead roles are played by Murali and

from Andhra. The supporting cast has

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 ...

, Sabita Anand,

Ilavarasu Ilavarasu is an Indian cinematographer and actor, who works in the Tamil film industry. He started his career as a cinematographer and worked for 13 films, winning a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for one of them. He, however, became better known ...

, Pandu,

Delhi Ganesh Delhi Ganesh is an Indian actor who mostly acts in supporting roles in Tamil cinema and serials. He has acted in more than 400 films from 1976 to present. Before films, he was a member of the Delhi-based theatre troupe, ''Dakshina Bharata Natak ...

, Madan Bob, with director P. Vasu too enacting a crucial role. Bharani sets to tune the lyrics by Pa. Vijay,

Snehan Snehan (born Sivaselvam) is a Tamil poet, politician, lyricist, and actor who has worked in the Tamil film industry. In the year 2018 he entered politics with Makkal Needhi Maiam and contested in the Lok Sabha election. In 2021 Tamil Nadu Legis ...

and Newton. While cinematography is by Selva, editing is by Mohan, sets are by Mohan Mahendran, and dance choreography by Cool Jayant. Shooting commenced at Kodaikanal, and held at locations in Kerala and Thenkasi.

Critical reception

Gopinath said that: "Sundara Travels is one of the best comedy movie for the 90's kids. Murali and Vadivel in Vinu chakravarthi house comedy was epic laugh riot". The Hindu wrote: "The director starts off very well but loses steam midway and presents something predictable". Bizhat wrote " On the whole this remake does not gel with Tamil film comedies which have to be made in a more slapstick way".

Soundtrack

There are the 6 songs in this film composed by

Bharani Bharani (Devanagari: भरणी) is the second nakshatra in Hindu astronomy, corresponding to 35, 39, and 41 Arietis all together. In Jyotiṣa, Bharani is ruled by Shukra (the planet Venus). Also, it is classified as a Cruel or Active naks ...

. The song "Kannum Kannum" was later reused as "Ding Ding" in Telugu film ''Siva Rama Raju''.

References

{{Thaha Tamil remakes of Malayalam films 2002 films 2000s Tamil-language films Indian comedy films Films shot in Kerala Films shot in Kodaikanal 2002 comedy films