''Suyamvaram'' () 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, na ...

-language

comedy drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film starring an ensemble cast from actors in the Tamil film industry and shot by a large technical team from the industry. The film was planned by Giridharilal Nagpal who produced and wrote the film's story and brought together 14 major directors, 19 cinematographers and over thirty leading actors in the Tamil film industry. The film also holds the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for casting the most stars in a film and also for being the quickest ever feature-length film made, with filming being completed in 23 hours and 58 minutes. The film released on 16 July 1999, to positive reviews from critics, praising the intentions of the makers.

Plot

Kuselan ( Vijayakumar) and his wife Suseela (

Manjula Vijayakumar Manjula Vijayakumar (4 July 195423 July 2013) was an Indian actress. She acted in more than 100 films in South Indian languages like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. Personal life She and actor Vijayakumar got married in 1976. The couple ...

) are the heads of a large family which consists of their three sons - Arunachalam (

Sathyaraj Rangaraj Subbiah (born 3 October 1954), professionally known as Sathyaraj, is an Indian actor, producer, director and a media personality who has predominantly appeares in Tamil cinema and Telugu Cinema. His 240 films also include works in Mal ...

), Aavudaiyappan (

Prabhu ''Prabhu'' means master or the Prince in Sanskrit and many of the Indian languages; it is a name sometimes applied to God. The term is also used by devotees of the Hindu God Lord Krishna/ Vishnu as a title and form of address. It is also appen ...

) and Indiran ( Abbas) - and six daughters - Urvashi ( Rambha), Easwari ( Roja), Uma ( Kasthuri), Aishwarya (

Maheswari Maheswari is an Indian former actress, who appeared predominantly in Telugu cinema, Telugu and Tamil cinema, Tamil language films. She was one of the leading actresses in Telugu and Tamil films from 1994 to 2000. She appeared alongside major ...

), Hema (

Preetha Vijayakumar Preetha Vijayakumar (born 10 January 1982) is an former Indian actress. Career Preetha had first signed up to portray the leading role in Ravi Raja Pinisetty's Telugu film ''Rukmini'' opposite Vineeth in 1997, but delays meant her Tamil film ...

), and Ezhilarasi ( Suvalakshmi). Azhagappan (

Parthiban R. Parthiban (born 14 October 1958) is an Indian actor and filmmaker who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has directed 15 films, produced 13 films and acted in more than 70 films. He started his career as assistant director for K. Bhagyaraj in ...

) is the family's loyal servant, while Krishna (

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

) is their family doctor. The movie opens with Kuselan's 60th birthday celebrations, but he gets a heart attack. At the hospital, the family is informed that Kuselan will not live long and decides to keep him comfortable in his last days. From the devastated family, Kuselan asks for one last favour: all his children get married before he dies. The children agree, and a statewide ad is put out saying that those chosen to marry Kuselan's children would get a piece of the family properties and a crore in cash. Needless to say, the mention of wealth brings in potential brides and grooms by the truck full to be interviewed by either Gnanapithan (

K. Bhagyaraj Krishnasaamy Bhagyaraj (born 7 January 1953) is an Indian director, actor, screenwriter, music director, producer and politician active mainly in Tamil films. He has also written and directed Hindi and Telugu films and TV serials. As an actor, ...

) and Arivozhimangai (

Urvashi Urvashi ( sa, उर्वशी, Urvaśī}) is the most prominent apsara (celestial nymph) in Hindu mythology, considered to be the most beautiful of all the apsaras, and an expert dancer. She is mentioned in both ''Vedic'' and ''Puranic'' scr ...

) or the doctors Mithrabuthan (

Janagaraj Janagaraj is an Indian actor who has appeared in over 200 films predominantly in Tamil cinema as a comedian or in supporting roles. He also starred in few Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi films. Early life Janagaraj was born to Vadivelu and Muthu ...

) and Panchabootham (

Senthil Senthil (born 23 March 1951) is an Indian comedy actor who works in Tamil cinema. He is famous for his comedian roles along with fellow actor Goundamani. The pair dominated the Tamil industry as comedians in the 1980s and 90s.Khushbu, Savithri ( Ishwarya), and Heera respectively. Easwari, Uma, Aishwarya, and Hema are in love with Kanna (

Prabhu Deva Prabhu Deva (born 3 April 1973) is an Indian dance choreographer, film director, producer and actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada language films. In a career spanning 32 years, he has performed and designed a ...

), Pallavan ( Pandiarajan), Gautham (

Vineeth Vineeth Radhakrishnan (born 23 August 1969) is an Indian actor, classical dancer, voice artist and choreographer who primarily works in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu language films. He has also starred in a few Kannada and Bollywood films. He h ...

), and Kanthen (

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) respectively. Each of them gets their lover ready for the interview, and after some hard work and bribing, they are all selected. Urvashi is linked with the absent-minded doctor Ram Kumar ( Karthik), who shows up at the interview upon thinking it is an interview for a doctor's post in a clinic while Ezhilarasi pairs with Azhagappan. Kabilan ( Mansoor Ali Khan), with Vichitra ( Vichithra) in tow, tries to worm his way in as a groom, and when that effort fails, he kidnaps the nine brides for ransom. Krishna calls his friend ACP Sanjay IPS (

Arjun Sarja Srinivasa "Arjun" Sarja is an Indian actor, producer, and director who works predominantly in the Tamil film industry, in addition to Kannada and Telugu languages as well. Referred to by the media and his fans as " Action King" for his roles i ...

), who defeats Kabilan and his aides, defuses the bomb planted by Kabilan at the marriage hall and saves the brides. After finding the brides and after the marriage, Kuselan explains that his heart attack was a joke, and he wanted them to get married.

Cast

In order of appearance:

Crew

* Directors: J. Paneer, A. R. Ramesh,

Keyaar Kothanda Ramaiah (also known as K.R and Keyaar) is an Indian Tamil film director, producer, distributor and exhibitor. He has held various leading positions in different film industry organizations. Career KR studied film processing at the Ad ...

E. Ramdoss E. Ramdoss (died 23 January 2023) was an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor who worked on Tamil films. Life and career Ramdoss was born in Villupuram to freedom fighter Ethirajalu Pillai and Poongavanam. As a youngster, he regularl ...

, Arjun, Guru Dhanapal,

Liaquat Ali Khan Liaquat Ali Khan ( ur, ; 1 October 1895 – 16 October 1951), also referred to in Pakistan as ''Quaid-e-Millat'' () or ''Shaheed-e-Millat'' ( ur, lit=Martyr of the Nation, label=none, ), was a Pakistani statesman, lawyer, political theoris ...

, R. Sundarrajan, Selva, K. Subash,

Sundar C Vinayagar Sundar Vel (born 21 January 1966), known professionally as Sundar C., is an Indian film director, actor and producer. He has directed over 34 films in Tamil language, Tamil and acted in 17 movies as the protagonist. His notable fil ...

, Siraj, K. S. Ravikumar,

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. ...

* Screenplay & dialogues: Siraj * Story & producer: Giridharilal Nagpal * Music Composers:

Deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * Deva ...

S. A. Rajkumar S. A. Rajkumar is an Indian composer and lyricist. He has made music for all South Indian language films in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, and Kannada. Early life Rajkumar's father was a vocalist performing in stage shows conducted by popular mu ...

Sirpy Narayanan, known by his stage name Sirpy ( ta, சிற்பி; born 25 May 1962), is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil films apart from working in Telugu and Malayalam films. He has als ...

Vidyasagar Vidyasagar or Vidya Sagar may refer to: People *Acharya Vidyasagar (born 1946), prominent Digambar Jain Acharya (1946-) * Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820–1891), Bengali scholar *Vidyasagar (composer) (born 1963), South Indian music director * ...

* Cinematographers: Babu, Raghunatha Reddy, B. L. Rao, D. Shankar, K. S. Selvaraj, A. Karthik Raja, Ashokrajan, K. S. Udhayashankar, C Vijayasri, M. V. Panneerselvam,

U. K. Senthil Kumar U. K. Senthil Kumar is an Indian cinematographer, who has worked in the Tamil and Malayalam film industries. Career A native of Coimbatore, Senthil Kumar belongs to the 1989-92 batch of the Government Film Institute, Chennai, and has worked in ...

, R. B. Imayavaramban, Ram Gunasekharan, R. Rajarathnam, R. H. Ashok, K. B. Ahmed, G. Mohan, Victor S. Kumar * Editors: P. Sai Suresh, K. Thanikachalam, P. Madan Mohan, L. Kesavan * Art Director:

G. K G is the seventh letter of the Latin alphabet. G may also refer to: Places * Gabon, international license plate code G * Glasgow, UK postal code G * Eastern Quebec, Canadian postal prefix G * Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia, ...

Production

Producer Giridharilal Nagpal announced his intentions of making, ''Suyamvaram'', a film shot within 24 hours in January 1999, citing it had been a fourteen-year dream. The film's launch occurred in January 1999 with

Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...

and

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali f ...

in attendance. The makers originally planned on making the entire film on 24 March 1999, but the making was delayed and there were major changes made to the agreed cast and crew. The delay meant that some lead actors that had initially agreed to part of the film such as Vijayakanth, Murali,

Prashanth Prashanth Thiagarajan (born 6 April 1973), known professionally as Prashanth, is an Indian actor and businessman, known for his works predominantly in Tamil cinema. Besides Tamil films, he has also appeared in few Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam f ...

and

Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam-language films, he is the recipient of several ...

, had to opt out. Lead actresses Simran,

Devayani Devayani ( sa, देवयानी, translit=Devayānī) is a character in Hindu literature. She is described to be the daughter of Shukra, the acharya (preceptor) of the asuras, and his wife Jayanti, the daughter of Indra. She marries Kin ...

and

Keerthi Reddy Keerthi Reddy is an Indian former actress who appeared primarily in Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi language films. Her notable work includes '' Tholi Prema'' (1998), '' Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat'' (2001) and '' Arjun'' (2004). She has received a Filmf ...

, and directors

R. K. Selvamani R.K. Selvamani (born 21 October 1965) is an Indian film director. He was known to make films in the police or whodunit genres. Career Born in Chengalpattu, R. K. Selvamani, an assistant of Manivannan, narrated a story line to Vijayakanth who t ...

S. A. Chandrasekhar S. A. Chandrasekar (born 2 July 1945) is an Indian film director, producer, writer, and actor who primarily works within Kollywood. He made his directorial debut with ''Aval Oru Pachai Kuzhanthai'' (1978), He got his breakthrough with '' Satt ...

and

also eventually did not feature. Nagpal then announced his intentions of shooting the film within 24 hours on 5 and 6 April 1999 across film studios 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 ...

. Along with Nagpal, the film brought together 19 associate directors, 45 assistant directors, 19 cameramen, 36 assistant cameramen, nine steadycam operators, 14 heroes, 12 heroines, villains, comedians, five dance masters, 16 assistants, 140 chorus dancers, stunt coordinators, art director, makeup, costume and set designers, 15 film units, a still photographer and 1,483 extras to make the film. Despite months of planning, Nagpal left many details to the last minute with no script produced and directors describing scenes to actors, who would rehearse them once before filming. Two representatives, on behalf of the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

, were present to oversee the time-schedule. They were joined by representatives from the Limca Book of Records on the set. Giridharlal said, "The goal is to finish every stage of film-making within the stipulated 24 hour period, Shooting, developing rushes, editing, dubbing, re-recording and final mixing for the master copy will all be done in that time. The script is being divided into 11 parts, and one director will shoot one part, all of them working on the same day, at different sets and venues". Production began on 5 April at 7 am on the sixth floor of the AVM Studios and then the AVM Gardens directed by

. At 9.30am scenes were shot at the Kamaraj Memorial involving

and Roja, while at 11am scenes with

and Khushbu were shot in studios resembling a gypsy tent camp. At noon in Film City, a song sequence with Abbas and Heera was shot and at Guindy, Ramdoss shot scenes involving Pandiarajan and Kasthuri.

filmed scenes involving

and

Aishwarya Aishwarya ( Devanagari : ''ऐश्वर्य'') is a Hindu Indian or Nepalese male or feminine given name, which means "prosperity" and "wealth". Notable people named Aishwarya * Aishwariyaa Bhaskaran (born 1971), Indian actress * Aishw ...

in a room with computers at 2.45pm, after a brief delay caused by missing props. Karin Przygocki, an English teacher at the American International School Chennai, was recruited to play an American who marries into a traditional Indian family but her role was later changed to that of a jilted lover in Prabhu's office. A dance sequence at a discothèque in Abu Palace was shot at 5.30pm with

and

, and by 6.30pm, the entire team assembled at the Vijaya Vauhini studios, which was designed to look like a wedding hall, for the final scenes to be canned. At 3am on 6 April, the film ran two hours behind schedule and four directors improvised and changed the storyline with two scenes being cut and planned into one. Furthermore, at 3am, Vineeth refused to shoot for a scene where he was locked in the bathroom, and time was lost when the directors attempted to convince him to continue with the shoot. At 6.25am, the team finished filming the kidnap scenes at Kushaldoss House. The filming finished at 6.50am on 6 April 1999 with ten minutes to spare. Director

, who shot the opening scene of the film, revealed that all the directors of the film had "several sittings together and had planned everything in advance". While, P. Vasu claimed that all the directors were constantly in touch with each other so that one scene smoothly merged into the other. Actor-director, Arjun appeared as a cop in the film as well as directing and coordinating the action scenes in the film's climax. Costume designer S. V. Kumar worked on the film with forty assistants, while dance choreographer Lalita Mani worked on some of the film's songs. Art director, G. K., was in charge of co-ordinating sets at all 21 locations and managed to keep in control of events through his mobile phone; while Giridharilal's son Vinay, scooted from location to location, ensuring that the project was developing smoothly.

Release

The film was released on 16 July 1999 to positive reviews from critics, K. N. Vijiyan of ''

New Straits Times The ''New Straits Times'' is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print (though not the first), having been founded as ''The Straits Times'' on 15 July 1845. It was relaunched as the ' ...

'' wrote, "The cast seems to have enjoyed themselves tremendously doing this movie. So will you, too".

Shobha Warrier Shobha Warrier is an Indian journalist and author based in Chennai. She began her career as a creative writer, with publishing a number of short stories in Malayalam: "Ramakundam", "Meghana", and "Jalavidya". In 1996, she was awarded with the Lal ...

of Rediff.com claimed the attempt "particularly praiseworthy if we take into consideration the time factor and the amount of co-ordination the film-makers had to do", whilst adding that the movie was "slicker and better made than many churned out regularly by some film factories". A reviewer from Indolink.com cited that "it is a laudable venture" and "they have even tried to have a storyline for this movie". In regard to the technical aspects the critic claimed that "the songs are okay — nothing to rave about". A critic from

Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...

.com noted "it can be seen for its record achievement feat but entertainment it does not offer." ''Kalki'' praised the directors for covering every portion into a full length film and every scene seem like watching a new film. The film was dubbed into Telugu as ''Pellante Idera!'' by P. R. Kutumba Rao and released in October 2001. Rao was persuaded to release the film in Telugu by Narasimha Rao of the Raasi Movies studio, while Vennelakanti worked on the Telugu dialogues and music was rearranged by G. Anand. The makers of the Telugu version opted to select a different voice artist for each character, rather than save costs by using individuals who can provide multiple voices. A Hindi remake of the film was pondered by the producer, but later shelved. Inspired by the film, the producers later announced their next project, which would feature five actors and actresses, to be shot within ten days, but the project did not proceed.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack consists of five songs composed by four music directors. Lyrics were written by Mu. Metha, Palani Bharathi, Ponniyin Selvan and Ilakkiyan. Actor

featured as a singer in the soundtrack.

References

External links

* {{K. Subash 1999 films Films about Indian weddings Indian comedy-drama films 1990s Tamil-language films Films directed by R. Sundarrajan Films directed by K. S. Ravikumar Films directed by P. Vasu Films directed by Sundar C. Films directed by Arjun Sarja Films scored by Deva (composer) Films scored by Vidyasagar Films scored by S. A. Rajkumar Films scored by Sirpy Films directed by E. Ramdoss