Kondattam
| Kondattam | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| Directed by | K. S. Ravikumar |
| Written by | K. S. Ravikumar |
| Produced by | P. Sambasiva Reddy K. Jayaraman |
| Starring | Arjun Simran |
| Cinematography | K. Prasath |
| Edited by | K. Thanikachalam |
| Music by | Maragatha Mani |
Production company | Sai Lakshmi Movie Makers |
Release date |
|
Running time | 158 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Kondattam (Tamil pronunciation: [koɳɖaːʈʈːam] transl. Celebration) is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by K. S. Ravikumar. The film stars Arjun and Simran. It was released on 6 February 1998.
Plot
[edit]Raja is a rich fun-loving man, whose boat ride with his friends turns tragic after his friends die in an accident. Raja is heart-broken after his fiancée Lalitha blames him for his friends' deaths. Feeling remorse for his actions, Raja writes off his properties to the families of his deceased friends. He gets a call that Anand's wife died after giving birth to a baby boy.
Raja gives the baby to Anand's family who wants him to stay in their home for some time. Except the older couple, other members initially do not like his presence but he wins their love and affection. Raja discovers that someone is attempting to kill the child. He then gets himself into a situation where he can continue staying in the house and detect the mystery.
Lalitha who is engaged to be married comes to stay in the same home and still hates Raja. During the naming ceremony of the baby, the family learns that Raja killed Anand. Arjun's servant reveals that Anand's property will be inherited by the baby. While getting thrashed by their car driver Pazhani, Raja who accidentally sees Pazhani's ring realises he was the one who attempted to kill the baby.
Pazhani was in love with Purushothaman's daughter and had an eye on the property, after coming to know that child is the heir of the property he tried to kill it. In the end, Raja marries Lalitha and becomes a part of the huge family.
Cast
[edit]- Arjun as Raja (Ramu)
- Simran as Lalitha
- Manthra as Vidhya
- Gemini Ganesan as Anand's grandfather
- Vijayakumar as Purushothaman
- Jai Ganesh as Rajarathnam
- Ramesh Khanna as Pazhani
- R. Sundarrajan as Bhaskaran
- Rajeev as Anand's uncle
- Sowcar Janaki as Janaki
- Raja as Gopikrishna
- Sathyapriya as Vidya's mother
- K. R. Vatsala as Bhaskaran's wife
- Anand Babu as Babu
- Anand as Anand
- Chinni Jayanth as Siva
- Delhi Ganesh as Raja's servant
- Saradha Preetha as Saradha
- Sheela Kaur as Anjali
- Subhashini as Anand's aunt
- Lavanya as Purushothaman's daughter
- Idichapuli Selvaraj as Watchman
- Mahendran as Mahendran
- K. S. Ravikumar in a cameo appearance
Production
[edit]The film was developed with the working title of Uthama Puthiran, before the team changed title. Sivaji Ganesan was initially considered to play the patriarchal head of the family, though his unavailability meant that Gemini Ganesan was selected instead.[1][2] Since Ravikumar could not shoot the film in Chennai due to the 1997 FEFSI strike, he shifted the crew to Kerala and shot there but there also he faced problems while he planned to shoot at Mauritius island which did not happen; however the opposite teams who were part of strike helped the crew to shoot.[3]
Soundtrack
[edit]The soundtrack was composed by Maragatha Mani, with lyrics by Kalidasan.[4][5] The song "Mai Vizhi Un Imaigalile" is based on "Escape" by the American band The Ventures.[6]
| Song | Singers | Length |
|---|---|---|
| "Ini Sudhandhira Dhiname" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Maragatha Mani, Minmini | 02:40 |
| "Mai Vizhi Un Imaigalile" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Sujatha | 04:08 |
| "Minnaladikkum Venmai" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Sujatha | 05:07 |
| "Paeru Nalla Paeru" | T. S. Raghavendra, Maragatha Mani, Swarnalatha, Sujatha, Sangeetha, Harish Raghavendra | 05:01 |
| "Unnoduthan Kanaavile" (Happy) | Mano, K. S. Chithra | 04:24 |
| "Unnoduthaan Kanaavile" (Sad) | Maragatha Mani, K. S. Chithra | 04:52 |
| "Unnoduthaan Kanaavile" (Sad; film version) | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra | 04:52 |
Release and reception
[edit]The film was initially announced to be released in Diwali season of 1997 but got delayed,[3] and was released on 6 February 1998.[7][8] D. S. Ramanujam of The Hindu wrote that Ravikumar "weaves an interesting and entertaining tale of family sentiments and friendship of the unusual variety, to some extent Quixotic too, in Sailakshmi Moviemakers' [Kondattam]." He added, "This film is bound to boost the stock of Arjun who shows maturity in taking on a part that requires emotional display which he does without sweating much and the fire in his action scenes have not diminished".[9] K. N. Vijiyan wrote for New Straits Times, "It is not a bad production but not what you would expect from Ravikumar. The fun factor is grossly missing".[10] Ji of Kalki wrote the film's central loophole is that the family members do not seem to shower affection on each other despite a very large family that is affectionate. Ji said it is understandable that Ravikumar has tried to bring a freshness to the story and scenes.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ "GOKUL'S CINEMA NEWS". Gokul's Home Page. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ "Thala Ajith to Thalapathy Vijay: Director KS Ravikumar on his stars". The Times of India. 7 September 2020. Archived from the original on 25 May 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
- ^ a b "ஸ்ட்ரைக்கை மீறி வெளியாகும் படங்கள்!" (PDF). Kalki (in Tamil). 2 November 1997. pp. 4–6. Retrieved 25 May 2023 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Kondattam (2006)". Raaga.com. Archived from the original on 14 January 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
- ^ "Kontattam- Cheran Chozhan Pandiyan Tamil Film Audio CD". Macsendisk. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
- ^ S, Karthik. "Tamil [Other Composers]". ItwoFS. Archived from the original on 22 May 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
- ^ "Kondattam / கொண்டாட்டம் (1998)". Screen 4 Screen. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
- ^ இன்பா, மு.ஞா.செ. (2020). ஜெமினி மந்திர சொல் (in Tamil). Kathadi Publications. p. 292.
- ^ Ramanujam, D. S. (6 February 1998). "Film Reviews: Kondattum". The Hindu. p. 26. Archived from the original on 12 March 2000. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
- ^ Vijiyan, K. N. (28 February 1998). "The fun's sorely missing". New Straits Times. pp. Arts 3. Archived from the original on 11 June 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2023 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ ஜி (8 March 1998). "கொண்டாட்டம்". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 81. Archived from the original on 28 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023 – via Internet Archive.
