| Angadi Theru | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Vasanthabalan |
| Produced by | K. Karunamoorthy C. Arunpandiyan |
| Written by | Vasanthabalan Jeyamohan |
| Starring | Mahesh Anjali A. Venkatesh Pandi |
| Music by | Vijay Antony |
| Cinematography | Richard Maria Nathan |
| Editing by | A. Sreekar Prasad |
| Studio | Ayngaran International |
| Distributed by | Ayngaran International |
| Release date(s) | 26 March 2010 |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Angaadi Theru (Tamil: அங்காடி தெரு; English: Market Street) is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Vasanthabalan, starring debutant Mahesh and Anjali in the lead roles. The title refers to the Ranganathan Street in Chennai where the story plays. The film features music jointly composed by Vijay Antony and G. V. Prakash Kumar.[1] An Ayngaran International production, the film was launched on 11 February 2008 [2] and released on 26 March 2010 to critical acclaim. The film was shortlisted for the Indian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film but lost to Peepli Live.[3] It released in Telugu as Shopping Mall.
Contents |
Jyothi Lingam (Mahesh) is a bright student and son of a mason who leads a happy life in his village near Tirunelveli. One day tragedy strikes as his father the only earning member dies in an accident while crossing an unmanned railway gate, and young boy now has to look after his mother and two sisters.
Due to circumstances, he is forced to abandon his studies, though he comes first in his school in the board exam. Through a canvassing agent, he and his friend Marimuthu, get jobs as sales boys in a textile showroom in Ranganathan Street in Chennai.
Jyothi, along with hundreds of others, are employed at the Senthil Murugan Stores run by the big Annachi. In each floor at the textile showroom, there are around 50 to 60 sales boys and girls who work in pitiable conditions from early in the morning to late night, without any rest.
He meets Kani (Anjali), a fiery independent girl. The difficult and harrowing times in the store bring them together as they face up to a cruel and lewd store supervisor Karungali (director A Venkatesh), who beats up the boys and molests the girls when they play around during duty hours. As Jyothi says there is no escape from the “Jail like” atmosphere in the shop where employees are treated more like slave labour in a concentration camp than without any human dignity. Angadi Theru is about how these two survive in a concentration camp like condition and what happens when fate perpetually smiles very cruelly at them.
Sneha lights up the happenings in a small cameo as herself by doing a commercial advertisement for that Stores. This film is considered to be a milestone in Tamil cinema due its raw content. This movie is loosely based on the real happenings at the two Popular Stores in Ranganathan Street in Chennai.[4]
The film opened with mainly positive critical reviews. Behindwoods rated, "Angadi Theru is an eye opener to all those who are on the rosier side of life". Leading Magazine, Ananta Vikatan gave 47 out of 100 marks which is excellent considering the fact that that magazine usually never give marks more than 50. He also reviewed, "It’s an overdose of emotions, yes, but you don’t mind it: simply because the characters have handled the scenes so skilfully". Every reviewer praises Anjali's performance in the film, which is noteworthy to mention.Another person who is widely appreciated is the debutant cinematographer Richard M Nathan.Debutant Mahesh's skillful performance of his role was also noted. The film completed 100 days in most of the theatres where it was screened.
Angaadi Theru won the 2010 Best Film Award at the Chennai International Film Festival on 24 December 2010.[5]
2010 Vikatan Awards
Norway Tamil Film Festival
| Angaadi Theru | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by G. V. Prakash Kumar | |
| Genre | Film soundtrack |
Music composed by Vijay Antony and G V Prakash Kumar, background music by Vijay Antony. Lyrics by Na. Muthukumar.Shreya Ghoshal won Filmfare award for Best Female playback Singer for the song 'Un Perai Sollum Bodhe'.[6]
| No. | Title | Performer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Aval Appadi Onrum" | Vineeth Sreenivasan, Ranjith | |
| 2. | "Kannil Theriyum" | G. V. Prakash Kumar | |
| 3. | "Karungali Naayae" | Karthik, Mahesh, Pandi | |
| 4. | "Kathaigalai Pesum" | Benny Dayal, Hamsika | |
| 5. | "Unn Perai Sollum" | Naresh Iyer, Shreya Ghoshal, Haricharan | |
| 6. | "Yenge Poveno Enn" | Benny Dayal, MK Balaji, Janaki Iyer |