| Minsaara Kanavu | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Rajiv Menon |
| Produced by | M. Balasubramanian M. Saravanan M. S. Guhan |
| Written by | Rajiv Menon V. C. Gukanathan G. B. Vijay |
| Starring | Arvind Swamy Prabhu Deva Kajol Devgan Arundathi Nag S. P. Balasubrahmanyam Nassar Girish Karnad Prakash Raj Rallapalli (actor) |
| Music by | A. R. Rahman |
| Cinematography | & Ravi K. Chandran |
| Editing by | Suresh Urs |
| Distributed by | AVM Productions Ayngaran International |
| Release date(s) | 14 January 1997 |
| Running time | 153 mins |
| Language | Tamil |
Minsara Kanavu (Tamil:மின்சார கனவு) is a 1997 Tamil, Romance film, directed by Rajiv Menon. The film's score and soundtrack is composed by A. R. Rahman. Originally produced in Tamil, it went on to be dubbed in Telugu and in Hindi owing to its popularity.
It stars Arvind Swamy, Prabhu Deva, and Kajol Devgan. Kajol plays a young woman who wishes to become a nun, whilst at the same time being torn between two competing suitors, played by the two lead actors. A. R. Rahman earned the Best Music Director award for the second time at the National Film Awards for his work on the score and soundtrack.
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Priya Amal Raj (Kajol Devgan) looses her mother at a very young age. She is friendly, outspoken, sensitive, yet precocious. Priya is brought up by her dad, Amal Raj (Girish Karnad) who is a clothing industrialist. Since her child hood priya is interested in singing, music and church.
Thomas Thanga Durai (Arvind Swamy), a polite, well mannered NRI business man, returns to India from America to look after his father's Thanga Durai's (S. P. Balasubrahmanyam) business. Thanga Durai is a former associate in Amal Raj's business, and now establishes his own business empire in the same vicinity, opposite to Amal Raj's factory. He boasts of his sons achievements. However, Amal Raj dislikes Thanga Durai's ill mannered, clumsy and bizzare antics though Thomas and Priya have known each other in their child hood.
Thomas, happens to meet Priya at her school when he goes to a woman's hostel to see his aunt, mother superior (Arundhati Nag) a high priest nun in that school church. Thomas takes Priya's help in surprising his aunt with a gift on her birthday. In the process, Thomas falls in love with priya but is unable to confess his love for her. Priya has been brought up in a convent school and wants to become a nun, much to the horror of Thomas and Priyas father. Thomas takes the help of a hairstylist Deva (Prabhu Deva) who is notorious at changing women's minds. Deva befriends priya to change her mind about being a nun.
At one instance, priya performs singing at a Gala along with deva's troupe, which puts the troupe into the limelight of a recording theater owner. Deva requests Priya to join his aspiring music troop as a singer and help them achieve the group's aspiration for a film audition and priya agrees to it. Deva with his musical troupe (Nassar and his group) play tricks to make Priya fall in love with Thomas, but fails to turn Priya's mind towards Thomas. Instead, Deva himself falls in love with Priya and she reciprocates.
Complications arise when Priya falls in love with Deva instead, and at the same juncture, Thomas confesses his love to priya and reveals the shocking truth behind Deva's association with priya. Torn between the two men, a broken hearted Priya decides to vow for Nun trainee and fails to fulfill her promise for the groups music audition. Thomas realizes this at the end and sacrifices his love. Thomas and his Aunt convince priya out of celibacy and marry Deva. Thomas becomes a church Priest as he naturally leads a life of service to the poor, sacrifice and mental chastity.
| Actor | Role | Other Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Prabhu Deva | Deva | Vikram is the Dubbing Artist for him in Tamil |
| Arvind Swamy | Thomas | |
| Kajol | Priya | Revathi is the Dubbing Artist for her in Tamil |
| Nassar | Guru | Deva's Friend A blind musician |
| Girish Karnad | Amalraj | Priya's Dad |
| S.P.B | Thanga Durai | Thomas's Dad |
| Minsara Kanavu / Sapnay | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman | ||||
| Released | 1997 | |||
| Recorded | Panchathan Record Inn | |||
| Genre | Soundtrack | |||
| Label | AVM | |||
| Producer | A. R. Rahman | |||
| A. R. Rahman chronology | ||||
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The soundtrack features 6 songs composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics by Vairamuthu. The Hindi version of the soundtrack was titled Sapnay and had lyrics penned by Javed Akhtar. A new song titled "Teri Meri Baat" was added to this version.
It was later reported that when AVM wanted to make a film to commemorate its 50th anniversary, it was not sure of what kind of movie it would be or who would make it. All it was sure of was that it wanted A. R. Rahman to score the music. First thing, Rahman was signed up by the studio and he was asked who he wanted the director to be. Rahman suggested the name of cinematographer and friend from college, Rajeev Menon. Rahman had previously collaborated with Menon in jingles for many ad films.[1]
The soundtrack was a major success and also fetched numerous music awards.The soundtrack earned A. R. Rahman the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for the second time. Rahman also won the Tamil Nadu State Award and Filmfare Award for his work. K. S. Chitra and S. P. Balasubrahmanyam won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer and Best Male Playback Singer for the tracks "Ooh La La La" and "Thanga Thamarai" respectively. Sujatha and Unni Menon won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback and Best Male Playback for the tracks "Poo Pookkum Oosai" and "Ooh La La La" respectively. Sujatha was reportedly considered for the National Award, too.[2]
S. P. Balasubrahmanyam recalls the recording session of "Thanga Thamarai". "It required a tone that reflected the feelings of someone totally smitten and intoxicated by love. The character singing the song in the film is on a high after finding his girl. I only tried my best to imitate Rahman, who sang it for me. The imitation fetched me a national award."[3]
Besides, the songs were also noted for the picturisation. Choreography was done by Prabhu Deva and he got the National Film Award for Best Choreography for his work in the film. Playback singer Kay Kay was introduced by Rahman through the song "Strawberry Kannae". This album also marked the beginning of the long lasting Rahman - Sadhana Sargam combination in Tamil film songs.
The song "Ooh La La La" was re-edited by A. R. Rahman and featured on the hit international musical production Bombay Dreams, which ran in Europe and North America from 2002 to 2005.
The track "Vennilavae (Part 2)" was a sad version of the song "Vennilave" and was sung by Shankar Mahadevan and Kavita Paudwal. This track was featured in the movie only.
| # | Song | Singer(s) | Length |
| 1 | "Vennilavae" | Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam | 5:58 |
| 2 | "Vennilavae (Part 2)" | Shankar Mahadevan, Kavita Paudwal | 1:45 |
| 3 | "Poo Pookum Oosai" | Sujatha, Malaysia Vasudevan | 6:47 |
| 4 | "Manna Madurai" ("Ooh La La La") |
Unni Menon, K. S. Chitra, Srinivas | 5:53 |
| 5 | "Thanga Thamarai" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Malgudi Subha | 4:58 |
| 6 | "Strawberry Kannae" | KK, Febi Mani | 4:25 |
| 7 | "Anbendra" | Anuradha Sriram | 3:33 |
| # | Song | Singer(s) | Length |
| 1 | "Chanda Re" | Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam | 5:58 |
| 2 | "Chanda Re (Part 2)" | Shankar Mahadevan, Sadhana Sargam | 5:58 |
| 3 | "Aawara Bhanwre" | Hema Sardesai, Malaysia Vasudevan | 6:47 |
| 4 | "Ek Bagiya" | Shankar Mahadevan, K. S. Chitra, Srinivas | 5:53 |
| 5 | "Door Na Ja Mujhse" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Malgudi Subha | 4:58 |
| 6 | "Strawberry Ankhein" | KK, Kavita Paudwal | 4:25 |
| 7 | "Roshan Hui Raat" | Anuradha Sriram | 3:33 |
| 8 | "Teri Meri Baat" | Abhijeet Bhattacharya, Hema Sardesai | 5:19 |
1998 Tamil Nadu State Film Awards