Nanban (film)

Nanban
Promotional Poster
Directed by	S. Shankar
Produced by	Raju Easwaran
Screenplay by	S. Shankar Madhan Karky
Story by	Rajkumar Hirani Abhijat Joshi Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Based on	Five Point Someone – What not to do at IIT! by Chetan Bhagat
Starring	Vijay Jeeva Srikanth Ileana D'Cruz Sathyan Sathyaraj
Music by	Harris Jayaraj
Cinematography	Manoj Paramahamsa
Editing by	Anthony
Studio	Gemini Film Circuit
Release date(s)	12 January 2012 (2012-01-12)[1][2]
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Nanban (Tamil: நண்பன்; English: Friend) is an upcoming Tamil comedy drama film directed by S. Shankar.^[3][4][5] The film features an ensemble cast that includes Vijay, Jeeva, Srikanth, Ileana D'Cruz, Sathyan and Sathyaraj.^[6] The soundtrack and background score is by Harris Jayaraj, working with Shankar for the second time after Anniyan (2005).It is a remake of the 2009 Bollywood blockbuster film 3 Idiots, directed by Rajkumar Hirani, which was adapted from the novel Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat. The film will be dubbed into Telugu as Snehitudu.^[7] The film is currently in post-production stage, set to release on 12 January 2012.^[1][2]

Contents 1 Cast 2 Production 2.1 Development 2.2 Casting 2.3 Filming 3 Soundtrack 3.1 Critical response 4 Release 5 References 6 External links

Cast

• Vijay as Panchavan Parivendan (Pari)
• Jeeva as Sevalkodi Senthil
• Srikanth as Venkatramakrishnan
• Ileana D'Cruz as Riya
• Sathyan as Srivatsan (Silencer)
• Sathyaraj as Virumandi Santhanam (Virus)
• S. J. Surya in a guest appearance
• Anuya Bhagvath
• Raghava Lawrence
• Vijay Vasanth
• Manobala
• Uma Padmanabhan
• Indrans

Production

Development

Following Gemini Film Circuit's purchase of the remake rights for 3 Idiots in January 2010, there was much speculation in regard to the three title roles essayed by Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi in the original.^[8] Gemini Film Circuit approached noted directors S. Shankar, Vishnuvardhan and S. Dharani to replace Rajkumar Hirani as the director, with the approval from Shankar leading to him being signed.^[9] Despite speculation that he was set to pull out from directing his first remake as it would be a step down from his previous film, Enthiran, Shankar stated his commitment in October 2010.^[10][11] As Shankar's norm music director, A. R. Rahman couldn't be retained for the project due to his busy schedules, Harris Jayaraj and Yuvan Shankar Raja were approached to compose the soundtrack,^[12] with Shankar settling for the former with whom he had worked with in the 2005 action film Anniyan earlier.^[13] Meanwhile, Manoj Paramahamsa, whose work in Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa and Eeram had been critically acclaimed, was signed on as the cinematographer.^[14]

Casting

For the lead role enacted by Aamir Khan, initial reports suggested that Vijay was the front runner, who however dismissed the link citing that his commitments had left him busy.^[15][16] A special screening for the film industry included Vijay, who expressed his desire to work in the film, and was subsequently signed up by Gemini Film Circuits to portray the lead role.^[17] However, by mid-December 2010, soon after trial shoots were held, Vijay walked out the film following disputes over his dates, with Suriya being labelled as his likely replacement.^[18][19] Reports claimed that talks with Surya failed, since the actor had demanded salary increase and dubbing rights for the Telugu-version of the film.^[20] Surya's reasons for refusing the offer was later confirmed not to be true, with Surya himself revealing that he had opted out only because of other film commitments and "did not want to keep Shankar waiting."^[21] As a result, Vijay was once again finalized for the role.^[22][20]

The roles of the other two titular characters took considerably longer to confirm. Madhavan was initially approached to reprise his role from the original but made it clear that he was unwilling to be a part of the remake, citing the film had already "gone down in history".^[23] Early indications suggested that Udhayanidhi Stalin had replaced him but the claims were false.^[16] In November 2010, reports emerged that Vinay Rai or Nakul were set to play the role, however Vinay cited that he refused the project as the role was not as meaty as the other two characters.^[24] Consequently, the production house signed Srikanth to play the role, after seeing his performance in Drohi, which had come after several box-office failures for him.^[25] Sharman Joshi's role was originally offered to Silambarasan, but after discussions, it was revealed that Silambarasan could not associate himself with the character.^[26] Subsequently the role was offered to Siddharth, a protege of Shankar, who also went on to refuse the project.^[27] Despite further reports that Arya and Jeeva were being considered, the latter signed on and agreed with Shankar that he would play Joshi's role instead of Madhavan's.^[28][29] The role played by Kareena Kapoor in the original, was reported to be played by either Shruti Haasan or Asin. However Ileana D'Cruz was signed on for the film after attempts to feature Katrina Kaif in the film had failed.^[30] The college professor's role was given to Sathyaraj, despite early indications that Prakash Raj would be approached. Omi Vaidya was unable to reprise his role from the original and comedian Sathyan Sivakumar was signed on to essay his role, while S. J. Surya signed on to appear in a guest role, portraying the role enacted by Javed Jaffrey.^[31] Anuya Bhagvath was also signed up for a supporting role.^[32]

Filming

The first schedule of filming was held in Ooty, where scenes involving Ileana, Srikanth and Jeeva were shot.^[33] During the second schedule scenes involving the lead cast were canned at Dehradun and a car chase at various places in Chennai,^[34][35] while two songs were filmed in London and Buckingham during the third schedule.^[36] Some significant parts of the film were shot in Chennai at Sun Studios and the Ampa Skywalk Mall,^[37][38] as well as in the Koyambedu water tank for three days, for which an Akila crane was used.^[39] Further filming, including the climax, was held at various locations in Europe, Andamans and Coimbatore.^[40] Filming was wrapped-up in October, with a song featuring Vijay and Ileana being the last one to be shot which was choreographed by Farah Khan.^[41][42] The filming process lasted for eight months.^[43]

Soundtrack

Nanban
Original cover
Soundtrack album by Harris Jayaraj
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Label	Gemini Audio
Producer	Harris Jayaraj
Harris Jayaraj chronology
7aam Arivu (2011) Nanban (2011) Oru Kal Oru Kannadi (2012)

The soundtrack and background score is composed by Harris Jayaraj, working with Shankar for the second time after Anniyan (2005), while scoring for a Vijay-starrer for the first time. The soundtrack, consisting of six original songs, was released on 23 December 2011, at Hindusthan College of Arts and Science in Coimbatore, before Jayaraj's concert, Harris: On The Edge, commenced at the same venue.^[44] Lyrics were provided by Pa. Vijay, Viveka, Na. Muthukumar and Madhan Karky, the latter two penning lyrics for two songs each. Notably, Karky's lyrics in "Asku Laska" include more than 16 different languages.

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
600024.com	[45]
Behindwoods	[46]
Rediff	[47]

The album received generally positive reviews. IndiaGlitz.com wrote that the music album was "ready to mesmerize you".^[48] Behindwoods.com labelled it a "winner all the way", adding that it had "good variety all through the album [...] and ample scope for festivities in the theater".^[46] Top10cinema.com wrote that it had "three songs that strike spectacularly with its rich music and commendable lyrics", calling it a "good work by Harris".^[49] 600024.com mentioned: "Overall, this Nanban is your well-Known Friend".^[45] KollyTalk.com called it "Youthful and refreshing".^[50] On the contrary, Pavithra Srinivasan from Rediff wrote that there was "nothing new about the music in Nanban", concluding that Harris Jayaraj had "obviously taken the safe route, sticking to his usual template for most of the songs in this album".^[47]

Release

Initial reports stated that Nanban will release for Pongal on 14 January 2012.^[51][52] Later the film has been confirmed to release on 12 January 2012.^[53][54][55] Nanban was declared the "most expected film" of 2012 through an online public poll conducted by Vikatan.^[56][57][58] Nanban had been certified with an 'U' certificate by the Censor Board.^[41][59][60]

Telugu film distributor Dil Raju had bought the theatrical rights of Snehitudu,^[7] the Telugu dubbed version of Nanban for Andhra Pradesh market. Snehitudu is slated for release on January 26, 2012.^[61] The Telugu version's audio is likely to be released in the first week of January.^[62]

References

External links

• Nanban at Twitter Trends

S. Shankar Directed Gentleman (1993) Kadhalan (1994) Indian (1996) Jeans (1998) Mudhalvan (1999) Nayak (2001) Boys (2003) Anniyan (2005) Sivaji (2007) Enthiran (2010) Nanban (2012) Produced Mudhalvan (1999) Kaadhal (2004) Imsai Arasan 23am Pulikesi (2006) Veyil (2006) Kalloori (2007) Arai En 305-il Kadavul (2008) Eeram (2009) Rettaisuzhi (2010) Anandhapurathu Veedu (2010) Companies S Pictures S Musics