June R

June R is a 2006 Tamil drama film directed by Revathy Varmha. The film stars Jyothika in the title role with Kushboo, Saritha and Biju Menon in supporting roles. The film's soundtrack are composed by Malayalam composer Sharreth, while Madhu Ambat was the cinematographer. The film opened in February 2006 and received positive reviews from critics.

Plot

June R (Jyotika), an orphan, was born in the month of June, for which she was named. She works in an advertising agency. One day she happens to come across a middle-aged woman (Saritha) hurt badly in an accident. She admits her in hospital and tells the doctor that it is her mother Rajalakshmi in order to save her life from the regular hierarchical rules of the hospital. Coming to Rajalakshmi (named by June) who happens to be Mrs. Raniammal, a widowed woman who strives to bring up her only son Arun (Biju menon) whereas Arun smitten by his wife's words for the wealth and money of his mother, plans to send her away from his home to an orphanage in order to settle with his wife in New York City. Deeply hurt, Raniammal finds solace in June's company, who also longs for a motherly love since childhood. June decides to take Rajalakshmi to her house and calls her mom. Both together (June and Rajalakshmi) cherish life who once were starved for love. later her son comes back again to take his mother back, Rajalakshmi realising her sons evil thoughts refuses to get back to him. later on Rajalakshmi's refusal he visits June and quarrels with her to give back his mother, June baffles with his sudden love for his mother. this implies an emotional entangle between the both meanwhile Rajalakshmi falls sick and June on seeing Raniammal's pathetic condition brings her brother (Ravikumar) whom she wanted to meet before she dies. On visiting Rajalakshmi's home town she unveils the mystery behind his sudden love for his mother. now entrant Amudha (Kushboo) a noted and leading lawyer aids June to get back her new mother legally, prostrating Arun's wicked thoughts in the law of court . at last the judgement favours June though June succeeds in her mission of getting back her mother, but fate has some storm in its store, June finds Rajalakshmi dead when she comes back. Now comes Raja (actor Suriya who plays a cameo ), a rich client of June's advertising agency falls in love with her who consoles her on this uncompensable loss and takes her along with him, just the way her mother Rajalakshmi wished.

Cast

• Jyothika as June R
• Kushboo as Amudha
• Saritha as Rajalakshmi
• Biju Menon as Arun
• Suriya as Raja (guest appearance)
• Siddharth Venugopal as cameo appearance (uncredited)

Production

Revathy Varma had published June R as a novelette in an English periodical called Woman's Era and wanted to make the story into a feature film. She approached a Hindi film producer in Mumbai and decided that Jaya Bachchan, Tabu and Kareena Kapoor would play the lead roles in the film.^[1] Actress Jyothika suggested that the film should be made in Tamil first and production began and Kushboo was roped in for a key role. Saritha for another senior role in the film.^[2] Biju Menon, a Malayalam actor, was also picked to play a leading role in the film.^[3] The team also hoped to release the film in Telugu simultaneously.^[4]

Release

The film was initially scheduled for release in September 2005 but was later pushed back to release in the Diwali season of 2005 so the film could be promoted more heavily.^[5] However the film failed to release then and no distributors were interested in picking up the film as it had no commercial value. Thus in January 2006, the team shot scenes featuring actor Suriya with some minor changes to the script to build up the film's appeal.^[6][7] The film was caught up when Kushboo's films were temporarily banned after her comments on pre-marital sex angered Indian political parties.^[8]

The film gained poor reviews with Indiaglitz.com citing "that the debutant director Revathy Verma has tried to flesh out the emotions of a girl longing for a motherly touch. But has ended up giving a movie with many loose-ends."^[9] Another critic cited that "June R is a worst movie of late. It is a good example of how not to make a move. It is easy to pinpoint where the problem lies. It is in all spheres: screenplay, storyline, flow, and script."^[10] Sify.com noted that the film "turned out to be a damp squib" adding that "first and foremost the debutant director has no clue about filmmaking and the whole affair looks amateurish and shoddy."^[11]

Revathy Varmha began remaking the film in Hindi as Aap Ke Liye Hum in 2009 The film would star Jaya Bachchan, Ayesha Takia Azmi, Ranvir Shorey and Raveena Tandon. R. Madhavan was also signed up for a large sum for the film but left the project after a single schedule. The film remains stuck and unreleased.^[12]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film was composed by Sharreth, being his second project in Tamil after Magic Magic 3D (2003). The audio of June R was launched at Green Park Hotel in Chennai on 10 September 2005 by Balamurali Krishna, with singer Usha Uthup also in attendance.^[13]

References