Kanden Kadhalai

Kanden Kadhalai (English: I Saw My Love) is a 2009 Indian Tamil romantic comedy film directed by R. Kannan of Jayamkondaan fame.

Background

The film, a remake of the 2007 Hindi blockbuster Jab We Met by Imtiaz Ali,^[1] stars Bharath and Tamannaah in the lead roles, originally played by Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor. The film released on 30 October 2009 to mainly positive reviews.

Plot

Shakthivel (Bharath) is the son of a wealthy industrialist and the managing director of Rajasekar Industries. His mother Kamala is suing the company because Shakthi insulted her for having an affair with the company auditor. To add to that, the girl he loved got married to someone else. Disgusted with life, he gets up and walks aimlessly, taking a bus to the Chennai Railway Station. There he boards the Pandian Express at night without a ticket and sits in gloom. Anjali (Tamannaah) is a college student who is going to her hometown Theni for vacation. Anjali is bubbly and talkative and thoroughly irritates Shakthi. She tells him of her plans to elope with her lover Gautham. At night, Shakthi leaves the train. Anjali wakes up to find him gone. Seeing him sitting on the platform, she gets off the train to bring him back. As a result she misses the train. She tells Shakthi that it is his responsibility to take her back to the train. Annoyed, he takes her to the next station so that she can board the train and leaves her. Anjali again misses the train. While she is waiting for a taxi to reach the next station, some gangsters chase her, but she runs into Shakthi who fights them off.

Anjali tells Shakthi that it was his responsibility to take her safely home to Theni. They go to a hotel and Anjali tells him to burn the photo of his lover. He does so and feels better. They flee the hotel in the middle of the night and board a bus. While travelling, they become good friends. They reach Theni, where Anjali insists that he meet her family. Anjali's grandfather (Ravichandran) tells him to stay with them for a couple of days. Unable to refuse, Shakthi accepts and enjoys a few days with her family who treat him as an honored guest. Anjali tries to get him to forge a relationship with her cousin Roja (Sapan Saran). Meanwhile, Anjali tells Shakthi that her family is trying to get her hitched to her uncle Mokkai Raasu (Santhanam) and asks him for ideas to escape. Anjali behaves in such a way around Shakthi while Raasu is present, that Raasu believes that they are lovers. When marriage between Anjali and Raasu is fixed, Anjali takes Shakthi and runs away. Her family believes that they have eloped together. Shakthi takes Anjali to Ooty and bids her good luck. They part ways.

Shakthi returns to Chennai with a fresh outlook on life and makes several changes to his company. He resolves his issues with his mother and the shares of his company rise.

One day, he releases a new product by the name Anjali. Roja sees the ad on TV and informs her family. Anjali's family meet Shakthi. Anjali's father (Nizhalgal Ravi) begs Shakthi to tell him of Anjali's whereabouts. Shakthi is shocked to learn that Anjali has not contacted them in 9 months. He promises them that he will come to Theni in ten days with Anjali. Shakthi travels to Ooty the same day and meets with Gautham (Munna). Goutham tells him that he turned out Anjali when she met him because he was more interested in completing his dream first. Shakthi admonishes him and leaves, his heart full of worry. He searches for Anjali in Ooty, notifying the police and some friends. He finally locates Anjali working as a school teacher in Connore.

Shakthi is shocked to see the talkative and bubbly Anjali as a sad and quiet girl. Shakthi resolves to make her happy again. After some convincing, Anjali agrees to return to her family. Before they leave, Gautham comes and apologizes to Anjali. Anjali refuses to accept Gautham into her life again, but Shakthi convinces her otherwise. The three of them travel to Theni, where Anjali's family forgive her. However, they mistake Shakthi to be Anjali's lover and make wedding plans for Anjali and Shakthi. Gautham is furious and Shakthi tells Anjali that she has to clear the confusion. Anjali tries but finds in her heart some kind of mental block. Finally, Gautham asks Shakthi to leave, without Anjali's knowledge, saying that while he is here Gautham and Anjali cannot get married. Shakthi agrees and boards a train to Chennai. But Anjali realises at this point that she loves Shakthi, and not Gautham. She runs to the station and meets Shakthi and confesses her love to him. Shakthi joyfully accepts and Gautham leaves. Shakthi and Anjali return to her family to be married.

Cast

• Bharath as Maddy Mani
• Tamannaah as Rasukutty
• Santhanam as Mokkai Rasu
• Munna as Gautham
• Sapan Saran as Roja
• Ravichandran as Anjali's grandfather
• Nizhalgal Ravi as Ramana
• Azhagam Perumal as Perumal
• Singamuthu as Periappa
• Sudha as Anjali's Mother
• Kamala Krishnaswamy as Sakthi's Mother
• Deepa Venkat as Anjali's sister-in-law
• Manobala as Mayil Vaganam
• Lollu Sabha Jeeva as Arjun (cameo)
• Shammu as Anita

Production

Initially the remake had Dhanush and Shriya Saran in the lead as Dhanush thought that she would be the best choice for the role. Later both the lead actors opted out due to Dhanush and Shriya Saran's busy schedule and were replaced by Bharath and Tamannaah. Date problems were cited as the reason behind these changes.^[2]

Critical reception

The mainly positive reviews from the critics stated that the film was able to recreate the same magic it delivered in the original Jab We Met. Indiaglitz, while stating this, commented that Tamannaah was the backbone of the whole movie and she emotes to her best.^[3] Behindwoods mentioned that the chemistry of the lead pair (which is the moving force of the film) worked well and that Tamanna and Bharath looked fresh and different in their roles.^[4] Sify and Nowrunning.com both reviewed that the movie was a cute love story and is definitely worth a watch.^[5][6]

Kanden Kadhalai received mixed response from the audience and was a moderate performer at the box office.

Home video

Moser Baer Home entertainment released the movie on DVD in India

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released on 14 August 2009. Vidyasagar was the music director. It was released by Imtiaz Ali. The two mega-hit numbers were "Suthudhu Suthudhu" and "Ododi Poren."

The album has 6 tracks.

References

External links

• Kanden Kadhalai at the Internet Movie Database