Priyamaana Thozhi

Priyamaana Thozhi
Directed by	Vikraman
Produced by	M. Saravanan M. Balasubramanian M. S. Guhan B. Gurunath
Written by	Vikraman
Starring	Madhavan Jyothika Sreedevi Vijayakumar Vineeth
Music by	S. A. Rajkumar
Cinematography	S. Saravanan
Edited by	V. Jaishankar
Production company	AVM Studios
Release dates	11 July 2003
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Priyamaana Thozhi (English: Lovable Female Friend) is a 2003 Tamil film written directed by Vikraman and produced by AVM Studios. The film stars Madhavan, Jyothika and Sreedevi Vijayakumar in the lead roles while Vineeth, Livingston and Manivannan playing other supporting roles. The film's music is composed by S. A. Rajkumar, while S. Saravanan handled the camera. The film opened simultaneously alongside the Telugu version of the film, Vasantham, in July 2003 to an average response critically and commercially.

Plot

Ashok (Madhavan) and Julie (Sridevi Vijaykumar) have been friends ever since childhood and they don't share any love interest. Ashok falls in love with Nandini (Jyothika), a rich girl with whom he marries, and although Julie's closeness to Ashok initially irritates Nandini, she subsequently accepts it. Julie falls in love with a guy called Michael D'Souza (Vineeth), a cricketer who's hoping for a place in the Indian cricket team and Ashok happens to be his main opponent.

When Ashok gets selected, Michael's father strikes a deal with Ashok that the marriage between his son and Julie will only take place if Ashok steps down and let Michael substitute him and for Ashok to cut friendship with Julie so he doesn't interfere in Michaels and Julies way, to which Ashok agrees. When Michael learns of this at the end, he restores the severed ties between himself and Ashok, and the movie ends upon a happy note.

Cast

• Madhavan as Ashok
• Jyothika as Nandini Ashok
• Sreedevi Vijayakumar as Julie
• Vineeth as Michael D'Souza
• Manivannan
• R. Sundarrajan
• Livingston as Kumar
• Nirosha
• Ramesh Khanna as 'Kaka' Ramesh
• Dharini
• Y. Vijaya as Nandini's Mother
• Kumaresan
• Subhalekha Sudhakar as Nandini's father
• Madhan Bob
• R. Neelakantan
• Krishnamachari Srikkanth as himself (guest appearance)

Production

AVM Productions had agreed a deal with Vikraman to make a film for them in the 1990s but date clashes meant that they were unable to work together until 2003.^[1] Madhavan signed the film in September 2002, and it became the first time the actor had worked with the producers or the director.^[2] Simran was announced as leading lady on this venture, but Sridevi daughter of Vijayskumar was replaced for the role.Scenes for the film were shot in Ooty, Tamil Nadu with producer Guhan often cooking for the team. The songs were shot abroad, with places filmed where the team filmed including Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland.^[3][4]

The film was also made in Telugu and released on the same date, but with a different cast. Venkatesh, Arthi Agarwal and Kaveri reprised the roles of Madhavan, Jyothika and Sridevi respectively; while V. V. S. Laxman appeared in the film in a cameo instead of Srikkanth.^[5][6] The film was remade in Kannada as Hoo with V. Ravichandran.

Release

The film received mixed reviews, with The Hindu's Malathi Rangarajan giving the film an average review concluding that "the dialogue sparkles in many a place, the direction is neat and song sequences have been inserted intelligently — but even with such a youthful team what the film lacks is pep and verve."^[7] Another critic noted that the film "has predictable, cliched situations, stereotyped characters, and lack-lustre treatment. Half-way through the film, you realise which way the script is being steered."^[8] Rediff.com noted that " the film lacks the freshness and grandeur of other films",^[9] while Sify called it "a highly melodramatic and over-the-top movie with no logic". The critic however noted "If there is something nice about Priyamana Thozhi, it is Sridevi as Julie who looks like a dream, with her controlled and understated performance and steals the show."^[10] The actress was also nominated for the Filmfare Best Tamil Supporting Actress Award in 2004 for her performance as Julie.

Priyamaana Thozhi became a commercial failure, the first of his career for director Vikraman. He has since struggled to recapture the success that he achieved before this film with his subsequent ventures.^[11][12]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film was composed by S. A. Rajkumar. The lyrics for the film were written by Pa. Vijay & Kalaikumar.^[13] The song "Maankuttiye" was allegedly lifted from Hindi song "Saawan Ka Mahina" from Hindi film Milan (1967).^[9] Rajkumar reused "Katre Poongatre" as "Chanda Oh" in Kannada film Mallikarjuna. The song "Rojakkale" was reused from Rajkumar's own Kannada song "O Preethige" which he had composed for Jodi (2001).

References

External links

• Priyamana Thozhi at the Internet Movie Database