April Maadhathil
April Maadhathil (transl. In the month of April) is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by newcomer S. S. Stanley. Starring Srikanth and Sneha in the lead roles with Gayatri Jayaraman, Venkat Prabhu, Devan and Karunas among others in the supporting cast. The film, which had music scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja and cinematography handled by M. V. Panneerselvam, released on 29 November 2002.[1] The film was later dubbed into Hindi as Mr. Rangeela and in Telugu as Vaallidharu and released in 2004. The film's title is inspired by a song from Vaali.
| April Maadhathil | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | S. S. Stanley |
| Produced by | V. Gnanavelu V. Jayaprakash |
| Written by | S. S. Stanley |
| Starring | Srikanth Sneha Gayatri Jayaraman Venkat Prabhu Karunas |
| Music by | Yuvan Shankar Raja |
| Cinematography | M. V. Panneerselvam |
| Edited by | Anil Malnad |
Production company | G. J. Cinema |
Release date | 29 November 2002 |
Running time | 153 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Plot
A story of friendship among eight girls and boys. Kathir is an intelligent guy who grew up in a poor family. His younger brother stopped his education for Kathir. In college, Kathir meets a girl named Shwetha and over the time they become friends. Many guys are interested in her but she finds something different about Kathir. The friends then decides to visit each others home for their vacation. At Shwetha home, they learn that Shwetha's father is thinking of getting her married the next year. At graduation swap names on a tree since it is their final year. Though Kathir and Shwetha love each other, they are unable to express their love for each other. The rest of the story is about how they become together.
Cast
- Srikanth as Kathir
- Sneha as Shwetha
- Gayatri Jayaraman as Nirmala ("Nimmi")
- Venkat Prabhu as Venkat ("Venky")
- Devan as Shwetha's father
- Karunas as Cycle Jackson
- Kamala Krishnaswamy as Kathir's Mother
- Daniel Balaji as Suresh
- Mayilsamy
- Lakshmanan
- Anju Mahendran
- S. P. Balasubramaniam as Himself
- Ramakrishnan as Jackson's assistant (uncredited)
Production
S. S. Stanley who had apprenticed with directors Mahendran and Sasi made his directorial debut with this film. It was Srikanth's second film after Rojakoottam.
The film was mostly shot at the YMCA College of Physical Education in Chennai, since a large part of the film plays in a campus, filming was held at locations in Chennai, Bangalore, Mysore, Ooty and Visakhapatnam.[2][3]
Release
After the success, S. S. Stanley and Srikanth again collaborated with films like Kizhakku Kadalkarai Salai and Mercury Pookal which failed to replicate the success of their first collaboration.
Critical reception
Hindu wrote: "Stanley who heads [sic] direction, deserves special mention for a very decent handling of romance."[4]
Soundtrack
| April Maadhathil | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 6 October 2002 (India) | |||
| Recorded | 2002 | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 27:40 | |||
| Label | The Best Audio | |||
| Producer | Yuvan Shankar Raja | |||
| Yuvan Shankar Raja chronology | ||||
| ||||
The soundtrack, which released on 6 October 2002, was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, who himself had sung one of the songs. Opera singer Shekhina Shawn Jazeel sang one song under the name Prasanna.[5] The soundtrack features 6 songs with lyrics written by five different lyricists, Pazhani Bharathi, Pa. Vijay, Thamarai, Na. Muthukumar and Snehan. The song "Bailomo Bailomo" originally composed for this film was used in Shaam starrer Bala.[6]
| Track # | Song | Singer(s) | Duration | Lyricist | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Yeh Nenje" | Harish Raghavendra, Sadhana Sargam | 5:11 | Thamarai | |
| 2 | "Azhagaana Aangal" | Prasanna | 4:27 | Pazhani Bharathi | |
| 3 | "Kanavugal Pookkum" | S. P. Balasubramaniam, Pop Shalini | 4:32 | Na. Muthukumar | |
| 4 | "Manasae Manasae" | Karthik | 4:58 | Pa. Vijay | |
| 5 | "Poi Solla Manasukku" | Yuvan Shankar Raja | 5:05 | Snehan | |
| 6 | "Sight Adippom" | Silambarasan, Karthik | 4:27 | Pa. Vijay |
References
- "Srikanth". Sify. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
- "Romance on campus". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 6 September 2002. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
- https://web.archive.org/web/20020911201120/http://www.chennaionline.com/location/april.asp
- "April Madhathil". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 6 December 2002.
- Kumar, Divya (5 April 2012). "Vocal Score". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
- "Success guaranteed". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 19 November 2005.