Chocklet
Chocklet (sometimes Chocolate) is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film directed by A. Venkatesh the story penned by R. Madhesh and produced by R. Madhesh. Featuring Prashanth and debutant Jaya Re in the lead roles, the film also has Livingston, Suhasini, Mumtaj (dual role) and Nagendra Prasad in supporting roles, while the score and soundtrack are composed by Deva. The film opened to a positive response and was successful at the box office in September 2001.[1]
| Chocklet | |
|---|---|
 DVD Cover | |
| Directed by | A. Venkatesh |
| Produced by | R. Madhesh |
| Written by | Pattukkottai Prabakar (Dialogue) |
| Screenplay by | A. Venkatesh |
| Story by | R. Madhesh |
| Starring | Prashanth Jaya Re Mumtaj Suhasini Livingston |
| Music by | Deva |
| Cinematography | S.D. Vijay Milton |
| Edited by | B. Lenin V. T. Vijayan |
Production company | Movie Magic |
| Distributed by | Movie Magic |
Release date |
|
Running time | 158 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Plot
Aravind (Prashanth) meets Anjali (Jaya Re) and falls in love at first sight without knowing her background. When they meet, Anjali tells Aravind she would like to go for a trial-romance for a week, which might lead to a long-term romance, for which he agrees. Anjali is the daughter of assistant Commissioner Jayachandran (Livingston) and Saradha (Suhasini). Aravind maintains a cordial acquaintance with both of them, not knowing Anjali is their daughter. Anjali acknowledges them as her parents. Jayachandran convinces Anjali to dispense with this trial romance and make a deeper commitment as he finds Aravind a gentleman. Aravind convinces Saradha to support him as her suitor, so Saradha makes Aravind marry Anjali.
Cast
- Prashanth as Aravind
- Jaya Re as Anjali
- Mumtaj as Nirmala (Nimmi) & Bhama (dual role)
- Suhasini as Saradha, Anjali's mother
- Livingston as ACP Jayachandran, Anjali's father
- Nagendra Prasad as Guru, Aravind's friend
- Charle as Sasi
- Dhamu as Dhamu
- Venniradai Moorthy as College Principal
- Ajay Kapoor as Ganesh
- Cool Suresh as Henchman
- Minnal Deepa as Anjali and Nirmala's friend
- Inigo Prabhakaran (uncredited role)
Production
The film began production in January 2001 and scenes were shot at Mayajaal for three days later that month.[2] At an official launch event held soon afterwards, producer R. Madhesh donated seventy five kilogrammes of chocolate to poor children, equivalent to the weight of the film's actor Prashanth. Richa Pallod was initially considered to play the heroine, though her high remuneration meant that the makers signed on Jaya Re, a former Miss Goa pageant winner.[3] A fight scene was shot at Koyambedu Market Road near Chennai with 16 cameras, while a song was shot on a cruise ship between Cambodia and Vietnam.[4]
Release
The film opened to mixed reviews in September 2001, after having an initial premiere at Bay Area, San Francisco. A critic from Sify.com noted "The film tantalises in the beginning only to loose its fizz halfway through", adding "our heart goes straight out to Prashanth who despite the odds, comes up with a decent performance."[5] Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu reviewed the film and added that "this youthful bonanza gets stretched, testing one's patience towards the end, none but the screenplay is to blame."[6] Rediff.com meanwhile gave the film a negative review noting "Matters are built towards a loud, dramatic, implausible climax. This one's a mess and what you keep wondering is why an accomplished actress like Suhasini Mani Rathnam had to make this the vehicle for one of her rare celluloid appearances."[7] A critic from Cinesouth.com noted "The film is bubbling with youthful feelings. It contains some admirable scenes also. Thus, movie manages to make its mark with a lot difficulties."[8]
The film was later dubbed and released in Telugu in March 2002 with the same name and won positive reviews from critics.[9] After the success of the film led Prashanth and A. Venkatesh re-unite and announced a project called Petrol in 2005[10][11] but Prashanth's marital problems eventually led to delays in the director's schedule and the film remains uncompleted.[12]
Music
The film features song composed by Deva and lyrics by Vaali.[13] The song Malai Malai was the anthem for many youth around the time of the movie's release. Producer R. Madhesh opted against having a traditional audio cassette release function and chose to distribute the cassettes to music shops enclosed with Cadbury chocolate.
| Chocklet | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Deva | |
| Released | July 2001 |
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack |
| Label | The Best Audio |
| Track | Song | Singer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Anjumani" | Mathangi |
| 2 | "Chocolate" | |
| 3 | "Dhuryodhana Dhuryodhana" | Shankar Mahadevan, Mahalakshmi Iyer |
| 4 | "Hosima Hosima" | Devan Ekambaram, Anupama |
| 5 | "Kappaleh Kappaleh" | Hariharan, Mahalakshmi Iyer |
| 6 | "Kokaragiri" | Sabesh-Murali, Mathangi |
| 7 | "Malai Malai" | Anuradha Sriram, A. R. Reihana |
| 8 | "En Nizhalai" | Srikanth, Timmy, Mathangi |
| 9 | "Oru Five Star Paarvai" | Niruban |
References
- HostOnNet.com. "BizHat.com - Chocklet Review. Prashant, Jaya Ray, Mumtaz, Livingston, and Suhasini, Charlie". movies.bizhat.com.
- "The Hindu : Talk of the town". hindu.com.
- "Stars on the rise in Tamil films". 26 April 2004. Archived from the original on 26 April 2004.
- http://www.cscsarchive.org:8081/MediaArchive/art.nsf/(docid)/5AFC40D11412FD4BE5256B35003316F3%5B%5D
- "Review : (2001)". www.sify.com.
- "The Hindu : Film Review: Chocklet". www.hindu.com.
- "rediff.com, Movies: The Rediff Review: Chocklet". www.rediff.com.
- "Google Groups". groups.google.com.
- "Telugu Cinema - Review - Chocolate - Prasanth, Mumtaj, Jaya Re - Venkatesh - Deva". www.idlebrain.com.
- "Prashanth in Petrol". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
- "Tamil movies : Things are smoky in Prashanth's Petrol". www.behindwoods.com.
- "Tamil Cinema News - Tamil Movie Reviews - Tamil Movie Trailers - IndiaGlitz Tamil".
- "Lara dutta released audio". Tamil Movies. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 12 April 2014.