Vaaranam Aayiram

Vaaranam Aayiram (lit. 'Thousand Elephants ') is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language musical romantic drama film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. Suriya plays dual lead roles as father and son, with Simran, Divya Spandana, and Sameera Reddy (in her Tamil debut). The film had been under production since late 2006, and was released worldwide on 14 November 2008.

Vaaranam Aayiram
Film poster
Directed by	Gautham Vasudev Menon
Produced by	V. Ravichandran
Written by	Gautham Vasudev Menon
Starring	Suriya Simran Divya Spandana Sameera Reddy
Narrated by	Suriya
Music by	Harris Jayaraj
Cinematography	R. Rathnavelu
Edited by	Anthony Gonsalvez
Production company	Aascar Film Pvt. Ltd
Distributed by	Cloud Nine Movies (worldwide) Bharat Creations (United States)
Release date	14 November 2008 (2008-11-14) [1]
Running time	169 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

The film illustrates the story of a son recollecting different parts of his life with his father upon hearing about his death. As a tribute to the father of the director, the film opened to critical acclaim. Produced by Venu Ravichandran, the score was composed by Harris Jayaraj, making Vaaranam Aayiram his final project with Gautham Menon before the formal break-up of their partnership, until they worked together again in Yennai Arindhaal (2015). It won a number of awards, including the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil. The film was also a commercial success, eventually becoming the biggest hit in Suriya's career at that time.[2]

Plot

An elderly Krishnan returns home after a haircut, vomits blood, and passes away. His son Suriya, on his way to Kashmir on a rescue mission learns of this and reminisces memories of the past.

Krishnan and Malini both attend Madras Christian College in the 1970s. They get married and a year later, Suriya is born. Krishnan and Suriya grow as friends rather than a father-son. Years later, after completing Mechanical engineering in Trichy, he meets Meghna on the train back home and falls head over heels for her. But Meghna doesn't believe in love at first sight. Suriya soon learns that she is soon leaving for California to get her master's degree.

Meanwhile, Krishnan suffers his first heart attack. Reality strikes Suriya and he decides to take care of his family. He starts a design firm with his friends and also does some concerts to earn money. Suriya and his sister earn enough to complete their father's dream home. Later, on his father's advice, Suriya tracks down Meghna in San Francisco. Though surprised by his daring move, Meghna makes him stay with her and they start to understand each other. Convinced Suriya is the right guy, and also because her father would accept a person like him, Meghna proposes to Suriya, much to his and his family's delight. She then leaves for Oklahoma city on a project. Unfortunately the Oklahoma City bombing takes place, in which Meghna is killed.

Depressed Suriya decides to go back to India, and meets Businessman Shankar Menon on the way, who consoles and encourages him. Weeks pass by, yet Suriya tries hanging out with friends, and meets Priya, his sister's friend but is unable to cope with thoughts of him and Meghna. He starts drugs, Malini and Krishnan support him even though they lock him in his room to break his habit. Once he starts withdrawing, Suriya goes on a trip to rejuvenate to Kashmir, where he learns Aditya, Shankar Menon's son, has been kidnapped in Delhi. He decides to find Aditya and after days of roaming the city and investigating, he finds Dabbu Malik who directs him to the kidnapper, Asad. With no preparation and falling into all mess alone, he overpowers them intelligently and rescues Adithya. He receives critical praise from around the country.

Back home, Priya proposes to Suriya and also confesses that she was in love right from their childhood, but Suriya is stunned and does not respond. Suriya understands that the only way to forget the pain is to train his body and prepare for bigger things. He goes on a strict workout training and joins the army. Now Major K.Suriya, after six years, thinks of Priya and to his surprise, meets Priya who comes to Dehradun. She proposes again and this time they end up marrying and have a son. Suddenly, Krishnan is diagnosed with throat cancer and given a year to live. After some days, Suriya is called upon to go on a mission to rescue a journalist, which brings the scene back to the present day.

The military mission is completed with the help of a masked man and Suriya returns home. Suriya, Shriya, Malini, and Priya release his father's ashes in the sea, and Malini relates her husband's life to Suriya by uttering a verse from a verse, "Vaaranam aayiram soozha valam sethu", The film ends as the four walk conveying "Whatever happens, life has to go on."

Cast

• Suriya as Krishnan(Suriya and Shriya's father) and Maj.K.Suriya (dual role)
  • Varun as three-year-old Suriya
  • Hiren as six-year-old Suriya
  • Sachin as eleven-year-old Suriya
• Simran as Malini Krishnan (Suriya and Sherya's mother
• Divya Spandana as Priya (Suriya's wife)
• Sameera Reddy as Meghna (suriya's ex lover)
• Privithiraj as Asad
• Deepa Narendran as Shriya Krishnan
  • Laasya as five-year-old Shriya
• Karthik as Mahesh
• Ajay as Ajay
• Akanksha Midha as Namradha Dutt
• Jayshree as Aarthi
• Dany as Priya's father
• Ganesh as Shriya's husband
• Deenadalayan as Shankar Dayal Sharma
• Gautham Menon as Commando Informer
• Indra as Priya's mother
• Neelakandan Ganesh as Librarian
• Ravi as Daboo Mauik
• Rajeevan as Meghna's father
• Shanker Kolandi as Shankar Menon
• Swetha as Swetha
• Sathish as Sathish
• Veera Bahu as Commando
• Aditya as Aditya
• Shreya as Shriya
• Amitash as Krishnan's friend

Production

Development

Following Kaakha Kaakha in 2003, the director Gautham Menon and Suriya expressed their desire to work together on a film. In early 2005, the pair got together for a film tentatively titled Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikaalam which featured Asin Thottumkal in the lead role and Daniel Balaji in a supporting one. However, after a photo shoot, the film was delayed and then subsequently called off.[3] Nevertheless, in 2006, producer Venu Ravichandran signed up the pair for a new film, which they confirmed was not going to be a sequel of their previous venture; it was going to be a romantic thriller. Initially titles such as Naan Thaan[4] and Udal Porul Aavi[5] were considered for the project, but Menon announced the title was Vaaranam Aayiram, title derived from "Nachiyar Thirumozhi" with the literal meaning of "the strength of a thousand elephants".[6] According to Menon, he received the news of his father's death while he was travelling in an aeroplane in 2007; this incident inspired him to direct Vaaranam Aayiram which begins in a similar manner.[7]

University of California, Berkeley served as shooting spot in "Adiye Kolluthe" song

Before the start of shooting, technical crew members were signed up, and the shoot commenced without a leading lady on 24 November 2006 at a nightclub in Chennai. In 2007, it was announced that a 10-day shoot in Afghanistan would be followed by shooting in Malaysia, Russia and the United States. However, the film only completed a shoot at the University of California, Berkeley in Berkeley, US, and shooting was not held in Afghanistan.[8]

In November 2007, Gautham Menon decided to send the reels back to Chennai from San Francisco. Two of the production managers were assigned the task of bringing the reels to the producer's office. But they stayed in Singapore for a couple of days before returning to Chennai. Following their arrival, it was understood the reels went missing in the hotel they stayed in at Singapore, but a search by the police proved unsuccessful. The whole crew of Vaaranam Aayiram was in a fix as the reels held fight scenes, songs and other scenes worth $500,000. Soon after, the reels were found with the Singapore airport authorities.[9] The film finished its shoot in August 2008.[10]

A song was filmed by an assistant cameraman with a high-tech camera, costing about Rs. 1.5 crore, fastened to his hip. While the assistant was moving behind the actors canning the shots, he tripped unexpectedly and the camera broke to pieces. The shot resumed a day later with a similar camera.[11]

Vaaranam Aayiram was believed to be based on the Dutch film by Mike van Diem, Character; others have claimed that it is inspired by the 1994 Hollywood film, Forrest Gump, starring Tom Hanks. Menon too admitted the film will draw inspirations from Forrest Gump but would be fixed to suit the Indian audience.[12] Furthermore, Menon stated that Surya Sivakumar will be seen playing the dual roles of a 21-year-old and his father and that the film will be society themed. It was set to release in 2007 and was delayed for a 14 November 2008 release.[13] The audio of Vaaranam Aayiram was released on 24 September 2008. Menon has described the film as "autobiographical and a very personal story and if people didn’t know, that 70% of this [the film] is from my life".[14][15] Suriya lost weight without using capsules and prepared a six-pack for the film through an eight-month fitness regime.[16][17]

Casting

For Surya's father Krishnan's role, Menon initially approached both Mohanlal and Nana Patekar, but it did not worked out as there was an issue about how they would portray the character's younger age (his twenties) in the flashback scenes and that is when Suriya expressed interest in portraying the character himself.[18][19] After the cancellation of Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikaalam, originally starring Surya Sivakumar, Asin Thottumkal and Daniel Balaji, keeping the male leads the same, Gautham Menon wanted to opt for a new heroine to begin Vaaranam Aayiram. Deepika Padukone was first approached for the role, but she backed out to be part of Bollywood film Om Shanti Om.[20] Soon after, another confirmed heroine, Andrea Jeremiah, was dropped from the film for unknown reasons.[21] Asin expressed her desire to be a part of the project, but the male lead, Surya, refuted her offer citing that she had walked out of his previous film, Sillunu Oru Kadhal and refused to act opposite him.[22]

The producers then announced the film with Divya Spandana, who was making her comeback to Tamil films and Genelia D'Souza in the lead roles.[23] Soon after the start of the shoot, Genelia decided to walk out, after Menon refused to pay the hefty salary that she was demanding and was receiving in Telugu films allowing Sameera Reddy to act in her first Tamil film. Simran signed and completed her shoots swiftly after she was selected to portray the mother of Surya,[13][24] after Tabu had rejected the role.[25]

Soundtrack

Vaaranam Aayiram
Soundtrack album by Harris Jayaraj
Released	24 September 2008
Recorded	2008
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	36:59
Language	Tamil
Label	Sony Music India
Producer	Harris Jayaraj
Harris Jayaraj chronology
Dhaam Dhoom (2008) Vaaranam Aayiram (2008) Ayan (2009)
External audio Official Tamil Jukebox on YouTube

The film has seven songs composed by Harris Jayaraj. All lyrics except one track are penned by Thamarai. The songs from the albums were released to four leading radio stations in Chennai, with one song per station, in attempt to popularise it five days before the official launch. The move by Sony BMG was the first of its kind in Indian cinema.[26]

Track-List

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Adiye Kolluthe"	Thamarai	Benny Dayal, Krish, Shruti Haasan	5:14
2.	"Nenjukkul Peidhidum"	Thamarai	Hariharan, Devan, V.V.Prasanna	6:09
3.	"Yethi Yethi Yeththi"	Na Muthukumar	Benny Dayal, Naresh Iyer, Solar Sai	4:53
4.	"Annal Mele Panithuli"	Thamarai	Sudha Ragunathan	5:41
5.	"Oh Shanthi Shanthi"	Thamarai	Clinton Cerejo, S. P. B. Charan	3:03
6.	"Ava Enna"	Thamarai	Karthik, V.V. Prasanna	5:17
7.	"Mundhinam Parthene"	Thamarai	Naresh Iyer, Prashanthini	5:22
8.	"Ragasiyam" (Instrumental)			1:20
Total length:				36:59

Surya S/o Krishnan Moorthy
Soundtrack album by Harris Jayaraj
Released	30 October 2008
Recorded	2008
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	35:39
Language	Telugu
Label	Sony Music India
Producer	Harris Jayaraj
External audio Official Telugu Jukebox on YouTube

All tracks are written by Veturi Sundararama Murthy.

Telugu Track-List

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Yedhane Koiyyake"	Benny Dayal, Krish , Bhargavi Pillai	5:14
2.	"Naalona Pongenu"	Harish Raghavendra, Devan, V.V. Prassanna	6:09
3.	"Yegasi Yegasi"	Benny Dayal, Naresh Iyer, Chandran	4:53
4.	"Nidhare Kala"	Sudha Ragunathan	5:41
5.	"Oh Shanthi Shanthi"	Krish , S. P. B. Charan	3:03
6.	"Adhey Nanne"	Karthik, V.V. Prasanna	5:17
7.	"Monna Kanipinchavu"	Naresh Iyer, Prashanthini	5:22
Total length:			35:39

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Behindwoods	*[27]
Rediff	*[28]

Critical response

The album received positive reviews from music critics. Indiaglitz stated "'Varanam Aayiram' is no doubt one of the best from Harris Jeyaraj and Gautham duo. It is energetic and entertaining. A must listen musical score that is serene even while repeated."[29] Malathy Sundaram from Behindwoods gave a 4/5 rating and praised the album calling it a "blockbuster" further citing "The guitar simply enthralls you. So do the native drums. There is a slight monotony in the instrumentation, but it doesn’t seem to affect the overall effect. Thaamarai needs to be complimented for the soft lyrics."[27] Pavithra Srinivasan from Rediff gave a 3.5/5 rating and said "Put together, you definitely feel that Harris Jayaraj has set out to provide quality music with a difference."[28]

Release

Box office

Varanam Aayiram emerged as the biggest blockbuster for Suriya since Ghajini, grossing ₹5.66 crore in Chennai alone.[30] In overseas market, the film grossed $921,007 from both United Kingdom and Malaysia.[31][32][33]

Critical reception

Sify stated that it is a "film straight from the heart".[34] Indiaglitz reviewed that it "proves to be a tame affair" but stated that "Suriya the actor rocks throughout".[35] Behindwoods rated it 2.5/5 stating that "what could have been a subtly told story turns into a sloppy fare" and "there are touching and heart-warming moments in the movie but, they are few and far between".[36] Rediff gave the film 3/5 and called it a "moving story", further mentioning that "It might be just a feather in Gautam's hat. As for Surya, it's an ostrich plume, a justified triumph."[37] The Hindu said, "The same combo came together for Kaakha Kaakha and signed off with a flourish not so long ago! Of course Vaaranam ... does have some great moments, but it’s a lengthy film, and you feel it!"[38]

Accolades

In addition to the following list of awards and nominations, prominent Indian film websites (including Rediff, Sify and Behindwoods) named Vaaranam Aayiram one of the 10 best Tamil films of 2008. Before its release, the film's title had appeared on film websites' "most awaited" lists.

Award	Category	Nominee	Result
2008 National Film Awards	Best Feature Film in Tamil	Venu Ravichandran Gautham Menon	Won
2008 Filmfare Awards South	Best Actor	Surya Sivakumar
	Best Supporting Actress	Simran
	Best Director	Gautham Menon	Nominated
	Best Film	Venu Ravichandran
	Best Lyricist	Thamarai (Nenjukkul Peithidum)	Won
	Best Male Playback	Naresh Iyer (Mundhinam Partheney)
	Best Male Playback	Hariharan (Nenjukkul Peithidum)	Nominated
	Best Music Director	Harris Jayaraj	Won
2008 Tamil Nadu State Film Awards	Special Award for Best Actor	Surya Sivakumar
	Best Art Director	Rajeevan
	Best Audiographer	Ravi
2008 International Tamil Film Awards	Best Music Director	Harris Jayaraj
2008 Vijay Awards	Best Actor	Surya Sivakumar
	Best Supporting Actress	Simran
	Best Art Director	Rajeevan	Nominated
	Best Cinematographer	R. Rathnavelu
	Best Choreographer	Brindha Ava Enna
	Best Debut Actress	Sameera Reddy
	Best Director	Gautham Menon
	Favourite Director	Gautham Menon	Won
	Best Editor	Anthony	Nominated
	Best Entertainer	Surya Sivakumar
	Favourite Hero	Surya Sivakumar
	Best Female Playback Singer	Sudha Raghunathan (Anal Mele)
	Best Film	Venu Ravichandran
	Favourite Film	Venu Ravichandran	Won
	Best Lyricist	Thamarai (Nenjukkul Peithidum)
	Best Make-Up	Yogesh & Banu
	Best Male Playback	Hariharan (Nenjukkul Peithidum)
	Best Music Director	Harris Jayaraj
	Favourite Song	Harris Jayaraj (Ava Enna)
2008 Meera Isaiaruvi Tamil Music Awards	Rising Star Singer – Female	Shruti Haasan
	Best Picturisation Award	R. Rathnavelu
	Best Art Direction	Rajeevan
	Best Lyricist Award	Thamarai Nenjukkul Peithidum
	Best Album of the Year	Harris Jayaraj
	Best Playback Singer – Male	Hariharan Nenjukkul Peithidum
	Best Music Director	Harris Jayaraj
	Voice of the Year	Karthik Ava Enna
2009 South Scope Awards	Most Stylish Actor – Tamil	Surya Sivakumar	Nominated
	Most Stylish Music Director – Tamil	Harris Jayaraj	Won
	Style Youth Icon of the Year	Surya Sivakumar

Legacy

The song "Mundhinam Paarthene" inspired a romantic film of the same name.[39]

In the film Idharkuthane Aasaipattai Balakumara, Baby (Jangiri Madhumitha) has the song "Mundhinam Paarthene" as her ringtone.

References

1. "Gautham buys back VA from Gemini!". Sify.com. 15 October 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
2. "It's Suriya all the way!!". Rediff.com.
3. "Asin: What a Comeback!". 2005. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
4. "Deepika Padukone's Biography". 2006.
5. "Surya + Gautham = 11.5 crores!". Sify.com. 2006. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
6. "Surya is back with Vaaranam Aayiram". Sify.com. 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
7. 'Life, Films and Everything in-between' a talk by Gautham Vasudev Menon (lecture). Chennai: Extra Mural Lectures IIT Madras. 28 August 2014.
8. "'Vaaranam Ayiram' in Afghanistan". Cinesouth.com. 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
9. "Vaaranam Aayiram reels go missing!". Chennai365.com. 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
10. "Vaaranam Aayiram re-recording starts!". Sify. 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
11. "Varanam Aayiram technician breaks 1.5 crore camera". Behindwoods.com. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
12. "Vaaranum Aayiram – Character or Gump?". Behindwoods.com. 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
13. "Hottest film in the trade!". Sify.com. 2008. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
14. "Interview: Gautam "Vasudev" Menon « Baradwaj Rangan". Baradwajrangan.wordpress.com. 5 June 2008. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
15. "Exclusive: Surya on Vaaranam Aayiram, Ghajini – Rediff.com movies". Inhome.rediff.com. 14 November 2008. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
16. "Metro Plus Coimbatore / Books : Abs you like it!". The Hindu. 12 May 2008. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
17. Sreedhar Pillai (4 May 2008). "Power packed". Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
18. "Vaaranam Aayiram: A tribute to every father". Rediff.com. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
19. "How Suriya became Menon's dad". The New Indian Express. 22 November 2008. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
20. "Sameera is Surya's heroine?". Sify. 1 October 2007. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
21. "The secret behind Gautham's 'Vaaranam Aayiram'". Kollywood.Allindian.com. 2006. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
22. "Surya finalises lead lady for Udal Porul Aavi". Behindwoods.com. 2006. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
23. "Cute Genelia is the heroine in Varanam Aayiram". CafeBoyz.com. 2007. Archived from the original on 12 August 2007. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
24. "Surya pairs up with Simran". Behindwoods.com. 2008. Retrieved 27 February 2008.
25. "Tabu in 'Anal katru'?". Cinesouth.com. 2008. Retrieved 22 March 2008.
26. "VA- Unique audio marketing!". Sify.com. 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
27. "Vaaranam Aayiram MUSIC REVIEW – Behindwoods.com". Behindwoods.com. 5 December 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
28. "Music review: Vaaranam Aayiram". Rediff.com. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
29. "Varanam Aayiram Music Review songs lyrics". IndiaGlitz. 1 October 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
30. "Vaaranam Aayiram – Top Ten Movies Tamil Box Office Chennai Collections – Behindwoods.com – Silambattam Thiruvannamalai Abhiyum Naanum Dindigul Sarathy Vaaranam Aayiram Bommalattam Poo Thenavattu Surya Ellam Avan Seyal hot picture gallery images". Behindwoods.com. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
31. "Vaaranam Aayiram – Chennai Box office collection". Behindwoods.com. 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
32. "Vaaranam Aayiram – United Kingdom Box office collection". Boxofficemojo.com. 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
33. "Vaaranam Aayiram – Malaysia Box office collection". Boxofficemojo.com. 2008. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
34. "Movie Review:Vaaranam Aayiram". Sify.com. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
35. "Varanam Aayiram Tamil Movie Review – cinema preview stills gallery trailer video clips showtimes". IndiaGlitz. 14 November 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
36. "Vaaranam Aayiram Review – Behindwoods.com – Suriya Simran Sameera Reddy Divya Gautham Menon Harris Jayaraj Aascar Ravichandran images Tamil picture gallery images". Behindwoods.com. 5 December 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
37. "Review: Vaaranam Aayiram". Rediff.com. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
38. "Friday Review Chennai / Film Review : An ode to dad dearest – Vaaranam Aayiram". The Hindu. 21 November 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
39. "Mundhinam Parthene is worth watching". Rediff. Retrieved 15 February 2020.

External links

• Vaaranam Aayiram on IMDb