Autograph | |
---|---|
Directed by | Cheran |
Written by | Cheran |
Produced by | Cheran |
Starring | Cheran Gopika Sneha Mallika Kaniha |
Cinematography | Ravi Varman Vijay Milton Dwarakanath Shanky Mahendran |
Edited by | S. Sathesh J. N. Harsha |
Music by | Original songs: Bharadwaj Background Score Sabesh–Murali |
Production company | Dream Theatres |
Release date |
|
Running time | 168 minutes |
Country | India |
Language | Tamil |
Autograph is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written, produced and directed by Cheran. The film's soundtrack is composed by Bharadwaj. Cheran also plays the lead role in his film for the first time, and other cast members include Gopika, Sneha, Mallika and Kaniha.
This is both Gopika's and Mallika's debut film in Tamil cinema. The film was released in India in February 2004, and was screened at the Lyon Asian Film Festival in France and at the Montreal World Film Festival in Canada. Upon release, the filmwas met with critical acclaim and commercial success. Although a sequel to the film titled Autograph 2 was announced, it never materialised. [1] The film was remade in Telugu as Naa Autograph , Kannada as My Autograph and Bengali as Amar Aponjon .
The film begins with Senthil Kumar (Cheran) who runs an advertising agency, boarding a train on a journey to invite his friends and family for his forthcoming wedding. Along the way, he encounters various individuals from his past, who bring back memories of three women that have influenced his love life. During the journey, he reminisces his teenage days. The happenings in the school, his tussle with his friends and his first love with his classmate Kamala (Mallika) are all pictured with fun and drama. However, her father married her off early before her 11th grade. He meets Kamala 14 years later, and she is now a mother of three children, and a wife of a farmer. Senthil reaches the village and invites all including Kamala, who promises to come to the wedding.
Then, he goes to Kerala, where he had his college education. His major crush at that time was Lathika (Gopika), a Malayali girl from Chalakudy, with whom he falls in love, but later, the affair proves to be short-lived as her parents marry her off to her cousin Madhavan after knowing about her love affair with Senthil. On reaching Chalakudy to invite her, Senthil is slightly disturbed to see her as a widow living with her grandmother for the past 12 years. He attempts to rekindle his love for her, but she corrects him.
On his journey, he comes across his trusted friend Divya (Sneha), who instills confidence and elucidates him to the life lesson – that one has to go ahead in life without looking back. While she and Senthil travel on a bus, she reveals her tragic experience, that her mother is a paralytic patient and that she is the breadwinner of the family. As time passes by, she reveals that she was in love with someone and believed that he was the man of her life, but she was unfortunately let down. A poetic narration on the need for a good companion like Senthil who gives attention to her is stressed, even if it is not possible at his stage. After her unwilling engagement with a businessman from America, she leaves Senthil. Senthil meets her five years later, and she is now a divorcee.
In the end, Senthil marries the girl of his parents choice, Thenmozhi (Kanika). All the three girls who were a part in his life, along with his school and college friends attend his wedding. Also, this sets a very jovial ending to the story.
Produced by Roja Combines, Cheran first cast Prabhu Deva in the lead role during October 2000, but the actor and producers later left the project. [2] [3] [4] In December 2000, Cheran announced that he would produce the film himself and that actor Vijay would portray the lead role in the project. However, Vijay later opted out as a result of scheduling problems. [5] [6] Arvind Swami revealed that he was offered the main role, but he declined the role because he was retired from cinema in that time period. [7] Cheran later approached Vikram, but he did not want to do a romantic film after the success of his action film Gemini (2002), resulting in Cheran, himself, portraying the role. [8]
Cheran said that the film was partly autobiographical. [9] Four different cinematographers worked on the film; Ravi Varman had shot the school episode in Senthil's early life with a 35 mm lens for which he used light angle, [10] Vijay Milton shot the Kerala scenes, Dwaraknath shot the Chennai episode with a steady cam, and Shanky Mahendran shot the "'live' part" of the film when the camera uses the point of view of Senthil's character. [9]
The soundtrack features eight songs composed by Bharadwaj, with lyrics by Pa. Vijay, Snehan and Cheran. The film's background was scored by the famous duo Sabesh–Murali.
The song Ovvoru Pookalume also featured the performance of the members of Raaga Priya orchestra which also included its founder Comagan. [11]
No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Gyabagam Varuthe" | Cheran | Bharadwaj | 5:02 |
2. | "Ninaivugal Nenjil" | Cheran | Unni Menon | 4:38 |
3. | "Kizhakke Paarthen" | Snehan | Yugendran, Poni | 4:32 |
4. | "Jagatho Tharana" | Purandara Dasar Keerthanai | Reshmi, Srividya | 2:47 |
5. | "Ovvoru Pookalume" | Pa. Vijay | K. S. Chithra | 5:25 |
6. | "Manasukkulle Dhagam" | Snehan | Reshmi, Harish Raghavendra | 5:22 |
7. | "Maname Nalama" | Snehan | Bharadwaj | 0:54 |
8. | "Meesa Vecha Perandi" | Pa. Vijay | Kovai Kamala, Karthik, Chorus | 4:28 |
Total length: | 33:08 |
Sify wrote, "A major plus point of Autograph is that Cheran has chosen three cameramen to do the three episodes in his life which makes the film lively and nostalgic." [12] Dennis Harvey of Variety wrote, "Well-mounted production has too much familiar melodrama, and few real highlights (notably one delightful homage to ’70s Tamil musicals), but remains an easy watch." [13] G Dhananjayan in his book Pride of Tamil Cinema wrote "A trend setting film recollecting love memoirs in various phases of life". [14] Visual Dasan of Kalki wrote that Cheran's creative maturity, re-emerging not only as an actor but also as a fine artist, was recorded as an art form in Autograph. [15]
The film has won the following awards since its release:
52nd National Film Awards (India)
Year | Title | Language | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
2004 | Naa Autograph | Telugu | [17] |
2006 | My Autograph | Kannada | [18] |
2017 | Amar Aponjon | Bengali | [19] |
Cheran is an Indian film director, producer, actor and lyricist known for his works in Tamil cinema. He is a four time National Film Award winner for Vetri Kodi Kattu (2000), Autograph (2004) and Thavamai Thavamirundhu (2005). He has also won five Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and six South Filmfare Awards.
Suhasini Rajaram Naidu, known professionally as Sneha, is an Indian actress who works primarily in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films in lead roles to supporting roles.
Kaadhal Kavithai is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language romance film directed by Agathiyan and produced by Sunanda Murali Manohar. The film stars Prashanth, Isha Koppikar and Kasthuri, while Manivannan and Srividya play supporting characters. The film had music composed by Ilaiyaraaja, while duo Lancy-Mohan and Ravi Yadav handled the editing and cinematography respectively.
Thavamai Thavamirundhu is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Cheran. The film stars Rajkiran, Cheran and Saranya Ponvannan, in lead roles while, Senthil Kumar, Padmapriya and Meenal portraying supporting roles. The music was composed by the duo Sabesh–Murali with cinematography by M. S. Prabhu and editing by B. Lenin. The film released on 2 December 2005.
Bharathi Kannamma is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Cheran, starring R. Parthiban and Meena. The film marks Cheran's debut as a director and screenwriter. It was released on 15 January 1997 and emerged a success. Prabhu Solomon remade the film in Kannada as Usire (2001).
Porkkaalam is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Cheran. The film stars Murali, Meena and Sanghavi. It was released on 30 October 1997, Diwali, and became a huge success. The film was remade in Telugu as Manikyam, in Hindi as Meri Pyaari Bahania Banegi Dulhania, and in Kannada as Odahuttidavalu.
Paandavar Bhoomi is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language drama film, written and directed by Cheran. The film stars Arun Vijay, Shamitha and Rajkiran. While Vinu Chakravarthy and Mukesh Tiwari played the antagonists, Chandrasekhar, Ranjith, Manorama and Charle played supporting roles. The film, released on 21 September 2001, won the Filmfare Award for Best Director – Tamil (Cheran), and the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Second Best Film.
Girly Anto, credited by her stage name Gopika, is an Indian former actress, who has predominantly starred in Malayalam films. Starting her career as a model, she ventured into acting with the Malayalam film, Pranayamanithooval (2002), directed by Thulasidas, opposite Jayasurya and Vineeth Kumar. She acted in the Tamil, Telugu and Kannada film industries as well.
Reeja Johnson, better known by her stage name Mallika, is a former Indian actress, who has mainly appeared in Malayalam and Tamil films.
Naa Autograph Sweet Memories is a 2004 Indian Telugu-language romantic drama film directed by S. Gopal Reddy. The film stars Ravi Teja alongside Gopika, Bhumika Chawla, Mallika and Prakash Raj. Though the film had an above average run at the box office, with the years gone by it slowly gathered cult following due to its refreshing content, making and music. This film is a remake of the Tamil film Autograph. The film was also dubbed in Hindi as Thokar by Aditya Music India Pvt Ltd in 2012.
Ninaithen Vandhai is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language romantic musical drama film directed by K. Selva Bharathy and produced by Allu Aravind. A remake of the 1996 Telugu film Pelli Sandadi, the film stars Vijay, Rambha, and Devayani in the lead roles, with Manivannan, Malaysia Vasudevan, Ranjith, Senthil, and Vinu Chakravarthy in supporting roles. The music was composed by Deva.
Nenjinile is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language crime action film written by A. C. Jairam and directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar. The film stars his son Vijay and Isha Koppikar in the lead roles, while Sonu Sood, Sriman, Nizhalgal Ravi, Devan, Nizhalgal Ravi, and Manivannan play supporting roles. The film's music is composed by Deva with cinematography by Vijay Milton. The film is inspired by Abhimanyu (1991). It was released on 25 June 1999.
Deva is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language romantic action film directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar and produced by B. Vimal. The film stars Vijay, and debutante Swathi, while Sivakumar, Manorama, and Mansoor Ali Khan play supporting roles. The film revolves around a couple is deeply in love, but encounters opposition from the woman's father, who is head of the village. The father believes the man is not a suitable partner due to his perceived reputation. The film released on 17 February 1995 and had a successful theatrical run of 100 days in Tamil Nadu.
Pa. Vijay is an Indian lyricist, poet, writer, director, producer and film actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. He won the National Film Award for Best Lyrics in India for his song Ovvoru Pookalume in Cheran's Autograph (2004).
Ovvoru Pookalume is a Tamil language song from the soundtrack of the Indian film Autograph performed by Indian performer K. S. Chithra and composed by Bharadwaj in the raaga Sindhu Bhairavi. The song also featured the performance of the members of Raaga Priya orchestra which also included its founder Comagan.
Anbe Anbe is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by Mani Bharathi. The film stars Shaam and Sharmili, while an ensemble supporting cast includes Vivek, Yugendran, M. N. Nambiar, Manorama, and Santhoshi. The music was composed by Bharadwaj. The film released on 1 May 2003 and opened to mixed reviews from critics. The film's plot is loosely based on the Hindi film Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994).
Kalki is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by K. Balachander, starring Shruti, Rahman, Prakash Raj, Geetha, Renuka, Suvaluxmi and Fathima Babu. The film was released on 10 November 1996, and was dubbed into Telugu with the same name. For her performance, Shruti won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil and the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress, while Prakash Raj won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Villain.
Rojavanam is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by Selva and produced by Kavithalayaa Productions. The film stars Karthik, Laila and Malavika. It was released on 30 July 1999.
My Autograph is a 2006 Kannada-language romantic drama film which was directed, produced and enacted by Sudeep in his first directorial venture. Along with him, this film starred Meena, Sridevika, Deepu, and Rashmi Kulkarni. This film is a remake of Tamil film Autograph, which was directed by Cheran.
Thangamana Thangachi is a 1991 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Senthilnathan. The film stars R. Sarathkumar and Aamani while Mansoor Ali Khan, Ragapriya, Jai Ganesh, Senthil, and K. R. Ganesh, among others, appear in supporting roles. It was released on 15 January 1991.