Friends (2001 film)

Last updated

Friends
Friends 2001 poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Siddique
Screenplay bySiddique
Based on Friends (Malayalam)
Produced by Appachan
Starring Vijay
Suriya
Ramesh Khanna
Devayani
Vijayalakshmi
Cinematography Anandakuttan
Edited by B. Lenin
V. T. Vijayan
Music by Ilaiyaraaja
Production
company
Swargachitra
Release date
  • 14 January 2001 (2001-01-14)
Running time
167 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Friends is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language drama film, directed by Siddique and produced by Appachan. It is a remake of Siddique's own 1999 Malayalam film of the same name. The film stars Vijay, Suriya and Ramesh Khanna as friends, while Devayani, Vijayalakshmi, Abhinayashree, Sriman, Vadivelu, Charle, and Radha Ravi play supporting roles. The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, while Anandakuttan handled cinematography.

Contents

Friends released on 14 January 2001. It received positive reviews and became a commercial success. [1] This film also marked the second collaboration of leading actors Vijay and Suriya after Nerrukku Ner (1997) and was one of the most memorable performances in their careers.

Plot

Aravindan, Chandru and Krishnamoorthy have been best friends since childhood. They value friendship above everything else, including family. Thus, Chandru resists the romantic overtures of Aravindan's younger sister Amudha. Chandru, an orphan, stays with Aravindan and is considered by Aravindan's parents as a second son. Some brushes with the law force Aravindan and Chandru to lie low in Chennai for a couple of days, where they and Krishnamoorthy take up jobs as painters in a mansion under contractor Nesamani, Krishnamoorthy's paternal uncle. Aravindan falls in love with Padmini, who lives in the mansion, though Padmini only considers him as a friend; nevertheless, she is grateful to him when he saves her from an accidental electrocution.

However, Padmini's cousin Abhirami has a crush on Aravindan and is enraged when she realises that he is in love with Padmini. Abhirami sends false letters to him in Padmini's name and makes him believe that his love is reciprocated. When Padmini suddenly gets engaged to another man, Chandru stands up for Aravindan’s love and insults Padmini in front of her entire family, causing her engagement to get cancelled. This makes Padmini decide to marry Aravindan, but with the intention to take revenge on Chandru by breaking his and Aravindan's friendship. But during their marriage, Aravindan and Padmini realise that Abhirami is behind all the mishaps which had taken place, and that Chandru is innocent. Padmini reconciles with Chandru, and Chandru's and Amutha's wedding is fixed.

Meanwhile, Gautham is Aravindan's cousin who lusts for Amutha. He plans to separate Aravindan and Chandru so that he can marry Amutha. He first sets Amutha's sari on fire while she is cooking in the kitchen. Chandru blames Padmini for the mishap as she was in the kitchen with Amutha at the time, even though Padmini is innocent, but no one, including Aravindan, believes Chandru. Gautham then turns his eye on the annual bullock race in which Chandru is taking part, by loosening the wheels on Chandru's cart with the intention to cause a serious accident and frame Padmini as the culprit, thus creating a wedge between Chandru and Aravindan. Unfortunately for Gautham, Aravindan decides to take part in the race in Chandru's place since Chandru is to be married, and manages to win despite using the broken bullock cart.

Chandru accuses Padmini of trying to kill him. Padmini threatens to leave the house if Aravindan remains friends with Chandru and does not throw him out of the house. Aravindan then reveals to her that he had accidentally killed Chandru's deaf-and-dumb younger brother Chinna in childhood, which traumatised him so much that he never told anyone about it. Since then, he has been looking out for Chandru out of the guilt that he had no one else in his life any more. Gautham overhears their conversation and makes this known by Chandru. Chandru fights with Aravindan, breaks their friendship and leaves the house. Aravindan tries to convince Chandru to return and marry Amutha, even if he cannot repair their friendship. However, in the process, Aravindan falls from a cliff.

Five years later, Chandru is a Major in the Indian Army and has never returned to Aravindan's home since his presumed death. He receives a letter from Krishnamoorthy stating that Aravindan is not dead but in a vegetative state, not responding to anyone and only sitting in a corner. Chandru immediately leaves for Aravindan's house, where he also learns that Aravindan and Padmini have a young son whose name is Chandru, in tribute to their friendship. Meanwhile, Gautham, who has been torturing Padmini and Amutha since Aravindan went into the vegetative state, finds that Chandru has returned and beats him up. On hearing Chandru's cries, Aravindan wakes up and subdues Gautham and his goons. Ultimately, Aravindan, Chandru and Krishnamoorthy, as well as Padmini and Amutha, are reunited.

Cast

Production

After appearing together for the first time in Nerrukku Ner (1997), Vijay and Suriya came together again in this film, a remake of the 1999 Malayalam film Friends. [2] Meena was approached to play the female lead as she did the original Malayalam version. Due to dates problem, she could not be part of it. [3] [4] Later Jyothika was signed along with Suvaluxmi to play the lead actresses in the film but soon backed out due to date problems and were replaced by Devayani and new girl Vijayalakshmi from Mysore. [5] Shooting was held in a fast pace on Tamil Nadu locations (Ooty, Pollachi, Pazhani, Coimbatore, Udumalaipettai and Chennai). [5] Suriya revealed though his previous films did not do well he agreed to do this film as one of the lead actors since his character has importance despite people warning him not to do a dual hero subject. [6]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja. Lyrics of the songs were penned by Palani Bharathi. [7] Chennai Online wrote "Though the album is not very brilliant, it is full of melody and has a couple of pleasant numbers." [8]

Track listing
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Thendral Varum" Bhavatharini, Hariharan 05:03
2."Kuyilikku Koo Koo" Hariharan, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Shankar Mahadevan 05:06
3."Rukku Rukku" Vijay Yesudas, Sowmya Raoh, Yuvan Shankar Raja 04:30
4."Manjal Poosum Vaanam" Sujatha, Devan 05:08
5."Manjal Poosum Vaanam" (film version) Sujatha, Srinivas 
6."Penkaloda Potti" Sujatha, Hariharan 05:02
7."Poonkatrae" Hariharan 05:26
8."Vaanam Perusuthan" Vijay Yesudas, Arunmozhi, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam 05:10
Total length:40.55

Release and reception

Friends was released on 14 January 2001, Pongal day. [9] Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu stated, "With friendship as the theme, Siddique presents a decent entertainer, which of course could have been crisper." [10] Shilpa Kannan from Zee TV noted "at last, we have one thoroughly enjoyable picture this year" and "except for the end, which is a bit melodramatic, Friends is an excellent movie for debutant director Siddique." [11] Ananda Vikatan rated the film 42 out of 100. [12] Krishna Chidambaram of Kalki felt the director separated two halves differently calling the first half as enjoyable but felt the second half as sentimental and the both should have been equally mixed. [13] Malini Mannath of Chennai Online wrote "It is a fairly engaging entertainer with the first part moving at a fast pace with ribtickling humour and slapstick comedy thrown in. The second half has a jerky narration, the smooth transition of the original somehow missing in the remake". [14] Despite facing competition with Ajith Kumar's Dheena , Friends emerged a commercial success, running for more than 175 days in theatres and became a hit for the careers of Vijay and Suriya. [15] The film was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil. [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suriya</span> Indian actor

Saravanan Sivakumar, known by his stage name Suriya, is an Indian actor and film producer who primarily works in Tamil cinema where he is one of the highest paid actors. He has received numerous awards including two National Film Awards, six Filmfare Awards South and five Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. Suriya has featured six times in the Celebrity 100 list of Forbes India, which takes into account the earnings of Indian celebrities.

<i>Kaakha Kaakha</i> 2003 film by Gautham Vasudev Menon

Kaakha Kaakha is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. It stars Suriya and Jyothika in the lead roles, with Jeevan playing the antagonist. The film featured music composed by Harris Jayaraj and cinematography by R. D. Rajasekhar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vikraman</span> Indian film director

Vikraman is an Indian film director primarily working in Tamil cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gautham Vasudev Menon</span> Indian film director, film producer, screenwriter and actor

Gautham Vasudev Menon is an Indian film director, screenwriter, film producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu and Hindi films that either simultaneously shot with or remakes of his own Tamil films. He has won two National Film Awards, three Nandi Awards and one Tamil Nadu State Film Award.

<i>Mounam Pesiyadhe</i> 2002 Indian film

Mounam Pesiyadhe is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film, written and directed by Ameer in his directorial debut. It stars Suriya and Trisha in the lead along with newcomers Nandha, Neha Pendse and choreographer-turned-actor Anju Mahendra in supporting roles along with several other newcomers, while Laila appears in a cameo role during the climax. It also marks the first film for Trisha as lead actress after playing a cameo role in Jodi (1999). The major part of the film is shot in Pondicherry. The film, released on 13 December 2002 and turned out to be a hit at the box office. It was remade in Telugu as Aadanthe Ado Type (2003) and later dubbed in the same language as Kaanchu (2006).

<i>Nerrukku Ner</i> 1997 film directed by Vasanth

Nerrukku Ner is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language romantic action thriller film written and directed by Vasanth and produced by Mani Ratnam. The film stars Vijay and Suriya in the lead roles with Simran and Kausalya. Raghuvaran, Shanthi Krishna, Baby Jennifer, Karan, Vivek, Manivannan and Prakash Raj play supporting roles. Deva and K. V. Anand handled the music and cinematography respectively. It is the debut film for Suriya, the eldest son of actor Sivakumar.

<i>Kadhal Kottai</i> 1996 Indian film

Kadhal Kottai is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Agathiyan, and produced by Sivasakthi Movie Makers. The film stars Ajith Kumar and Devayani, with Heera, Thalaivaasal Vijay, and Karan in supporting roles. It revolves around two people who develop a romance anonymously.

<i>Snehamante Idera</i> 2001 film by Balasekaran

Snehamante Idera is a 2001 Indian Telugu-language buddy comedy drama film produced by R. B. Choudary under the Super Good Films banner and directed by Balasekaran. It stars Nagarjuna Akkineni, Sumanth, Sudhakar, Bhumika Chawla and Prathyusha, with music composed by Shiva Shankar. It is a remake of the Malayalam film Friends. Though it is remade from Malayalam film, Telugu version mostly retained the format of the film's Tamil remake. It was dubbed into Hindi in 2007 as Naya Jigar.

<i>Muruga</i> (film) 2007 Indian film

Muruga is a 2007 Indian Tamil language film written and directed by R. T. Neason, starring Ashok, Shruti Sharma and Vadivelu. The story, screenplay and dialogues are by Neason, who has worked as an assistant to Udayasankar and Vincent Selva. Ram Senthil Kumar's Cocktail Dream Productions distributed the movie. The camera operator was Padmesh and the music is by Kartik Raja.

<i>Friends</i> (1999 film) 1999 Malayalam film by Siddique

Friends is a 1999 Indian Malayalam-language buddy comedy-drama film written and directed by Siddique, produced by Lal and starring Jayaram, Mukesh, and Sreenivasan with Meena, Divya Unni, Jagathy Sreekumar, V. K. Sreeraman, Janardhanan and Cochin Haneefa in supporting roles. It was the highest-grossing Malayalam film of the year, grossing around 11 crore at the box office against a budget of 2 crore. It was later remade into Tamil with the same name (2001) and into Telugu as Snehamante Idera (2001) and Odia as Dosti.

<i>Lovely</i> (2001 film) 2001 film by Sakthi Chidambaram

Lovely is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film directed by S. K. Jeeva who previously directed Pudhumai Pithan. The film stars Karthik, Malavika, and Monal, while Vivek, Manivannan, Nizhalgal Ravi, and Vinu Chakravarthy play supporting roles. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by Deva. The film was released on 6 July 2001. It was remade in Telugu as Andamaina Abaddham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vijayalakshmi (Kannada actress)</span> Indian actress in Kannada films and Tamil films

Vijayalakshmi is an Indian actress who has predominantly appeared in Kannada and Tamil films. In 1997, she won Filmfare Award for Best Actress in Kannada for her performance in her debut Kannada film Nagamandala as Rani.

<i>Engaeyum Eppothum</i> 2011 Indian film

Engaeyum Eppothum is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy drama road film written and directed by M. Saravanan in his Tamil debut, he had earlier directed the Telugu film Ganesh (2009). Starring Jai, Sharwanand, Anjali and Ananya, it was produced by A. R. Murugadoss in association with Fox Star Studios, marking the studio's entry into Tamil cinema.

<i>Uthama Puthiran</i> (1958 film) 1958 film by T. Prakash Rao

Uthama Puthiran is a 1958 Indian Tamil-language historical action film directed by T. Prakash Rao. Co-produced by C. V. Sridhar, who also wrote the screenplay, the film stars Sivaji Ganesan and Padmini, with M. K. Radha, M. N. Nambiar, K. A. Thangavelu, Ragini and Kannamba in supporting roles. It revolves around twins who are separated at birth; one grows up as a kind and honest man, while the other grows up as a greedy and arrogant man.

<i>Kadhal Kirukkan</i> 2003 Indian film

Kadhal Kirukkan is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film, written and directed by Sakthi Chidambaram, starring Parthiban, Richa Pallod and Vineeth. The film is a remake of the 2002 Hindi film Deewangee.

<i>Anjaan</i> (2014 film) 2014 Indian action film

Anjaan (transl. Fearless) is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by N. Lingusamy and produced under his banner Thirupathi Brothers. The film stars Suriya, Vidyut Jammwal, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Manoj Bajpayee. The film follows a disabled man who arrives in Mumbai looking for his gangster brother and learns of the events behind his disappearance.

<i>Poonthottam</i> 1998 Indian film

Poonthottam is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Kalanjiyam. The film stars Murali and Devayani, while Raghuvaran, Manivannan and Vijayalakshmi play other supporting roles. It was released on 10 July 1998.

<i>Rangoon</i> (2017 Tamil film) 2017 Indian film

Rangoon is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language action crime film written and directed by Rajkumar Periasamy in his directoral debut and produced by A. R. Murugadoss. The film stars Gautham Karthik and Sana Makbul. It was the fifth joint venture of AR Murugadoss Productions and Fox Star Studios. The film turned out to be the first hit film for Gautham Karthik.

<i>Aasai Alaigal</i> 1963 Indian film

Aasai Alaigal is a 1963 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by A. S. A. Samy and produced by J. D. Fernando. The film stars S. S. Rajendran, C. R. Vijayakumari, M. R. Radha and Sowcar Janaki.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pray for Nesamani</span> Internet meme

Pray for Nesamani is an internet meme that began trending on social media platforms in May 2019. It is based on the fictional character Nesamani from the Indian Tamil drama film Friends (2001). Nesamani was played by actor Vadivelu, whose image is used in many of the memes attached to the hashtag #Pray_for_Nesamani and a series of related hashtags. It became the top trending hashtag on Twitter in India during the week, beating #ModiSarkar2, which was previously the nationally top trending hashtag referring to the recent 2019 Indian general election and the 23rd Ministry of the Republic of India.

References

  1. "10. Friends (2001) | Top 20 Best Films of Vijay". Behindwoods. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  2. "Ilayathalapathy Vijay thanks Suriya for his sweet gesture". India Today . 30 April 2021. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  3. "Director தான் கெட்ட வார்த்தை பேச சொன்னார்" – Actress Meena Interview | Vijay | Karoline Kamakshi (in Tamil). Galatta Tamil. 3 December 2019. Archived from the original on 27 June 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2019 via YouTube.
  4. "Guess Why Actress Meena Never Acted As Thalapathy Vijay's Heroine!". Astro Ulagam. Archived from the original on 22 October 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Friends". Cinematoday2.itgo.com. Archived from the original on 24 June 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  6. "நான் ஃபீனிக்ஸ் அல்ல... ஃபாலரோப்!" (PDF). Kalki (in Tamil). 30 October 2005. pp. 68–71. Retrieved 4 July 2024 via Internet Archive.
  7. "Friends / Seenu". AVDigital. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  8. "Music review of 'Friends'". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 18 October 2004. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  9. "Thala v/s Thalapathy battle begins". Sify . 10 January 2014. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  10. Rangarajan, Malathi (26 January 2001). "Film Review: Friends". The Hindu . Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  11. Kannan, Shilpa. "Fun, friends and some misunderstandings". Zee Next . Archived from the original on 8 April 2001. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  12. சார்லஸ், தேவன் (22 June 2021). "பீஸ்ட் : 'நாளைய தீர்ப்பு' டு 'மாஸ்டர்'... விஜய்க்கு விகடனின் மார்க்கும், விமர்சனமும் என்ன? #Beast". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  13. சிதம்பரம், கிருஷ்ணா (4 February 2001). "பிரெண்ட்ஸ்". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 65. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023 via Internet Archive.
  14. Mannath, Malini. "Film: Friends". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 19 August 2003. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  15. "Tamil actor Vijay completes 26 years in the industry. Take a look at his journey, in pictures". Times Now . 3 December 2018. Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  16. "The 49th Annual Filmfare Awards - South | Nominees". Indiatimes . Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2023.