Saroja | |
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Directed by | Venkat Prabhu |
Written by | Venkat Prabhu |
Produced by | T. Siva Haresh Vikram Vijayakumar |
Starring | Jayaram Prakash Raj Vaibhav S. P. Charan Vega Tamotia Shiva Premji Sampath Raj Nikita Thukral Bose Venkat Kajal Aggarwal |
Cinematography | Sakthi Saravanan |
Edited by | Praveen K. L. Srikanth.N.B |
Music by | Yuvan Shankar Raja |
Production company | Amma Creations |
Distributed by | Pyramid Saimira |
Release date |
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Running time | 153 minutes |
Country | India |
Language | Tamil |
Box office | ₹14 crore |
Saroja (stylised as Sa-Ro-Ja) is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language comedy thriller film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu and produced by T. Siva. It stars Jayaram, Prakash Raj, Shiva, Vaibhav, Premji, S. P. Charan and Vega Tamotia as the title character, while Sampath Raj, Nikita Thukral, Bose Venkat and Kajal Aggarwal play other vital roles. Several other popular Tamil television artists and crew members make special appearances throughout the film. The score and soundtrack were composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja with cinematography by Sakthi Saravanan.
The film follows the journey of four young men who travel from Chennai to Hyderabad to watch a cricket match. Due to a road accident, they are forced to take a diversion off the main road to arrive on time. This leads them to a gang who have kidnapped a schoolgirl, Saroja, the only daughter of a millionaire.
The film was released on 5 September 2008 to very positive reviews and critical acclaim, while also emerging a high commercial success. It was dubbed and partially reshot in Telugu with Srihari reprising Jayaram's role. This film was based on the 1993 film Judgement Night.
Ajay Raj, Ganesh Kumar, and brothers Ram Babu and Jagapathi Babu are close friends who spend a lot of time together in Chennai. Ajay is a television actor, Ganesh is a fun-loving engineering student who falls in love with every woman he sees, Jagapathi is an engineer who is married and has a six-year-old daughter, and Ram is Jagapathi's younger brother who lives with him. Ram is in love with Pooja, but before he has a chance to tell her, Pooja tells Ram that she is in love with Ajay. Pooja and Ajay eventually get engaged, leaving Ram heartbroken. He soon forgets his grief and has a good time with Ajay, Ganesh, and Jagapathi. One day, the four friends decide to go in Ajay's old ramshackle Volkswagen Samba to Hyderabad to watch a cricket match.
Vishwanath is a business tycoon in Hyderabad who has no time for his wife and teenage daughter Saroja. One day, Saroja is kidnapped, and the police enter the scene, with Vishwanath's friend ACP Ravichandran handling the case.
Meanwhile, a huge tanker lorry carrying highly inflammable and dangerous chemicals overturns on the National Highway between Chennai and Hyderabad and the four friends are stuck in a massive traffic jam. They attempt to take a shortcut to Hyderabad, but they end up in a dark, desolate area where their real troubles begin.
After arguing about which direction to take at a crossroad, Ajay convinces the others to drive into a forest, receiving instructions from Venkat Prabhu in a cameo appearance. As they proceed further, an injured man named R. Venkatraman suddenly falls on their car from above. Wanting to save Venkatraman, Jagapathi asks Ganesh and Ram to ask for help in a nearby building. Ajay, horrified by Venkatraman's bullet wounds, is even more shocked when he urges Jagapathi and Ajay to escape. Jagapathi, however, attempts to save Venkatraman, who repeatedly urges them to leave quickly.
A few men arrive in a jeep and shoot at them from a distance. Ajay rushes to the driver's seat and attempts to flee from the area. Their van gets hit by the other vehicle and is overturned, throwing Venkatraman outside. Ajay and Jagapathi remain inside the van. Sampath Kumar, the leader of the gang in the black jeep, steps out of his vehicle and shoots Venkatraman after a short conversation. Sampath then discovers that two men (Jagapathi and Ajay) had attempted to save the injured man; he orders his henchmen to kill them. Upon hearing Sampath's order, Ajay and Jagapathi run for their lives.
Meanwhile, Ganesh and Ram have entered an abandoned factory in search of help. Finding the place empty, they walk out and wander around for some time. They soon reach the place where the van had overturned and realize that their friends are missing. At the same time, Ajay and Jagapathi are trapped inside a room within close range of one of the hitmen and escape narrowly. Ganesh and Ram continue to search the area for their friends and eventually find them after fighting with a few hitmen. Realizing that they are caught in a dangerous situation, all four run away from the factory toward the distant sound of a train. They barely manage to board the last car. Jagapathi does not board the train; he sees that his pocket has been torn, and he deduces that his wallet had fallen somewhere inside the factory. Ajay and Ram frantically attempt to convince Jagapathi to board the train. Jagapathi fears that the assassins might cause problems for his wife and child, since his wallet (containing his identity) might be in the hands of the gangsters. Thus, all four friends return to the factory to recover the lost wallet.
After a short argument in which the frightened Ajay hesitates to go along with Jagapathi to the factory, Ganesh is pushed to accompany him. Jagapathi and Ganesh enter the room where the wallet was dropped. One of the gangsters momentarily walks into the room, in the view of Ganesh. Ganesh hides and tries to warn Jagapathi to stay out of sight. When Jagapathi finds the wallet and turns around, he realizes that Ganesh has disappeared. After searching the room thoroughly, Jagapathi decides to leave. When he walks out, Ajay and Ram are waiting alone, and there is no sign of Ganesh. This sparks off another argument; Ajay asserts that he would not leave the place without Ganesh. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Ganesh had wandered into another room to save himself. Finding Saroja tied up inside, he frees her and explains to her that he is not a member of the gang. In his usual manner, he falls in love and tries to impress her. Saroja and Ganesh then sneak out of the room. The other three set out to rescue Ganesh but get caught in the process.
Sampath continues to demand money from Vishwanath to release his daughter. Ravichandran consoles Vishwanath and does all that he can to help rescue Saroja. Meanwhile, the gangsters taunt the three men whom they have captured and continue to do so until Kalyani, Sampath's girlfriend, walks in and informs the group that Saroja has escaped. Sampath sends all of his men to find the girl, leaving a single gangster with the three captives. Ram attacks the gangster and kills him. They run out of the factory and catch up with Ganesh and Saroja. They are soon trapped in a building with a single entry. The henchmen follow them and await them in front. The friends are convinced that the only way to escape is to fight the gangsters. Suddenly, Jagapathi comes up with the idea of designing a contraption using objects in the building as weapons in a grand Rube Goldberg machine. In the meantime, Sampath asks Vishwanath to come to the area at once to take his daughter in exchange for the ransom money. Soon, Vishwanath and Ravichandran arrive, and Ravichandran is disguised as Vishwanath's driver.
The four friends and Saroja finally arrive at the railway station to escape. They soon realize to their horror that the railway station is actually the exact spot where Sampath is planning to collect the ransom money from Vishwanath and Ravichandran. Vishwanath and Ravichandran are standing on the other side of the tracks. Saroja leaves the hideout, crosses the tracks, and embraces Ravichandran out of relief.
Just as Vishwanath is overjoyed that his daughter is back in safe hands, Ravichandran pulls out a gun and points it at Saroja. At that moment, Vishwanath realizes that Ravichandran is actually the mastermind behind Saroja's abduction and that Sampath is just another henchman responsible for carrying out Ravichandran's orders. A flashback reveals that Ravichandran and Sampath are good friends and that they have long been jealous of Vishwanath for his social status and wealth.
In the nick of time, the heroes emerge from the hideout and fight the goons with all their might. Vishwanath finally shoots and kills Ravichandran, and Saroja is reunited with her family. As everyone returns home, the four friends try to recall the name of the girl whom they have just rescued.
After the success of Chennai 600028 , Venkatprabhu announced his next project in 2007 titled "Saroja" inspired from a hit song of his previous hit film. [1] Film launch was held on 5 December at Green Park Hotel in Vadapalani, Chennai. [2] Shruti Haasan and then Varalaxmi Sarathkumar were initially offered the role of the titular character but later rejected it. [3] [4] Jai wanted to appear in the film but director said big no as there is no scope for him; Jai accepted to play a small role. [5] Venkatprabhu added that Saroja is a thriller. [6] The film was partially reshot in Telugu and Srihari reprises the inspector role played by Jayaram in Tamil. [7]
Saroja | ||||
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Soundtrack album by | ||||
Released | 15 July 2008 (India) | |||
Recorded | 2008 | |||
Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
Length | 26:19 | |||
Label | Think Music Junglee Music | |||
Producer | Yuvan Shankar Raja | |||
Yuvan Shankar Raja chronology | ||||
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After the success of Chennai 600028 (2007), director Venkat Prabhu teamed up with his cousin Yuvan Shankar Raja again for the musical score of Saroja. The soundtrack was released on 15 July 2008 at the Chennai Trade Center Convention Hall in Nandambakkam by composer A. R. Rahman. [8] It features six tracks, out of which one song ("My Life") was designed as a promotional song, which would feature in television channels and popularize the film. [8] [9] The song, also composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, was performed by Indian band Yodhakaa from Mumbai. The lyrics were provided by 'Kavignar' Vaali, Gangai Amaran and Yuvan Shankar Raja. The song "Cheeky Cheeky" was sung by Mathilda D'Silva, with Yuvan Shankar Raja and Nirdhiya, who was a contestant of the reality show Singapore Idol . [10]
No. | Song | Singers | Length (m:ss) | Lyrics | Notes |
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1 | "Aaja Meri Soniye" | Vijay Yesudas, S. P. B. Charan , Premgi Amaren | 4:30 | Gangai Amaren | Picturised on Shiva, Vaibhav Reddy, SPB Charan, Premji Amaren, & Kajal Aggarwal and several television actors and actress (see under Cast) |
2 | "Dosth Bada Dosth" | Haricharan, Naveen, Rahul Nambiar | 4:40 | Vaali | Picturised on Shiva, Vaibhav Reddy, SPB Charan, & Premji Amaren |
3 | "Nimirindhu Nil" | Shankar Mahadevan | 4:53 | Gangai Amaren | Picturised on Shiva, Vaibhav Reddy, SPB Charan, Premji Amaren, & Vega Tamotia |
4 | "Cheeky Cheeky" | Yuvan Shankar Raja, Matilda D'Silva, Nrithya Maria Andrews | 3:50 | Vaali and Yuvan Shankar Raja | Picturised on Vega Tamotia & Yuvan Shankar Raja |
5 | "Kodaana Kodi" | Kajal Agarwal, SuVi, Ranina Reddy, Rahul Nambiar, Mohammed Aslam, Jassie Gift | 4:57 | Gangai Amaren | Picturised on Sampath Raj & Nikita Thukral |
6 | "My Life" | Tanvi Shah | 3:29 | Yuvan Shankar Raja | Soundtrack film performed by the band "Yoddhakka" |
The album received very positive reviews from critics, and the songs became widely popular. It was listed in many "Top 10 Albums of the Year" lists. [11] [12] "Dosth Bada Dosth" was a chartbuster, among the most frequently played songs, [13] and became an anthem of friendship. [11] [14]
Saroja received positive reviews worldwide. It was a huge commercial success as well, grossing almost 4 crores at the Chennai box office in 14 weeks according to the comparison website Behindwoods.com, [15] thus making it Venkat Prabhu's second successive hit after Chennai 600028 . The film completed 100 days all over Tamil Nadu, making it one of the blockbusters of 2008. [16]
A sequel to the film was announced during August 2016, which would be directed by Venkat Prabhu's assistant Skantha Priyan and written by Samaran. S. J. Surya, Premji and VTV Ganesh were reported to be portraying the lead roles. [17] [18]
Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian composer and playback singer. He mainly scores music for Tamil films along with few Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use of Western music elements and often credited with having introduced hip hop to the Tamil film and music industry and started the "era of remixes" in Tamil Nadu which included mixed EDM and jazz. He is frequently referred to as the "BGM King" and the "Young Maestro" of Tamil Film Music. Yuvan has won two Filmfare Awards South, five Mirchi Music Awards South, three Vijay Awards and two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.
Venkat Kumar Gangai Amaren, better known by his stage name Venkat Prabhu, is an Indian film director, actor and playback singer in Tamil cinema. After completing his education, he began pursuing an acting career, with his first three ventures featuring him in a starring role, failing to release, following which he began appearing in character roles.
Chennai 600028 is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language sports comedy film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu in his directorial debut. It stars Jai, Shiva, Premji, Aravind Akash, Nithin Sathya and newcomers Ajay Raj, Vijay Vasanth, Prasanna, Inigo Prabakaran, Karthik and Arun in the lead along with Vijayalakshmi Feroz and Kristine Zedek, making their acting debuts as well. The film was produced by S. P. B. Charan along with J. K. Saravana, a Singapore-based award-winning producer. The film's score and soundtrack were composed by Premji Amaran and Yuvan Shankar Raja respectively.
Prem Kumar Gangai Amaren, better known as Premgi or Premji is an Indian singer, composer, songwriter, actor and comedian. The son of composer and director Gangai Amaran, he often composes rap songs in Tamil cinema and is known for his comical performances in his elder brother's films. His stage name, Premgi, is actually a spelling error, as it is meant to be "Prem G.", the G standing for his father. He is also best known for his catchphrases Enna Koduma Sir Idhu ? and Evvalavo pannitom, itha panna mattoma, the former being a modified version of a famous dialogue used by Prabhu in Chandramukhi (2005).
Shiva is an Indian actor, comedian, radio jockey, and dialogue writer. He has featured in several Tamil language films. Prior to his acting career, Shiva worked as a radio jockey with Radio Mirchi. Acting mainly in comedy films, he rose to fame following his performances in the Venkat Prabhu directorials Chennai 600028 and Saroja, before also featuring in Thamizh Padam. His tenure with Radio Mirchi earned him the nickname Mirchi Shiva. He is called by fans as Agila Ulaga Superstar.
Sampath Raj is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil and Telugu films, in addition to Kannada and Malayalam films. He is best known for appearing in each film of director Venkat Prabhu's trilogy, consisting of Chennai 600028, Saroja and Goa. He has also acted in supporting roles in various other films. He is mostly known in negative roles. He played a brief role as Ekambram in Malgudi Days for the episode "Neighbors Help", which was directed by Kavitha Lankesh. After a sabbatical, he returned to Kannada cinema with the film Shourya (2010).
Sripathi Panditharadhyula Charan, credited as S. P. Charan, is an Indian playback singer and actor works predominantly works in Tamil cinema and Telugu cinema.
Goa is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu in his third directorial project. Starring his regular cast consisting of Jai, Vaibhav, and Premji along with Aravind Akash, Sampath Raj, Piaa Bajpai, Sneha, and the debutant Australian model Melanie Marie in other roles, the film is the first production of Soundarya Rajinikanth's Ocher Picture Productions. Actors Silambarasan Rajendar, Nayantara and Prasanna make guest appearances in the film, which features music composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, whilst cinematography is handled by Sakthi Saravanan and the film is edited by K. L. Praveen and N. B. Srikanth.
Goa is the soundtrack album by Yuvan Shankar Raja to the 2010 romantic comedy film of the same name, directed by Venkat Prabhu, and produced by Soundarya Rajinikanth's Ocher Studios, starring Jai, Vaibhav, Premji Amaran, Sneha, Piaa Bajpai and Melanie Marie Jobstreibitzer in prominent roles.
Vaanam (transl. Sky) is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Krish. A remake of his own Telugu film Vedam (2010), the film features an ensemble cast of Silambarasan, Bharath, Prakash Raj, Anushka Shetty, Santhanam, Sonia Agarwal and Saranya Ponvannan. The score and soundtrack were composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, while cinematography and editing were handled by Nirav Shah and Anthony, respectively. The film, jointly produced by VTV Ganesh and R. Ganesh, and was distributed by Dayanidhi Azhagiri's Cloud Nine Movies.
Yuvan – Live in Concert is a concert by Indian musician Yuvan Shankar Raja. The concert, Yuvan's second in his career, took place on Pongal, 16 January 2011 at the YMCA Grounds, Nandanam, Chennai. Following the announcement, popular Tamil television STAR Vijay agreed to collaborate, sponsoring, organising and marketing the concert, while airing a special television series about Yuvan Shankar Raja, with family members and prominent celebrities closely associated to him participating, besides producing a promotional music video, titled "I'll be there for you". The five-hour show, which was attended by 20,000 people, including several noted film personalities, was received very positively and considered a highly successful event. The concert was aired on 11 and 12 February, Friday and Saturday at 2000 hrs on Vijay TV.
Vasuki Bhaskar is an Indian fashion and costume designer, working in the Tamil film industry. She is the daughter of film producer R.D. Bhaskar and Pavalar Creations is their own production house.
Mankatha is the soundtrack album, composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, to the 2011 film of the same name, directed by Venkat Prabhu starring Ajith Kumar. The album features eight tracks, with lyrics penned by Vaali, Gangai Amaran, and Niranjan Bharathi. Following a number of postponements, it was finally released on 10 August 2011 by Sony Music India.
Biriyani is a 2013 Indian Tamil-language action comedy thriller film directed by Venkat Prabhu and produced by Studio Green. It stars Karthi and Hansika Motwani alongside an ensemble cast including Premji, Nassar, Ramki, Sampath Raj, Madhumitha, Jayaprakash, Prem, and Mandy Takhar. Yuvan Shankar Raja composed the score and soundtrack of Biriyani, which marks his 100th film, while Sakthi Saravanan and Praveen-Srikanth handled cinematography and editing, respectively.
Vizhithiru is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Meera Kathiravan, who debuted with Aval Peyar Thamizharasi. The film which began production in 2012 after numerous delays released in 2017. The film features an ensemble cast of Krishna, Vidharth, Dhansika, Venkat Prabhu, Rahul Bhaskaran, S. P. B. Charan, Thambi Ramaiah, Erica Fernandes, Sara Arjun, Nagendra Babu, and Abhinaya.
Chennai 600028 II is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language sports comedy film co-produced, written and directed by Venkat Prabhu, who also produces the film along with S. P. B. Charan under Black Ticket Company and Capital Film Works. The film, which is a sequel to Chennai 600028 (2007), features Vaibhav in a prominent role in addition to several cast members from the earlier film including Jai, Shiva, Premji, Aravind Akash, Inigo Prabakaran and Nithin Sathya. The film's score and soundtrack is composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja. The film was released on 9 December 2016 to mixed to positive reviews and performed well at the box office.
Ajay Raaj is an Indian actor and choreographer who appears in Tamil language films. While working as a dance choreographer, Ajay made his acting debut with Agathiyan's Selvam (2005), before appearing in Chennai 600028 (2007) and has since appeared regularly in films associated with director Venkat Prabhu and his team.
Party is an unreleased Indian Tamil-language comedy film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu and produced by T. Siva. The film stars Jai, Shiva, Sathyaraj, Jayaram, Shaam, Ramya Krishnan, Regina Cassandra, with Sanchita Shetty, Nivetha Pethuraj, Nandha Durairaj, Nassar and Chandran appear in supporting roles. After the release of his seventh directorial and debut production venture, it was announced that director Venkat Prabhu will do a film for Amma Creations banner of T.Siva which is celebrating its 25th year in film industry. Despite having completed filming, the film remains unreleased due to economic issues.
Plan Panni Pannanum is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film directed by Badri Venkatesh, produced by Rajesh Kumar and Sinthan L from Positive Print Studios. The story is written by A. C. Karunamurthy (Karnamurthy), dialogues by Radhakrishnan, and the film stars Rio Raj and Ramya Nambeesan. The music for the film is composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja while cinematography is handled by Rajasekar and editing is done by Sam RDX.