Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa

Plot

Karthik is a Mechanical Engineering graduate in Chennai who lacks interest in his field and instead harbors deep ambitions of becoming a filmmaker. Through a friend, he connects with a cinematographer named Ganesh, whose guidance helps him secure a job as an assistant director. Meanwhile, Karthik’s Tamil Hindu family rents the ground floor of a house owned by a conservative Syrian Catholic family from Alappuzha, Kerala. The landlord's daughter, Jessie, lives upstairs with her strict family.

Karthik falls in love with Jessie the moment he sees her on the street. His initial attempts to interact with her end up frightening and angering her due to her intense fear of her authoritarian father. When Karthik formally confesses his love, Jessie rejects him. Shortly after, learning that Jessie has traveled to Kerala to visit her grandmother, Karthik and Ganesh follow her there. After searching for days, Karthik finds her and apologizes for his behavior. To protect him from her strict relatives, Jessie introduces him as a "classmate" and agrees to maintain a platonic friendship, firmly denying any romantic feelings. However, during the train journey back to Chennai, Karthik sits close to her and kisses her, stopping only when she gently slaps him. Despite her repeated rejections—rooted in their different religious backgrounds, ethnic differences, and the fact that she is a year older—Karthik remains convinced of her love. Over subsequent secret meetings, Jessie slowly realizes she has reciprocal feelings for him but tries to suppress them to avoid family conflict.

The secret relationship unravels when an altercation breaks out between Karthik and Jessie's protective brother, Jerry. Her parents discover the romance and quickly arrange her marriage to a partner of their choice. However, midway through the wedding ceremony in Kerala, Jessie refuses to exchange vows, humiliating her family. Karthik, who had traveled down to witness the wedding in secret, visits her home in the aftermath. Overjoyed by his presence, Jessie finally confesses that she has fallen deeply in love with him, and the two resume their relationship in secret.

Sometime later, Karthik travels to Goa for a demanding 45-day film shoot, leaving him largely unreachable. During his absence, the groom whom Jessie had previously rejected visits her family, reviving the intense domestic pressure regarding her marriage. Panicking, Jessie calls Karthik and begs him to elope with her immediately. Caught up in the logistics of the shoot and traveling through remote locations, Karthik asks her to wait in Chennai until he returns so they can plan properly. Hurt and overwhelmed, Jessie stops answering his calls. Sensing something is wrong, Karthik returns to Chennai one night to find her. Jessie abruptly breaks off the relationship, explaining that the constant disapproval from her parents has drained her peace of mind. She reveals she has finally surrendered to her family's wishes and agreed to marry a man of their choice. When a devastated Karthik begs her to reconsider, she tells him that the window for eloping has closed and urges him not to waste his life waiting for her. Karthik later hears that she has married and relocated to the United Kingdom.

Production

Origin

After making a series of action films, Gautham Vasudev Menon actively chose to make an "out and out love story" at the insistence of his close associates, and marked a return to the genre for the first time since Minnale (2001). Initially titled Vennilavae Vennillavae, inspired by the title of a song from Minsara Kanavu, Menon started writing the film as a simple love story which slowly became an intense love story, as the scripting phase progressed. Stating that the film would narrate the romantic tale of two people called Karthik and Jessie over a period of almost three years, he revealed that the film would be "conversation driven" and hoped "everybody will identify with the lead pair". Menon took the script to producer Manjula Ghattamaneni, who asked him to narrate the film to her brother Mahesh Babu and the movie was a Tamil and Telugu bilingual. Menon initially felt that the film would not suit the actor, but later agreed preliminary terms to make it in Telugu titled Jessie with the actor and have A. R. Rahman as the music composer, as he was impressed with the story.

Development

Continuing from the earlier proposed theme of Vennilavae Vennillavae, Menon later chose to use the second line of the song to title his film as Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, after it was suggested by the cinematographer Manoj Paramahamsa. Menon discussed a Tamil and Telugu version of the script with several actors including Dhanush, Jai and Allu Arjun who had wanted changes to be made to the climax, and described being "one week away" from starting the project with a debutant actor. But in late January 2009, Menon confirmed that he was in discussions with Silambarasan and Trisha to portray the lead roles from the script. After finding out that Silambarasan had dates available as a result of the delay in the shoot of Vignesh Shivan's Podaa Podi (2012), Menon chose to halt the production of his ongoing Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikaalam and finalise pre-production work on Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa.

Menon added that Silambarasan was "apt for this kind of a film" and was "ready to experiment and try something different" from his usual film roles, prompting him to agree to star in the film. As Menon was working with Trisha on Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikaalam, he chose to use her dates for Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa instead. To pique interest before the official announcement, the makers released a series of film posters featuring Silambarasan and Trisha inspired from previous classic Tamil films. The team used posters inspired from Geethanjali (1989), Minsara Kanavu (1997), Dil Se (1998), Alaipayuthey (2000) and Kaakha Kaakha (2003). Other members of the technical crew included Menon's regular collaborators editor Anthony, art director Rajeevan, costume designer Nalini Sriram and lyricist Thamarai. The project was jointly produced by Escape Artists Motion Pictures and RS Infotainment, with Elred Kumar, Ganesh, Madhan as producers.

Casting

For the role of a mentor to Karthik's character, Menon first approached Vivek, but he turned down the opportunity. Later, one of the film's producers, Ganesh, was cast in the role, in what later became his breakthrough film as an actor. Chennai-based model Janani Iyer was recruited to portray the role of an assistant director who falls in love with Karthik, but the role was later reshot with Samantha, who worked as the lead actress of the film's Telugu version. Janani Iyer was subsequently seen in the background of several scenes where Karthik is shown to be a part of a film production team. Ashwin Kakumanu also auditioned for the role of Jessy's brother in the film and was selected, but eventually did not feature after having a clash of dates. Singer Chinmayi dubbed for the lead actresses - Trisha and Samantha in the Tamil and Telugu, respectively.

Filming

Scenes were shot in the lakes of Alappuzha during April 2009 for a month, with the houseboats doubling up as caravans.

In May, the team moved to Malta to film the song sequences for "Hosanna" and "Omana Penne", choreographed by Flexy Stu. For the particular song sequences in the film, Menon wanted "churches, water and caves" and convinced the producers to finance a trip to Malta, and in the process, the team became the first South Indian film to shoot in the country. Scenes were shot in places including Valletta, Mdina, Gozo and Comino, as well as in lanes, alleys, eight churches and during the time of a village feast. The makers brought along a crew of twenty-six people to Malta, with ten local workers also helping on the production. The shoot lasted ten days and cost approximately €90,000.

In October 2009, the team flew to the United States to complete the final filming schedule. Scenes were shot throughout locations in Manhattan and New Jersey, with particular shots filmed at Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park and Times Square. But 70% of filming took place in Chennai and Hyderabad as well.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by A. R. Rahman. Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa marked the beginning of a collaboration between Rahman, Silambarasan and Gautham Vasudev Menon.

The world premiere was held at BAFTA in London on 25 December 2009 and later it was relaunched in Chennai on 6 January 2010. The album consists of seven tracks. The audio received good pre-release response and was marked as No. 1 in Asia, in advance bookings. It retained the same tunes for the Telugu version of the film, Ye Maaya Chesave and the Hindi remake, Ekk Deewana Tha.

Release

The film was given a U/A certificate by the Indian Film Certification Board because, according to Menon, they believed "the love in the film was too intense for a child to understand".

Reception

Critical reception

Sify said that it was "Very good" further citing "The film is a must watch for those who cares for cinema of sense and substance. It stresses the fact that Tamil cinema has to break the mould if it aims to grab eyeballs. Gautham Menon has crafted a movie that will stay in our hearts for a long, long time."

Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff.com called the film a "Must watch" further citing "The best part about VTV is that it revolves around people, rather than events. It's like putting a camera into the intimate, everyday life of two people and following them on their adventures. The characters go through a whirlwind of emotions, laugh and cry, and take you along with them." However, the reviewer points out certain drawbacks in the film citing "On the minus side, VTV suffers from the same defect as Vaaranam Aayiram: the second half lags in pace. The dialogues and confrontations are repetitive. There's a would-be love-track that seems unnecessary before the story takes off again."

Malathi Rangarajan from The Hindu said "Twenty two-year old Karthik's true-to-life overtures, reactions and recklessness are just as you would expect from a director of Menon's calibre. It is his authentic depiction of Jessie's confusion that's all the more amazing – Menon's complete understanding of a woman's psyche bowls you over! So do the young lovers!" Aravindan D. I. of nowrunning.com gave the film three stars out of five and said "Gautam Vasudev Menon's "Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya" is a clean romantic story without any deviation or sub-plots."

Chennai Online said, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (VTV) is an excellent effort on the part of Gautam Vasudev Menon in narrating a clean romantic story without any deviation from the plot" and further cited "As is Menon’s forte, the dialogues and the execution of scenes are top-notch. The joys of falling of love and the pangs of separation have been portrayed well. The way Simbu nurtures his love for Jesse and the positive but ambiguous reactions from Trisha to his overtures are very nice indeed."

Box office

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa took a grand opening, grossing around ₹9.7 million (US$100,000) in its first three days in Chennai.

Accolades

Edison Awards

Best Actor – Silambarasan Rajendar

Best Actress – Trisha Krishnan

Best Male Singer – Vijay Prakash

Vikatan Awards

Best Music Director – A. R. Rahman

Best Male Singer – Benny Dayal

Best Female Singer – Shreya Ghoshal

Best Lyricist – Thamarai

Best Costume Designer – Nalini Sriram

Vijay Music Awards

Vijay Music awards – A. R. Rahman

Vijay Music awards – Vijay Prakash

Vijay Music awards – Shreya Ghoshal

Vijay Music awards – Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa

Vijay Awards

Best Music Director – A. R. Rahman

Best Male Playback Singer – Vijay Prakash

Best Female Playback Singer – Shreya Ghoshal

Favorite Heroine – Trisha Krishnan

Filmfare Awards South

Best Music Director – A. R. Rahman

Best Lyricist – Thamarai (for "Mannipaaya")

Sequel

In February 2018, Gautham Vasudev Menon announced a sequel to the film, titled Ondraga. This film will be a road movie – hyperlink film which will focus on Karthik and his best friends from college travelling to the United States to attend a wedding ten years after the events of the first film. Initially, Menon had stated R. Madhavan would be playing the role of an older Karthik. After Madhavan dropped out of the project, Silambarasan agreed to reprise the role he originally played. Trisha and Samantha Ruth Prabhu will also be reprising their roles from the first film. Tovino Thomas and Puneeth Rajkumar will be playing the roles as Karthik's Malayalam and Kannada friends respectively. Telugu actors Allu Arjun, Nani, Sai Dharam Tej, Varun Tej and Vijay Deverakonda have been approached to play the role of Karthik's Telugu friend. Actresses Tamannaah and Anushka Shetty are being considered as a third female lead.

The short film referring the characters Karthik and Jessie, titled Karthik Dial Seytha Yenn starring Silambarasan and Trisha was released on 21 May 2020.

Legacy

The dialogue "Inga Enna Solludhu" spoken by VTV Ganesh inspired a 2014 film of same name which was produced and acted by Ganesh. The sequence when Karthik (Silambarasan) leans on the gate when he is in love with Jessie in the song "Hosanna" is parodied by Santhanam in Neethaane En Ponvasantham (2012). The scene where Karthik proposes to Jessie is spoofed in Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal (2020). In the film, Pratap (played by Gautham Vasudev Menon) gifts Jessie (played by Ritu Varma) a necklace. The scenes and dialogues were parodied in Tamizh Padam 2 (2018). The song "Omana Penne" inspired a film of the same name, but being titled as Oh Manapenne (transl. Oh Bride).