Sarvam
Encyclopedia
Sarvam is a 2009
Indian
Tamil romantic
thriller film written and directed by Vishnuvardhan
, who has earlier directed highly successful Tamil films like Arinthum Ariyamalum
(2005), Pattiyal
(2006) and Billa
(2007). Starring Arya
and Trisha Krishnan
in the lead roles while J. D. Chakravarthy
, Prathap Pothan, and Indrajith
in other prominent supporting roles, the film, which had been under production since end-2006, is produced and distributed by K. Karunamoorthy and C. Arunpandian under the banner of Ayngaran International
, filmed by Nirav Shah
and edited by Sreekar Prasad, whilst, the film score was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja
, who composed the soundtrack as well, which was released on 14 February 2009, coinciding with Valentine's Day
.
The film revolves around five individual characters and the events in their life, that, on the one hand, changes everything in their respective lives, which the film's title refers to, and, on the other hand, also brings together these people. It is an anthology film
, that contains two parallel moving stories, which are connected by a freak accident in Chennai
. A young architect, falls in love with a young beautiful pediatric doctor, runs after her and tries to convince her to marry her, while, simultaneously, a morose ex-football coach troubles a software engineer by vowing to kill his eight-year-old son. How these characters get connected and confronted through the accident forms the crux of the story.
After several postponements due to various reasons, the film was finally released worldwide on 15 May 2009 to mixed reviews and performed averagely at the box office
. Nearly one year later, the film is being dubbed to be released in Telugu
under the same title.
Eventhough this film is a remake of film 21 Grams
, Vishnuvardhan
made lot of changes on original story line for Indian Cinema.
Karthik (Arya
) is a young happy-go-lucky carefree architect, who, one day, comes across a young beautiful girl, Sandhya (Trisha Krishnan
) in a go-karting race
. Karthik immediately falls in love with Sandhya and, having decided, that she is the right girl for him, wants to convince her to marry him. Sandhya is a pediatric doctor and became so due to her love for children. Karthik, after finding out several information about her, first arranges a meeting with her, by pretending to her, that she had caused a car accident and damaged his car. When that approach, however, fails, he eventually goes to the hospital, where Sandhya works, becoming a regular visitor there and making all kinds of possible efforts to woo her. Sandhya, however, has other interests and shows no signs of reciprocating his love, since she believes, Karthik is too carefree and not serious about life, who, nonetheless, keeps following her and trying still to convince her. When, one day, Sandhya's parents tell her about her to-be-fixed marriage, she, finally recognizes, that Karthik is apparently the right boy and gradually falls for him, slowly developing a deep love for him. She wholeheartedly agrees with the marriage.
Simultaneously, a morose mysterious man, Eashwar (J. D. Chakravarthy
), always moving around with the Rottweiler dog Bruce, goes to see Naushad (Indrajith
), a software engineer, who happily lives with his eight-year-old son Imaan (Rohan Shiva). Naushad, a few months ago, had hit Eashwar's wife, Gheetha (Anu Haasan
), and his son, Naveen, to death in a car accident. Eashwar, apparently mentally disturbed, who keeps murmering, that his son has died, thinks, that the death of his family members was not an accident, but a planned murder by Naushad and that, therefore, he is solely responsible for their death. Eashwar keeps following Naushad, telling that Naushad doesn't understand the pain of losing a child, that he was undergoing, and threatens him, that he will feel the same pain only, when his own son dies. When a workmate of Naushad informs him, that Eashwar had visited him and requested information about Naushad, and tells him to be aware, he and his son escape to a place of his friend, which is located at the Elliots beach in Chennai
.
Meanwhile, Karthik and Sandhya, who do spend time together, happily enjoying life, are ready for the marriage and make plans for the future. Karthik, then, suddenly requests Sandhya to postpone their marriage for a year, but in which he meets with disapproval, since Sandhya persists on marrying at the earliest possible date. To solve this problem, they decide to hold a cycling race across the Elliots beach road, dealing, that the winner may make the decision, which has to be accepted by the other person. At the same time, Imaan and his friend fly a kite on the terrace of Naushad’s friend. Suddenly Imaan faints and falls, which distracts the boys, who were around him, and they let the kite slip and fly away, the thread cuts loose. Sandhya, who is ahead of Karthik and leading the race, rides straightly into the kite thread, which cuts her neck, injuring her fatally. She eventually dies in the hospital because of severe blood loss.
Six months later, Sandhya's father visits Karthik, who is devastated, grief-stricken, trying to convince himself in vain. Sandhya’s father then informs Karthik, that even after death Sandhya has saved the life of a child, since her heart has been transplanted into a boy, who incidentally happens to be Naushad’s son Imaan. Karthik becomes emotional and is overjoyed, that at least one part of his love is alive and goes to meet Naushad and Imman. He finds out, that they’ve left their home in Chennai and moved to Munnar
in Kerala
. He travels to Munnar to meet them there and finally gets to see them and feels happy again.
Meanwhile Eashwar, who had followed Karthik, arrives in Munnar as well, where he meets a car mechanic
Sajid, who played professionally football with Eashwar, a few years ago and who allows Eashwar to stay at his home.
Karthik a last time goes to see father and son, before he wants to leave for Chennai, when then suddenly a car tries to hit Imman to death. Karthik, who was just readying to go home, comes back and is able to save Imman. Shocked by that incident, Karthik doesn’t believe, that it was merely an accident and wants Naushad to tell the truth, who has been admitted to hospital after having been injured in the accident. Karthik then gets to know about Eashwar, who was the man in the car, and his intentions. Eashwar has bought the same car, which “killed” his family members and seeks revenge for their death by killing Naushad’s son Imaan in return to “equal it”. Karthik then decides to take Imaan along him to a nearby place, where he had stayed before, promising Naushad, that he will protect and look after Imaan.
Subsequently, Karthik tries to befriend Imaan, who dislikes Karthik, doesn’t want to stay with him, but rather with his father and doesn’t obey him. When they, later, go by car, Karthik and Eashwar encounter themselves and Karthik, somehow, finds himself threatened by Eashwar. It follows a cat and mouse chase
, whereas Eashwar wants to dispose of Karthik to get to Imaan and to kill him. Sajid sees, Eashwar chasing Karthik and offers to help by hiring people, who will kill both silently without mentioning Eashwar’s and Sajid’s names.
How Karthik protects Imaan and saves him from Eashwar as a tribute to Sandhya and his love forms the crux of the story.
Other supporting artists in cameo roles include Raviprakash and Sriranjani as Trisha's father and mother respectively, Geetha Agarwal, 'Minnale' Ravi and Utthara Krishna Dass among others.
in March 2006, Vishnuvardhan
announced, that he will commence his next project very soon, titled Sarvam and starring Surya in the lead. After the film was supposedly dropped, though it was already started in October 2006 with having finished the photo shoot for the film, the project was revived just one week later. The restarted film was first to be produced by Surya's cousin, K. E. Gnanavelraja, who earlier produced the Surya-starrer Sillunu Oru Kaadhal
and was producing the award-winning film Paruthiveeran
, starring Surya's brother, Karthi
, at that time. However, he suddenly backed out of the project for unknown reasons and Vishnuvardhan was looking out for another producer, approaching 'Aascar' Ravichandran
as well as the Malaysian RJ, 'Punnagai Poo' Gheetha
, who produced Vishnuvardhan's Arinthum Ariyamalum
and Pattiyal as well, and director Saran
to produce the film, who all opted out, though. Later, Surya opted out of the project, too, and after Vishnuvardhan tried to cast R. Madhavan
in his film, which also failed for unknown reasons, the film was finally shelved in December 2006 and Vishnuvardhan instead started to film the remake of the 1980 Rajinikanth-starrer Billa
, titled Billa
as well, starring Ajith Kumar
in the lead role.
In August 2007, when Vishnuvardhan was still working on Billa, it was reported, that he hasn't given up Sarvam yet and wants to restart the film, once Billa is finished and released, with Arya
in the lead role. It was also rumored, that music composer Yuvan Shankar Raja
would produce the film, which turned out be wrong with K. Karunamoorthy and C. Arunpandian taking over the project and producing it under the banner of Ayngaran International
. The film was finally kicked off in May 2008 with Arya
, Trisha Krishnan
and J. D. Chakravarthy
in the lead roles.
The film was first reported to be a remake of the 1986 Hollywood thriller Hitcher
and later to be a remake of another Hollywood film, the 2003 Academy Award-nominated drama 21 Grams
.
model
and former child actress Hansika Motwani
, who was to make her debut in the Tamil film industry. Hansika Motwani was chosen after Vishnuvardhan had approached several actresses for that role, who ultimately refused to accept the offer for various reasons. First he tried to rope in Telugu actress Ileana
, who reportedly demanded a remuneration of Rs 1 crore 75 lakhs and hence, she was dropped and Nila
and Anushka
were approached and the latter got the role, since Nila demanded too much as well. The project started and even a photo shooting featuring both the actors was held, before Surya had to opt out of the project, because he had earlier signed to star in Gautham Menon's
Vaaranam Aayiram. By November 2006, R. Madhavan
was announced as the hero of the film, before the film was finally shelved in December 2006.
In November 2007, after Vishnuvardhan had finished his Billa, which was due to release, he restarted his shelved project Sarvam and started to scout his cast for the film again and reports say, that again Surya was considered for the role, before supposedly Arjun
was confirmed for the leading role with Arya
playing the second lead. Eventually the lead couple was replaced by Arya
and Trisha Krishnan
, who were teaming up for the first time. Reports indicated that the script has been changed several times, to suit the lead actors respectively, Vishnuvardhan, however, confirmed, that the script did not change, stating that there are similarities between Surya and Arya and the script suited both and therefore a change was not necessary.
The antagonist role was first offered to Arjun
, who, fearing of his image, rejected the role, as later did "two leading actors" as well as Malayalam actor Mohan Lal. Popular Hindi actor Nana Patekar
was also considered for the role, who, however, rejected as well, after which the role went to Kannada actor Upendra
, who did a negative role in the Tamil film Sathyam at the same time. Eventually Vishnuvardhan roped in Telugu actor J. D. Chakravarthy
for the same role replacing Upendra.
Apart from these three actors, it is said, that Malayalam actor Indrajith Sukumaran
, brother of well-known actor Prithviraj Sukumaran
, who acts in his second direct Tamil film after En Mana Vaanil, a child actor
, named Rohan Shiva, playing the 8-year-old Imaan, and a Rottweiler
dog play important roles in the film.
For the technical crew, Vishnuvardhan roped in mostly "his usual members", who had worked with the director on his earlier projects, too, including Yuvan Shankar Raja
as the music director
, Nirav Shah
as the cinematographer
, Sreekar Prasad as the editor, Pa. Vijay as the lyricist
, Thiyagarajan as the stunt co-ordinator and Vishnuvardhan's wife, Anu Vardhan as the costume designer
. For Sarvam, Dinesh and Geetha joined Kalyan as the choreographer and Manu Jagadh replaced as Remiyan as the art director
.
2008
, where his film Billa was screened, and after Arya had completed Naan Kadavul
, for which filming was held for nearly one and a half year. The first half of the film was shot in and around Chennai
, while the second half was shot in Kerala
, mostly in deep forests, hence, the first half will be very "colourful", while the mood in the second half completely changes, getting "rainy, misty and completely green and dark".
Before Vishnuvardhan left for Cannes, he had already shot a few scenes at Marina Beach
in Chennai, that did not involve Arya, who was still busy with Naan Kadavul. Afterwards, shooting was held at various places in and around the city, including the "Gemini Parsn Apartment" near the Gemini flyover
, the Elliot's beach
in Besant Nagar
, the flyover at Kathipara Junction
and at the San Thome Basilica in Santhome
in Chennai, where scenes for the first half of the film as well as some song sequences were filmed.
In August 2008 then, the crew shifted its bases to Kerala
, where major parts of the second half were filmed. In Munnar
a romantic duet between Arya and Trisha was shot, for which grand sets had been erected by art director Manu Jagadh. The team then moved to the "Dhoni forest" in Palakkad district
in Kerala, where several important and crucial scenes, including the climax
were shot. For the climax scene, a 90-feet-tall dilapidated church was built up and was made to look like 150 years old, while the remaining part of the climax was shot back in Chennai at Prasad Studio, where again a huge set was erected by Manu Jagadh. Other filming locations in Kerala include Cochin, Kannoor and Chalakudy
.
In June 2008, two people were killed in an accident at the shooting spot, which was located at an under-construction building near the Gemini flyover
in Chennai
. A lift, which was installed to carry materials to the eighth floor of the building, where filming was to be held, collapsed suddenly, killing two technicians, who were working on the lift. After actor J. D. Chakravarthy, too, was injured in a stunt sequence, it was reported, that Vishnuvardhan had decided to change the film title, which, however, didn't happen.
The songs were filmed at several places across India, like in Tamil Nadu
, Goa
, Kerala
and Gujarat.
A folk song ("Sutta Suriyana") was shot in a Chennai studio, choreographed by Dinesh and picturized on the lead couple, Arya and Trisha. Another song ("Neethane"), which was choreographed by Kalyan, was filmed on the new bridge at the Kathipara Junction
, Chennai
and the Indian Air Force
base at Cholavaram. A fourth song ("Kaatrukulle"), picturized again on Arya and Trisha, was shot in late September and October at the beaches in Goa
and a lake in Ladakh
, that was choreographed by Geetha, a student of the renowned choreographer Farah Khan
. In the first weeks of February, the last song, a romantic duet, choreographed by Dinesh, involving the lead couple once more ("Siragugal"), was shot at the Rann of Kutch
, a saline clay desert in Gujarat, close to the Pakistan
border, according to Vishnuvardhan, a location that was never before used or seen in a Tamil film.
With this song, the shooting was eventually wrapped up in February 2009 and post-production works began.
, who renewed his previous association with director Vishnuvardhan, who have earlier created very successful musical albums in Arinthum Ariyamalum
, Pattiyal
and Billa
. The soundtrack was formally released on 14 February 2009, coninciding with Valentine's Day
at the Inox Complex in Chennai
.
The album comprises five tracks, lyrics for which were written by Vishnuvardhan's "usual lyricist", Pa. Vijay. Out of the five tracks, two were sung by composer Yuvan Shankar Raja himself and one song by his father Ilaiyaraaja
. According to the director, two of the songs ("Neethane" and "Sutta Suriyana") were composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja even before Vishnuvardhan's previous venture Billa had started, when Sarvam was first announced in October 2006, nearly two years earlier. The song "Adada Vaa" was originally composed for the film Aayirathil Oruvan, for which Yuvan Shankar Raja was first signed to score the music, but which he left in the midst, after he had a fall out with director Selvaraghavan
. However, Aayirathil Oruvan has one song Un Mele Aasadhan that was based on and sounds similar to Adada Vaa, but no credits were given to Yuvan.
The album received very positive reviews. Behindwoods.com reviewer Malathy Sundaram gave three stars out of five and wrote: "For the second time (after Aegan,) Yuvan has attempted to break free of the general norms of music here and the result is rather pleasing. The album feels fresh and breezy. With relevant picturization, the songs could make an impact". Rediff.com reviewer Pavithra Srinivasan too gave three stars out of five and wrote: "Sarvam is appealing" and "It looks like Yuvan, after a couple of not-so-memorable efforts, is on his way to finding his groove again. Sarvam manages to snag your attention, in a good way". Indiaglitz.com reviewer wrote: "On the whole, Yuvan's melodies would turn to be the chartbusters of the season and any guesses about best picks. Adada Vaa Asathala would go straight onto everyone's music library on their I-pods and mobiles. Sutta Suriyana is one more song that enlivens the feel while Signature Music would rock on the air", giving verdict as "effectually brilliant". Milliblog.com reviewer Karthik wrote: "After two average soundtracks, Yuvan gets his groove back" and later listed the album as the Top Tamil OST of 2009 and the song Neethane as the Top Tamil song of 2009 in his annual music round-up.
finally released a first teaser poster in January 2009, that showed the five main characters of the film, Karthik, Sandhya, Imaan, Naushad and Eashwar, on their website along with some other images. The trailer of the film was finally screened during the interval
of the Vijay
-starrer Villu
, which was released during Pongal 2009 on 12 January 2009 and was an Ayngaran International production as well. Afterwards, on 19 January Ayngaran released the trailer exclusively on their website, after which the trailer was screened on various Tamil television channels. In February 2009, an official website was launched by Ayngaran International and later Sify
launched a special site about the film on their respective website. Just before the Sarvam soundtrack was launched, Ayngaran released promotional audio clips of the songs of a duration of nearly 4 minutes overall, following which another one-minute teaser trailer
, that features video clippings of three of the songs ("Adada Vaa", "Siragugal" & "Sutta Suriyana"), was released by Ayngaran one month after the audio launch. Few days before the film was released, the Galatta Cinema Magazine delivered a "Sarvam special edition", dedicating its cover story
to Sarvam.
along with Raghava Lawrence's
Rajadhi Raja
, another Ayngaran production, following the 2009 Indian election
, though it was reported, that the film will not release until June 2009, following the 2009 IPL Cricket season
, which would end on 24 May 2009. The Indian censor board
had certified the film on 21 April 2009, giving it a clean "U" certificate without any cuts.
Produced on a budget of $2 million, the film was sold to distributors for $3 million. The film did averagely at the box office.
labelled the film as a "visual treat", stating that the film is good in parts, has a "wafer thin storyline" and "banks heavily on style and gloss". Praise was addressed to director Vishnuvardhan
for trying to make a "different film" and for reworking the "Kollywood commercial formula". Technical aspects of the film were immensely lauded, especially Nirav Shah's
cinematography, which "works big-time for the film", as well as Yuvan Shankar Raja's
music and background score, Manu Jagadh's art work, while Thyagaran's "close combat action scenes" were cited as "spellbinding". Overall, the film was described as a "decent thriller".
Malathi Rangarajan from The Hindu
gave the film an average review, citing, that "the recipe is perfect but the dish isn’t wholly delicious" and that the film has "the ingredients of a potential hit except the most essential, a gripping screenplay". Like Sify, Rangarajan, too, praised the technicians, describing Nirav Shah's camera works as "excellent" and Yuvan Shankar Raja's melodies as "lilting" and score as "foot-tapping", while the lead pair, consisting of Arya
and Trisha Krishnan
, was cited as "attractive". Pavithra Srinivasan from Rediff gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, citing Sarvam to be "lacklustre" and that "it does not stand up to the hype". According to Srinivasan, the first half of the is the "best part", criticizing the screenplay, which takes a "nosedive post the intermission", and claiming, that the second half has "lacklustre performances" and "logicless scenes". She, too, praised the technical crew of the film, labelling Yuvan Shankar Raja's background score as "marvellous", which "just proves how good he can be", Nirav Shah's cinematography as "scintillating", the visuals as "astonishing" and Anu Vardhan's costumes as "excellent", while Manu Jagadh has done "wonders with his sets" and Sreekar Prasad's editing "fits the bill". Overall, she cites, that the film is worth a watch for the "stunning visuals", "musical score" and "Trisha's sequence", who, she claims, to be "perhaps the only shining part of the movie itself".
2 out of 5 stars were given by Behindwoods.com as well, which said, that Sarvam "rides on its visuals throughout" and that "an enjoyable first half is negated by a slack second". It blamed, Vishnuvardhan to be a director, who "got lots of flair and style", but whose writing "lets him down". Arya was cited as "top notch", while Trisha "looks fresh and beautiful and carries off her role in style" and "the pair has worked exceedingly well". According to Behindwoods, the real hero, however, was Nirav Shah, praising, that "every single frame is a treat to watch" and that it is "the visuals" that keep the audience "engrossed at many points in the second half", appreciating Manu Jagadh art works as well. Overall, it is cited, that you can enjoy the "frames", "beautiful visuals", the "Arya-Trisha chemistry" and forget the "thrills and suspense", which "are missing the film".
In comparison, the film received very positive reviews as well. Indiaglitz described the film as "Grand, glitzy and glossy", citing, that Vishnuvardhan has "mastered the art of making a trendy, sophisticated and chic film", while Kollywoodtoday praised the film even as "Vishnu’s another hallmark", citing it to be a "worth watching movie and winner of this season". Other smaller sites gave overwhelming reviews, with Cinefundas describing the film to be "substantially perfect on all vistas", Cinesnacks as "the most decent, stylish film of the season" and Vishnuvardhan as the "Best Filmmaker in Town", Zonkerala as "Vishnu's skilled piece of work", Tamilomovie as "Colossal touch of decent thriller", giving it 3 and a half out of 5 stars and Kollywoodnow as a "Must watch", giving it even 4 out of 5 stars.
2009 in film
The year 2009 saw the release of many films. Seven made the top 50 list of highest-grossing films, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that as of this year, their Best Picture category would consist of ten nominees, rather than five .- Highest-grossing films :Please note...
Indian
Cinema of India
The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic culture of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Indian films came to be followed throughout South Asia and...
Tamil romantic
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...
thriller film written and directed by Vishnuvardhan
Vishnuvardhan (director)
Vishnuvardhan Kulasekaran, often credited simply as Vishnuvardhan, is an Indian film director. A one-time associate of Santosh Sivan he made his directorial debut in 2003 with Kurumbu, which did not fare well at the box office...
, who has earlier directed highly successful Tamil films like Arinthum Ariyamalum
Arinthum Ariyamalum
Arinthum Ariyamalum is a 2005 Indian Tamil film written and directed by Vishnuvardhan that stars Prakash Raj along with newcomers Arya, Navdeep and Samiksha in lead and Adithya and Krishna in supporting roles. The film's music is composed by top director, Yuvan Shankar Raja...
(2005), Pattiyal
Pattiyal
Pattiyal is a 2006 Indian Tamil gangster film directed by Vishnuvardhan. The film tackles the issue of dons. It stars Arya, Bharath, Pooja Umashankar, Padmapriya Janakiraman, Cochin Haneefa and Santhana Bharathi in pivotal roles. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja...
(2006) and Billa
Billa (2007 film)
Billa is a 2007 Tamil gangster-thriller film directed by Vishnuvardhan. Based on the 1980 Tamil film of the same name and the 2006 Hindi film, Don: The Chase Begins Again, it was adapted by the director, who rewrote portions of the film from the original...
(2007). Starring Arya
Arya (actor)
Arya is an Indian film actor who mainly appears in Tamil films. He is best known for his roles in the films Pattiyal , Naan Kadavul , Madrasapattinam , and Boss Engira Bhaskaran.-Personal life:...
and Trisha Krishnan
Trisha Krishnan
Trisha Krishnan is an Indian film actress and model, who primarily appears in Tamil and Telugu language films, but has also appeared in Hindi language films. She was noticed after winning several beauty pageants like the Miss Madras contest , which marked her entry into filmdom...
in the lead roles while J. D. Chakravarthy
J. D. Chakravarthy
J.D. Chakravarthy born Nagulapati Srinivasa Chakravarthy is an Indian film actor and director in Telugu Cinema and Bollywood. He has directed Hindi films like Darwaza Bandh Rakho, Durga and Darna Zaroori Hai . In Telugu Cinema, he got critical acclaim for his directorial abilities through the film...
, Prathap Pothan, and Indrajith
Indrajith
Indrajith is an Indian film actor. He is the elder son of late Malayalam actor Sukumaran and actress Mallika. His brother Prithviraj is also an actor...
in other prominent supporting roles, the film, which had been under production since end-2006, is produced and distributed by K. Karunamoorthy and C. Arunpandian under the banner of Ayngaran International
Ayngaran International
Ayngaran is a film distribution and production company of Tamil films, based in the United Kingdom. The company has distributed various Indian-produced Tamil films in Europe and North America. It is also responsible for the production of Tamil films into home media, such as VHS, DVD, and blu-ray...
, filmed by Nirav Shah
Nirav Shah
Nirav Shah is an acclaimed Indian cinematographer. He has worked on a number of major box office hits in Hindi and Tamil since his debut with the 2004 Hindi film Paisa Vasool.-Career:...
and edited by Sreekar Prasad, whilst, the film score was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, singer and occasional lyricist. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil as well as several Telugu films. His musical career began in 1996, at age 16, as he composed the film score for Aravindhan...
, who composed the soundtrack as well, which was released on 14 February 2009, coinciding with Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
.
The film revolves around five individual characters and the events in their life, that, on the one hand, changes everything in their respective lives, which the film's title refers to, and, on the other hand, also brings together these people. It is an anthology film
Anthology film
An anthology film is a feature film consisting of several different short films, often tied together by only a single theme, premise, or brief interlocking event . Sometimes each one is directed by a different director...
, that contains two parallel moving stories, which are connected by a freak accident in Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
. A young architect, falls in love with a young beautiful pediatric doctor, runs after her and tries to convince her to marry her, while, simultaneously, a morose ex-football coach troubles a software engineer by vowing to kill his eight-year-old son. How these characters get connected and confronted through the accident forms the crux of the story.
After several postponements due to various reasons, the film was finally released worldwide on 15 May 2009 to mixed reviews and performed averagely at the box office
Box office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
. Nearly one year later, the film is being dubbed to be released in Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
under the same title.
Eventhough this film is a remake of film 21 Grams
21 Grams
21 Grams is a 2003 American drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga. It stars Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Danny Huston, and Benicio del Toro....
, Vishnuvardhan
Vishnuvardhan (director)
Vishnuvardhan Kulasekaran, often credited simply as Vishnuvardhan, is an Indian film director. A one-time associate of Santosh Sivan he made his directorial debut in 2003 with Kurumbu, which did not fare well at the box office...
made lot of changes on original story line for Indian Cinema.
Plot
The film opens with a bully fight between two individuals on a rainy night in a deep, dark forest. In the opening scene, a title card is presented with a Upanishad quote: "Death is just the beginning of another life". It follows a flashbackKarthik (Arya
Arya (actor)
Arya is an Indian film actor who mainly appears in Tamil films. He is best known for his roles in the films Pattiyal , Naan Kadavul , Madrasapattinam , and Boss Engira Bhaskaran.-Personal life:...
) is a young happy-go-lucky carefree architect, who, one day, comes across a young beautiful girl, Sandhya (Trisha Krishnan
Trisha Krishnan
Trisha Krishnan is an Indian film actress and model, who primarily appears in Tamil and Telugu language films, but has also appeared in Hindi language films. She was noticed after winning several beauty pageants like the Miss Madras contest , which marked her entry into filmdom...
) in a go-karting race
Kart racing
Kart racing or karting is a variant of open-wheel motorsport with small, open, four-wheeled vehicles called karts, go-karts, or gearbox/shifter karts depending on the design. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits...
. Karthik immediately falls in love with Sandhya and, having decided, that she is the right girl for him, wants to convince her to marry him. Sandhya is a pediatric doctor and became so due to her love for children. Karthik, after finding out several information about her, first arranges a meeting with her, by pretending to her, that she had caused a car accident and damaged his car. When that approach, however, fails, he eventually goes to the hospital, where Sandhya works, becoming a regular visitor there and making all kinds of possible efforts to woo her. Sandhya, however, has other interests and shows no signs of reciprocating his love, since she believes, Karthik is too carefree and not serious about life, who, nonetheless, keeps following her and trying still to convince her. When, one day, Sandhya's parents tell her about her to-be-fixed marriage, she, finally recognizes, that Karthik is apparently the right boy and gradually falls for him, slowly developing a deep love for him. She wholeheartedly agrees with the marriage.
Simultaneously, a morose mysterious man, Eashwar (J. D. Chakravarthy
J. D. Chakravarthy
J.D. Chakravarthy born Nagulapati Srinivasa Chakravarthy is an Indian film actor and director in Telugu Cinema and Bollywood. He has directed Hindi films like Darwaza Bandh Rakho, Durga and Darna Zaroori Hai . In Telugu Cinema, he got critical acclaim for his directorial abilities through the film...
), always moving around with the Rottweiler dog Bruce, goes to see Naushad (Indrajith
Indrajith
Indrajith is an Indian film actor. He is the elder son of late Malayalam actor Sukumaran and actress Mallika. His brother Prithviraj is also an actor...
), a software engineer, who happily lives with his eight-year-old son Imaan (Rohan Shiva). Naushad, a few months ago, had hit Eashwar's wife, Gheetha (Anu Haasan
Anu Haasan
Anu Hasan is a Tamil actress and TV anchor. She made her film debut in the critically acclaimed film Indira and has since appeared in a few Tamil films, playing supporting roles. She currently hosts the celebrity talk show Koffee with Anu on the Tamil channel Vijay...
), and his son, Naveen, to death in a car accident. Eashwar, apparently mentally disturbed, who keeps murmering, that his son has died, thinks, that the death of his family members was not an accident, but a planned murder by Naushad and that, therefore, he is solely responsible for their death. Eashwar keeps following Naushad, telling that Naushad doesn't understand the pain of losing a child, that he was undergoing, and threatens him, that he will feel the same pain only, when his own son dies. When a workmate of Naushad informs him, that Eashwar had visited him and requested information about Naushad, and tells him to be aware, he and his son escape to a place of his friend, which is located at the Elliots beach in Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
.
Meanwhile, Karthik and Sandhya, who do spend time together, happily enjoying life, are ready for the marriage and make plans for the future. Karthik, then, suddenly requests Sandhya to postpone their marriage for a year, but in which he meets with disapproval, since Sandhya persists on marrying at the earliest possible date. To solve this problem, they decide to hold a cycling race across the Elliots beach road, dealing, that the winner may make the decision, which has to be accepted by the other person. At the same time, Imaan and his friend fly a kite on the terrace of Naushad’s friend. Suddenly Imaan faints and falls, which distracts the boys, who were around him, and they let the kite slip and fly away, the thread cuts loose. Sandhya, who is ahead of Karthik and leading the race, rides straightly into the kite thread, which cuts her neck, injuring her fatally. She eventually dies in the hospital because of severe blood loss.
Six months later, Sandhya's father visits Karthik, who is devastated, grief-stricken, trying to convince himself in vain. Sandhya’s father then informs Karthik, that even after death Sandhya has saved the life of a child, since her heart has been transplanted into a boy, who incidentally happens to be Naushad’s son Imaan. Karthik becomes emotional and is overjoyed, that at least one part of his love is alive and goes to meet Naushad and Imman. He finds out, that they’ve left their home in Chennai and moved to Munnar
Munnar
Munnar is one of the most popular hill station in Kerala and in southern India. Munnar is located on the Western Ghats, situated in the Idukki district....
in Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
. He travels to Munnar to meet them there and finally gets to see them and feels happy again.
Meanwhile Eashwar, who had followed Karthik, arrives in Munnar as well, where he meets a car mechanic
Auto mechanic
An auto mechanic is a mechanic with a variety of car makes or either in a specific area or in a specific make of car. In repairing cars, their main role is to diagnose the problem accurately and quickly...
Sajid, who played professionally football with Eashwar, a few years ago and who allows Eashwar to stay at his home.
Karthik a last time goes to see father and son, before he wants to leave for Chennai, when then suddenly a car tries to hit Imman to death. Karthik, who was just readying to go home, comes back and is able to save Imman. Shocked by that incident, Karthik doesn’t believe, that it was merely an accident and wants Naushad to tell the truth, who has been admitted to hospital after having been injured in the accident. Karthik then gets to know about Eashwar, who was the man in the car, and his intentions. Eashwar has bought the same car, which “killed” his family members and seeks revenge for their death by killing Naushad’s son Imaan in return to “equal it”. Karthik then decides to take Imaan along him to a nearby place, where he had stayed before, promising Naushad, that he will protect and look after Imaan.
Subsequently, Karthik tries to befriend Imaan, who dislikes Karthik, doesn’t want to stay with him, but rather with his father and doesn’t obey him. When they, later, go by car, Karthik and Eashwar encounter themselves and Karthik, somehow, finds himself threatened by Eashwar. It follows a cat and mouse chase
Cat and mouse
Cat and mouse, often expressed as cat-and-mouse game, is an English-language idiom dating back to 1675 that means "a contrived action involving constant pursuit, near captures, and repeated escapes." The "cat" is unable to secure a definitive victory over the "mouse", who despite not being able to...
, whereas Eashwar wants to dispose of Karthik to get to Imaan and to kill him. Sajid sees, Eashwar chasing Karthik and offers to help by hiring people, who will kill both silently without mentioning Eashwar’s and Sajid’s names.
How Karthik protects Imaan and saves him from Eashwar as a tribute to Sandhya and his love forms the crux of the story.
Cast
- AryaArya (actor)Arya is an Indian film actor who mainly appears in Tamil films. He is best known for his roles in the films Pattiyal , Naan Kadavul , Madrasapattinam , and Boss Engira Bhaskaran.-Personal life:...
as Karthik. Karthik is a young happy-go-lucky architectArchitectAn architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, who falls in love with Sandhya and tries to convince her to marry him. Through Sandhya, he gets confronted with Naushad and Imaan and later with Eashwar. Sarvam was Arya's first film after Naan KadavulNaan KadavulNaan Kadavul is a 2009 Indian Tamil film co-written and directed by Bala, based on the Tamil novel Yezhaam Ulagam by Jayamohan who also penned the dialogues for the film. The film stars Arya and Pooja in the lead roles...
, with which he was engaged for more than two years and for which he had grown a long, thick beard. In contrary to that, Sarvam features him as a romantic lover hero, whereby he had to remove the beard and hence, the "Old Arya returned". Actually, Vishnuvardhan said, Arya's transition from Naan Kadavul to Sarvam was very difficult, since Naan Kadavul was a "lengthy process", where Arya had "forgotten the real in him". This happens to be the third film, in which Vishnuvardhan and Arya worked together after Arinthum Ariyamalum and Pattiyal with Arya citing, that Vishnuvardhan knows him "in and out" and that he was able to bring out the "best and finer aspects" of him, knowing his strengths and weaknesses, while Vishnuvardhan confessed, that working with Arya was comfortable. Arya later also mentioned, that the role of Karthik was the best role he had ever played in his film career, since the character had "many shades" as romantic, serious and emotional and there was "so much of variation".
- Trisha KrishnanTrisha KrishnanTrisha Krishnan is an Indian film actress and model, who primarily appears in Tamil and Telugu language films, but has also appeared in Hindi language films. She was noticed after winning several beauty pageants like the Miss Madras contest , which marked her entry into filmdom...
as Sandhya. Sandhya is a pediatric doctorPediatricsPediatrics or paediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician or paediatrician...
, who is approached by Karthik. She is one main person, who indirectly and unwittingly coalesces together the characters of Karthik, Eashwar, Naushad and Imman. Trisha Krishnan eventually got the role of Sandhya after several actresses, including Hansika MotwaniHansika MotwaniHansika Motwani is an Indian actress and a former child actress. She has worked in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada films.-Early life:Hansika Motwani was born in Mangalore, India. Her father Pradeep Motwani is a businessman, and her mother is Seema Motwani, a dermatologist...
, Anushka ShettyAnushka ShettyAnushka Shetty is an Indian film actress who works mainly in the Telugu and Tamil film industries. She debuted in the 2005 Telugu film Super and rose to fame following her performance in Vikramarkudu...
, NilaMeera ChopraMeera Chopra , also known as Nila, is an Indian film actress, who appears in Telugu and Tamil films.- Background :Meera started her graduation at SGTB Khalsa College but completed her Bachelors degree from Saginaw Valley State University in Saginaw, Michigan, U.S.,after which she went to New York...
and IleanaIleana D'CruzIleana D'Cruz is an Indian film actress, who predominantly appears in Telugu cinema. Starting her career as a model, she made her feature film debut in Y.V.S. Chowdhary's 2006 Telugu film Devadasu...
, were considered and opted out. According to Vishnuvardhan, Trisha, though she is not a new entrant, looks "very fresh" in the film, which, he believes, is because of her co-star Arya. Besides, she has an "interesting quality", which is her "innocent smile irrespective of her mischievousness", Vishnuvardhan states, which was "very essential" for the character and the reason for giving her the role.
- J. D. ChakravarthyJ. D. ChakravarthyJ.D. Chakravarthy born Nagulapati Srinivasa Chakravarthy is an Indian film actor and director in Telugu Cinema and Bollywood. He has directed Hindi films like Darwaza Bandh Rakho, Durga and Darna Zaroori Hai . In Telugu Cinema, he got critical acclaim for his directorial abilities through the film...
as Eashwar. Eashwar is a mentally imbalanced ex-football coachCoach (sport)In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
, who lost his wife, Gheetha, and son in a car accident and seeks revenge, since he believes, it was a planned murder by Naushad. Through an accident, Eashwar gets confronted with Karthik. He keeps moving around with a Rottweiler dogRottweilerThe Rottweiler is a medium to large size breed of domestic dog that originated in Rottweil, Germany. The dogs were known as "Rottweil butchers' dogs" because they were used to herd livestock and pull carts laden with butchered meat and other products to market...
, Bruce, that troubles Karthik later and that is introduced as the 'Black Prince'. Through Sarvam Chakravarthy came back to the Tamil film industry after nearly 7 years after having starred in Mani Ratnam'sMani RatnamMani Ratnam is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and producer. He made his directorial debut with the Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi starring Anil Kapoor in 1983...
2002 film Kannathil MuthamittalKannathil MuthamittalKannathil Muthamittal is a 2002 Tamil drama film directed by Mani Ratnam. It stars P. S. Keerthana, R. Madhavan, Simran, Nandita Das, Pasupathy, J. D. Chakravarthy and Prakash Raj. The film's score and soundtrack were composed by A. R. Rahman. The film's title is a famous phrase from a poem...
. He got the role of Eashwar, replacing UpendraUpendraUpendra is a cine actor, director, script writer and singer. Born in a middle class family at Koteshwara near Kundapura, he belongs to Kannada speaking Kota Brahmin community. Upendra started his career off with famous director Kashinath as a writer and an assistant director...
, who again was signed after ArjunArjun SarjaArjun Sarja is an Indian film actor and director. Son of Kannada film star Shakti Prasad, he has primarily acted in Tamil films, and also appeared in Kannada and Telugu films. The title "Action King" has been given to Arjun by fans, for the numerous roles he has portrayed in action films. He is...
, Mohan Lal and Nana PatekarNana PatekarVishwanath "Nana" Patekar is an Indian actor and filmmaker.-Biography:Born Vishwanath Patekar in Murud-Janjira, Maharashtra, to Dinkar Patekar and his wife Sanjanabai Patekar. He is an alumnus of the Sir J.J...
had refused the offer. Vishnuvardhan once mentioned, that Chakravarthy has a "spaced out look about him", which was needed for his character in the film and which made him to rope him in.
- IndrajithIndrajithIndrajith is an Indian film actor. He is the elder son of late Malayalam actor Sukumaran and actress Mallika. His brother Prithviraj is also an actor...
as Naushad. Naushad is a software engineerSoftware engineerA software engineer is an engineer who applies the principles of software engineering to the design, development, testing, and evaluation of the software and systems that make computers or anything containing software, such as computer chips, work.- Overview :...
, who had hit Eashwar's wife, Gheetha, and son, Naveen, to death in a road accident and is, therefore, threatened by Eashwar, who wants to kill Naushad's son in the same way in return. Sarvam happens to be the comeback vehicle to the Tamil film industry for Indrajith, too, who had lastly appeared in a Tamil film in 2001, in En Mana Vaanil along with JayasuryaJayasuryaJayasurya is an Indian film actor and comedian. He made his debut in 2001 in the Malayalam film Dosth and has since acted in about 50 films, notable ones being Swapnakkoodu , Pulival Kalyanam , Chathikkatha Chanthu , Classmates , Gulumaal , Happy Husbands and...
and Kavya MadhavanKavya MadhavanKavya Madhavan is an Indian film actress who works in Malayalam cinema. She made her debut in Pookkalam Varavayi as a child artist. In 1999, she became a lead actress in Lal Jose's Chandranudikkunna Dikhil.-Background:...
.
- 'Master' Rohan Shiva as Imaan. Imaan is the eight-year-old son of Naushad and the target of Eashwar, who wants to kill him. Imaan, is actually, the person, who "causes" the accident, which eventually brings together Karthik, Naushad and himself, and, hence, causes, indirectly, the conflict between Karthik and Eashwar. Rohan Shiva was signed for the role of Imaan, after 100-150 boys were tested for eight months. Vishnuvardhan finally chose Imaan, citing, that "he is not handsome, but there is something very cute about him".
- Krishna as Krishna. Krishna is a friend of Karthik and works with him. He provides the comic relief in the first half of the film. Krishna has become a regular in Vishnuvardhan's film, having acted already in Arinthum Ariyamalum and Pattiyal. As in the earlier films, Krishna's character in this film is again named Krishna.
- Wasim as Sajid. Sajid is a car mechanicAuto mechanicAn auto mechanic is a mechanic with a variety of car makes or either in a specific area or in a specific make of car. In repairing cars, their main role is to diagnose the problem accurately and quickly...
and Eashwar's friend and ex-football teammate, who meets him in MunnarMunnarMunnar is one of the most popular hill station in Kerala and in southern India. Munnar is located on the Western Ghats, situated in the Idukki district....
, KeralaKeralaor Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, where ha has moved and lives with his family. When finding out about Eashwar's intentions, he decides to help him. Wasim is another boy, who was introduced by Vishnuvardhan in this film, who, he cites, is "so natural" as the other actors as well that you "tend to forget that it is cinema".
- Anu Hasan as Gheetha in a cameo role. Gheetha is Eashwar's wife, who, along with her son, Naveen, dies in a car accident.
- Prathap Pothan as a psychiatrist in a cameo role. He plays the psychiatristPsychiatristA psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
, whose advice is sought by Karthik, who himself is advised to do so after behaving "strangely".
Other supporting artists in cameo roles include Raviprakash and Sriranjani as Trisha's father and mother respectively, Geetha Agarwal, 'Minnale' Ravi and Utthara Krishna Dass among others.
Crew
- Story, Direction: VishnuvardhanVishnuvardhan (director)Vishnuvardhan Kulasekaran, often credited simply as Vishnuvardhan, is an Indian film director. A one-time associate of Santosh Sivan he made his directorial debut in 2003 with Kurumbu, which did not fare well at the box office...
- Production: K. Karunamoorthy & C. Arunpandian
- Screenplay: VishnuvardhanVishnuvardhan (director)Vishnuvardhan Kulasekaran, often credited simply as Vishnuvardhan, is an Indian film director. A one-time associate of Santosh Sivan he made his directorial debut in 2003 with Kurumbu, which did not fare well at the box office...
& A. Gokul Krishna - Dialogues: Rajkannan
- Music: Yuvan Shankar RajaYuvan Shankar RajaYuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, singer and occasional lyricist. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil as well as several Telugu films. His musical career began in 1996, at age 16, as he composed the film score for Aravindhan...
- Cinematography: Nirav ShahNirav ShahNirav Shah is an acclaimed Indian cinematographer. He has worked on a number of major box office hits in Hindi and Tamil since his debut with the 2004 Hindi film Paisa Vasool.-Career:...
- Editing: Sreekar Prasad
- Art direction: Man Jagadh
- Sound designer: A. S. Laxmi Narayanan
- Choreography: Kalyan, DineshDinesh Kumar (choreographer)Dinesh Kumar is a 'Indian choreographer working with South Indian films, including Tamil films. He won the 2011 National Film Award for Best Choreography for his work in Aadukalam...
& Geetha Kapoor - Stunts: Thiyagarajan
- Lyrics: Pa. Vijay
- Costume design: Anu Vardhan
- P.R.O.: 'Mounam' Ravi & 'Diamond' Babu
- Stills: Sittarasu
- Production manager: Sundarraj
- Executive producer: K. Vijayakumar
Development
After having completed and released PattiyalPattiyal
Pattiyal is a 2006 Indian Tamil gangster film directed by Vishnuvardhan. The film tackles the issue of dons. It stars Arya, Bharath, Pooja Umashankar, Padmapriya Janakiraman, Cochin Haneefa and Santhana Bharathi in pivotal roles. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja...
in March 2006, Vishnuvardhan
Vishnuvardhan (director)
Vishnuvardhan Kulasekaran, often credited simply as Vishnuvardhan, is an Indian film director. A one-time associate of Santosh Sivan he made his directorial debut in 2003 with Kurumbu, which did not fare well at the box office...
announced, that he will commence his next project very soon, titled Sarvam and starring Surya in the lead. After the film was supposedly dropped, though it was already started in October 2006 with having finished the photo shoot for the film, the project was revived just one week later. The restarted film was first to be produced by Surya's cousin, K. E. Gnanavelraja, who earlier produced the Surya-starrer Sillunu Oru Kaadhal
Sillunu Oru Kaadhal
-Awards:Tamil Nadu State Film Awards* Best Female Playback - Shreya GhoshalSillunu Oru Kaadhal won two awards at the 54th Filmfare Awards for Tamil films, both for its music.2007 Filmfare Awards South*Best Music Director – A. R...
and was producing the award-winning film Paruthiveeran
Paruthiveeran
Paruthiveeran is a 2007 Indian Tamil film written and directed by Ameer Sultan. The film stars Karthi in his feature film debut as the titular character, with Priyamani as the female lead and Ponvannan, Saravanan and Ganja Karuppu and Sujatha essaying supporting roles...
, starring Surya's brother, Karthi
Karthik Sivakumar
Karthi is an Indian film actor, who works in the Tamil film industry. His father is Sivakumar, also a film actor. Karthi gained a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master's degree in Industrial Engineering in the United States. Since he had always wanted to become a film director,...
, at that time. However, he suddenly backed out of the project for unknown reasons and Vishnuvardhan was looking out for another producer, approaching 'Aascar' Ravichandran
Venu Ravichandran
Venu Ravichandran is an Indian film producer and distributor in Chennai, India. He is the founder and owner of the production and distribution company, Aascar Films.-Career:...
as well as the Malaysian RJ, 'Punnagai Poo' Gheetha
'Punnagai Poo' Gheetha
Punnagai Poo Gheetha is a Malaysian Tamil film producer, who has produced movies like Arinthum Ariyamalum, Kundakka Mandakka and Pattiyal. She is recognised as the first female producer of Tamil films....
, who produced Vishnuvardhan's Arinthum Ariyamalum
Arinthum Ariyamalum
Arinthum Ariyamalum is a 2005 Indian Tamil film written and directed by Vishnuvardhan that stars Prakash Raj along with newcomers Arya, Navdeep and Samiksha in lead and Adithya and Krishna in supporting roles. The film's music is composed by top director, Yuvan Shankar Raja...
and Pattiyal as well, and director Saran
Saran (director)
Saran is a Tamil film director from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. He was once an assistant to K. Balachander. He now owns a production house called Gemini Productions.-Life and Career:...
to produce the film, who all opted out, though. Later, Surya opted out of the project, too, and after Vishnuvardhan tried to cast R. Madhavan
R. Madhavan
R. Madhavan is an Indian actor, writer, film producer and television host. Madhavan has received a Filmfare Award, an award from the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards alongside recognition and nominations from other organisations...
in his film, which also failed for unknown reasons, the film was finally shelved in December 2006 and Vishnuvardhan instead started to film the remake of the 1980 Rajinikanth-starrer Billa
Billa (1980 film)
Billa is a 1980 Tamil film produced by K.Balaji and directed by R.Krishnamurthy. The film stars Rajinikanth, Suresh Balaje, Thengai Srinivasan, Manorama, Sripriya, Reena Roy and Major Sundarrajan...
, titled Billa
Billa (2007 film)
Billa is a 2007 Tamil gangster-thriller film directed by Vishnuvardhan. Based on the 1980 Tamil film of the same name and the 2006 Hindi film, Don: The Chase Begins Again, it was adapted by the director, who rewrote portions of the film from the original...
as well, starring Ajith Kumar
Ajith Kumar
Ajith Kumar is an Indian film actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He began his career as a supporting actor in a Telugu film before gaining critical recognition in the Tamil thriller Aasai . A succession of high-grossing films followed where Ajith was usually depicted as a romantic hero, with...
in the lead role.
In August 2007, when Vishnuvardhan was still working on Billa, it was reported, that he hasn't given up Sarvam yet and wants to restart the film, once Billa is finished and released, with Arya
Arya (actor)
Arya is an Indian film actor who mainly appears in Tamil films. He is best known for his roles in the films Pattiyal , Naan Kadavul , Madrasapattinam , and Boss Engira Bhaskaran.-Personal life:...
in the lead role. It was also rumored, that music composer Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, singer and occasional lyricist. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil as well as several Telugu films. His musical career began in 1996, at age 16, as he composed the film score for Aravindhan...
would produce the film, which turned out be wrong with K. Karunamoorthy and C. Arunpandian taking over the project and producing it under the banner of Ayngaran International
Ayngaran International
Ayngaran is a film distribution and production company of Tamil films, based in the United Kingdom. The company has distributed various Indian-produced Tamil films in Europe and North America. It is also responsible for the production of Tamil films into home media, such as VHS, DVD, and blu-ray...
. The film was finally kicked off in May 2008 with Arya
Arya (actor)
Arya is an Indian film actor who mainly appears in Tamil films. He is best known for his roles in the films Pattiyal , Naan Kadavul , Madrasapattinam , and Boss Engira Bhaskaran.-Personal life:...
, Trisha Krishnan
Trisha Krishnan
Trisha Krishnan is an Indian film actress and model, who primarily appears in Tamil and Telugu language films, but has also appeared in Hindi language films. She was noticed after winning several beauty pageants like the Miss Madras contest , which marked her entry into filmdom...
and J. D. Chakravarthy
J. D. Chakravarthy
J.D. Chakravarthy born Nagulapati Srinivasa Chakravarthy is an Indian film actor and director in Telugu Cinema and Bollywood. He has directed Hindi films like Darwaza Bandh Rakho, Durga and Darna Zaroori Hai . In Telugu Cinema, he got critical acclaim for his directorial abilities through the film...
in the lead roles.
The film was first reported to be a remake of the 1986 Hollywood thriller Hitcher
Hitchhiking
Hitchhiking is a means of transportation that is gained by asking people, usually strangers, for a ride in their automobile or other road vehicle to travel a distance that may either be short or long...
and later to be a remake of another Hollywood film, the 2003 Academy Award-nominated drama 21 Grams
21 Grams
21 Grams is a 2003 American drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga. It stars Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Danny Huston, and Benicio del Toro....
.
Casting
Initially, when Vishnuvardhan started the project in September 2006, he had signed up Surya to play the lead role, pairing up with the MumbaiMumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
and former child actress Hansika Motwani
Hansika Motwani
Hansika Motwani is an Indian actress and a former child actress. She has worked in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada films.-Early life:Hansika Motwani was born in Mangalore, India. Her father Pradeep Motwani is a businessman, and her mother is Seema Motwani, a dermatologist...
, who was to make her debut in the Tamil film industry. Hansika Motwani was chosen after Vishnuvardhan had approached several actresses for that role, who ultimately refused to accept the offer for various reasons. First he tried to rope in Telugu actress Ileana
Ileana D'Cruz
Ileana D'Cruz is an Indian film actress, who predominantly appears in Telugu cinema. Starting her career as a model, she made her feature film debut in Y.V.S. Chowdhary's 2006 Telugu film Devadasu...
, who reportedly demanded a remuneration of Rs 1 crore 75 lakhs and hence, she was dropped and Nila
Meera Chopra
Meera Chopra , also known as Nila, is an Indian film actress, who appears in Telugu and Tamil films.- Background :Meera started her graduation at SGTB Khalsa College but completed her Bachelors degree from Saginaw Valley State University in Saginaw, Michigan, U.S.,after which she went to New York...
and Anushka
Anushka Shetty
Anushka Shetty is an Indian film actress who works mainly in the Telugu and Tamil film industries. She debuted in the 2005 Telugu film Super and rose to fame following her performance in Vikramarkudu...
were approached and the latter got the role, since Nila demanded too much as well. The project started and even a photo shooting featuring both the actors was held, before Surya had to opt out of the project, because he had earlier signed to star in Gautham Menon's
Gautham Menon
Gautham Vasudev Menon is an Indian film director and producer. Mainly working in Tamil cinema, he has also directed Hindi and Telugu films which are remakes of his Tamil films...
Vaaranam Aayiram. By November 2006, R. Madhavan
R. Madhavan
R. Madhavan is an Indian actor, writer, film producer and television host. Madhavan has received a Filmfare Award, an award from the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards alongside recognition and nominations from other organisations...
was announced as the hero of the film, before the film was finally shelved in December 2006.
In November 2007, after Vishnuvardhan had finished his Billa, which was due to release, he restarted his shelved project Sarvam and started to scout his cast for the film again and reports say, that again Surya was considered for the role, before supposedly Arjun
Arjun Sarja
Arjun Sarja is an Indian film actor and director. Son of Kannada film star Shakti Prasad, he has primarily acted in Tamil films, and also appeared in Kannada and Telugu films. The title "Action King" has been given to Arjun by fans, for the numerous roles he has portrayed in action films. He is...
was confirmed for the leading role with Arya
Arya (actor)
Arya is an Indian film actor who mainly appears in Tamil films. He is best known for his roles in the films Pattiyal , Naan Kadavul , Madrasapattinam , and Boss Engira Bhaskaran.-Personal life:...
playing the second lead. Eventually the lead couple was replaced by Arya
Arya (actor)
Arya is an Indian film actor who mainly appears in Tamil films. He is best known for his roles in the films Pattiyal , Naan Kadavul , Madrasapattinam , and Boss Engira Bhaskaran.-Personal life:...
and Trisha Krishnan
Trisha Krishnan
Trisha Krishnan is an Indian film actress and model, who primarily appears in Tamil and Telugu language films, but has also appeared in Hindi language films. She was noticed after winning several beauty pageants like the Miss Madras contest , which marked her entry into filmdom...
, who were teaming up for the first time. Reports indicated that the script has been changed several times, to suit the lead actors respectively, Vishnuvardhan, however, confirmed, that the script did not change, stating that there are similarities between Surya and Arya and the script suited both and therefore a change was not necessary.
The antagonist role was first offered to Arjun
Arjun Sarja
Arjun Sarja is an Indian film actor and director. Son of Kannada film star Shakti Prasad, he has primarily acted in Tamil films, and also appeared in Kannada and Telugu films. The title "Action King" has been given to Arjun by fans, for the numerous roles he has portrayed in action films. He is...
, who, fearing of his image, rejected the role, as later did "two leading actors" as well as Malayalam actor Mohan Lal. Popular Hindi actor Nana Patekar
Nana Patekar
Vishwanath "Nana" Patekar is an Indian actor and filmmaker.-Biography:Born Vishwanath Patekar in Murud-Janjira, Maharashtra, to Dinkar Patekar and his wife Sanjanabai Patekar. He is an alumnus of the Sir J.J...
was also considered for the role, who, however, rejected as well, after which the role went to Kannada actor Upendra
Upendra
Upendra is a cine actor, director, script writer and singer. Born in a middle class family at Koteshwara near Kundapura, he belongs to Kannada speaking Kota Brahmin community. Upendra started his career off with famous director Kashinath as a writer and an assistant director...
, who did a negative role in the Tamil film Sathyam at the same time. Eventually Vishnuvardhan roped in Telugu actor J. D. Chakravarthy
J. D. Chakravarthy
J.D. Chakravarthy born Nagulapati Srinivasa Chakravarthy is an Indian film actor and director in Telugu Cinema and Bollywood. He has directed Hindi films like Darwaza Bandh Rakho, Durga and Darna Zaroori Hai . In Telugu Cinema, he got critical acclaim for his directorial abilities through the film...
for the same role replacing Upendra.
Apart from these three actors, it is said, that Malayalam actor Indrajith Sukumaran
Indrajith
Indrajith is an Indian film actor. He is the elder son of late Malayalam actor Sukumaran and actress Mallika. His brother Prithviraj is also an actor...
, brother of well-known actor Prithviraj Sukumaran
Prithviraj Sukumaran
Prithviraj Sukumaran credited mononymously as Prithviraj, is an Indian film actor and producer best known for his work in Malayalam cinema....
, who acts in his second direct Tamil film after En Mana Vaanil, a child actor
Child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...
, named Rohan Shiva, playing the 8-year-old Imaan, and a Rottweiler
Rottweiler
The Rottweiler is a medium to large size breed of domestic dog that originated in Rottweil, Germany. The dogs were known as "Rottweil butchers' dogs" because they were used to herd livestock and pull carts laden with butchered meat and other products to market...
dog play important roles in the film.
For the technical crew, Vishnuvardhan roped in mostly "his usual members", who had worked with the director on his earlier projects, too, including Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, singer and occasional lyricist. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil as well as several Telugu films. His musical career began in 1996, at age 16, as he composed the film score for Aravindhan...
as the music director
Music director
A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...
, Nirav Shah
Nirav Shah
Nirav Shah is an acclaimed Indian cinematographer. He has worked on a number of major box office hits in Hindi and Tamil since his debut with the 2004 Hindi film Paisa Vasool.-Career:...
as the cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
, Sreekar Prasad as the editor, Pa. Vijay as the lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
, Thiyagarajan as the stunt co-ordinator and Vishnuvardhan's wife, Anu Vardhan as the costume designer
Costume Designer
A costume designer or costume mistress/master is a person whose responsibility is to design costumes for a film or stage production. He or she is considered an important part of the "production team", working alongside the director, scenic and lighting designers as well as the sound designer. The...
. For Sarvam, Dinesh and Geetha joined Kalyan as the choreographer and Manu Jagadh replaced as Remiyan as the art director
Art director
The art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
.
Filming
Shooting for Sarvam was held for nearly nine months in various locations, including exotic places, where never before a film was shot. It started finally in June 2008, after Vishnuvardhan returned from the Cannes Film FestivalCannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
2008
2008 Cannes Film Festival
The 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 14 to May 25, 2008. In addition to films selected for competition this year, major Hollywood productions such as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Kung Fu Panda had their world premieres at the festival.The British press...
, where his film Billa was screened, and after Arya had completed Naan Kadavul
Naan Kadavul
Naan Kadavul is a 2009 Indian Tamil film co-written and directed by Bala, based on the Tamil novel Yezhaam Ulagam by Jayamohan who also penned the dialogues for the film. The film stars Arya and Pooja in the lead roles...
, for which filming was held for nearly one and a half year. The first half of the film was shot in and around Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, while the second half was shot in Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, mostly in deep forests, hence, the first half will be very "colourful", while the mood in the second half completely changes, getting "rainy, misty and completely green and dark".
Before Vishnuvardhan left for Cannes, he had already shot a few scenes at Marina Beach
Marina Beach
Marina Beach is a beach in the city of Chennai , India, along the Bay of Bengal, part of the Indian Ocean. The beach runs from near Fort St. George in the north to Besant Nagar in the south, a distance of , making it the longest urban beach in the country and the world's second longest...
in Chennai, that did not involve Arya, who was still busy with Naan Kadavul. Afterwards, shooting was held at various places in and around the city, including the "Gemini Parsn Apartment" near the Gemini flyover
Anna Flyover
Anna Flyover , lies in the heart of Chennai, India. Built by East Coast Construction and Industries in 1973, it was the first flyover in the country and in Chennai...
, the Elliot's beach
Elliot's beach
Elliot's Beach or "Besant Nagar Beach" ' is located in Besant Nagar, Chennai, India. It forms the end-point of the Marina Beach shore and is named after Edward Elliot, Governor of Madras. It has the Velankanni Church and the Ashtalakshmi Kovil nearby and is sometimes nicknamed 'Bessie'...
in Besant Nagar
Besant Nagar
Besant Nagar is one of Chennai's well known neighbourhoods, named after the famous lady theosophist Annie Besant, and adjoins the Theosophical Society. The Theosophical Society Headquarters is located here. It was founded in 1875, and is a worldwide body whose primary objective is Universal...
, the flyover at Kathipara Junction
Kathipara junction
Kathipara Junction is an important road junction in Chennai, India. It is located at Alandur, , south of Guindy, at the intersection of the Grand Southern Trunk Road , Inner Ring Road, Anna Salai and the Mount-Poonamallee Road...
and at the San Thome Basilica in Santhome
Santhome
-History:The word Santhome or San Thome is derived from Saint Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. The local Christian belief is that the apostle came to India in A.D.52, was martyred in A.D.72 at St.Thomas Mount in the City and was interred in Mylapore. A church was built over his...
in Chennai, where scenes for the first half of the film as well as some song sequences were filmed.
In August 2008 then, the crew shifted its bases to Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, where major parts of the second half were filmed. In Munnar
Munnar
Munnar is one of the most popular hill station in Kerala and in southern India. Munnar is located on the Western Ghats, situated in the Idukki district....
a romantic duet between Arya and Trisha was shot, for which grand sets had been erected by art director Manu Jagadh. The team then moved to the "Dhoni forest" in Palakkad district
Palakkad district
Palakkad District is one of the 14 districts of the Indian state of Kerala. The city of Palakkad is the district headquarters. Palakkad is bordered on the northwest by the Malappuram District, on the southwest by the Thrissur District and on the east by Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu. The...
in Kerala, where several important and crucial scenes, including the climax
Climax (narrative)
The Climax is the point in the story where the main character's point of view changes, or the most exciting/action filled part of the story. It also known has the main turning point in the story...
were shot. For the climax scene, a 90-feet-tall dilapidated church was built up and was made to look like 150 years old, while the remaining part of the climax was shot back in Chennai at Prasad Studio, where again a huge set was erected by Manu Jagadh. Other filming locations in Kerala include Cochin, Kannoor and Chalakudy
Chalakudy
Chalakudy is a municipal town situated on the banks of Chalakudy River in Thrissur District of the Kerala State in India. It is the base camp for travellers to Athirappilly and Vazhachal Falls...
.
In June 2008, two people were killed in an accident at the shooting spot, which was located at an under-construction building near the Gemini flyover
Anna Flyover
Anna Flyover , lies in the heart of Chennai, India. Built by East Coast Construction and Industries in 1973, it was the first flyover in the country and in Chennai...
in Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
. A lift, which was installed to carry materials to the eighth floor of the building, where filming was to be held, collapsed suddenly, killing two technicians, who were working on the lift. After actor J. D. Chakravarthy, too, was injured in a stunt sequence, it was reported, that Vishnuvardhan had decided to change the film title, which, however, didn't happen.
The songs were filmed at several places across India, like in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
, Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
and Gujarat.
A folk song ("Sutta Suriyana") was shot in a Chennai studio, choreographed by Dinesh and picturized on the lead couple, Arya and Trisha. Another song ("Neethane"), which was choreographed by Kalyan, was filmed on the new bridge at the Kathipara Junction
Kathipara junction
Kathipara Junction is an important road junction in Chennai, India. It is located at Alandur, , south of Guindy, at the intersection of the Grand Southern Trunk Road , Inner Ring Road, Anna Salai and the Mount-Poonamallee Road...
, Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
and the Indian Air Force
Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force is the air arm of the Indian armed forces. Its primary responsibility is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during a conflict...
base at Cholavaram. A fourth song ("Kaatrukulle"), picturized again on Arya and Trisha, was shot in late September and October at the beaches in Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
and a lake in Ladakh
Ladakh
Ladakh is a region of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of the Republic of India. It lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent...
, that was choreographed by Geetha, a student of the renowned choreographer Farah Khan
Farah Khan
Farah Khan is an Indian film director and choreographer. She is best known for her choreographical work in numerous Bollywood films. Khan has choreographed dance routines for more than a hundred songs in over 80 Hindi films. Khan has since become a noted Hindi film director as well...
. In the first weeks of February, the last song, a romantic duet, choreographed by Dinesh, involving the lead couple once more ("Siragugal"), was shot at the Rann of Kutch
Rann of Kutch
The Great Rann of Kutch, also called Greater Rann of Kutch or just Rann of Kutch , is a seasonal salt marsh located in the Thar Desert in the Kutch District of Gujarat, India and the Sindh province of Pakistan....
, a saline clay desert in Gujarat, close to the Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
border, according to Vishnuvardhan, a location that was never before used or seen in a Tamil film.
With this song, the shooting was eventually wrapped up in February 2009 and post-production works began.
Soundtrack
The film score and the soundtrack were composed by Yuvan Shankar RajaYuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, singer and occasional lyricist. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil as well as several Telugu films. His musical career began in 1996, at age 16, as he composed the film score for Aravindhan...
, who renewed his previous association with director Vishnuvardhan, who have earlier created very successful musical albums in Arinthum Ariyamalum
Arinthum Ariyamalum
Arinthum Ariyamalum is a 2005 Indian Tamil film written and directed by Vishnuvardhan that stars Prakash Raj along with newcomers Arya, Navdeep and Samiksha in lead and Adithya and Krishna in supporting roles. The film's music is composed by top director, Yuvan Shankar Raja...
, Pattiyal
Pattiyal
Pattiyal is a 2006 Indian Tamil gangster film directed by Vishnuvardhan. The film tackles the issue of dons. It stars Arya, Bharath, Pooja Umashankar, Padmapriya Janakiraman, Cochin Haneefa and Santhana Bharathi in pivotal roles. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja...
and Billa
Billa (2007 film)
Billa is a 2007 Tamil gangster-thriller film directed by Vishnuvardhan. Based on the 1980 Tamil film of the same name and the 2006 Hindi film, Don: The Chase Begins Again, it was adapted by the director, who rewrote portions of the film from the original...
. The soundtrack was formally released on 14 February 2009, coninciding with Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
at the Inox Complex in Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
.
The album comprises five tracks, lyrics for which were written by Vishnuvardhan's "usual lyricist", Pa. Vijay. Out of the five tracks, two were sung by composer Yuvan Shankar Raja himself and one song by his father Ilaiyaraaja
Ilaiyaraaja
Ilaiyaraaja is an Indian film composer, singer, and lyricist mainly in the Tamil film Industry. He is regarded as one of the finest music composers in India. Ilaiyaraaja is also an instrumentalist, conductor, and a songwriter...
. According to the director, two of the songs ("Neethane" and "Sutta Suriyana") were composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja even before Vishnuvardhan's previous venture Billa had started, when Sarvam was first announced in October 2006, nearly two years earlier. The song "Adada Vaa" was originally composed for the film Aayirathil Oruvan, for which Yuvan Shankar Raja was first signed to score the music, but which he left in the midst, after he had a fall out with director Selvaraghavan
Selvaraghavan
-Personal life:Selvaraghavan is the son of film director Kasthuri Raja, elder brother of actor Dhanush and has two sisters, who are both doctors. On 15 December 2006, he married actress Sonia Agarwal, with whom he had previously worked with on three films...
. However, Aayirathil Oruvan has one song Un Mele Aasadhan that was based on and sounds similar to Adada Vaa, but no credits were given to Yuvan.
The album received very positive reviews. Behindwoods.com reviewer Malathy Sundaram gave three stars out of five and wrote: "For the second time (after Aegan,) Yuvan has attempted to break free of the general norms of music here and the result is rather pleasing. The album feels fresh and breezy. With relevant picturization, the songs could make an impact". Rediff.com reviewer Pavithra Srinivasan too gave three stars out of five and wrote: "Sarvam is appealing" and "It looks like Yuvan, after a couple of not-so-memorable efforts, is on his way to finding his groove again. Sarvam manages to snag your attention, in a good way". Indiaglitz.com reviewer wrote: "On the whole, Yuvan's melodies would turn to be the chartbusters of the season and any guesses about best picks. Adada Vaa Asathala would go straight onto everyone's music library on their I-pods and mobiles. Sutta Suriyana is one more song that enlivens the feel while Signature Music would rock on the air", giving verdict as "effectually brilliant". Milliblog.com reviewer Karthik wrote: "After two average soundtracks, Yuvan gets his groove back" and later listed the album as the Top Tamil OST of 2009 and the song Neethane as the Top Tamil song of 2009 in his annual music round-up.
| Track | Song | Singer(s) | Duration | Notes* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 'Adada Vaa' | Ilayaraaja, Andrea Jeremiah Andrea Jeremiah Andrea Jeremiah is an Tamil playback singer, voice actor and a film and theatre actress. Beginning her career singing playback, Andrea has gone on to appear in critically acclaimed films such as Pachaikili Muthucharam and Aayirathil Oruvan, winning praise for her portrayals.-Career:Andrea was born... , Suvi Suresh Suvi Suresh Suvi Suresh born as Swetha Suresh on 26 September is an Indian singer. She was a member of the band S5 launched by the channel SS Music. She shot to fame with the song "Kodana Kodi" from Saroja, composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja. She is now member of a second band called Soulsonic.-Biography:Swetha... |
4:31 | Picturized on Arya, shot in sets |
| 2 | 'Neethane' | Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, singer and occasional lyricist. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil as well as several Telugu films. His musical career began in 1996, at age 16, as he composed the film score for Aravindhan... |
5:12 | Picturized on Arya and Trisha, featuring CGI effects Computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media... |
| 3 | 'Sutta Suriyanae' | Vijay Yesudas Vijay Yesudas Vijay Yesudas Kattassery , commonly credited as Vijay Yesudas, is an Indian playback singer, who has sung songs in Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Tulu and Telugu.-Early life:... |
4:32 | Picturized on Arya, featuring Indrajith and Rohan as well |
| 4 | 'Kaatrukulle' | Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, singer and occasional lyricist. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil as well as several Telugu films. His musical career began in 1996, at age 16, as he composed the film score for Aravindhan... |
4:23 | Picturized on Arya and Trisha in a huge Glass-box with beach, forest and desert as backdrops |
| 5 | 'Siragugal' | Javed Ali Javed Ali Javed Ali is an Indian playback singer. He has been singing in Hindi movies from 2000 but shot to fame in 2007 when he sang the song "Ek Din Teri Raahon Mein" from the movie Naqaab and thereafter another big hit "Jashn-e-Bahaaraan" from the movie Jodhaa Akbar . He is currently one of the leading... , Madhushree Madhushree Madhushree is an Indian singer, who sings in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. A familiar voice in A. R. Rahman's compositions, Madhushree hails from a musically inclined family, having previously been trained in classical music... |
5:22 | Picturized on Arya and Trisha, shot at the desert of the Great Rann of Kutch Rann of Kutch The Great Rann of Kutch, also called Greater Rann of Kutch or just Rann of Kutch , is a seasonal salt marsh located in the Thar Desert in the Kutch District of Gujarat, India and the Sindh province of Pakistan.... |
Marketing
After a nearly muted publicity campaign, Ayngaran InternationalAyngaran International
Ayngaran is a film distribution and production company of Tamil films, based in the United Kingdom. The company has distributed various Indian-produced Tamil films in Europe and North America. It is also responsible for the production of Tamil films into home media, such as VHS, DVD, and blu-ray...
finally released a first teaser poster in January 2009, that showed the five main characters of the film, Karthik, Sandhya, Imaan, Naushad and Eashwar, on their website along with some other images. The trailer of the film was finally screened during the interval
Intermission
An intermission or interval is a recess between parts of a performance or production, such as for a theatrical play, opera, concert, or film screening....
of the Vijay
Joseph Vijay
Vijay is an Indian film actor and playback singer, who is based in the cinema of Tamil Nadu. He is the son of film producer and director S. A. Chandrasekhar. After performing uncredited roles as a child actor in films produced by his father, he made his debut in a lead role in the 1992 film...
-starrer Villu
Villu
Villu means Bow in some South Indian Languages* Hari Villu kamal* Onavillu, a simple, short bow-shaped musical instrument* Villu , a Mitanni fish-deity* Villu , a 2009 Tamil film directed by Prabhu Deva...
, which was released during Pongal 2009 on 12 January 2009 and was an Ayngaran International production as well. Afterwards, on 19 January Ayngaran released the trailer exclusively on their website, after which the trailer was screened on various Tamil television channels. In February 2009, an official website was launched by Ayngaran International and later Sify
Sify
Sify Technologies Limited is an Internet service provider established in 1998, based in Chennai, India.-Company profile:...
launched a special site about the film on their respective website. Just before the Sarvam soundtrack was launched, Ayngaran released promotional audio clips of the songs of a duration of nearly 4 minutes overall, following which another one-minute teaser trailer
Teaser trailer
A teaser campaign is an advertising campaign which typically consists of a series of small, cryptic, challenging advertisements that anticipate a larger, full-blown campaign for a product launch or otherwise important event. These advertisements are called "teasers" or "teaser ads"...
, that features video clippings of three of the songs ("Adada Vaa", "Siragugal" & "Sutta Suriyana"), was released by Ayngaran one month after the audio launch. Few days before the film was released, the Galatta Cinema Magazine delivered a "Sarvam special edition", dedicating its cover story
Article (publishing)
An article is a written work published in a print or electronic medium. It may be for the purpose of propagating the news, research results, academic analysis or debate.-News articles:...
to Sarvam.
Theatrical run
The film's release had been postponed several times due to various reasons, before it was eventually released on 15 May 2009 worldwide by Ayngaran InternationalAyngaran International
Ayngaran is a film distribution and production company of Tamil films, based in the United Kingdom. The company has distributed various Indian-produced Tamil films in Europe and North America. It is also responsible for the production of Tamil films into home media, such as VHS, DVD, and blu-ray...
along with Raghava Lawrence's
Lawrence Raghavendra
Raghav Murugaiyan is an Indian choreographer who has also appeared in films as an actor, director, composer and playback singer. After making his first few appearances in supporting actor roles, he got his breakthrough with Style and then Muni...
Rajadhi Raja
Rajadhi Raja
Rajadhi Raja is a Tamil language action film released in 2009. It stars Lawrence Raghavendra in the lead roles. The title is taken from last years blockbuster with superstar Rajinikanth....
, another Ayngaran production, following the 2009 Indian election
Indian general election, 2009
India held general elections to the 15th Lok Sabha in five phases between 16 April 2009 and 13 May 2009. With an electorate of 714 million , it was the largest democratic election in the world to date.By constitutional requirement, elections to the Lok Sabha must be...
, though it was reported, that the film will not release until June 2009, following the 2009 IPL Cricket season
2009 Indian Premier League
The 2009 Indian Premier League season, abbreviated as IPL 2 or the 2009 IPL, was the second season of the Indian Premier League, established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 2007. The tournament was hosted by South Africa and was played between 18 April and 24 May 2009...
, which would end on 24 May 2009. The Indian censor board
Central Board of Film Certification
The Central Board of Film Certification is a Government of India regulatory body and censorship board of India controlled by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It reviews, rates and censors motion pictures, television shows, television ads, and promotional material...
had certified the film on 21 April 2009, giving it a clean "U" certificate without any cuts.
Produced on a budget of $2 million, the film was sold to distributors for $3 million. The film did averagely at the box office.
Reviews
Upon release, Sarvam gained very mixed reviews by critics, with the majority claiming, that the film failed to live up to the expectations. Generally, the film was described as "stylish" and visually attractive" and its screenplay as the sore point. SifySify
Sify Technologies Limited is an Internet service provider established in 1998, based in Chennai, India.-Company profile:...
labelled the film as a "visual treat", stating that the film is good in parts, has a "wafer thin storyline" and "banks heavily on style and gloss". Praise was addressed to director Vishnuvardhan
Vishnuvardhan (director)
Vishnuvardhan Kulasekaran, often credited simply as Vishnuvardhan, is an Indian film director. A one-time associate of Santosh Sivan he made his directorial debut in 2003 with Kurumbu, which did not fare well at the box office...
for trying to make a "different film" and for reworking the "Kollywood commercial formula". Technical aspects of the film were immensely lauded, especially Nirav Shah's
Nirav Shah
Nirav Shah is an acclaimed Indian cinematographer. He has worked on a number of major box office hits in Hindi and Tamil since his debut with the 2004 Hindi film Paisa Vasool.-Career:...
cinematography, which "works big-time for the film", as well as Yuvan Shankar Raja's
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, singer and occasional lyricist. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil as well as several Telugu films. His musical career began in 1996, at age 16, as he composed the film score for Aravindhan...
music and background score, Manu Jagadh's art work, while Thyagaran's "close combat action scenes" were cited as "spellbinding". Overall, the film was described as a "decent thriller".
Malathi Rangarajan from The Hindu
The Hindu
The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
gave the film an average review, citing, that "the recipe is perfect but the dish isn’t wholly delicious" and that the film has "the ingredients of a potential hit except the most essential, a gripping screenplay". Like Sify, Rangarajan, too, praised the technicians, describing Nirav Shah's camera works as "excellent" and Yuvan Shankar Raja's melodies as "lilting" and score as "foot-tapping", while the lead pair, consisting of Arya
Arya (actor)
Arya is an Indian film actor who mainly appears in Tamil films. He is best known for his roles in the films Pattiyal , Naan Kadavul , Madrasapattinam , and Boss Engira Bhaskaran.-Personal life:...
and Trisha Krishnan
Trisha Krishnan
Trisha Krishnan is an Indian film actress and model, who primarily appears in Tamil and Telugu language films, but has also appeared in Hindi language films. She was noticed after winning several beauty pageants like the Miss Madras contest , which marked her entry into filmdom...
, was cited as "attractive". Pavithra Srinivasan from Rediff gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, citing Sarvam to be "lacklustre" and that "it does not stand up to the hype". According to Srinivasan, the first half of the is the "best part", criticizing the screenplay, which takes a "nosedive post the intermission", and claiming, that the second half has "lacklustre performances" and "logicless scenes". She, too, praised the technical crew of the film, labelling Yuvan Shankar Raja's background score as "marvellous", which "just proves how good he can be", Nirav Shah's cinematography as "scintillating", the visuals as "astonishing" and Anu Vardhan's costumes as "excellent", while Manu Jagadh has done "wonders with his sets" and Sreekar Prasad's editing "fits the bill". Overall, she cites, that the film is worth a watch for the "stunning visuals", "musical score" and "Trisha's sequence", who, she claims, to be "perhaps the only shining part of the movie itself".
2 out of 5 stars were given by Behindwoods.com as well, which said, that Sarvam "rides on its visuals throughout" and that "an enjoyable first half is negated by a slack second". It blamed, Vishnuvardhan to be a director, who "got lots of flair and style", but whose writing "lets him down". Arya was cited as "top notch", while Trisha "looks fresh and beautiful and carries off her role in style" and "the pair has worked exceedingly well". According to Behindwoods, the real hero, however, was Nirav Shah, praising, that "every single frame is a treat to watch" and that it is "the visuals" that keep the audience "engrossed at many points in the second half", appreciating Manu Jagadh art works as well. Overall, it is cited, that you can enjoy the "frames", "beautiful visuals", the "Arya-Trisha chemistry" and forget the "thrills and suspense", which "are missing the film".
In comparison, the film received very positive reviews as well. Indiaglitz described the film as "Grand, glitzy and glossy", citing, that Vishnuvardhan has "mastered the art of making a trendy, sophisticated and chic film", while Kollywoodtoday praised the film even as "Vishnu’s another hallmark", citing it to be a "worth watching movie and winner of this season". Other smaller sites gave overwhelming reviews, with Cinefundas describing the film to be "substantially perfect on all vistas", Cinesnacks as "the most decent, stylish film of the season" and Vishnuvardhan as the "Best Filmmaker in Town", Zonkerala as "Vishnu's skilled piece of work", Tamilomovie as "Colossal touch of decent thriller", giving it 3 and a half out of 5 stars and Kollywoodnow as a "Must watch", giving it even 4 out of 5 stars.