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Thoongaa Vanam

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2015 Indian film
Thoongaa Vanam
Theatrical release poster in Tamil
Directed byRajesh M. Selva
Screenplay byKamal Haasan
Based onNuit Blanche by Frédéric Jardin
Produced by
Starring
CinematographySanu John Varghese
Edited byShan Mohammed
Music byM. Ghibran
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 10 November 2015 (2015-11-10) (Tamil)
  • 20 November 2015 (2015-11-20) (Telugu)
Running time127 minutes
CountryIndia
Languages
  • Tamil
  • Telugu
Box officeest. ₹50 crore

Thoongaa Vanam (transl. Sleepless forest) is a 2015 Indian action thriller film directed by Rajesh M. Selva. The film stars an ensemble cast including Kamal Haasan, Prakash Raj, Trisha, Kishore, Sampath Raj, Guru Somasundaram, Yugi Sethu, Aman Abdullah, Asha Sharath, Madhu Shalini and Jagan. It was filmed simultaneously in Tamil and Telugu languages, the latter titled Cheekati Rajyam (transl. Kingdom of darkness). Both versions were produced by Raaj Kamal Films International and Sree Gokulam Movies. The film is a remake of the French film Sleepless Night (2011).

Thoongaa Vanam was released on 10 November 2015 coinciding with Diwali while the Telugu version Cheekati Rajyam was released on 20 November 2015. The film received positive reviews from critics. This films marks Trisha's 50th film and completes her 15 years in the industry.

Plot

C.K. Diwakar is an IRS officer in the NCB, who along with his deputy Mani, steals a narcotics shipment. In retaliation, Vittal Rao, a drug lord, who was due to receive the shipment, kidnaps Diwakar's son Vasu. He is willing to release Vasu if Diwakar can return to him the bag of cocaine that he stole earlier. With no other option at hand, Diwakar agrees and proceeds to Vittal's nightclub, with the bag of cocaine, where Vasu is held hostage. His act of hiding the bag in the men's toilet is noticed by NCB agent Mallika, who becomes suspicious. Thinking that Diwakar is involved in drug smuggling, she informs her superior Dhiraviyam/Mohan.

Dhiraviyam/Mohan begin to pursue Diwakar, taking away the bag of cocaine from the toilet in the process. When Diwakar realises that the bag of cocaine has gone missing, he decides to return to Vittal a bag containing packets of milk powder instead, thinking that he and his cronies, including a gangster named Pedha Babu, will not realise the difference. Unfortunately, Vittal and Pedha soon find out that Diwakar had cheated them and decide to kill him. Caught between Vittal's gang on one side and Mallika and Dhiraviyam/Mohan on the other side, Diwakar confronts Mallika and tells her that contrary to her suspicions, he has been working undercover and had planned the entire operation to expose cops such as Dhiraviyam/Mohan and Mani, who are involved in drug smuggling.

Diwakar then rescues Vasu without Vittal's knowledge, and Vittal is also arrested by Mallika and Dhiraviyam/Mohan. While taking Vittal to prison, Mallika finds out that she has Mani's mobile phone, and on reading the messages in it, she finds out that Diwakar had been speaking the truth all along, realising that Dhiraviyam/Mohan and Mani are involved in drug smuggling and had tried to frame Diwakar. Though Dhiraviyam/Mohan tries to resist arrest, killing Vittal in the process, he is eventually brought to justice. Three months later, Mallika is now Diwakar's deputy, and the duo is shown thwarting the attempted murder of a police officer.

Cast

Production

Pre-production

Kamal Haasan announced that his next project, a bilingual thriller titled Thoongaa Vanam in Tamil, would be directed by his former assistant Rajesh Selva and produced by himself. The film was initially titled as Ore Iravu, before going through a change of title. Haasan added that the film would be shot simultaneously and with the same cast and crew as Cheekati Rajyam in the Telugu language. Sanu Varghese and Shan Mohammed were named as the cinematographer and editor, respectively, while Ghibran was recruited as the film's composer, working on the fourth successive Kamal Haasan film. Writer Suka was chosen to write the Tamil dialogues, while Abburi Ravi was assigned to work on the dialogues for the Telugu version.

Kamal Haasan was reported to be play CK Dhiwakar, an Indian Revenue Service officer in Narcotics Control Bureau. Trisha and Prakash Raj were the first actors to be cast and reported to play the female lead and an important supporting role respectively. While Prakash Raj was said to portray a drug dealer named Vital Rao, Trisha's role was Mallika, a police officer. In June 2015, Asha Sarath, was announced as part of the cast. Uma Riyaz Khan was signed for an "important role" and Kishore informed that had been selected for a "key role" in the film. In June 2015, it was reported that Madhu Shalini was part of the film and had starting filming, while Sampath Raj was also added to the cast. Sampath's character was revealed to be that of a local gangster called Pedha Babu.

Filming

Following a photo shoot at the AVM Studios on 20 May 2015, the film was officially unveiled on 25 May in Hyderabad with the release of the first look poster, after which principal photography began with a schedule at the Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad. The filming was completed in 38 days by August 2015.

Soundtrack

Thoonga Vanam
Soundtrack album by Ghibran
Released7 October 2015 (2015-10-07) (Tamil)
3 November 2015 (2015-11-03) (Telugu)
Recorded2015
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length4:33
LanguageTamil
Telugu
LabelThink Music
ProducerGhibran
Ghibran chronology
Papanasam
(2015) 		Thoonga Vanam
(2015) 		Babu Bangaram
(2016)
External audio
audio icon Official Video Song (Tamil) on YouTube
audio icon Official Video Song (Telugu) on YouTube

The soundtrack album for Thoongaa Vanam composed by Ghibran, features only one song, "Neeye Unakku Raja" in the heavy metal genre, written by Vairamuthu and sung by Kamal Haasan, with backing vocals by Yazin Nizar and model-turned-singer Aishvarrya. The song was released on 7 October 2015. The Telugu version of the song named "Dhairyam Veedi" written by Ramajogayya Sastry was released, on 3 November 2015.

Track listing (Tamil)
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Neeye Unakku Raja"VairamuthuKamal Haasan, Aishvarrya, Yazin Nizar4:33
Track listing (Telugu)
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Dhairyam Veedi"Ramajogayya SastryKamal Haasan, Aishvarrya, Yazin Nizar4:33

Reception

Thoongaa Vanam

Gautaman Bhaskaran of Hindustan Times gave the film a rating of 4/5 stars, calling it "an absolute slick crime adventure". Latha Srinivasan of Daily News and Analysis gave 3.5/5 stars mentioning Thoongaa Vanam as a slick, well-made film that takes you through the course of happening over one night to the police officer and appreciated Rajesh Selva for directing a film that broke from the regular Tamil films. They also appreciated the performance of Kamal Haasan, Trisha and Ghibran for the excellent background score.

Rating it 3/5 stars, S. Saraswathi of Rediff appreciated the performances of the lead cast as well as the film's technical aspects but criticised the lack of pace in the film's screenplay before concluding "the intriguing plot, good performances, Ghibran's innovative background score and camera angles of Sanu Varghese make director Rajesh M. Selva's Thoonga Vanam [sic] worth a watch." M. Suganth of The Times of India also rated the film 3/5 and wrote, "even though the film cleverly spreads the action across various areas in the club it isn't enough to shake off the feeling of claustrophobia. By the time the film gets over, we feel exhausted." Karthik Keramalu of IBNLive gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote, "Actors move in and out of rooms, run this way and that, plot and fail, hide and seek. Yet all the effort of the cast and crew is shaken and not stirred enough as the screenplay gets a few nods wrong."

Baradwaj Rangan, writing for The Hindu, stated that the film picks up in the post-interval portions "the kitchen-sink action choreography, the sounds of things breaking and clattering, the bursts of background score, the jittery camerawork", concluding the film as "an okay thriller", but criticised Rajesh Selva for not giving the output to the dazzle of Brian De Palma films. Sify described the film as a "classy thriller that gives an edge of the seat ride with world class action sequences and no-nonsense execution!". Kamal Haasan, Prakash Raj, Sampath Raj, Kishore and Trisha were appreciated for their performances, while they concluded mentioning about the technical aspects like music, action, editing and camera work that gave an edge to the film.

Cheekati Rajyam

Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu stated, :though the film isn't really exceptional, makes for an engaging watch". She also mentioned the performance of Kamal Haasan, Prakash Raj and Trisha as good, concluding the film as a stylish cop drama as attention is paid even to little details of the film making.

Box office

The film grossed over ₹50 crore worldwide. It's box office shortcomings were attributed by journalists to the 2015 South India floods.

References

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External links

Raaj Kamal Films International
Key people
Films
Kamal Haasan
As director
As screenwriter
Related
People
Rajesh M. Selva
Categories: