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Vaanam Kottattum
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Dhana
Screenplay by	Dhana Mani Ratnam
Story by	Mani Ratnam
Produced by	Mani Ratnam
Starring	R. Sarathkumar Vikram Prabhu Shanthnu Bhagyaraj
Cinematography	Preetha Jayaraman
Edited by	Sangathamizhan E.
Music by	Songs: Sid Sriram Score: Sid Sriram K
Production company	Madras Talkies
Distributed by	YNOTX
Release date	7 February 2020 (2020-02-07)
Running time	127 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Vaanam Kottattum (transl. Let it rain) is a 2020 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Dhana, who co-wrote the film with Mani Ratnam. The film has an ensemble cast of R. Sarathkumar, Vikram Prabhu, Radhika Sarathkumar and Aishwarya Rajesh with an ensemble supporting cast. The film is produced by Mani Ratnam for Madras Talkies, with the latter also credited for co-writing the film's script. The film released on 7 February 2020.

Plot

As a young boy, Selva witnesses his paternal uncle Velusaamy Thevar being stabbed by someone. His father Bose Kaalai takes him to the hospital, where Bose kills two people who were responsible for his brother's condition. Bose's wife Chandra is shocked and wishes her son not to become like his father. She moves to Chennai with her son Selva and daughter Mangai.

Chandra struggles with adolescent Selva's stubborn attitude. Bose's elder brother Velusaamy supports his family. As adults, Selva works as a call taxi driver and Mangai is a law college student. They share a good friendship with Ramanathan. Selva drives a couple in his taxi and sees them fighting over their breakup. The girl threatens her lover to marry her or commit suicide by jumping from a bridge into a lake. Selva saves both the boy and the girl, rescuing them both.

Velusaamy asks Selva to accompany him to a wholesale plantain market to settle accounts with Paramasivan. He gets the due money back and starts a new business of plantain wholesale. They approach the victim's family to supply plantains, which they reluctantly agree to. Preetha's family is heavily indebted, and they approach Reddy, a big head in plantain wholesale, for supply of Andhra plantains. Reddy agrees to do business with them provided they secure a shop in the Koyambedu market. Mangai intelligently accomplishes the task, winning a place in the Koyembedu market and befriending Reddy's son Kalyan.

Meanwhile, Bose is released from prison after 16 years. Selva and Mangai feel bad about their father as he was in jail and this will affect the respect in the neighborhood. Chandra gets angry about her children's attitude and supports her husband. Bose interferes in Selva's business without his consent, which irritates Selva. The plantain supplier, who belongs to the family of the person killed by Bose, refuses to continue business with Selva as Bose returned from prison. Hence the supply for plantains stop. Bose disappears from home for three days with Chandra's jewels. Mangai and Selva think that he ran away with the jewels, but Bose returns bringing a truck of golden fruits (plantain variety) procured from Bangalore. Selva is irked by the golden fruits and supplies them free of cost as they may rot at any time. He gets angry that Bose wasted the money. This ensues a fight between Bose and Selva, and Bose angrily leaves home.

Bose also insults Preetha that she flirted with his son and made him give a bank guarantee for two crores. He misunderstands the relation between Mangai and Kalyan and warns him to stay away from his daughter. This angers Selva and Mangai, but they keep quiet for their mother. Selva finds that the variety of the golden fruit is in much demand and becomes delighted about the orders he gets. Reddy comes to Selva's home to ask Mangai's hand for marriage with his son, but Mangai declares that she loves her childhood friend Ramanathan. Reddy happily agrees to it and blesses her.

Meanwhile, Baskaran has been following Bose the moment he got released from jail. His twin brother Natrayan warns him to stay away from Bose's family as killing him is not a solution; rather, his future will get spoiled. Baskaran accidents Bose's bike, and Bose is injured and hospitalized. Selva sees Baskaran running away from the hospital and chases him but in vain. Meanwhile, George passes away. Selva consoles Preetha, and they start a relationship. Bose is heartbroken that his children do not accept him in their life and leaves to his brother's house. He finds the victim's family went to Chennai in search of him. Scared that they might harm his family, Bose rushes to Chennai. Baskaran tricks Selva posing as Natrayan and pretends to warn that he has come to save his family from Baskaran. Selva gets kidnapped by Baskaran. Bose arrives on time and rescues Selva. He tells Baskaran that jail is hell and that he should not waste his life killing Bose. If he still wants to take revenge, he can go ahead. Baskaran changes his mind and leaves them.

The film ends with Bose and Chandra celebrating their 60th anniversary in their hometown with the reconciled Selva, Mangai, and the entire family.

Cast

• Sarathkumar as Bose Kaalai
• Vikram Prabhu as Selva, Bose Kaalai's son
  • Master Raghavan as Young Selva
• Shanthanu Bhagyaraj as Ramanathan
• Nandha in a dual role as:
  • Bhaskaran
  • Natrayan
• Radhika Sarathkumar as Chandra, Bose Kaalai's wife
• Aishwarya Rajesh as Mangai, Bose Kaalai's daughter
• Madonna Sebastian as Preetha George
• Amitash Pradhan as Kalyan Reddy
• Balaji Sakthivel as Velusaamy Thevar, Bose Kaalai's brother
• Madhusudhan Rao as Reddy
• Ram C as Prathap
• M. J. Shriram as George, Preetha's father
• Sreeja Ravi as Velumani, Ramanathan's mother
• "Murattu Pandian" Baboos as Paramasivan
• Supergood Subramani
• Aroul D. Shankar

Production

Mani Ratnam finalised plans to produce a film for Madras Talkies by his assistant director Dhana Sekaran in late 2018. The story of the film was conceived by Mani Ratnam during a recce during the pre-production stages of O Kadhal Kanmani (2015). He had written a story based on the lives of real characters from Theni, which his assistant Dhana had recollected from his years growing up in the hill town. Mani Ratnam chose to eventually prioritise other directorial ventures, but agreed to produce the script with Dhana as director, owing to his familiarity with the characters. Dhana initially considered naming the film either Two Brothers or Brother Sister, but Mani Ratnam suggested the title of Vaanam Kottattum, a title he had earlier considered for his O Kadhal Kanmani and Kaatru Veliyidai (2017).

The first crew member to be publicly announced was music composer Govind Vasantha, who accepted to work on the film following negotiations in early November 2018. G. V. Prakash Kumar was signed to play the lead role, while Aishwarya Rajesh joined the cast shortly after to play the sister of Prakash Kumar's character. Vikram Prabhu replaced Prakash Kumar during March 2019, while Madonna Sebastian was subsequently cast opposite him. Actors Sarathkumar and Radhika Sarathkumar were then drafted in to play the parents of Vikram Prabhu's character.

Prior to the start of the shoot, actors Nandha Durairaj, Shanthanu Bhagyaraj and Amitash Pradhan were also added to the cast. Director Balaji Sakthivel joined the film's cast in August 2019 to portray a supporting role, marking an extended foray into acting following his role in Asuran (2019). Preetha Jayaraman was signed as the film's cinematographer, while Eka Lakhani joined as the costume designer. Despite finishing work on two songs, Govind Vasantha opted out of the film owing to a production delay and was replaced by playback singer Sid Sriram, who made his debut as a music composer through the project.

The film began production on 19 July 2019 and was continued throughout August. Scenes and a montage song titled "Business" featuring Vikram Prabhu was filmed near Jerusalem College of Engineering, Chennai. Further scenes were filmed at home in Triplicane, with Mani Ratnam also often visiting the shoot. During the first look poster release, the rest of the technicians working on the film was revealed, including K. Kathir as art director, debutant Sangathamizhan E. as film editor, Viji Sathish as choreographer, and "Stunner" Sam as stunt choreographer.

Music

The music for the film was composed by singer Sid Sriram, making his debut as a film composer. In addition to him singing most of the songs in this movie (except for the song, "Mannava"), he also composed the film's background score, alongside music director K. The album features six songs (with four of them were previously being released as singles), in which the lyrics for all the songs are written by Siva Ananth, who had previously co-written the script with Mani Ratnam for Chekka Chivantha Vaanam.

The first single track, "Kannu Thangom" was released on 15 November 2019. The second single track, "Easy Come Easy Go" was released on 20 November 2019. The third single track, "Poova Thalaiyaa" was released on 15 January 2020, coinciding with Pongal celebration. The fourth single track, "En Uyir Kaatre" was released on 20 January 2020.

The film's album was released at the music and trailer launch event which held on 23 January 2020. In addition, the album was made available immediately through music streaming platforms.

Govind Vasantha was signed in to compose music for the film. However, despite finishing work on two songs, Govind Vasantha opted out of the film owing to a production delay and was replaced by playback singer Sid Sriram, who made his debut as a music composer through the project.

Distribution

YNOTX was announced as the film's distribution partner on 6 January 2020.

Release

The film was originally scheduled to be released on 31 January 2020, was released on 7 February 2020.

References

1. ^ "Vaanam Kottattum - Teaser | Mani Ratnam | Dhana | Madras Talkies". YouTube. 8 January 2020. Archived from the original on 26 January 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
2. ^ "'கைதி' டீம் 'விஜய் 64'-க்கு அப்படியே வந்ததுக்குக் காரணம் அவர்தான்!- ஒளிப்பதிவாளர் சத்யன் சூரியன்". www.vikatan.com/. 28 August 2019. Archived from the original on 28 August 2019.
3. "'96' sensation Govind Vasantha teaming up with Mani Ratnam". The Times of India. 8 November 2018. Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
4. "I wasn't prepared to meet Mani Ratnam at all: Govind Vasantha". The Indian Express. 12 November 2018. Archived from the original on 28 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
5. "GV Prakash to act in Mani Ratnam produced film!". Sify. Archived from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
6. "Aishwarya Rajesh to star alongside GV Prakash in Mani Ratnam's next". The Times of India. 14 January 2019. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
7. "vikram-prabhu-roped-mani-ratnam-s-next-productio". www.thenewsminute.com. 4 March 2019. Archived from the original on 28 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
8. "Vikram Prabhu's film for Mani Ratnam to go on floors from July". The Times of India. 12 April 2019. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
9. ^ Subramanian, Anupama (20 July 2019). "Shanthanu Bhagyaraj and Amitash Pradhan, new additions in Mani Ratnam's film". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
10. "Balaji Sakthivel onboard for Mani Ratnam's 'Vaanam Kottattum'". Sify. Archived from the original on 10 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
11. "Balaji Sakthivel in Mani Ratnam's 'Vaanam Kottatum'". The Times of India. 9 August 2019. Archived from the original on 12 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
12. ^ Ramanujam, Srinivasa (24 August 2019). "Sid Sriram on turning composer with Mani Ratnam's 'Vaanam Kottatum' and much more". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
13. Ramanujam, Srinivasa (17 August 2019). "How team 'Vaanam Kottatum' shot on busy city roads when it rained heavily". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 29 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
14. "Vaanam Kottatum: Mani Ratnam pays visit to Radikaa and Sarathkumar on sets". in.com. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
15. Subramanian, Anupama (2 August 2019). "Mani Ratnam's surprise visit to film sets". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
16. "The first-look posters of Maniratnam's Vaanam Kottatum, here". Behindwoods. 13 November 2019. Archived from the original on 13 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
17. "Sid Sriram records a song with Shaktishree Gopalan for Mani Ratnam's Vaanam Kottatum". Behindwoods. 16 October 2019. Archived from the original on 13 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
18. "Sid Sriram and Shakthisree's Kannu Thangam from Mani Ratnam's Vaanam Kottatum". Behindwoods. 15 November 2019. Archived from the original on 16 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
19. Soundararaj, Sivaranjani. "Vaanam Kottatum Second Single, Easy Come Easy Go Song is Out Now". News Bricks. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
20. "Mani Ratnam's Vaanam Kottatum movie song Easy come Easy go in Sid Sriram music out now". Behindwoods. 20 November 2019. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
21. @MadrasTalkies_ (15 January 2020). "Happy to release this high energy number in @anthonydaasan & @sidsriram's voice & @bagapath's lyrics on the day of Pongal!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
22. "Mani Ratnam's Vaanam Kottatum movie song En Uyir Kaatre video released ft Aishwarya Rajesh Amitash Shanthnu Bhagyaraj". Behindwoods. 20 January 2020. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
23. @SonyMusicSouth (23 January 2020). "Listening to the delightful #VaanamKottattum album now" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
24. @MadrasTalkies_ (13 January 2020). "Get ready for an evening of music, rain and lots of love! #VaanamKottattum - Music & Trailer launch on 23 January 2020" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
25. @ynotxworld (6 January 2020). "Happy to announce that YNOTX is the distribution partner for #VaanamKottatum" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

External links

• Vaanam Kottattum at IMDb

• 2020 films
• 2020s Tamil-language films
• 2020s Indian films
• Films about siblings
• Indian drama films
• Films scored by K (composer)
• Films scored by Sid Sriram
• 2020 drama films
• Twins in Indian films
• Tamil-language Indian films
• Films produced by Mani Ratnam