Kaadhal Kondein

Kaadhal Kondein is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language romantic psychological thriller film written and directed by Selvaraghavan, credited as his directorial debut. The film stars his brother Dhanush and newcomers Sonia Agarwal and Sudeep Sarangi, while Nagesh and Daniel Balaji play supporting roles. The film, which has music scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja and cinematography handled by Arvind Krishna, was released on 4 July 2003, becoming a critical and commercial success upon release. The film is considered a breakthrough for Dhanush as it catapulted him into the league of lead actors in the Tamil film industry.

The film was remade in Telugu in 2004 as Nenu, in Bangla in 2004 as Onno Manush, in Kannada in 2009 as Ravana and in Bengali in 2010 as Amanush.

Plot
In 2003, Vinod (Dhanush), an orphan, has grown up under the care of church father Rozario (Nagesh). He is an introvert but a genius. He scores well in his +2 exams and gets free admission into one of the top engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh. He is forcibly sent to Vishakhapatnam to study in an engineering college, where he is a complete misfit in class. Though shunned by the rest of his class, Divya (Sonia Agarwal), a fellow Tamilian student, becomes his best friend, and he gradually warms up to her. Vinod excels in his studies, and everyone begins to see him differently. His feelings for Divya soon turn into love, but he realises that Divya considers him only as a friend and learns that she is in love with another classmate, Aadhi (Sudeep).

Divya's father is enraged on learning of her love. He locks her up in her room and prevents her from contacting anyone. Vinod comes and requests to meet her on the pretext of purchasing second-hand clothes for himself. Pitying Vinod, her father allows him to meet Divya. Vinod escapes with Divya and convinces her that she will meet Aadhi in Araku Valley. Vinod has set up a secret place in Araku to execute his plan of wooing Divya. He makes her stay with him, while convincing her to stay by talking about Aadhi's arrival. On one such day, he reveals information about his past.

In 1995, near the forest of Chilakaluripet, a gang runs a brick factory which employs only children as labour. The gang's leader is a ruthless money-lending lady who buys orphans for work. The boys and girls are enslaved under highly inhuman conditions and work for 16 hours a day. Vinod, a 13-year-old-boy, is sold by his uncle and aunt for money after his parents died in an accident. He befriends three boys and one girl of the same age. One day, Vinod tries to inform the cruelty the children are exposed, to an officer who later accepts a bribe and leaves. He is then sent to solitary confinement within a metal box under the sun as punishment. Vinod's female friend agrees to the sexual advances made by the owners husband in exchange for freeing Vinod from the metal box, yet she dies during the sexual assault and the murder is covered up. Weeks later, the boys, led by Vinod, rebel and kill the entire gang. They manage to vandalise the place and escape, following which the government takes over the plant, and all children are admitted into an orphanage run by Father Rozario.

Divya is touched by his past. Incidentally, the police and Aadhi arrive at the place. While Vinod was away to get some food, they try to explain to Divya that Vinod is a psychopath, with the evidence of a dead body in his earlier residence. Divya scoffs at their claims, citing his gentlemanly behaviour over the days that she has been alone with him. Vinod, learning that the police have arrived at the scene, begins to indulge in violence. He opens fire, killing a police constable. Forcing them out of their hideout, he manages to evade the police inspector and Aadhi and successfully brings Divya back to their original place of stay. Divya soon identifies the wolf in the sheep's clothing. Vinod pleads with her, telling Divya that all he wanted in his life was her presence, but she called him a friend and stated her inability to accept him as her partner for life.

Meanwhile, Aadhi regains consciousness and comes back to attack Vinod and rescue his girlfriend. A violent fight follows, where Vinod treats Aadhi with disdain. The fight culminates with Vinod, Aadhi, and Divya teetering at the edge of a slippery cliff. While Divya clutches a tree bark tightly, Vinod and Aadhi slip out and barely manage to hold either of her hands. Divya is forced to choose between her boyfriend and friend. Aadhi's pleas notwithstanding, Divya does not have the heart to kill Vinod, who smiles at Divya and he himself leaves hand falling to his death. The film closes with a dead Vinod looking up, with a smile on his face.

Production
In the late 1990s, Selvaraghavan had written a script and had first narrated the story to his brother Dhanush in their shared bedroom at home, before asking him to play the lead role of Vinod. The film, later titled Kaadhal Kondein, became Selvaraghavan's official directorial debut after he wrote and "ghost-directed" Thulluvadho Ilamai (2002). Abhinay, who was a part of Thulluvadho Ilamai, was to play one of the lead roles but was replaced by newcomer Sudeep from Mumbai. This is the debut film for actress Sonia Agarwal.

Music
For Kaadhal Kondein, director Selvaraghavan and music composer Yuvan Shankar Raja came together again after their earlier successful collaboration in Thulluvadho Ilamai, for which Selvaraghavan worked as a writer. The soundtrack of Kaadhal Kondein was released on 20 March 2003, featuring seven tracks with lyrics written by Palani Bharathi and Na. Muthukumar. The music, especially the film score, received universal critical acclaim, establishing composer Yuvan Shankar Raja as one of the "most sought after music directors" in the Tamil film industry.

The song "Kadhal Mattum Purivathillai" is based on "Räven" by the Swedish-Finnish folk band Hedningarna, while "Manasu Rendum" is based on "A Rose in the Wind" by Indonesian singer Anggun. More than a year after the release of the film, an "original soundtrack" was released, that followed the Hollywood-style. It was said to be the first time, that an original soundtrack was released for a film in India as the soundtracks released in India do not contain any film score pieces but full songs that feature in the film itself. The OST of Kaadhal Kondein contains 20 tracks overall, which includes the seven earlier released tracks, four "montage" bit songs, that featured in the film, but not in the soundtrack, and nine pieces from the actual film score, which were titled "Theme Music".

Critical response
The film opened in July 2003 to critical acclaim and commercial success. A reviewer from The Hindu noted, "[Selvaraghavan's] story, screenplay, dialogue and direction are focused and hit the bull's eye straightway — hardly missing the mark." Malini Mannath of Chennai Online wrote "The film-maker willing to experiment with lesser explored subjects needs to be commended for taking 'the road not taken', and for his efforts to give a different fare to the audience. 'Kadhal Konden' is an engaging entertainer, worth a watch". The Visual Dasan of Kalki praised the acting of Dhanush and Sonia Agarwal, Yuvan Shankar Raja's music and the cinematography.

ITFA Award

 * Winner : ITFA Best New Actress Award - Sonia Agarwal

Remakes
Since its release, the film has been remade into several Indian languages; Boney Kapoor bought the rights to remake the film in Hindi, but the project did not materialise. The film was later remade in Telugu as Nenu (2004), in Kannada as Ravana (2009), in Bangladeshi Bengali as Onno Manush (2004) and in Indian Bengali as Amanush (2010).

Legacy
The film proved to be a career breakthrough for both Selvaraghavan and Dhanush in the Tamil film industry. The success of the song "Devathaiyai Kandaen" prompted Boopathy Pandian to name his 2005 film starring Dhanush after the song title.