Monisha En Monalisa

Monisha En Monalisa is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language romance film written, directed and produced by T. Rajendar who also composed the music and portrayed a supporting role as a philosopher, Kaadhaldasan. The actors Ramankanth (Raman Trikha) and Mumtaj made their debuts in this film. T. Rajendar's sons, Silambarasan and Kuralarasan, appear in the opening song of the film, "Monisha", sung by the former.

Monisha En Monalisa released on 12 April 1999. It received negative reviews and became a commercial failure.

Plot
Rahul lives a miserable existence – he is ill-treated by his superficial step-mother (Sharmila's aunt), and largely ignored by his meek father. He is also irritated by his housemate Sharmila. His world brightens when he attends pop singer Monisha's concert. He instantly falls in love with her and pursues her by wooing her over the phone. Monisha, who hates men and the concept of love itself, initially resists his advances. However, his relentless efforts bear fruit and she agrees to meet him in person. Unfortunately, Rahul meets with an accident on the way over and dies. The film hinges on whether Monisha will ever get to meet her lover.

Production
The song Tholaipesi Enna was shot at a grand budget of ₹10 million, but the film had troubles after floods in Chennai washed away a set erected on the banks of the Cooum. During the production of the film, the film was renamed from Monisha to Monisha En Monalisa due to astrological reasons. The film had begun production as a trilingual in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu, and Rajender cast local actors for the Hindi version. Hindi television actor Raman Trikha was renamed Ramankanth for the Tamil version, while actors including Rahul Saxena, Ravi Kiran, Kunika, and Kalpana Iyer were signed to play roles.

Soundtrack
Soundtrack was written and composed by T. Rajendar. The title song of the film is based on "María" by Ricky Martin. HMV (now known as Saregama) bought the audio rights of the film and they said to have sold over three lakhs of cassettes within first round.

Release and reception
Monisha En Monalisa released on 12 April 1999. K. P. S. of Kalki called it an unbelievable, tiring, cliched love story. D. S. Ramanujam of The Hindu gave the film a more positive review, calling it a "feather in the cap of versatile artiste and technician, T. Rajender. With single-minded devotion and perseverance, he has taken up the seven important tasks in a production - story, screenplay, dialogue, lyrics, music, cinematography and direction".