Once More (1997 film)

Once More is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Vijay, Simran, and Saroja Devi, while Manivannan, Charle, S. S. Chandran and Anju Aravind play supporting roles. It incorporates footage from Iruvar Ullam (1963) as flashback scenes of Ganesan and Saroja.

Once More released on 4 July 1997 and became a commercial success. It was remade in Telugu as Daddy Daddy (1998).

Plot
Vijay, a young businessman whose only one aim in life is to have fun, is the managing director of a big tea estate in Ooty. His company goes on a big loss because of his mismanagement. Vijay spends most of his time partying and flirting with girls. To manage the loss to his company, Vijay invites his father Rajashekar, who is in the United States, to come to India to sign some documents. Unfortunately, Rajashekar dies in a plane crash on his way to India. Vijay's maternal uncle Ashok comes up with the idea of having another elderly person act as Vijay's father for a while until the documents are signed. So they visit a senior home in Coimbatore, where they meet Selvam, one of the inmates, and they request him to act as Vijay's father. He agrees to it and starts to act as Vijay's father.

Selvam observes Vijay's careless, easy-going lifestyle and is reminded of his old days when he used to be like Vijay. Selvam is very affectionate towards Vijay and considers him as his son. Vijay finds out about Selvam's past life, that Selvam was married to Shantha and they have been living separately for the past 34 years. He wants them to get united, so he searches and finds the whereabouts of Shantha. Meanwhile, Kavitha joins Vijay's company and talks to Vijay in her own style. Vijay is knocked out by Kavitha's beauty and falls in love with her. Then, their love gets into trouble because of Kavitha's mother. Now, Vijay tries to unite Selvam and Shantha, while in return, Selvam tries to unite Vijay and Kavitha. Kavitha first tries to kill Vijay to avenge her sister Anju, who committed suicide due to Vijay rejecting her love for him. But through Ashok and Selvam, Kavitha understands Vijay's good heart and reunites with him. Also, Selvam and Shantha meet once again and get married 'Once More'. The film hence ends with a happy note.

Production
The director, S. A. Chandrasekhar, convinced Sivaji Ganesan to feature in the film after Sathya Sai Baba told him to continue acting for this role. Scenes from Iruvar Ullam (1963) were also featured extensively in the film, being used as flashback scenes depicting the backstory of Ganesan and B. Saroja Devi's characters. Saroja Devi considered Once More to be a sequel to Iruvar Ullam.

The film marked the debut of actress Simran in Tamil cinema, with Once More and her other Tamil film, V.I.P. both releasing on 4 July 1997. Simran had earlier rejected Tamil films including Bharathiraja's proposed Siragugal Murivathillai, and had garnered popularity in the Tamil film industry prior to the release of her first film. She worked on Once More alongside her commitments for V.I.P., Nerrukku Ner (1997) and Poochudava (1997).

Soundtrack
The soundtrack was composed by Deva.

Critical reception
K. N. Vijiyan New Straits Times wrote that the film was a good family entertainer. Ananda Vikatan rated the film 39 out of 100.