Mugavaree (English: Identity) is a 2000 Tamil musical film written and directed by V. Z. Durai and produced by S. S. Chakravarthy. It was Ajith Kumar's first film of this millennium. The film features Ajith Kumar and Jyothika in the lead role as a struggling musician with, Raghuvaran, Vivek and K.Vishwanath playing supporting roles. The music is composed by Deva, song lyrics were written by Vairamuthu, whilst the film featured award-winning cinematrography by P. C. Sriram.
Mugavaree | |
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Directed by | V. Z. Durai |
Produced by |
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Written by | Balakumaran (Dialogue) |
Screenplay by | V. Z. Durai |
Story by | V. Z. Durai |
Starring |
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Music by | Deva |
Cinematography | P. C. Sriram |
Edited by | Suresh Urs |
Production company | NIC Arts |
Distributed by | NIC Arts |
Release date |
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Running time | 156 mins |
Country | India |
Language | Tamil |
The story revolves around the conflicting emotions of ambition, love and responsibility that the protagonist, Sridhar played by Ajith Kumar, goes through in his quest to become a successful music composer. The film opened in February 2000 to positive critical acclaim.
Screenplay
Sridhar (Ajith Kumar) is from a middle-class family headed by his father (K. Vishwanath). Shiva (Raghuvaran) is Sridhar’s elder brother and the breadwinner for the family consisting of his wife Shantha (Sithara) and sister (Preitha Raghav). Sridhar, upon completion of his graduation, aspires to become a music director and tries hard to secure a chance in movies, but all his efforts go in vain. Sridhar’s search for a chance continues for 8 years. Despite that, his family members support him very well and encourage him whenever he feels dejected.
Sridhar meets Viji (Jyothika) and befriends her. Viji also likes Sridhar and his aspiration. Slowly, love blossoms between them. Viji gets introduced to Sridhar’s family, and they too like her. But Sridhar has plans of marrying her only after getting his first break in music. Viji also understands Sridhar and supports him. A CD shop owner (Manivannan) is Sridhar's neighbor, and he also encourages him. Sridhar gets an opportunity to compose music for a film. He feels extremely happy and goes for recording. But on the same day, the producer meets with an accident, and the movie is dropped.
Viji’s younger sister Sudha (Soumya) gets a good marriage alliance, but the groom’s family finds it odd seeing Viji being unmarried. Viji’s father (Jaiganesh) requests Sridhar and Viji to get married, so that it does not stop his younger daughter’s wedding proposal. Viji’s father asks Sridhar to leave away his dream of becoming a music director as he has been already trying hard for a years. He also offers him a job so that he can marry Viji.
But Sridhar refuses to let go his dream. He is ready to sacrifice his love for the sake of his ambition. He requests Viji to get married to someone else as he cannot give up his passion for music. One day, Shiva gets a heart attack and is admitted to hospital. The doctors say that Shiva has heart problems and he needs rest. Sridhar is shocked to see his brother’s condition. As Shiva was the only income earner in the family, now Shantha and Preitha decide to take up some jobs to help earn money for the family.
Sridhar worries seeing that, and also feels proud about the love and affection shown by his family members towards him, as no one asked him to forego his ambition and take up some job despite this condition. But Sridhar decides to go for a job so he could ease his family's financial burden. He informs this and leaves for an interview.
After a few years, Sridhar secures a chance to compose music, becomes a leading music composer, and marries Viji.
- Ajith Kumar as Sridhar
- Jyothika as Viji Chandrasekhar
- Raghuvaran as Shiva
- K. Vishwanath as Sridar's father
- Sithara as Shantha, Shiva's wife
- Vivek as Ramesh
- Manivannan as CD Shop Owner
- Jaiganesh as Chandrasekhar, Viji's father
- Fathima Babu as Viji's mother
- Nizhalgal Ravi as Dhurai's father
- Suchindra as Dhurai (guest appearance)
- Preetha Raaghav as Sridhar's Sister
- Soumya as Sudha, Viji's Sister
- Rajeev as Shiva's friend
- Cochin Hanifa as Music director
- Ponnambalam as Muthupandi, Rice shop owner
- Santhana Bharathi as RK Ram
- Rajasekhar
- Kavitha as Viji's friend
- Sethu Vinayagam as Cinema producer
- Mohan Raman as Shiva's boss
- Mahendran as a child on the beach
- Scissor Manohar
The director, V. Z. Durai revealed that he had approached S. S. Chakravarthy to make the film with Ajith Kumar after failing to get noticed for a long period, getting rejected by four producers for the script. Chakravarthy was supportive and maintained a close link with the film from shoot til post-production.
Prior to the release of the film, Ajith who has happy with the final product gifted a car to the director. The success of the film led to the producer and the director signing another film together, Kadhal Sadugudu featuring Vikram and Priyanka Trivedi.
The film opened to positive reviews from critics with a reviewer citing that "Durai's presentation and supporting characters lack the depth necessary to make this a commercially successful venture". Rediff.com also gave the film a positive review citing that the real "winners" are "Ajith Kumar, the actor, and P. C. Sriram, the cinematographer". The critic claimed that Ajith "brilliantly portrays the vulnerable and sad Sridhar". A third reviewer also praised the film claiming that Ajith "comes up with another good performance, conveying the hopes and frustrations of a struggling music director well", whilst Jyothika "looks cute and also proves her acting credentials" and Raghuvaran is "dignified as usual".
The film went on to win the second prize for Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Family Film, whilst Brindha won Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Choreographer for her work in the film's songs. The film was later dubbed and released in Telugu as Chirunama.
Mugavaree | ||||
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Soundtrack album by Deva | ||||
Released | 1999 | |||
Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
Label | Vega Music NIC Audio Bayshore | |||
Deva chronology | ||||
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The film's score and chart-topping soundtrack was composed by Deva. "Oh... Nenje" is based on "Get Down (You're the One for Me)" by Backstreet Boys.
Track-list (Tamil) | |||
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No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
1. | "Oh... Nenje" | Hariharan, Swarnalatha | 5:54 |
2. | "Poo Virinjachu" | Unnikrishnan, Anuradha Sriram | 5:48 |
3. | "Keechu Kiliye(Female)" | Harini, Chorus | 6:22 |
4. | "Yeh Nilave" | Unni Menon | 4:13 |
5. | "Aandae Nootrandae" | Naveen | 7:14 |
6. | "Keechu Kiliye(Male)" | Hariharan, Chorus | 6:22 |
Track-list (Telugu) | |||
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No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
1. | "Oh Sakha Sakha" | Srinivas, Swarnalatha | 5:54 |
2. | "Ohy Vodi Panchu" | Unnikrishnan, Anuradha Sriram | 5:48 |
3. | "Chitti Chilaka" | Anuradha Sriram | 6:22 |
4. | "Vennelave" | Mano | 4:13 |
5. | "Happy New Year" | Naveen | 7:14 |
6. | "Chitti Chilaka" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | 6:22 |