Madrasapattinam

Madrasapattinam
Directed by	A. L. Vijay
Produced by	Kalpathi S. Aghoram
Written by	A. L. Vijay
Starring	Arya Amy Jackson Nassar Alexx O'Nell
Music by	G. V. Prakash Kumar
Cinematography	Nirav Shah
Editing by	Anthony Gonsalvez
Studio	AGS Entertainment
Distributed by	Red Giant Movies(India) Ayngaran International (Worldwide)
Release date(s)	9 July 2010 (2010-07-09)
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	40 crores[1]
Box office	160 crores[citation needed]

Madrasapattinam (Tamil: மதராசபட்டினம், Matarācapaṭṭiṉam ^?, English: Madras Town) is a 2010 Tamil historical drama film, written and directed by A. L. Vijay. The film stars Arya and Amy Jackson in the lead roles,^[2] while Nassar, Cochin Hanifa, and Alexx O'Nell play other prominent roles.^[3] The film released on July 9, 2010 with positive reviews.^[4][5]

Plot

The movie begins as an elderly English woman Amy Wilkinson (Carole Trangmar-Palmer), almost at her deathbed in London, wants to come down to Chennai in search of a young man Ilam Parithi (Arya) whom she last saw on 15 August, 1947 to return a Thali necklace (the sacred thread tied around the neck of the bride by her groom) of his mother, which he gave her as a sign of stating that she belongs to India and nobody can separate them. However, after a turn of events, she had married another man from her hometown and thus felt that the thali was no longer her property.

Amy Wilkinson arrives in Chennai with her granddaughter Catherine (Lisa Lazarus), equipped only with a picture of Parithi that was taken sixty years ago. Wilkinson interrogates various people about Parithi's whereabouts. In the process, she recalls the events when she had first visited Chennai, and the chain of events that took place:

A young Amy (Amy Jackson), the daughter of the Madras Presidency Governor, visits Chennai (then called Madrasapattinam) along with her translator Nambi (Cochin Hanifa) and encounters Parithi, whom she calls "brave man". Parithi, a member of the dhobi (launderer) clan is also an experienced wrestler who trains under Ayyakanu (Nassar). He openly opposes the British officials who attempt to build a golf course in the dhobi clan's dwelling place. He challenges a cruel racist officer named Robert Ellis (Alexx O'Nell), who is also Amy's suitor, to a wrestling match to decide the fate of his clan's home. Parithi is successful, and Ellis vows revenge.

Following a series of secret meetings between Parithi and Amy, love blossoms between them, and Parithi affectionately calls her "Duraiyamma", a polite term of addressing British women. However a major threat comes in the form of independence for India on August 15, 1947, which means that all White officials and their families, including Amy, would have to leave India. On the eve of independence, all of India is celebrating. However Amy and Parithi, determined to be together, run away and are hunted by an angry Ellis and his force. An Indian policeman helps the two of them by hiding them in a clock tower on top of the Madras Central Railway Station, but they are discovered by Ellis. After a fierce fight, Ellis is killed and Parithi is badly wounded. Amy helps Parithi to escape by casting him with a life-raft into the Cooum river, before she is captured and taken back to London. She had never known if Parithi survived, or what his fate was.

Back in the present, Wilkinson is urgently called back to London to have a life-saving operation. But she is determined to find Parithi and, by chance, encounters a taxi driver who assumes that she would want to visit a charitable trust named Duraiyamma Foundation. The driver shows her around the foundation, which has organisations providing free housing, education and medical care (which were all promised to the dhobi children by the young Amy several years ago). She realizes that the Duraiyamma Foundation was established by Ilam Parithi, and named after her.

Then When she asks the driver what became of Parithi, he leads her to his tomb, and reveals that he died twelve years ago. She kneels before the tomb and claims the thali necklace as her own. She declares "It's mine!" before quietly passing away on Parithi's tomb. Her granddaughter mourns for her, and the taxi driver is dumbfounded to learn that the old woman was "Duraiyamma" herself. The epilogue shows Parithi and Amy (as they were in their younger days) in the afterlife, depicted as a 1940's-style Madrasapattinam. As the credits roll, a series of montage images are shown, illustrating the transformation of Madrasapattinam of the 1940's to modern-day Chennai.

Cast

• Arya as Elam Parithi
• Amy Jackson as Amy Wilkinson/Amy Smith
• Nassar as Ayyakanu
• Cochin Hanifa as Nambi
• Carole Trangmar-Palmer as Aged Amy Wilkinson
• Lisa Lazarus as Catherine
• Alexx O'Nell as Robert Ellis
• M. R. Kishore Kumar as Telugu Renga
• Omar Lateef as Kabir
• N.L Shrinivasan as Karna
• Satish as Pacha
• M. S. Bhaskar
• Balaji Hello Fm 106.4

Soundtrack

Madrasapattinam
Soundtrack album by G. V. Prakash Kumar
Released	4 April 2010
Recorded	2009
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Label	Think Music
Producer	G. V. Prakash Kumar
G. V. Prakash Kumar chronology
Irumbu Kottai Murattu Singam (2009) Madrasapattinam (2009) Darling (2010)

The audio of Madrasapattinam was composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar and was released on April 4, 2010 by Kamal Haasan. Lyrics were penned by Na. Muthukumar.

Track-list
No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Pookal Pookum"	Harini, Roop Kumar Rathod, Andrea Jeremiah, G. V. Prakash Kumar	06:37
2.	"Vaama Duraiyamma"	Udit Narayan, V. M. C. Haneefa, Amy Jackson	04:47
3.	"Feel Of Love"	Navin Iyer, Seenu	03:42
4.	"Meghame O Meghame"	M. S. Viswanathan, Vikram, Nassar, Na. Muthukumar, Ajayan Bala	06:05
5.	"Aaruyire"	Saindhavi, Sonu Nigam	06:12
6.	"Kaatrile"	Hariharan, Zia	04:45
7.	"The Dance Theme"	Navin Iyer	01:33

Awards

Wins

Year	Award	Category	Winner
2011	Vijay TV Awards	Best Costume Designer	Deepali Noor
		Best Art Director	Selva Kumar

Nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominee
2011	Vijay Awards	Best Male Singer	Roop Kumar Rathod for Pookal Pookum
		Best Female Singer	Harini for Pookal Pookum
		Best Music Director	G. V. Prakash Kumar for Pookal Pookum
		Best Cinematographer	Nirav Shah
		Best Debut Actor Female	Amy Jackson
		Best Film
		Best Director	A. L. Vijay
		Best Actor	Arya
2011	Mirchi Music Awards	Best Music Director	G. V. Prakash Kumar for Pookal Pookum

Release

The film opened and stayed at No.1 in Chennai box office charts for 3 weeks.^[6] Overall collection of the movie is said to be near 35 Crore which makes the film above average as reported by behindwoods.com [1].The film collected 70 crores.

Reception

Critical response

In Andhra Pradesh, where the film's dubbed version 1947 A Love Story was released, the film has received positive reviews from critics, who have added that it might not do well at the box office. fullhyd.com rated it 5.5 out of 10, calling it a film that looks as beautiful as the erstwhile Madras town in which it is set, but also said that despite being a near-perfect concoction of romance, action, drama and comedy, it is a little too slow and sober for the festive season (during which it was released). ^[7] 123telugu.com rated the movie 3 out of 5, appreciating its art direction, but saying that it doesn't aim too high in terms of its content. ^[8] Haricharan Pudipeddi of nowrunning.com gave it 3 stars out of 5, and said that succeeds in painting one of the cutest love stories of the recent past. ^[9]

References

1. ^ http://www.cineguru.net/2010/07/madharasapattinam-from-rs5crores-to.html
2. ^ British teenage rookie enters Kollywood
3. ^ http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/article/45484.html
4. ^ http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/review/10889.html
5. ^ http://sakhispeaks.com/?p=234
6. ^ Madrasapattinam tops the Chennai box office
7. ^ Harika Vankadara (3 September 2011). "1947 A Love Story Review". fullhyd.com. http://www.fullhyderabad.com/profile/movies/4458/2/1947-a-love-story-movie-review#tabs. .
8. ^ 123Telugu.com (31 August 2011). "1947 A Love Story Review". http://www.123telugu.com/reviews/review-1947-%E2%80%93-a-love-story.html. 
9. ^ Nowrunning.com=2 September 2011. "1947 A Love Story Review". http://www.nowrunning.com/movie/9497/telugu/1947-a-love-story/3305/review.htm. 

External links

• Official website
• Madrasapattinam at the Internet Movie Database