Minsara Kanavu

Minsaara Kanavu
Directed by	Rajiv Menon
Produced by	M. Balasubramanian M. Saravanan M. S. Guhan
Written by	Rajiv Menon V. C. Gukanathan G. B. Vijay
Starring	Arvind Swamy Prabhu Deva Kajol Devgan Arundathi Nag S. P. Balasubrahmanyam Nassar Girish Karnad Prakash Raj Rallapalli (actor)
Music by	A. R. Rahman
Cinematography	Ravi K. Chandran
Editing by	Suresh Urs
Distributed by	AVM Productions Ayngaran International
Release date(s)	14 January 1997
Running time	153 mins
Language	Tamil

Minsara Kanavu (Tamil:மின்சார கனவு) is a 1997 Tamil feature length musical directed by Rajiv Menon. The film's score and soundtrack is composed by A. R. Rahman. Originally produced in Tamil, it went on to be dubbed in Telugu and in Hindi owing to its popularity.

It stars Arvind Swamy, Prabhu Deva, and Kajol Devgan. Kajol plays a young woman who wishes to become a nun, whilst at the same time being torn between two competing suitors, played by the two lead actors.

The film was noted for its musical-like quality and choreography. The film's music composer A. R. Rahman earned the Best Music Director award for the second time at the National Film Awards for his work on the score and soundtrack (his first win was for his debut work on the film Roja).

The movie concerns a love triangle between characters played by Kajol, Swamy and Deva.

Plot

Thomas (Arvind Swamy), a wealthy businessman, returns to India from America to look after his father Thanga Durai's (S.P.B) business. One day he happens to see Priya (Kajol) when he goes to a church hostel to see his aunt, a nun in that church. He falls in love with Priya when he learns that she is his childhood friend but doesn't disclose the fact when he comes to know that Priya is interested in being a nun herself (by serving the poor and maintaining celibacy). So he asks for the help of Deva (Prabhu Deva), a barber who knows the tricks of seducing girls to fall in love.

Deva befriends Priya through his musical troupe (Nassar and his group) and does things to make Priya fall in love with Thomas. But at one point, Deva himself falls in love with her and she reciprocates. Thomas realizes this at the end and sacrifices his love. He becomes a church priest as he naturally leads a life of service to the poor and sacrifice.

Cast

Actor	Role	Other Notes
Prabhu Deva	Deva	Vikram is the Dubbing Artist for him in Tamil
Arvind Swamy	Thomas
Kajol	Priya	Revathi is the Dubbing Artist for her in Tamil
Nassar	Guru	Deva's Friend but his friend son fall with the guy
Girish Karnad	Amalraj	Priya's Dad
S.P.B	Thanga Durai	Thomas's Dad

Soundtrack

Minsara Kanavu / Sapnay
Soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman
Released	1997
Recorded	Panchathan Record Inn
Genre	Soundtrack
Label	AVM
Producer	A. R. Rahman
A. R. Rahman chronology
Anthimanthaarai (1997) Minsara Kanavu (1997) Iruvar (1997)

The soundtrack features 6 songs composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics by Vairamuthu. The Hindi version of the soundtrack was titled Sapnay and had lyrics penned by Javed Akhtar. A new song titled "Teri Meri Baat" was added to this version.

It was later reported that when AVM wanted to make a film to commemorate its 50th anniversary, it was not sure of what kind of movie it would be or who would make it. All it was sure of was that it wanted A. R. Rahman to score the music. First thing, Rahman was signed up by the studio and he was asked who he wanted the director to be. Rahman suggested the name of cinematographer and friend from college, Rajeev Menon. Rahman had previously collaborated with Menon in jingles for many ad films.^[1]

The soundtrack was a major success and also fetched numerous music awards.The soundtrack earned A. R. Rahman the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for the second time. Rahman also won the Tamil Nadu State Award and Filmfare Award for his work. K. S. Chitra and S. P. Balasubrahmanyam won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer and Best Male Playback Singer for the tracks "Ooh La La La" and "Thanga Thamarai" respectively. Sujatha and Unni Menon won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback and Best Male Playback for the tracks "Poo Pookkum Oosai" and "Ooh La La La" respectively. Sujatha was reportedly considered for the National Award, too.^[2]

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam recalls the recording session of "Thanga Thamarai". "It required a tone that reflected the feelings of someone totally smitten and intoxicated by love. The character singing the song in the film is on a high after finding his girl. I only tried my best to imitate Rahman, who sang it for me. The imitation fetched me a national award."^[3]

Besides, the songs were also noted for the picturisation. Choreography was done by Prabhu Deva and he got the National Film Award for Best Choreography for his work in the film. Playback singer Kay Kay was introduced by Rahman through the song "Strawberry Kannae". This album also marked the beginning of the long lasting Rahman - Sadhana Sargam combination in Tamil film songs.

The song "Ooh La La La" was re-edited by A. R. Rahman and featured on the hit international musical production Bombay Dreams, which ran in Europe and North America from 2002 to 2005.

The track "Vennilavae (Part 2)" was a sad version of the song "Vennilave" and was sung by Shankar Mahadevan and Kavita Paudwal. This track was featured in the movie only.

Tamil version

#	Song	Singer(s)	Length
1	"Vennilavae"	Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam	5:58
2	"Vennilavae (Part 2)"	Shankar Mahadevan, Kavita Paudwal	1:45
3	"Poo Pookum Oosai"	Sujatha, Malaysia Vasudevan	6:47
4	"Manna Madurai" ("Ooh La La La")	Unni Menon, K. S. Chitra, Srinivas	5:53
5	"Thanga Thamarai"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Malgudi Subha	4:58
6	"Strawberry Kannae"	KK, Febi Mani	4:25
7	"Anbendra"	Anuradha Sriram	3:33

Hindi version

#	Song	Singer(s)	Length
1	"Chanda Re"	Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam	5:58
2	"Chanda Re (Part 2)"	Shankar Mahadevan, Sadhana Sargam	5:58
3	"Aawara Bhanwre"	Hema Sardesai, Malaysia Vasudevan	6:47
4	"Ek Bagiya"	Shankar Mahadevan, K. S. Chitra, Srinivas	5:53
5	"Door Na Ja Mujhse"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Malgudi Subha	4:58
6	"Strawberry Ankhein"	KK, Kavita Paudwal	4:25
7	"Roshan Hui Raat"	Anuradha Sriram	3:33
8	"Teri Meri Baat"	Abhijeet Bhattacharya, Hema Sardesai	5:19

Awards

The film has won the following awards since its release:

1997 National Film Awards (India)

• Won - Silver Lotus Award - Best Music Direction - A. R. Rahman
• Won - Silver Lotus Award - Best Choreography - Prabhu Deva
• Won - Silver Lotus Award - Best Male Playback Singer - S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
• Won - Silver Lotus Award - Best Female Playback Singer - K. S. Chitra

1997 Tamil Nadu State Film Awards (India)

• Won - Tamil Nadu State Award - Best Female Playback Singer - Sujatha

1997 Filmfare Awards South (India)

• Won - Best Music Director - A. R. Rahman
• Won - Best Actress - Kajol

Trivia

• Actor Vikram has given his voice for Prabhu Deva in some scenes as he got a throat infection while in the middle of making this movie.
• Actress Revathi has dubbed for Kajol.
• This is Rajiv Menon's first directorial venture.
• S.P.B received the National Award for the first time in Tamil for this movie.
• The movie ran for more than 175 days all over Tamil Nadu.
• The movie was remade in Hindi titled Sapnay but did average at the box office.

References

General

• http://www.brns.com/bollywood/pages1/bolly39.html
• http://wn.com/Minsara_Kanavu
• http://www.screenindia.com/old/may02/david.htm
• http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/life/2004/05/28/stories/2004052800060400.htm
• http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fr/2005/07/22/stories/2005072203150100.htm

Specific

1. ^ "A. R. Rahman: Summary Biography". A. R. Rahman: A Biography. 1997. http://members.tripod.com/gopalhome/arrbio.html. Retrieved April 9, 2011. 
2. ^ "This award is special for me". The Hindu. 5 March 2010. http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/03/05/stories/2010030551050300.htm. Retrieved 28 February 2011. 
3. ^ Meera Srinivasan (March 14–27, 2009). Music of the soul. Frontline. http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2606/stories/20090327260613200.htm. Retrieved April 9, 2011. 

External links

• Minsaara Kanavu at the Internet Movie Database