Kaadhal Kondein

Infobox_Film
name = Kaadhal Kondein


director = Selvaraghavan
producer = R. K. Productions
writer = Selvaraghavan
starring = Dhanush,
Sonia Agarwal,
Nagesh
distributor = ITV Bombay
released = 2003
runtime = 150 mins
language = Tamil
music = Yuvan Shankar Raja

"Kaadhal Kondein" is a Tamil film released in 2003. The Dhanush - Sonia Agarwal starrer is directed by Selvaraghavan.

The story explores the mind of a youth who is mentally and physically abused in his childhood. The lack of a mother's love haunts the protagonist throughout the film as the girl of his infatuation parts him in her death. Turning into a psychopath, he desperately tries to woo his newly found lady love and his efforts culminate in a superb nail-biting cliffhanger.

Plot

Vinod (Dhanush), who has grown up under the care of a church father( Nagesh ), is an introvert but a genius. He is forcibly sent to college by the father but is a complete misfit in class. Though shunned by the rest of his class, Divya (Sonia) becomes his friend and he gradually warms up to her too. His feelings soon turn into love but he realises that Divya considers him as only a friend. But he is unwilling to let her go. Meanwhile Vinod learns that Divya is in love with another classmate (Aadhi).

Divya's father is angered on learning about her love. He shuts her up and prevents her from contacting anyone. But Vinod comes and meets her on the pretext of getting some old clothes for himself to wear. Pitied by Vinod, her father allows him. But Vinod uses the chance and escapes with Divya. He convinces her that she will meet Aadhi at Ooty.

Vinod has set up a secret place in Ooty for executing his plan of wooing Divya. He makes her stay with him, while convincing her by talking about the never impending Aadhi's arrival. On one such day, he reveals his miserable past, where he is made to work for paid labour after being orphaned at an early age. He revolts against the oppression one day against the illegal child labour in vogue at his place. Promptly he is beaten black and blue for his profanity. Moreover he also loses his girlfriend to rapists in that place, who also kill her. Somehow he manages to escape from them and seeks refuge in the place of a church father.

Divya is really touched by his past. Incidentally the police and Aadhi arrive at the place. While Vinod was away to get some food, they try to make Divya understand that Vinod was a psychopath. Yet Divya rubbishes their claims, citing his gentlemanly behaviour over the days she was put up alone with him. Vinod, learning that the police have arrived at the scene, begins to indulge in mass violence. He breaks open fire, killing a police constable. Forcing them out of their hideout, he manages to evade the police Inspector and Aadhi and successfully brings Divya back to their original place of stay.

Divya soon identifies the tiger out of the cow's skin. Vinod pleads with her telling her that all he wanted in his life was her presence with him. But Divya called him a friend and stated her inability to accept him as her partner for life.

Meanwhile Aadhi regains consciousness and comes back to attack Vinod and rescue his girlfriend. A violent fight follows, where Vinod defies his puny self and treats Aadhi with disdain. The fight culminates with Vinod, Aadhi and Divya finding themselves at the edge of a cliff.

While Divya clutches a tree bark tightly, Vinod and Aadhi slip out and barely manage to hold either of her hands. Divya is forced to a situation where she needs to choose between her boyfriend and friend. Aadhi's pleas notwithstanding, Divya doesn't have the heart to kill Vinod. The epic of a cliffhanger finally ends with Vinod smiling wryly at Divya and letting go of her hands himself. He falls dead into the deep valley.

Trivia

The film was a runaway success for its enchanting storyline. It brought great acclaim to the director and his brother Dhanush. It is another story that Dhanush was never able to live up to the expectations thereafter or even come close to repeating his performance in this film.

The story also opened up a new avenue of films with similar storylines like Chellamae and Kudaikkul Mazhai. They promptly failed to match the original version.

Cast and Crew

Cast

* Dhanush .... Vinodh
* Sonia Agarwal .... Divya
* Nagesh .... Fr. Rozario
* Sudip .... Aadhi
* Danial Balaji .... Police Inspector

Crew

* Direction/Story/Screenplay/Dialogue : Selvaraghavan
* Music : Yuvan Shankar Raja
* Cinematography : Arvind Krishna
* Produced by : R. K. Productions
* Stunts : Rambo Rajkumar
* Editing : K. S. Raghunath and V. T. Avinash

External links

* IND