Kireedam (2007 film)

Kireedam
Directed by	A. L. Vijay
Produced by	Suresh Balaje
Written by	A. L. Vijay A. K. Lohithadas
Starring	Ajith Kumar Raj Kiran Trisha Krishnan Vivek
Music by	G. V. Prakash Kumar
Cinematography	Tirru Nirav Shah
Studio	Adlabs Limited
Release date(s)	20 July 2007
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Kireedam (Tamil: கிரீடம், Kirīṭam ^?, English: Crown) is a 2007 Tamil film directed by A. L. Vijay, who made his directorial debut with the film. The film was a reworked version of Sibi Malayil's 1989 Malayalam classic film, Kireedam starring Mohanlal, with Na. Muthukumar assisting with writing the dialogues. The film starred Ajith Kumar in the lead role with Trisha Krishnan and Rajkiran in other pivotal roles, while Vivek, Saranya , Cochin Haneefa and Santhanam appear in supporting roles. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar, while Tirru was the cinematographer for the film. The film opened on 20 July 2007 to positive reviews and performed above averagely at the box office.

Plot

Sakthivel (Ajith Kumar) is an implicitly obedient son of a sincere policeman, Rajarajan (Raj Kiran). Sakthi and his dad’s dream is the same: That of seeing him enter the police force. The entire family comprising two other daughters, the mom (Saranya) and a wastrel of a brother-in-law (Vivek) are cuddly and close-knit. Rajarajan is from the old school of life and honesty is his watchword. In a venal system, this lands him in trouble often.

Divya (Trisha Krishnan), a college girl, is a charming full-of-beans girl. She has some comical run-ins with Sakthi, and eventually falls in love with him. Elsewhere, Rajarajan, who books an MLA’s son for an offence, is hauled up over the coals and sent on a ‘punishment transfer’ to a place, which is run as personal fief by a local dada, Varadarajan (Ajay). One thing leads to another, and Sakthi is unwittingly sucked into the unholy vortex. Just as he is about to join the police force, destiny decrees otherwise: His life is not going to be the same again. A dad’s dream lies shattered while a son, despite his unwillingness, has to fight an honest war beyond the matrix of a law. It is a situation that is actually an emotional cauldron. How the dad and son reconcile to the new reality is the story.

Cast

• Ajith Kumar as Shaktivel
• Rajkiran as Rajarajan
• Trisha Krishnan as Divya
• Vivek
• Saranya
• Santhanam as Balasubramaniam
• Ajay Kumar as Varadarajan
• Cochin Haneefa
• Ravi Kale
• Lalitha
• M. S. Bhaskar
• Manobala
• Sathyan

Production

The film was announced in September 2006 as a collaboration between producer Balaji and Ajith, and was to be co-produced by the Mumbai based production company Adlabs.^[1][2] Vijay made his directorial debut with Kireedam after working as an ad film maker and chose to remake the 1989 film of the same name directed by Sibi Malayil and written by A. K. Lohithadas. Ajith Kumar was signed to appear in the lead role with Trisha Krishnan, Rajkiran, Saranya and Vivek also a part of the cast, while the cinematographer was Tirru, music was composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar and the film was edited by Anthony. Vijay revealed that he "reworked about 80 per cent" from the original version.^[3] The film was briefly renamed Magudam, before being changed again.^[4]

A game was released about the film by Zapak Digital Entertainment Ltd to promote the film. In the game, the player has to help Shakti kill the gangsters while undergoing police training using different weapons. The player has to defend himself using different keys and approach the red cross to gain health. While doing this he can not let his father Rajaram catch him, which will bring the game to an end.^[5][6]

Release

The film opened to predominantly positive review at the box office. The Hindu, in a review of Kireedam, said that "Vijay has neatly packaged a strong storyline with a sensibly balanced mix of sentiment and action. At no point does the film sag." It appreciated the lead and supporting cast: "Looking well-toned and incredibly youthful, Ajith makes a mark both with his appearance and expressions. And matching him equally in the two departments is an awesome Trisha."^[7] The review from an entertainment portal, Sify.com, hailed the attempt: "For once a Tamil remake of a Malayalam classic, lives up to our expectations. Kireedam is quality cinema, one that is daringly different from the run-of-the mill superstar films that are dished out in the name of mass movies." Sify.com added, "On the whole, Kireedam is an engaging entertainer which is so rare to find these days. Go for it!"^[8] A review from another movie portal, Behindwoods,com, gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars with the verdict "Complete family entertainer". It called the movie a "good realistic attempt towards meaningful cinema. But if the sluggish pace in the second half is taken care of, the movie would have been much crisper" and said that "Kreedom will categorically be Ajith's prized trophy in his film career."^[9] The film went on to win a single Filmfare award for Best Female Playback Singer for Sadhana Sargam's rendition of "Akkam Pakkam". Moreover the film was nominated in four categories during the Vijay Awards for 2007, with Rajkiran, G. V. Prakash Kumar, Trisha and Sadhana Sargam being nominated in their respective categories.

The final scene in the film was changed after release from a sad to an upbeat ending after the producers felt that the original scene may keep audiences away.^[10] The film consequently went on to become a profitable venture at the box office.^[11]

Soundtrack

Kireedam
Studio album by G. V. Prakash Kumar
Released	June 2007
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Label	Aditya Music
Producer	G. V. Prakash
G. V. Prakash Kumar chronology
Oram Po (2007) Kireedam (2007 film) (2007) Polladhavan (2007 film) (2007)

The soundtrack consisted of six songs composed by G.V.Prakash.

Song title	Singers	Notes
"Akkam Pakkam"	Sadhana Sargam	Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer
"Vizhiyil Un Vizhiyil"	Sonu Nigam, Swetha Mohan
"Kanavellam"	P. Jayachandran, Karthik
"Kanneer Thuliye"	Vijay Yesudas
"Vilaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu"	Shankar Mahadevan
"Theme Music"	Instrumental

References

1. ^ http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-news/sep-06-01/09-09-06-ajith.html
2. ^ http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/article/27103.html
3. ^ Rao, Subha J (2010-09-25). "Genre bender". The Hindu (Chennai, India). http://www.thehindu.com/arts/cinema/article795272.ece. 
4. ^ http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/article/26821.html
5. ^ http://www.businessofcinema.com/news.php?newsid=4445
6. ^ http://ibnlive.in.com/news/tamil-film-industry-to-get-a-corporate-makeover/48983-8.html
7. ^ Rangarajan, Malathi (2007-07-27). "Whose crown is it, anyway? -- Kireedam". The Hindu. http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fr/2007/07/27/stories/2007072750480200.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-08. 
8. ^ "Kireedam". Sify Movies. 2007-07-27. http://sify.com/movies/tamil/review.php?id=14495306&ctid=5&cid=2429. Retrieved 2008-01-08. 
9. ^ "Kireedam". behindwoods. http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-articles/movies-06/kreedom-movie-review.html. Retrieved 2008-01-08. 
10. ^ http://www.sify.com/movies/kireedam-climax-changed-news-tamil-kkfuJFhchia.html
11. ^ "It's all about choices". The Hindu (Chennai, India). 2007-08-24. http://www.hindu.com/fr/2007/08/24/stories/2007082450900100.htm.