Aandavan Kattalai (2016 film)

Aandavan Kattalai (transl.God's order) is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language satirical film co-written and directed by M. Manikandan. The film features Vijay Sethupathi and Ritika Singh in the lead roles, with Pooja Devariya, Nassar and Yogi Babu amongst others in supporting roles. Produced by G. N. Anbu Chezhiyan and featuring music by composer K, the film began production in March 2016 and was released on 23 September 2016. Narrating the story of how two men from interior Tamil Nadu struggle to acquire travel documents to fly to London, Aandavan Kattalai opened to widespread critical acclaim and became a huge commercial success.[1][2] The film has been remade in Telugu as London Babulu (2017). It was dubbed in Hindi as Pappu Passport by Goldmines Telefilms on 10 February 2020.[3]

Aandavan Kattalai
Movie poster
Directed byM. Manikandan
Produced byG. N. Anbu Chezhiyan
Screenplay by
Story byArul Chezhiyan
Starring
Music byK
CinematographyN. Shanmuga Sundaram
Edited byAnucharan
Production
company
  • Gopuram Films
  • Tribal Arts
Distributed bySri Green Productions
Release date
  • 23 September 2016 (2016-09-23)
Running time
150 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

Faced with several debts, a village accountant Gandhi Arumugam (Vijay Sethupathi) leaves his village near Madurai to head to Chennai with his best friend Muthupandi Selvam alias Pandi (Yogi Babu) to get all the documents necessary for going to London, where they plan to make money to pay off their debts. They approach two middlemen to help them get the passport and British tourist visa necessary for them to go to London. The middlemen claim that the British Deputy High Commission would prefer to give tourist visas to those who are already married, so the duo are forced to add their "wife's" name while applying for the passport, with Gandhi adding his "wife's" name as Karmeghakuzhali, following a suggestion from their real estate broker, Murugesan (Singampuli). However, Gandhi's visa application is rejected, forcing him to remain in Chennai and take up a job as an accountant with a drama troupe Stray Factory, run by Master (Nassar), while Pandi passes his visa interview and leaves for London with the help of a passport officer, Kumar (S. S. Stanley).

With his hardwork and sincerity, Gandhi soon becomes the favorite employee of Master and is made to act in his plays. Eventually, Stray Factory are invited to perform in London, leaving Gandhi in a bind as he now needs to get his "wife's" name removed from his passport. He finds out that the only way to do so is to divorce his "wife", but for that he needs to find a woman who has the name Karmeghakuzhali. He successfully manages to track down a woman with the name Karmeghakuzhali (Ritika Singh), who is a television journalist, and tries to convince her to act as his wife and "divorce" him. He also acts like he is mute(can't speak). Initially she refuses, but she soon gives Gandhi the necessary documents to "divorce" her, feeling pity for him. However, since both husband and wife need to be present at court at the time of divorce, Gandhi convinces Aarthi (Pooja Devariya), an actress who works in Stray Factory, to act as Karmeghakuzhali at the court. But at the time of the divorce hearing, Aarthi disappears to the toilet, forcing a reluctant Karmeghakuzhali, who is present at the court, to take part in the divorce hearing. The subsequent events at the divorce hearing prove humiliating for Karmeghakuzhali, also she comes to know that Gandhi has been acting mute. Hence she leaves the court in tears with no "divorce" granted.

Later, Gandhi finds out that Pandi was deported upon arrival in London by immigration officials for giving false information and address verification while obtaining his passport, and he too finds himself in the dock for doing the same. However, he shows his and Pandi's original Voter ID cards to the immigration officials, getting them released, while the middlemen are arrested. Pandi reveals that he was sent to Sri Lanka and tortured by prison officials after he had tried to seek asylum in London as a Sri Lankan refugee, and humiliated by the recent events, he returns to his village.

Gandhi goes to the Regional Passport Office in Chennai and admits his crime to the Regional Passport Officer. The passport officer asks him to pay a fine of 1,300 (equivalent to 1,500 or US$21 in 2019) to get Karmeghakuzhali's name removed from his passport. But in a last-minute decision, Gandhi chooses not to remove Karmeghakuzhali's name from his passport and instead proposes marriage to Karmeghakuzhali, who is initially taken aback, but agrees. He soon gets his British visa and leaves for London with the rest of the Stray Factory troupe.

Cast

Production

Following the release of Kaaka Muttai (2015), Manikandan revealed in July 2015 that he would direct Vijay Sethupathi in a film to be produced by G. N. Anbu Chazhiyan of Gopuram Films. Manikandan and Vijay Sethupathi had known each other before they entered the Tamil film industry and had regularly collaborated for independent short films.[4] The start of the shoot was delayed to allow Vijay Sethupathi to complete his ongoing projects, while Manikandan moved on to finish work on Kuttrame Thandanai (2016). Before the end of 2015, the makers announced that the film would be titled as Aandavan Kattalai and that composer K would work on the film's score and soundtrack. Manikandan stated it would be based in Chennai and would be a "realistic dark comedy" with a "quirky" subject.[5][6] Prior to release, it was revealed that the film would narrate the people's craze of trying to get settled in foreign country and taking bureaucratic shortcuts to achieve their goal.[7] Actress Ritika Singh was signed on to portray the leading female role of a journalist, only a month after the release of her first film Irudhi Suttru (2016).[8][9] An ensemble cast of actors including Pooja Devariya, Nassar, Singampuli and Yogi Babu also joined the team, before production began.[10]

The film began production in early March 2016 at Kilpauk, Chennai and progressed swiftly throughout the city.[11] The final schedule was shot in a studio resembling an embassy in Chennai during May 2016.[12] The shoot of the film and dubbing work was completed by July 2016.[13]

Soundtrack

Aandavan Kattalai
Soundtrack album by
Released12 September 2016
Recorded2016
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length23:32
LanguageTamil
LabelSony Music India
ProducerK
K chronology
Kammatipaadam
(2016)
Aandavan Kattalai
(2016)
Ammani
(2016)

The music of Aandavan Kattalai's was composed by K. The soundtrack album features nine tracks, sung by Benny Dayal, Anthony Daasan, Janani S. V. and K himself; while all lyrics were written by Gnanakaravel, Vivek Velmurugan, Darwin Guna. The album was released on 12 September 2016.[14][15] Behindwoods.com gave the album a rating of 2.75/5 stating "Aandavan Kattalai is a brilliant album from K who gives the best of various genres in a perfect package".[16]

Track listing
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Vazkhai Oru Ottagam"Benny Dayal3:57
2."Elandha Pazham"Yogi Sekar1:43
3."Imsai Rani"Karthik3:43
4."Vaagadai Veedu"Jiby, Deepu, Philip, Sajan, K2:28
5."Kaarmegazhukali"Jananie S.V2:38
6."108 Thenga"K2:24
7."Gandhi Thatha"Darwin Guna1:17
8."Polambing Song"K2:04
9."Yaaro Petha Pillai"Anthony Daasan2:38
Total length:23:32

Release

The film was theatrically released on 23 September 2016 by distributors, Sri Green Productions.[17] The film had a lower profile release that Prabhu Solomon's Dhanush-starrer Thodari (2016), which released on the same day, but by the first weekend, it had overtaken it in collections and also replaced its shows in several cinema halls.[18][19] The film subsequently went on to become a profitable venture for the producers.[20] The satellite rights of the film were sold to Sun TV.[21]

Upon release, the film received mostly positive reviews from film critics and audiences.[22][23] Baradwaj Rangan of the Hindu gave "Aandavan Kattalai a positive reviews and noted that it was "yet another marvellous comedy of desperation from Manikandan". He added that "Manikandan and his writing team (Arul Chezhiyan, Anucharan) should hold classes for other Tamil filmmakers who want the story-screenplay-dialogue credit but reveal little understanding of these elements" as "everything in Aandavan Kattalai is there for a reason".[24] Times of India wrote "Just like how Manikandan's Kaaka Muttai and Kutramme Thandanai refrained from finger-pointing and sermonising, Aandavan Kattalai, too, is far from being preachy, despite involving a subject that offer plenty of targets to take pot-shots at" and gave the film a high rating of three-and-a-half out of five stars.[25] Firstpost wrote "Aandavan Kattalai works largely due to its script and the situational comedy in the narration" and "the way the story unfolds and the difficult situations the hero faces is so well brought out, without taking any cinematic liberties".[26] Similarly, Deccan Chronicle called it "a film that's not to be missed", while Indiaglitz.com called it a "gem".[27][28] Likewise, Sify.com stated "Aandavan Kattalai is a must watch for all the ardent movie buffs" and Rediff.com added "the director once again delivers big time with a refreshing screenplay loaded with reality and fun, some great music, delightful characters and brilliant all-round performances".[29] Rediff gave it 4 out of 5 stating that "it is not to be missed".[30]

References

  1. "Aandavan Kattalai box office collection: Vijay Sethupathi-starrer holding well in TN on weekdays". Ibtimes.co.in. 29 September 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  2. "Swathi Reddy bags next flick 'London Babulu' - Times of India". The Times of India.
  3. Pappu Passport (Aandavan Kattalai) 2020 New Released Hindi Dubbed Full Movie | Vijay Sethupathi, retrieved 28 February 2020
  4. "Kakka Muttai Manikandan to direct Vijay Sethupathi". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  5. "Composer K to work in the upcoming Vijay Sethupathi - Manikandan film". Behindwoods. 1 November 2015.
  6. "Vijay Sethupathi-Manikandan's next gets a Sivaji title - Tamil News". IndiaGlitz.com. 29 December 2015.
  7. "What is Aandavan Kattalai all about?". indiaglitz.com. 10 May 2016.
  8. "Ritika to play an urban girl in Manikandan's next film - Times of India". The Times of India.
  9. "'Irudhi Suttru' Rithika to act with Vijay Sethupathi!!! - Tamil News". IndiaGlitz.com. 27 February 2016.
  10. "Vijay Sethupathi's Next To Expose Discrepancies In Issuing Passports!". filmibeat.com. 11 May 2016.
  11. "Today Pooja, Tomorrow Release for Vijay Sethupathi - Tamil News". IndiaGlitz.com. 10 March 2016.
  12. "'Kaaka Muttai' director M. Manikandan's next about discrepancies in issuing passports". 10 May 2016.
  13. "An important update on Vijay Sethupathi's 'Aandavan Kattalai'". indiaglitz.com. 24 July 2016.
  14. "'Aandavan Kattalai' album is my personal milestone, says K". Sify.
  15. "Aandavan Kattalai - Music Box | Tamil". YouTube. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  16. "Aandavan Kattalai (aka) Andavan Kattalai songs review". Behindwoods.com. 12 September 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  17. "Aandavan Kattalai - Opens on Sep 23 1". Sify.
  18. "Aandavan Kattalai dominates Dhanush's Thodari at box office". 27 September 2016.
  19. "Chennai Box Office: Excellent opening for Aandavan Kattalai while Dhanush's Thodari disappoints". CatchNews.com.
  20. "Vijay Sethupathi's Aandavan Kattalai television premiere on January 26th". Behindwoods. 25 January 2017.
  21. "Did You Notice This New Trend in KOLLYWOOD?". www.behindwoods.com. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  22. "Aandavan Kattalai movie review by audience: Live update". Ibtimes.co.in. 23 September 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  23. "Aandavan Kattalai review round-up: Critics give thumbs-up to Vijay Sethupathi-starrer". Ibtimes.co.in. 24 September 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  24. "Aandavan Kattalai: My dear visa - Reviews". The Hindu. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  25. "Aandavan Kattalai Movie Review, Trailer, & Show timings at Times of India". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 23 September 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  26. "Aandavan Kattalai review: After Kaaka Muttai, this Manikandan film reinforces that content is king". Firstpost.com. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  27. "Aandavan Kattalai movie review: A film that's not to be missed!". Deccanchronicle.com. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  28. "Aandavan Kattalai review. Aandavan Kattalai Tamil movie review, story, rating". IndiaGlitz.com. 23 September 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  29. "Review : Aandavan Kattalai review: Must watch". Sify.com. 23 September 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  30. "Review: Andavan Kattalai is not to be missed - Rediff.com Movies". Rediff.com. 23 September 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
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