Vaaranam Aayiram

Following Kaakha Kaakha in 2003, the director Gautham Menon and Suriya expressed their desire to work together on a film. In early 2005, the pair got together for a film tentatively titled Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikaalam which featured Asin Thottumkal in the lead role and Daniel Balaji in a supporting one. However, after a photo shoot, the film was delayed and then subsequently called off.[3] Nevertheless, in 2006, producer Venu Ravichandran signed up the pair for a new film, which they confirmed was not going to be a sequel of their previous venture; it was going to be a romantic thriller. Initially titles such as Naan Thaan[4] and Udal Porul Aavi[5] were considered for the project, but Menon announced the title was Vaaranam Aayiram, title derived from "Nachiyar Thirumozhi" with the literal meaning of "the strength of a thousand elephants".[6] According to Menon, he received the news of his father's death while he was travelling in an aeroplane in 2007; this incident inspired him to direct Vaaranam Aayiram which begins in a similar manner.[7]

University of California, Berkeley served as shooting spot in "Adiye Kolluthe" song

Before the start of shooting, technical crew members were signed up, and the shoot commenced without a leading lady on 24 November 2006 at a nightclub in Chennai. In 2007, it was announced that a 10-day shoot in Afghanistan would be followed by shooting in Malaysia, Russia and the United States. However, the film only completed a shoot at the University of California, Berkeley in Berkeley, US, and shooting was not held in Afghanistan.[8]

In November 2007, Gautham Menon decided to send the reels back to Chennai from San Francisco. Two of the production managers were assigned the task of bringing the reels to the producer's office. But they stayed in Singapore for a couple of days before returning to Chennai. Following their arrival, it was understood the reels went missing in the hotel they stayed in at Singapore, but a search by the police proved unsuccessful. The whole crew of Vaaranam Aayiram was in a fix as the reels held fight scenes, songs and other scenes worth $500,000. Soon after, the reels were found with the Singapore airport authorities.[9] The film finished its shoot in August 2008.[10]

A song was filmed by an assistant cameraman with a high-tech camera, costing about Rs. 1.5 crore, fastened to his hip. While the assistant was moving behind the actors canning the shots, he tripped unexpectedly and the camera broke to pieces. The shot resumed a day later with a similar camera.[11]

Vaaranam Aayiram was believed to be based on the Dutch film by Mike van Diem, Character; others have claimed that it is inspired by the 1994 Hollywood film, Forrest Gump, starring Tom Hanks. Menon too admitted the film will draw inspirations from Forrest Gump but would be fixed to suit the Indian audience.[12] Furthermore, Menon stated that Surya Sivakumar will be seen playing the dual roles of a 21-year-old and his father and that the film will be society themed. It was set to release in 2007 and was delayed for a 14 November 2008 release.[13] The audio of Vaaranam Aayiram was released on 24 September 2008. Menon has described the film as "autobiographical and a very personal story and if people didn’t know, that 70% of this [the film] is from my life".[14][15] Suriya lost weight without using capsules and prepared a six-pack for the film through an eight-month fitness regime.[16][17]

For Surya's father Krishnan's role, Menon initially approached both Mohanlal and Nana Patekar, but it did not work out as there was an issue about how they would portray the character's younger age (his twenties) in the flashback scenes and that is when Suriya expressed interest in portraying the character himself.[18][19] After the cancellation of Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikaalam, originally starring Surya Sivakumar, Asin Thottumkal and Daniel Balaji, keeping the male leads the same, Gautham Menon wanted to opt for a new heroine to begin Vaaranam Aayiram. Deepika Padukone was first approached for the role, but she backed out to be part of Bollywood film Om Shanti Om.[20] Soon after, another confirmed heroine, Andrea Jeremiah, was dropped from the film for unknown reasons.[21] Asin expressed her desire to be a part of the project, but the male lead, Surya, refuted her offer citing that she had walked out of his previous film, Sillunu Oru Kadhal and refused to act opposite him.[22]

The producers then announced the film with Divya Spandana, who was making her comeback to Tamil films and Genelia D'Souza in the lead roles.[23] Soon after the start of the shoot, Genelia decided to walk out, after Menon refused to pay the hefty salary that she was demanding and was receiving in Telugu films allowing Sameera Reddy to act in her first Tamil film. Simran signed and completed her shoots swiftly after she was selected to portray the mother of Surya,[13][24] after Tabu had rejected the role.[25]

The album received positive reviews from music critics. Indiaglitz stated "'Varanam Aayiram' is no doubt one of the best from Harris Jeyaraj and Gautham duo. It is energetic and entertaining. A must listen musical score that is serene even while repeated."[29] Malathy Sundaram from Behindwoods gave a 4/5 rating and praised the album calling it a "blockbuster" further citing "The guitar simply enthralls you. So do the native drums. There is a slight monotony in the instrumentation, but it doesn’t seem to affect the overall effect. Thaamarai needs to be complimented for the soft lyrics."[27] Pavithra Srinivasan from Rediff gave a 3.5/5 rating and said "Put together, you definitely feel that Harris Jayaraj has set out to provide quality music with a difference."[28]

Varanam Aayiram emerged as the biggest blockbuster for Suriya since Ghajini, grossing ₹5.66 crore in Chennai alone.[30] In overseas market, the film grossed $921,007 from both United Kingdom and Malaysia.[31][32][33]

Sify stated that it is a "film straight from the heart".[34] Indiaglitz reviewed that it "proves to be a tame affair" but stated that "Suriya the actor rocks throughout".[35] Behindwoods rated it 2.5/5 stating that "what could have been a subtly told story turns into a sloppy fare" and "there are touching and heart-warming moments in the movie but, they are few and far between".[36] Rediff gave the film 3/5 and called it a "moving story", further mentioning that "It might be just a feather in Gautam's hat. As for Surya, it's an ostrich plume, a justified triumph."[37] The Hindu said, "The same combo came together for Kaakha Kaakha and signed off with a flourish not so long ago! Of course Vaaranam ... does have some great moments, but it’s a lengthy film, and you feel it!"[38]