Kuselan

Kuselan (Kathanayakudu in Telugu) is a bilingual drama film directed by P. Vasu made in Tamil and Telugu. Rajnikanth and Nayantara play cameo roles while the main character of the film is portrayed by Pasupathy in the Tamil version and Jagapati Babu in Telugu. G. V. Prakash Kumar composed the film's soundtrack and background score while Arvind Krishna is the cinematographer. Kuselan is produced by K. Balachandar while Kathanayakudu is produced by Ashwini Dutt. Both versions of the film were released worldwide on August 1, 2008 and in the UK on 31st July 2008[2] (but due to time zone differences it would have been the early hours of August 1st in India). The film is a remake of the Malayalam film, Kadha Parayumbol.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Production
o 1.1 Development
o 1.2 Casting
* 2 Certification
* 3 Soundtrack
* 4 References
* 5 External links

[edit] Production

[edit] Development

Following P. Vasu and Rajnikanth's film, Chandramukhi in 2005, Vasu had been keen to re-cast Rajnikanth in another role and prior to signing Kuselan, he had narrated a story entitled Vettaiyan, which would have been a sequel of a character featured in Chandramukhi.[3]

Early in 2008, Rajnikanth signed up for S. Shankar's Robot, making it highly unlikely he would sign up to another film for a couple of years, due to Shankar's tendency to take two years shooting his films. However, in a sudden turn of events, Kuselan was launched at the Taj Coromandel in Chennai on January 14, 2008 coinciding with Pongal.[4] The director, P. Vasu signed up Rajnikanth and Pasupathy to portray the lead roles, while noted director K. Balachandar agreed to produce the Tamil version of the film along with G.P. Vijayakumar's Seven Arts Productions, while Aswani Dutt agreed to produce the film in Telugu with Rajnikanth and Jagapati Babu in the lead roles.[5] The film is a remake of a super hit Malayalam movie, Kadha Parayumbol which was written by Sreenivasan who also played the lead role in the movie.

Vasu made it clear that Rajnikanth would not be doing an honorary role in the movie which Mammooty had portrayed, but will play a full role, describing that the "The whole story revolves around him [Rajnikanth]". The film's launch was helted on March 7, 2008 at the AVM Studios in Chennai with the leading artistes present.[6] P. Vasu, while talking to the media mentioned that the shooting lasted 82 days with the versions being shot simultaneously and that most of the movie was shot inside the Ramoji Rao film city, with other destinations including Kerala and Pollachi. [7]

A promotional event took place on July 19, 2008 at the Jawarhalal Nehru StadiumKuselan. The event focused on the music, the five songs from the movie will be sung by the original singers on the stage, conducted by G. V. Prakash. [8] P. Vasu mentioned that Kuselan will be Rajini's top emotional performance of all times. [9]

[edit] Casting

Apart from the role of Rajnikanth, Vasu intended to use entirely different casts in either version of the bilingual film. Upon announcement, actor Livingston, Manobala and Santhana Bharathi were added to the cast of the Tamil version,[10] along with Vadivelu who pipped Vivek, Santhanam and Goundamani to land the role, even though Santhanam managed another role in the film.[11] Furthermore, yesteryear director S. P. Muthuraman agreed to play a guest role in the film.[12] However the selection of the heroines was far more time consuming. Despite Trisha Krishnan's request to appear opposite Rajnikanth, Nayantara accepted the role,[4] however finding a female lead opposite Pasupathy was more difficult for the director, with Simran Bagga,[13] Tabu[12] and Sneha all being considered for the role in the Tamil version.[4] However, Meena who played the role in the original, was offered the role in early February 2008 and accepted it.[14] Throughout the production stages, it had been indicated that several prominent film personalities will appear in cameo appearances throughout the film, however no leading actors were approached.[15][16] Indications later revealed that five actresses would appear opposite Rajnikanth in a song with the selected being Nayantara, Mamta Mohandas, Kushboo, Suja and Sneha all of whom apart from Nayantara, play minor roles.[17]

In the Telugu version, comedian actors Sunil, Brahmanandam, Tanikella Bharani and Venu Madhav all signed up to play the roles of Jagapati Babu's fellow villagers.[18] Ileana D'Cruz recently turned down an offer to act in the film, citing date problems.[5] Like the Tamil version, it has also been indicated that several prominent Telugu actors have been approached to be a part of a song in the project, but none were selected.[15] Technicians confirmed in the two films are G. V. Prakash Kumar who will operate as the music composer, whilst Arvind Krishna will be the cinematographer for the bilingual.[10]

[edit] Certification

It has been certified PG by the BBFC in the United Kingdom[19]


[edit] Soundtrack

The soundtrack of Kuselan was released on June 30, 2008 at the Le Royal Meredian Hotel. A grand function was held for the release and was attended by P. Vasu, G. V. Prakash Kumar, Rajinikanth, K. Balachander, A. R. Rahman, Arjun Sarja, and Dhanush. The background score has been composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar along with five melodious songs. One of the songs, (Cinema Cinema) commemorates the 75th anniversary of Tamil cinema.

1. Cinema Cinema - Shankar Mahadevan
2. Sollamma - Hariharan, Sujatha Mohan, Baby Ranjini & Baby Pooja
3. Om Zaarare - Daler Mehndi, K. S. Chithra & Sadhana Sargam
4. Chaaral - Shreya Ghoshal
5. Perinba Pechukaran - Kailash Kher, V. Prasanna

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.bbfc.co.uk/website/Classified.nsf/0/86BECEB297FDD8EC80257495005A3491?OpenDocument
2. ^ http://www.ayngaran.com/moviedetails.php?movid=108
3. ^ Shankar, Settu (2007). "P Vasu's version of Vettaiyan". OneIndia.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-27.
4. ^ a b c "Nayan is Rajini's lady love in Kuselan!". OneIndia.com (2008). Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
5. ^ a b "Ileana refuses Rajini`s Kuselan". Chennai365.com (2008). Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
6. ^ "Kuselan pooja held". Sify.com (2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-07.
7. ^ "P Vasu Interview". Behindwoods.com.com (2008). Retrieved on 2008-06-19.
8. ^ "”Kuselan’s promotional event". Behindwoods. Retrieved on 16 July 2008.
9. ^ "”Kuselan: Rajini's most emotional performance". Behindwoods. Retrieved on 30 July 2008.
10. ^ a b "Jegapathy Babu in 'Kuchelan'". Cinesouth.com (2008). Retrieved on 2008-01-23.
11. ^ "Vivek acts in Kuselan!". OneIndia.com (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-09.
12. ^ a b "Latest on ‘Kuselan’". Indiaglitz.com (2008). Retrieved on 2008-01-23.
13. ^ "Simran confirmed for ‘Kuselan’?". Indiaglitz.com (2008). Retrieved on 2008-01-29.
14. ^ "Meena in `Kuselan`!". Sify.com (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
15. ^ a b Shankar, Settu (2008). "Kamal, Ajith and Vijay dance with Rajini!!". OneIndia.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
16. ^ "Big star cast in Kuselan?". BharatStudent.com (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
17. ^ "Rajinikant to romance 5 heroines?". Sify.com (2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-24.
18. ^ "Aswani Dutt producing Rajinis Kuselan in Telugu". Oniondosa.net (2008). Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
19. ^ http://www.bbfc.co.uk/website/Classified.nsf/0/86BECEB297FDD8EC80257495005A3491?OpenDocument

[edit] External links

* Download Kuselan Movie

* Kuselan Theater list!

* Listen To Songs Online