Kadhalar Dhinam
Encyclopedia
Kadhalar Dhinam is a 1999 Tamil
romantic film directed by Kathir. This film is based on a relationship which begins through an internet chatroom and takes a turn after the protagonist has second thoughts about the relationship. The film featured newcomer Kunal Singh
and Sonali Bendre
in the lead roles, while Nassar
, Manivannan
, Goundamani
and Chinni Jayanth
appeared in supporting roles. The film produced by A.M. Ratnam, had music composed by A. R. Rahman
and cinematography by P. C. Sriram
. The film was released in April 1999 to average reviews. But the movie broke many records and emerged a success at the box-office.
The film was also dubbed in Telugu as Premikula Roju, while the producer reshot a few new scenes and casted regional actors before dubbing it in Hindi as Dil Hi Dil Mein.
The movie starts off at a train station on New Year Day. Raja talks with a person who was well-wishing him. Due to insistence, Raja goes into a flash back. A few years ago, he reaches Mumbai, where he plans to get admitted into the prestigious Ramachandra College. He gains admission for an MBA program at the Ramachandra College in Mumbai
with the help of the college chairman, Ramachandra (Nassar
), but he doesn't realize this at first. He thought that he managed to get a seat due to his own abilities.
This is the first movie to introduce the concept of Internet and chatting. Raja meets Roja (Sonali Bendre
) through the Internet. After a brief introduction, Raja and Roja started loving each other. They have yet to see each other and thus,they sent their pictures through e-mail to each other. As Roja checks her e-mail and sees Raja's photo, Raja enters the Net Cafe where Roja was. Then, they meet each other. They are initially shocked by seeing each other as Roja told him that she is in America and Raja told her that he is in London, although they were both in India and were studying in the same college.
The very next day, Raja meets Roja again in the train station where he usually comes to board the train. Again they are both surprised and were speechless when they saw each other.
However, things take a turn for the bad when they are both unable to express their feelings about each other due to fated accidents. Raja wanted to see if Roja really likes him by asking her to where a rose on her head. But, as she walks towards the train station, her rose drops off. Unaware of this, Raja believes that Roja really doesn't like him. Ramachandra meets him and tells him to be practical. He suggests that Raja should write her a love letter. As Raja doesn't know how to write one, Ramachandra helps him. Even his daughter, Roja, helps him write a letter for Raja, unaware that it was for Raja that the father was writing it.
The next day, Raja meets her in the train station and gives her his books, with the love letter inside of it. Not knowing why he gave her his books, she just skims through his books, accidentally causing his love letter to fly away. However, Roja does write a love letter to him too. As she returns his books, a long-lost friend of Raja meets him on the train station. Raja writes the address on the first page of the book and tears it off to give to his friend. Unfortunately, he wasn't aware that Roja wrote her love-letter right behind it. He feels disappointed and doesn't show interest to Roja, causing her to think that he doesn't like her.
Ramachandra comes to the rescue again and asks Raja to write another love letter and give it to her the next day, which happens to be Valentine's Day. When Raja comes to express his love for Roja, he finds out that Roja is the daughter of Ramachandra, who had decided to marry his daughter with Rajesh Gupta, who is a smart and wealthy man.
Roja makes a last attempt to find out if Raja likes him or not. She sends him an e-mail stating that she loves him. On the other hand, Raja doesn't want to hurt the feelings of his beloved guide and teacher, who he respects as his father. Thus, he sends her an e-mail stating that he is unable to return his feelings for Roja. Roja unwillingly accepts to the wedding, as she knew there was no hope that Raja will fall in love with her.
Raja leaves the wedding hall and plans to leave back to his hometown the night itself, which goes back to the beginning of the story. Coincidentally, Ramachandra overhears his conversation between Raja and his friends and realizes that he is in love with his daughter. He goes to the train station to stop Raja, asking him to return and propose to his daughter. Raja and Ramachandra reach the wedding hall just in time to stop the wedding from taking place.
Raja and Roja are married on Valentine's Day, and the movie ends with a happy ending.
was amongst the auditionees for the debut lead role, before Kunal Singh was selected. Sonali Bendre
was signed on to play the lead role in the film, thus making her debut in South Indian films. Reports that Lara Dutta
, Laila Rouass
and Rani Jeyraj would play cameo roles proved to be untrue.
The film's success prompted Hindi distributors to dub the film in Hindi as Dil Hi Dil Mein. However, director Kadhir had actually reshot scenes in Hindi featuring actor Kunal and Anupam Kher to replace the Kunal-Manivannan tracks by conversing in Hindi while Johnny Lever's scenes replaced the Goundamani tracks (Even though he appeared briefly for the "Chand Aaya Hai" song) with the same Titanic
hairdo. Even the tracks dubbed from the Tamil version were reshot with Hindi synchronization sans for the first line of "Roja Roja". Actor Nasser, though dubbed in Hindi, had given his Hindi synching in the song "Sawar Gayee". Though actors Kunal and Sonali Bendre had synched their dialogues in Hindi, the rest of the film was dubbed and became a failure at box office.
Kollywood
Kollywood is a word referring two different movie industries in India and Nepal, derived from the word Hollywood and their local movie centers.* Tamil cinema, the Tamil language film industry based on Kodambakkam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu,...
romantic film directed by Kathir. This film is based on a relationship which begins through an internet chatroom and takes a turn after the protagonist has second thoughts about the relationship. The film featured newcomer Kunal Singh
Kunal (actor)
Kunal Singh was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil and Hindi films. He is best known for his role in the 1999 film Kadhalar Dhinam where he played a young student who falls in love over the Internet. After the box office success of Kadhalar Dhinum, Kunal appeared in a series of box office...
and Sonali Bendre
Sonali Bendre
Sonali Bendre is an Indian actress and model. She has mostly starred in Bollywood films but has acted in many Telugu films as well as a number of Marathi, Tamil and Kannada films. She was also one of the four judges in the fourth season of Indian Idol and India's Got Talent...
in the lead roles, while Nassar
Nassar
Nassar is a Tamil actor, producer, writer, director, lyricist, and singer. He has appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi and English films. He is often cited as part of India's specialist character actors, along with the likes of Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Nana Patekar...
, Manivannan
Manivannan
Manivannan is a popular Tamil actor and director. With over 400 films to his name, Manivannan is one of the most experienced actors in the field. He normally plays the role of a dad or a senior comedian.- Background :...
, Goundamani
Goundamani
Goundamani is a Tamil film actor, comedian and screen icon. He is considered as the greatest comic actor in Kollywood and is renowned for his alliance with fellow actor Senthil.-Early Life:...
and Chinni Jayanth
Chinni Jayanth
Chinni Jayanth is a Tamil director, producer, comedian, actor, and mimicry artist, who has appeared in many supporting roles in Tamil films, he is also a regular guest judge on Asathapovathu Yaaru on Sun TV in Chennai.He is also the recipient of the prestigious 'KALAIMAMANI AWARD 'given by the...
appeared in supporting roles. The film produced by A.M. Ratnam, had music composed by A. R. Rahman
A. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
and cinematography by P. C. Sriram
P. C. Sriram
P. C. Sreeram is a cinematographer and film director, educated at the Film and Television Institute of Tamil nadu . P.C. Sreeram is fondly called as PC sir. P.C. Sreeram won appreciations for his various cinematographic works and his directorial venture Kurruthipunal was selected as India's...
. The film was released in April 1999 to average reviews. But the movie broke many records and emerged a success at the box-office.
The film was also dubbed in Telugu as Premikula Roju, while the producer reshot a few new scenes and casted regional actors before dubbing it in Hindi as Dil Hi Dil Mein.
Plot
Raja (Kunal) is from a poor family. Raja's dad is violent and an alcoholic. He spends the family's income on alcohol. Raja's family struggles to work hard everyday. Raja's mom requests him to move to Mumbai to start a new life. Raja approves his mom's request and moves to Mumbai to attend Ramachandra College.The movie starts off at a train station on New Year Day. Raja talks with a person who was well-wishing him. Due to insistence, Raja goes into a flash back. A few years ago, he reaches Mumbai, where he plans to get admitted into the prestigious Ramachandra College. He gains admission for an MBA program at the Ramachandra College in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
with the help of the college chairman, Ramachandra (Nassar
Nassar
Nassar is a Tamil actor, producer, writer, director, lyricist, and singer. He has appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi and English films. He is often cited as part of India's specialist character actors, along with the likes of Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Nana Patekar...
), but he doesn't realize this at first. He thought that he managed to get a seat due to his own abilities.
This is the first movie to introduce the concept of Internet and chatting. Raja meets Roja (Sonali Bendre
Sonali Bendre
Sonali Bendre is an Indian actress and model. She has mostly starred in Bollywood films but has acted in many Telugu films as well as a number of Marathi, Tamil and Kannada films. She was also one of the four judges in the fourth season of Indian Idol and India's Got Talent...
) through the Internet. After a brief introduction, Raja and Roja started loving each other. They have yet to see each other and thus,they sent their pictures through e-mail to each other. As Roja checks her e-mail and sees Raja's photo, Raja enters the Net Cafe where Roja was. Then, they meet each other. They are initially shocked by seeing each other as Roja told him that she is in America and Raja told her that he is in London, although they were both in India and were studying in the same college.
The very next day, Raja meets Roja again in the train station where he usually comes to board the train. Again they are both surprised and were speechless when they saw each other.
However, things take a turn for the bad when they are both unable to express their feelings about each other due to fated accidents. Raja wanted to see if Roja really likes him by asking her to where a rose on her head. But, as she walks towards the train station, her rose drops off. Unaware of this, Raja believes that Roja really doesn't like him. Ramachandra meets him and tells him to be practical. He suggests that Raja should write her a love letter. As Raja doesn't know how to write one, Ramachandra helps him. Even his daughter, Roja, helps him write a letter for Raja, unaware that it was for Raja that the father was writing it.
The next day, Raja meets her in the train station and gives her his books, with the love letter inside of it. Not knowing why he gave her his books, she just skims through his books, accidentally causing his love letter to fly away. However, Roja does write a love letter to him too. As she returns his books, a long-lost friend of Raja meets him on the train station. Raja writes the address on the first page of the book and tears it off to give to his friend. Unfortunately, he wasn't aware that Roja wrote her love-letter right behind it. He feels disappointed and doesn't show interest to Roja, causing her to think that he doesn't like her.
Ramachandra comes to the rescue again and asks Raja to write another love letter and give it to her the next day, which happens to be Valentine's Day. When Raja comes to express his love for Roja, he finds out that Roja is the daughter of Ramachandra, who had decided to marry his daughter with Rajesh Gupta, who is a smart and wealthy man.
Roja makes a last attempt to find out if Raja likes him or not. She sends him an e-mail stating that she loves him. On the other hand, Raja doesn't want to hurt the feelings of his beloved guide and teacher, who he respects as his father. Thus, he sends her an e-mail stating that he is unable to return his feelings for Roja. Roja unwillingly accepts to the wedding, as she knew there was no hope that Raja will fall in love with her.
Raja leaves the wedding hall and plans to leave back to his hometown the night itself, which goes back to the beginning of the story. Coincidentally, Ramachandra overhears his conversation between Raja and his friends and realizes that he is in love with his daughter. He goes to the train station to stop Raja, asking him to return and propose to his daughter. Raja and Ramachandra reach the wedding hall just in time to stop the wedding from taking place.
Raja and Roja are married on Valentine's Day, and the movie ends with a happy ending.
Cast
- KunalKunal (actor)Kunal Singh was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil and Hindi films. He is best known for his role in the 1999 film Kadhalar Dhinam where he played a young student who falls in love over the Internet. After the box office success of Kadhalar Dhinum, Kunal appeared in a series of box office...
as Raja - Sonali BendreSonali BendreSonali Bendre is an Indian actress and model. She has mostly starred in Bollywood films but has acted in many Telugu films as well as a number of Marathi, Tamil and Kannada films. She was also one of the four judges in the fourth season of Indian Idol and India's Got Talent...
as Roja - NassarNassarNassar is a Tamil actor, producer, writer, director, lyricist, and singer. He has appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi and English films. He is often cited as part of India's specialist character actors, along with the likes of Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Nana Patekar...
as Ramachandra - ManivannanManivannanManivannan is a popular Tamil actor and director. With over 400 films to his name, Manivannan is one of the most experienced actors in the field. He normally plays the role of a dad or a senior comedian.- Background :...
as Manivannan - GoundamaniGoundamaniGoundamani is a Tamil film actor, comedian and screen icon. He is considered as the greatest comic actor in Kollywood and is renowned for his alliance with fellow actor Senthil.-Early Life:...
as Romeo - Chinni JayanthChinni JayanthChinni Jayanth is a Tamil director, producer, comedian, actor, and mimicry artist, who has appeared in many supporting roles in Tamil films, he is also a regular guest judge on Asathapovathu Yaaru on Sun TV in Chennai.He is also the recipient of the prestigious 'KALAIMAMANI AWARD 'given by the...
as Mandi/Madan (Hindi version) - Johnny LeverJohnny LeverJohn Prakasa Rao Janumala famously known as Johnny Lever is an Indian film actor and comedian. He was born to Prakash Rao Janumala and Karunamma Janumala and brought up in Mumbai. He started his career in 1984 and has acted in over 350 Bollywood films...
as College Professor Jack (Hindi version) - Anupam KherAnupam KherAnupam Kher is an Indian actor who has appeared in nearly 400 films and 100 plays. Though mainly appearing in Bollywood films, he has had roles in some films from other nations as well...
as Colonel (Hindi version) - RambhaRambha (actress)Vijaya Lakshmi , best known by her stage name Rambha, is an Indian film actress. She has acted in over 100 South Indian films and also in Bollywood films. She had done several successful films in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada, Bengali and Bhojpuri films. She paired up with popular heroes...
in a special appearance - Lekha WashingtonLekha WashingtonLekha Washington is an Indian film actress and model, who has appeared in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu films and Kannada language films...
in an uncreditted role.
Production
Actor ShaamShaam
Shamshuddin Ibrahim, known professionally as Shaam , is a Tamil film actor and model. Starting his career as a professional model, he soon made his acting debut in the film Khushi , appearing in a cameo role. He further appeared in lead roles in critically and commercially successful films such as...
was amongst the auditionees for the debut lead role, before Kunal Singh was selected. Sonali Bendre
Sonali Bendre
Sonali Bendre is an Indian actress and model. She has mostly starred in Bollywood films but has acted in many Telugu films as well as a number of Marathi, Tamil and Kannada films. She was also one of the four judges in the fourth season of Indian Idol and India's Got Talent...
was signed on to play the lead role in the film, thus making her debut in South Indian films. Reports that Lara Dutta
Lara Dutta
Lara Dutta Bhupathi is an Indian actress, UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador, and former Miss Universe.-Early life:Dutta was born in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh to a Punjabi father and an Anglo-Indian mother. Her father is Wing Commander L.K. Dutta and her mother is Jennifer Dutta...
, Laila Rouass
Laila Rouass
Laila Abdesselam Rouass is a British actress. She is best known for her role as Amber Gates in the British television drama Footballers' Wives and as Sarah Page in the third season of Primeval .-Career:...
and Rani Jeyraj would play cameo roles proved to be untrue.
Release
The film initially featured a different climax where Roja dies after taking tablets, but after release, the ending was altered to give a happy ending.The film's success prompted Hindi distributors to dub the film in Hindi as Dil Hi Dil Mein. However, director Kadhir had actually reshot scenes in Hindi featuring actor Kunal and Anupam Kher to replace the Kunal-Manivannan tracks by conversing in Hindi while Johnny Lever's scenes replaced the Goundamani tracks (Even though he appeared briefly for the "Chand Aaya Hai" song) with the same Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
hairdo. Even the tracks dubbed from the Tamil version were reshot with Hindi synchronization sans for the first line of "Roja Roja". Actor Nasser, though dubbed in Hindi, had given his Hindi synching in the song "Sawar Gayee". Though actors Kunal and Sonali Bendre had synched their dialogues in Hindi, the rest of the film was dubbed and became a failure at box office.
Tamil (Kadhalar Dinam)
| Song | Artist(s) | Lyrics |
|---|---|---|
| "Dandiya Aatamum" | Unni Menon Unni Menon Unni Menon is an Indian film playback singer. He has sung over 3000 songs in South Indian languages like Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. In the early part of his career, he spent many years as a low-profile playback singer. The turning point in his career came when he sang the song "Pudhu... , M. G. Sreekumar M. G. Sreekumar M. G. Sreekumar is a two-time National Award-winning Indian playback singer and music director who works in Malayalam cinema. With a career of over 25 years, he is one of the prominent male singers in the Malayalam film industry. He is known for matching voice with Malayalam actor Mohanlal. He has... & Kavita Krishnamurthy |
Vaali Vaali (poet) Vaali is a Tamil poet and lyricist who writes Tamil poetry and film song lyrics. Most recently he has extended lyrics for a couple of songs in Engeyum Kaadhal for the music of Harris Jayaraj. He has also acted in several films, most notably Hey Ram, Parthale Paravasam and Poi Kaal Kudhirai... |
| "Ennai Vilai Azhagae" | Unni Menon Unni Menon Unni Menon is an Indian film playback singer. He has sung over 3000 songs in South Indian languages like Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. In the early part of his career, he spent many years as a low-profile playback singer. The turning point in his career came when he sang the song "Pudhu... |
Vaali Vaali (poet) Vaali is a Tamil poet and lyricist who writes Tamil poetry and film song lyrics. Most recently he has extended lyrics for a couple of songs in Engeyum Kaadhal for the music of Harris Jayaraj. He has also acted in several films, most notably Hey Ram, Parthale Paravasam and Poi Kaal Kudhirai... |
| "Kadhalenum" | S. P. Balasubramaniam & Swarnalatha Swarnalatha Swarnalatha was a Indian playback singer. From 1987 onward, she rendered nearly 7000 songs in many languages including Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, Urdu, Bengali, Oriya, Punjabi and Badaga.... |
Vaali Vaali (poet) Vaali is a Tamil poet and lyricist who writes Tamil poetry and film song lyrics. Most recently he has extended lyrics for a couple of songs in Engeyum Kaadhal for the music of Harris Jayaraj. He has also acted in several films, most notably Hey Ram, Parthale Paravasam and Poi Kaal Kudhirai... |
| "Nenaichchapadi" | M. G. Sreekumar M. G. Sreekumar M. G. Sreekumar is a two-time National Award-winning Indian playback singer and music director who works in Malayalam cinema. With a career of over 25 years, he is one of the prominent male singers in the Malayalam film industry. He is known for matching voice with Malayalam actor Mohanlal. He has... , Srinivas Srinivas (singer) Srinivas 'Srini' is an award winning playback singer who has sung over 2000 songs in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi. He is also a music composer.-Early life:... , Ganga& Kanchana |
Vaali Vaali (poet) Vaali is a Tamil poet and lyricist who writes Tamil poetry and film song lyrics. Most recently he has extended lyrics for a couple of songs in Engeyum Kaadhal for the music of Harris Jayaraj. He has also acted in several films, most notably Hey Ram, Parthale Paravasam and Poi Kaal Kudhirai... |
| "Oh Mariya" | Devan Devan Devan was one of the greatest of twentieth century Tamil writers, known for his witty and humorous stories. Many people think of him as the 'Wodehouse' of Tamil writings.... , Yugendran Yugendran Yugendran is an Indian film actor and singer, who has sung more than 600 songs. He is also an occasional music director and host.- Personal life :... & Febi Mani |
Vaali Vaali (poet) Vaali is a Tamil poet and lyricist who writes Tamil poetry and film song lyrics. Most recently he has extended lyrics for a couple of songs in Engeyum Kaadhal for the music of Harris Jayaraj. He has also acted in several films, most notably Hey Ram, Parthale Paravasam and Poi Kaal Kudhirai... |
| "Roja Roja" | P. Unnikrishnan | Vaali Vaali (poet) Vaali is a Tamil poet and lyricist who writes Tamil poetry and film song lyrics. Most recently he has extended lyrics for a couple of songs in Engeyum Kaadhal for the music of Harris Jayaraj. He has also acted in several films, most notably Hey Ram, Parthale Paravasam and Poi Kaal Kudhirai... |
Hindi (Dil Hi Dil Mein)
| Song | Artist(s) | Lyrics |
|---|---|---|
| "Chand Aaya Hai" | Udit Narayan Udit Narayan -Career:King of melody, Udit Narayan Jha was born on 1 December, 1955 in a village called Bhardaha in the Saptari district , Nepal. His father was Hare Krishna Jha and his mother was Bhuwaneshwari Devi.Narayan studied at P.B... , Kavita Krishnamurthy |
Mehboob Kotwal |
| "Ae Nazneen Suno Na" | Abhijeet Abhijeet -Early life:Abhijeet was born in a Bengali family in Kanpur on 30 October 1958, the youngest of four siblings. He passed his matriculation from Ramakrishna Mission Higher Secondary School, Kanpur and Class XII from BNSD Inter College Chunni Ganj, Kanpur; and graduated in commerce from Christ... |
Mehboob Kotwal |
| "Dhola Dhola" | Srinivas Srinivas Srinivas/Sreenivas/Shrinivas/Shreenivas is a common given name for males in India. The word Srinivas is combination of two Sanskrit words, Sri and nivas . Sri means 'radiance' or 'diffusing light'; nivas means 'place of residence'... & Swarnalatha Swarnalatha Swarnalatha was a Indian playback singer. From 1987 onward, she rendered nearly 7000 songs in many languages including Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, Urdu, Bengali, Oriya, Punjabi and Badaga.... |
Mehboob Kotwal |
| "Sawar Gayee" | Udit Narayan Udit Narayan -Career:King of melody, Udit Narayan Jha was born on 1 December, 1955 in a village called Bhardaha in the Saptari district , Nepal. His father was Hare Krishna Jha and his mother was Bhuwaneshwari Devi.Narayan studied at P.B... , Srinivas Srinivas (singer) Srinivas 'Srini' is an award winning playback singer who has sung over 2000 songs in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi. He is also a music composer.-Early life:... |
Mehboob Kotwal |
| "Oh Mariya" | Remo Fernandes Remo Fernandes Luís Remo de Maria Bernardo Fernandes, more popularly known as Remo Fernandes is a pop/rock/Indian fusion artist and playback singer from the state of Goa, India. His musical work is a fusion of many different cultures and styles he's been exposed to as a child in Goa and in his later travels... ,Febi Mani |
Mehboob Kotwal |
| "Roja Roja" | Hariharan Hariharan (singer) Hariharan , born 3 April 1955) is an Indian playback singer in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Bhojpuri and Telugu movies, an established ghazal singer, and one of the pioneers of Indian fusion music. His melody is strongly appreciated by the film fraternity... |
Mehboob Kotwal |