Kathanayakudu (2008 film)
Encyclopedia
Kathanayakudu is a 2008 Telugu drama film
directed by P. Vasu
, which was simultaneously made in Tamil
as Kuselan . Both remake of the Malayalam film Kadha Parayumbol, the film is directed by P. Vasu
and produced by Aswani Dutt
and G. P. Vijayakumar in two languages. Kuselan
stars Jagapati Babu
in the lead role paired opposite Meena. Rajinikanth and Nayantara
appear in extended cameo roles.
The film revolves around a villager, who had shared a strong friendship with a popular cinema
actor in their youth. However due to their different pursuit in careers they eventually are forced to part ways, one becoming a national figure, the other, a village barber. Decades later, the actor returns to the village to participate in his film's shooting. Whilst the entire village become excited about the prospect of seeing the actor, the barber fears that his old friend would have forgotten him and would neglect him. The story explores the pressures of friendship.
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. The film is a remake of the Malayalam movie, Kadha Parayumbol which was written by Sreenivasan who also played the lead role in the movie. 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. The promotional event took place on 19 July 2008 at the Jawarhalal Nehru Stadium.
In the Telugu version, comedy actors Sunil
, Brahmanandam
, Tanikella Bharani
and Venu Madhav
all signed up to play the roles of Jagapati Babu
's fellow villagers. Ileana D'Cruz
turned down an offer to act in the film, citing date problems. Like the Tamil version, it was said that several prominent Telugu
actors had been approached to be a part of a song in the project, but none were selected.
Technicians were common in both versions in the two films with G. V. Prakash Kumar
operating as the music composer, whilst Arvind Krishna
was the cinematographer for the bilingual.
commemorates the 75th anniversary of Telugu cinema
. N. T. Rama Rao
, Akkineni Nageswara Rao
, M. G. Ramachandran
and Rajkumar
are shown in this song.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by P. Vasu
P. Vasu
P. Vasu is an Indian film director, writer, and actor who works in Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu films and a few Malayalam films as well. In a career spanning three decades, Vasu has directed over 50 films.-Personal life:...
, which was simultaneously made in Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
as Kuselan . Both remake of the Malayalam film Kadha Parayumbol, the film is directed by P. Vasu
P. Vasu
P. Vasu is an Indian film director, writer, and actor who works in Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu films and a few Malayalam films as well. In a career spanning three decades, Vasu has directed over 50 films.-Personal life:...
and produced by Aswani Dutt
Aswani Dutt
Aswani Dutt born 15 September) is a producer in Telugu cinema. He has a wife and three daughters. He is the founder of the production house Vyjayanthi Movies.-Filmography as producer:* Shakti * Kantri * Chiruta...
and G. P. Vijayakumar in two languages. Kuselan
Kuselan
Kuselan is a 2008 Tamil drama film directed by P. Vasu, which was simultaneously made in Telugu as Kathanayakudu . Both remake of the Malayalam film Kadha Parayumbol, the film is directed by P. Vasu and produced by Pushpa Kandaswamy, Aswani Dutt and G. P. Vijayakumar in two languages...
stars Jagapati Babu
Jagapati Babu
Jagapathi Babu is an Indian top actor in the Telugu film industry. He is the son of veteran producer-director V.B. Rajendra Prasad.He is named as manly star in telugu film circuit and is one among top stars of likes like chiranjeevi,bala krishna,nagarjuna,venkatesh.-Career:Jagapathi Babu made...
in the lead role paired opposite Meena. Rajinikanth and Nayantara
Nayantara
Nayantara , is an Indian film actress. She made her acting debut in 2003 in the Malayalam film Manassinakkare. She debuted in Tamil cinema with Ayya and in Telugu cinema with Lakshmi , following which she starred alongside popular lead actors...
appear in extended cameo roles.
The film revolves around a villager, who had shared a strong friendship with a popular cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
actor in their youth. However due to their different pursuit in careers they eventually are forced to part ways, one becoming a national figure, the other, a village barber. Decades later, the actor returns to the village to participate in his film's shooting. Whilst the entire village become excited about the prospect of seeing the actor, the barber fears that his old friend would have forgotten him and would neglect him. The story explores the pressures of friendship.
Plot
An emotional tale, the story is about two childhood friends Balakrishna (Jagapathi Babu) and Ashok Kumar (Rajinikanth). Balu does not stop at anything to make his friend feel happy. As time passes by, they take different paths and Balu becomes a barber in a small village called Siricilla. He gets married to Devi (Meena) and has three children and leads a happy life. However, his finances are dry and he is often led to the door of Dharmaraju (Dharmavarapu), the financier. On the other hand, Balu has tough competition from the more smart and clever Kantha Rao (Sunil) who has a saloon right opposite to his shop. Balu is a man with self-respect and honesty. His life continues to roll until one day there is news that a film shooting is going to happen in a place near their village and the hero of the film is Superstar Ashok Kumar (Rajinikanth). The news spreads like wildfire and Balu knows this but hesitates to show himself as a friend of Ashok Kumar. On the other hand, folks around get to know the friendship of Balu and Ashok Kumar and in this process those who have been ridiculing him start doing favors for him only with the intention of meeting Ashok Kumar or at least watching him from outside. But hesitant Balu is unable to do what they want and soon people start shunning him, even his own children start showing anger towards him.Development
Early in 2008, Rajnikanth signed up for S. Shankar's Enthiran, while Kathanayakudu was launched at the Taj Coromandel in Chennai on 14 January 2008 coinciding with Pongal. The director, P. Vasu signed up Rajnikanth and Jagapathi Babu to portray the lead roles, while director K. BalachanderK. Balachander
K. Balachander is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer. Balachander is known for his distinct film-making style. His films analyse unusual or complicated interpersonal relationships and social themes. He has directed nearly 80 films and has worked in 100 films either as director or...
agreed to produce the Tamil version of the film along with G.P. Vijayakumar's Seven Arts Productions, while Aswani Dutt
Aswani Dutt
Aswani Dutt born 15 September) is a producer in Telugu cinema. He has a wife and three daughters. He is the founder of the production house Vyjayanthi Movies.-Filmography as producer:* Shakti * Kantri * Chiruta...
agreed to produce the film in Telugu. The film is a remake of the Malayalam movie, Kadha Parayumbol which was written by Sreenivasan who also played the lead role in the movie. 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. The promotional event took place on 19 July 2008 at the Jawarhalal Nehru Stadium.
Cast
The lead cast in the bilingual (Tamil/Telugu) included:- Jagapati BabuJagapati BabuJagapathi Babu is an Indian top actor in the Telugu film industry. He is the son of veteran producer-director V.B. Rajendra Prasad.He is named as manly star in telugu film circuit and is one among top stars of likes like chiranjeevi,bala krishna,nagarjuna,venkatesh.-Career:Jagapathi Babu made...
as Balakrishnan. Balakrishnan, more commonly referred to as Balan is a village barberer. He lives care-free with his wife and three children despite his financial struggles. His salon fails to earn profits ude to his reluctance to take in assistance from others. Balan has a dilemma when his old friend Ashok Kumar returns to the village. - Meena as Sreedevi. Sreedevi is the wife of Balan, who is commonly known for being rather boisterous and open hearted despite her poor state of living. She shares great affection for her husband despite the villagers' hate towards him.
- Rajinikanth as Ashok Kumar. Ashok Kumar is dubbed as the "superstar" in South Indian cinema, who comes to the village to participate in his film's shooting. The arrival of him prompts the villagers' excitement, with all of them wanting to see the superstar.
- NayantaraNayantaraNayantara , is an Indian film actress. She made her acting debut in 2003 in the Malayalam film Manassinakkare. She debuted in Tamil cinema with Ayya and in Telugu cinema with Lakshmi , following which she starred alongside popular lead actors...
as Nayantara. Nayantara is the co-star to Ashok Kumar in the film under production in the village. - SunilSunil (actor)Sunil Varma is an actor from the Telugu film industry. His roles usually are to provide comic relief to the audience. In Andala Ramudu , he appeared in the lead role for the first time and his Second one as hero is Maryada Ramanna directed by S. S. Rajamouli...
as Shanmugam. Shanmugam is an opposition barberer in the village, whose business revenues more profit than Balan. Provides comic relief in the film.
Casting
In the Telugu version, comedy actors Sunil
Sunil (actor)
Sunil Varma is an actor from the Telugu film industry. His roles usually are to provide comic relief to the audience. In Andala Ramudu , he appeared in the lead role for the first time and his Second one as hero is Maryada Ramanna directed by S. S. Rajamouli...
, Brahmanandam
Brahmanandam
Brahmanandam Kanneganti is an Indian actor, commonly appearing in Telugu films. He was born into a Viswakarma gold smith family. He holds Guinness World Record for acting in the most number of films in a single language. He was starred in over 900 films till date. He is noted for Physical comedy...
, Tanikella Bharani
Tanikella Bharani
Tanikella Bharani is a critically acclaimed, multi-faceted actor from Tollywood and a writer. He is a playwrighter, a dialogue writer, screen writer, poet, magazine editor, an actor and a director...
and Venu Madhav
Venu Madhav (actor)
Venu Madhav is a comedy actor in Tollywood born near Kodada . He has acted in many movies in Telugu , Tamil and Malayalam Languages. Besides an actor, he is a mimicry artist. Venu Madhav started his career with Sampradhayam by S.V.Krishna Reddy.He is also a television anchor, who has hosted...
all signed up to play the roles of Jagapati Babu
Jagapati Babu
Jagapathi Babu is an Indian top actor in the Telugu film industry. He is the son of veteran producer-director V.B. Rajendra Prasad.He is named as manly star in telugu film circuit and is one among top stars of likes like chiranjeevi,bala krishna,nagarjuna,venkatesh.-Career:Jagapathi Babu made...
's fellow villagers. Ileana D'Cruz
Ileana D'Cruz
Ileana D'Cruz is an Indian film actress, who predominantly appears in Telugu cinema. Starting her career as a model, she made her feature film debut in Y.V.S. Chowdhary's 2006 Telugu film Devadasu...
turned down an offer to act in the film, citing date problems. Like the Tamil version, it was said that several prominent Telugu
Telugu people
The Telugu people or Telugu Prajalu are an ethnic group of India. They are the native speakers of the Telugu language, the most commonly spoken language in India after Hindi and Bengali...
actors had been approached to be a part of a song in the project, but none were selected.
Technicians were common in both versions in the two films with G. V. Prakash Kumar
G. V. Prakash Kumar
G. V. Prakash Kumar is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer and singer. He has mainly scored music for Tamil, while also doing three Telugu films and a Hindi film...
operating as the music composer, whilst Arvind Krishna
Arvind Krishna
Arvind Krishna is an Indian cinematographer, who has worked in the Tamil and the Hindi film industries .-Career:Arvind Krishna, always passionate about photography and studied Visual communication at the Loyola College in Chennai, after which he joined ace cinematographer P. C. Sreeram and worked...
was the cinematographer for the bilingual.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of Kathanayakudu was released on 30 June 2008. The soundtrack consists of five songs. The song Cinema CinemaCinema Cinema
"Cinema Cinema" is a 2008 Tamil film song from the film Kuselan directed by P. Vasu. The song was sung by Shankar Mahadevan and was composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar. The lyrics were penned by Na. Muthukumar.-Description:...
commemorates the 75th anniversary of Telugu cinema
Telugu cinema
The Cinema of Andhra Pradesh, also referred to as Telugu Cinema or Tollywood, is the Telugu film industry in India. The Telugu language film industry is known for being one of the three largest in terms of no.of films produced yearly in India. The Prasads IMAX theatre in Hyderabad is one of the...
. N. T. Rama Rao
N. T. Rama Rao
Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao , also known as NTR and fondly referred to as Anna Garu, was an Indian film actor, director, producer, and a politician...
, Akkineni Nageswara Rao
Akkineni Nageswara Rao
Akkineni Nageswara Rao , also known as ANR, is a Telugu cinema actor from Gudivada, Andhra Pradesh. Nageswara Rao has worked in several genres of films in his 70-year acting career, including mythological, social, and drama films...
, M. G. Ramachandran
M. G. Ramachandran
Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran , popularly known by his initials , was an Indian film actor, director, producer and politician....
and Rajkumar
Rajkumar
Rajkumar , born as Singanalluru Puttaswamayya Muthuraju was a popular actor and singer in the Kannada film industry...
are shown in this song.
| No. | Song | Singers | Length (m:ss) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Cinema Cinema Cinema Cinema "Cinema Cinema" is a 2008 Tamil film song from the film Kuselan directed by P. Vasu. The song was sung by Shankar Mahadevan and was composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar. The lyrics were penned by Na. Muthukumar.-Description:... " |
Shankar Mahadevan Shankar Mahadevan Shankar Mahadevan is an Indian music composer and singer. He is a part of the Shankar Ehsaan Loy trio team that composes for Indian films and a playback singer.-Early life:... |
6:08 | The song commemorates the 75th anniversary of Telugu cinema Telugu cinema The Cinema of Andhra Pradesh, also referred to as Telugu Cinema or Tollywood, is the Telugu film industry in India. The Telugu language film industry is known for being one of the three largest in terms of no.of films produced yearly in India. The Prasads IMAX theatre in Hyderabad is one of the... |
| 2 | "Challe Challe" | 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... , Sujatha Mohan Sujatha Mohan Sujatha Mohan , usually credited as Sujatha, is an award-winning Indian playback singer who is popular for singing in Malayalam and Tamil movies. She has also sung for Telugu, Kannada and Hindi movies. She is widely popular for her evergreen melodies and her sweet voice is considered to be her... , Baby Ranjini & Baby Pooja |
6:13 | A melody picturized on Balakrishnan's family |
| 3 | "Om Zaarare" | Daler Mehndi Daler Mehndi Daler Mehndi , born August 18, 1967, is an Indian Bhangra pop singer.Mehndi was a student of traditional Punjabi music and his first album broke sales records in India. Since 1995 he has recorded several highly successful albums in India, and also sung as a playback singer for several Hindi movies... , K. S. Chithra K. S. Chithra K. S. Chithra often credited as Chithra , is an Indian playback singer who has made her mark in the Indian music playback industry. Popularly known as Chinna Kuyil of South India, she has lent her voice to Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Oriya, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Badaga and Punjabi films... & Sadhana Sargam Sadhana Sargam Sadhana Sargam is an acclaimed Indian playback singer. She is a recipient of the prestigious National Film Award and Filmfare Awards.Sargam has sung in many Indian languages for films, television serials and music albums. She is well known for her 90s Hindi songs and recent South Indian songs. She... |
7:12 | A song on the sets of the film, featuring Rajnikanth Rajnikanth Rajinikanth is an Indian film actor, media personality, and cultural icon. He made his debut as an actor in the National Film Award-winning motion picture Apoorva Raagangal , directed by K. Balachander, whom the actor considers his mentor.... and Nayantara Nayantara Nayantara , is an Indian film actress. She made her acting debut in 2003 in the Malayalam film Manassinakkare. She debuted in Tamil cinema with Ayya and in Telugu cinema with Lakshmi , following which she starred alongside popular lead actors... |
| 4 | "Vatche Vatche" | Shreya Ghoshal | 4:34 | A song featuring Nayantara, picturized in Alappuzha Alappuzha Alappuzha , also known as Alleppey, is a town in Alappuzha District of Kerala state of southern India. As per 2001 census Alleppey is the sixth largest city in Kerala with an urban population of 177,029. Alleppey is situated to the south of Kochi and north of Trivandrum... |
| 5 | "Ra Ra Ra Ramayanna" | Kailash Kher, V. Prasanna | 5:36 | An interlude with the villagers singing in praise of Balakrishnan after discovering his links with Ashok Kumar |
External links
- Film's official website
- Kathanayakudu's Film At Basthi.com