Poovellam Un Vasam is a 2001 Tamil film directed by Ezhil and produced by Venu Ravichandran

Venu Ravichandran

Venu Ravichandran is an Indian film producer and distributor in Chennai, India. He is the founder and owner of the production and distribution company, Aascar Films.-Career:...

, starring Ajith Kumar

Ajith Kumar

Ajith Kumar is an Indian film actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He began his career as a supporting actor in a Telugu film before gaining critical recognition in the Tamil thriller Aasai . A succession of high-grossing films followed where Ajith was usually depicted as a romantic hero, with...

 and Jyothika in leading roles. Nagesh

Nagesh

Nagesh , was a Tamil film actor, mostly remembered for his roles as a comedian during the 1960s. He is regarded as one of the most prolific comedians in Tamil cinema....

, Sivakumar

Sivakumar

Sivakumar is a Tamil cinema actor who has portrayed a wide range of character roles onscreen. Sivakumar was introduced in the Tamil movie Kaakum karangal which was produced by AVM Productions....

, Sayaji Shinde

Sayaji Shinde

Sayaji Shinde is a Marathi film and multilingual actor from India who has acted in Bollywood, Tollywood and Kollywood. He was born in a small village near Satara, Maharashtra.-Career:...

, Vivek

Vivek (actor)

Vivekananthan is an Indian film actor and comedian. He has won four Filmfare Best Comedian Awards for his performances in Run, Saamy, Perazhagan and Sivaji, respectively. In April 2009, Vivek received the Padma Shri award by the Government of India for his contribution to the arts. He was...

 also appear in supporting roles while Yukta Mookhey appeared in a solo item number. It was released in August 2001 to critical and commercial acclaim.

Plot

Two families stay in identical bungalows, adjacent to each other, tracing their friendship to over forty years. Their respective progenies Chinna and Chella (Ajith and Jyotika) are childhood buddies, their easy camaraderie and strong bonding carried over to their adult years. The two study in the same college, same class, zoom together on the motorbike, their togetherness at home and college, as accepted a fact as it was in films like 'Piriyadha Varam Vendum

Piriyadha Varam Vendum

Piriyadha Varam Vendum is a Tamil film released in 2001. The movie stars Prashanth, Shalini, and Manivannan and was directed by Kamal. The music is by S. A. Rajkumar. The film was the remake of Malayalam blockbuster Niram.-Plot:...

', etc. Somewhere along the way, the duo fall in love, throwing some soft glances at each other, when the other is not looking. Their college mate, Karna (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 :...

, son of Malaysia Vasudevan

Malaysia Vasudevan

Vasudevan Nair , known as Malaysia Vasudevan was a Tamil playback singer and actor in the Tamil film industry. He was known for singing songs for Indian actor Rajnikanth and many more.- Early life :...

), makes devious plans to separate the duo and make Chella his. He doesn't seem to have any running feud with Chinna, is quite friendly with the duo, nor does he seem to be particularly in love with Chella. Chinna laps up all that Karna tells him about Chella loving him, and is heartbroken and goes out of station on a business trip.

Chella, persuaded by both families to marry an NRI, boldly informs them that she loved Chinna, and would marry him. The two families are of course happy. Chinna returns home and learns of the preparation for his engagement ceremony. Feeling that since Chella loved Karna, it must be family pressure that must have forced her to agree, Chinna backs out. Now it is Chella's turn to be indignant about Chinna's mistrust of her love, and after giving him a piece of her mind, she backs out, with Chinna pleading for acceptance. After a period of separation, during which all ties between the two families are severed, Chella's family soon come to realise that they cannot live without their dearest friends (and lover). The two families then reunite.

Cast

• Ajith Kumar
  Ajith Kumar
  Ajith Kumar is an Indian film actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He began his career as a supporting actor in a Telugu film before gaining critical recognition in the Tamil thriller Aasai . A succession of high-grossing films followed where Ajith was usually depicted as a romantic hero, with...
  
   as Chinna
• Jyothika as Chella
• Sivakumar
  Sivakumar
  Sivakumar is a Tamil cinema actor who has portrayed a wide range of character roles onscreen. Sivakumar was introduced in the Tamil movie Kaakum karangal which was produced by AVM Productions....
  
  
• Sayaji Shinde
  Sayaji Shinde
  Sayaji Shinde is a Marathi film and multilingual actor from India who has acted in Bollywood, Tollywood and Kollywood. He was born in a small village near Satara, Maharashtra.-Career:...
  
  
• Nagesh
  Nagesh
  Nagesh , was a Tamil film actor, mostly remembered for his roles as a comedian during the 1960s. He is regarded as one of the most prolific comedians in Tamil cinema....
  
  
• V.S. Raghavan
  V.S. Raghavan
  V.S. Raghavan is a Tamil actor, who acts in both Tamil films as well as television, who started his career as a dramatist and stage actor and went on act as a character actor in films, starting with Vairamali and over 1000 films in all, he has also acted in numerous television series.-Early life...
  
  
• Vivek
  Vivek (actor)
  Vivekananthan is an Indian film actor and comedian. He has won four Filmfare Best Comedian Awards for his performances in Run, Saamy, Perazhagan and Sivaji, respectively. In April 2009, Vivek received the Padma Shri award by the Government of India for his contribution to the arts. He was...
  
  
• 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 :...
  
   as Karna
• Kovai Sarala
  Kovai Sarala
  Kovai Sarala is a popular well known Tamil comedian actress who prominently plays supporting roles and has also starred as a heroine...
  
  
• Sathyapriya
• Sona Heiden
  Sona Heiden
  Sona Heiden is an India film actress. She was Miss South India in 2002. She became famous for her best item songs in Kollywood movies. She has appeared in the Tamil film, Kuselan in 2008...
  
   as Anitha
• Ilavarasu
• Madhan Bob
  Madhan Bob
  S. Krishnamoorthy , better known by his screenname Madhan Bob, is a popular comedian and Tamil film actor from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. He started his film career as a musician and became an actor instead. Apart from appearing in supporting roles in Tamil films he also appears in the Sun TV...
  
  
• Vaiyapuri
  Vaiyapuri
  Vaiyapuri is a Tamil film actor who mostly plays a comedian. He has appeared in many Tamil films and is also a guest judge on Asathapovathu Yaaru on Sun TV in Chennai. He started his career in Balu mahendra Film "Raman Abdulla" with the servant role and has scored most in the first film...
  
  
• Sukumari
  Sukumari
  Sukumari is an Indian film actress who has primarily acted in Malayalam and Tamil films. She has been acting since she was 10 years old and has acted in various roles. The total number of her films is presumed to be about two-thousand. In 2003, she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of...
  
  
• Yukta Mookhey in a guest appearance

Production

Ajith Kumar

Ajith Kumar

Ajith Kumar is an Indian film actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He began his career as a supporting actor in a Telugu film before gaining critical recognition in the Tamil thriller Aasai . A succession of high-grossing films followed where Ajith was usually depicted as a romantic hero, with...

 signed the film in early 2001 after he pulled out of Praveenkanth's commercial film Star. The producers had initially approached Aishwarya Rai

Aishwarya Rai

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is an Indian film actress. She worked as a model before starting her acting career, and ultimately won the Miss World pageant in 1994...

 and then Preity Zinta

Preity Zinta

Preity Zinta is an Indian film actress. She has appeared in Hindi films of Bollywood, as well as Telugu, Punjabi and English language films. After graduating with a degree in criminal psychology, Zinta made her acting debut in Dil Se in 1998 followed by a role in Soldier the same year...

 to appear in the lead roles, with their refusals leading to the casting of Jyothika. Miss World

Miss World

The Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951...

 2001, Yukta Mookhey was roped in to appear in an item number

Item number

An item number or an item song, in Indian cinema, is a musical performance that has little to do with the film in which it appears, but is presented to showcase beautiful dancing women in very revealing clothes, to lend support to the marketability of the film...

.

Twin bungalows were erected in Prasad studios for the film by art director Prabhakaran as the director could not locate a twin bungalow in the same compound. One house was bult to feature antiques and the other with modern artifacts and computers. During the making of the film, Ajith was admitted to a Chennai city hospital for a surgery of his backbone causing a month's delay in the film.

Release

The film opened to positive reviews with The Hindu

The Hindu

The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...

 critic labelling it as "reasonably interesting", with Ajith's performance being praised as "Ajith is natural and neat" with claims "he has to work harder on his soliloquies and sad expressions".

The success of the film prompted Ezhil, Ajith Kumar and Jyothika to team up for a venture the following year with Raja. It went on to win Tamil Nadu State Film Awards

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards are the most notable film awards given for Tamil films in India. They are given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The awards are decided by a committee headed by...

, securing second place in the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Family Film

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Family Film

The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil films....

 and Ajith winning a special prize from the committee for his perfromance. It also saw awards for Sai for Best Costume Designer

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Costume Designer

The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Costume Designer is given by the state government as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil films.-The list:Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won....

, Prabhakaran for Best Art Director

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Art Director

The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Art Director is given by the state government as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil films.-The list:Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won....

, Kovai Sarala

Kovai Sarala

Kovai Sarala is a popular well known Tamil comedian actress who prominently plays supporting roles and has also starred as a heroine...

 for Best Comedian

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Comedian

The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Comedian is given by the state government as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil films.-The list:Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won....

 and Vidyasgar for Best Music Director

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director

The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director is given by the state government as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil feature films.-The list:...

.

Soundtrack

Song Title	Singers	Lyricist
"Kaadhal Vandhadum"	K. J. Yesudas K. J. Yesudas Kattassery Joseph Yesudas is an Indian classical musician and playback singer.Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music. He has recorded more than 50,000 songs in many languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi,... , 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...	Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Ramaswamy Thevar is an award-winning Tamil poet and lyricist.Debuting in the film Nizhalgal with the lyrics for the song "Ponmalai Pozhudhu", he has now about 5800 songs to his credit as of January 2009. His partnership with the composers Ilaiyaraaja, and later A. R...
"Pudhu Malar Thottu"	Sriram Parthasarathy Sriram Parthasarathy Sriram Parthasarathy is an award-winning Tamil playback singer singing predominantly in Tamil. He is also an accomplished Carnatic Classical singer and a talented Veena player who is well versed with complete classical knowledge...	Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Ramaswamy Thevar is an award-winning Tamil poet and lyricist.Debuting in the film Nizhalgal with the lyrics for the song "Ponmalai Pozhudhu", he has now about 5800 songs to his credit as of January 2009. His partnership with the composers Ilaiyaraaja, and later A. R...
"Thirumana Malargal"	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....	Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Ramaswamy Thevar is an award-winning Tamil poet and lyricist.Debuting in the film Nizhalgal with the lyrics for the song "Ponmalai Pozhudhu", he has now about 5800 songs to his credit as of January 2009. His partnership with the composers Ilaiyaraaja, and later A. R...
"Thalattum Kaatre"	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:...	Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Ramaswamy Thevar is an award-winning Tamil poet and lyricist.Debuting in the film Nizhalgal with the lyrics for the song "Ponmalai Pozhudhu", he has now about 5800 songs to his credit as of January 2009. His partnership with the composers Ilaiyaraaja, and later A. R...
"Chella Namm Veetuku"	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... , Malaysia Vasudevan Malaysia Vasudevan Vasudevan Nair , known as Malaysia Vasudevan was a Tamil playback singer and actor in the Tamil film industry. He was known for singing songs for Indian actor Rajnikanth and many more.- Early life :... , Harish Raghavendra Harish Raghavendra Harish Raghavendra is an Indian vocalist and actor from Chennai, India. His real name is Harish Ram Srinivas & son to a photographer P.V Raghavendran...	Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Ramaswamy Thevar is an award-winning Tamil poet and lyricist.Debuting in the film Nizhalgal with the lyrics for the song "Ponmalai Pozhudhu", he has now about 5800 songs to his credit as of January 2009. His partnership with the composers Ilaiyaraaja, and later A. R...
"Yukhta Mukhi Neeya"	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.... , Clinton Cerejo Clinton Cerejo Clinton Cerejo is known for his contributions in the music department for Indian films. His range of work includes playback singing, vocal arrangements, musical arrangements, background scores, music programming, production...	Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Ramaswamy Thevar is an award-winning Tamil poet and lyricist.Debuting in the film Nizhalgal with the lyrics for the song "Ponmalai Pozhudhu", he has now about 5800 songs to his credit as of January 2009. His partnership with the composers Ilaiyaraaja, and later A. R...