Unnai Thedi
Encyclopedia
Unnai Thedi is a 1999 Tamil
film
directed by Sundar C
. The film features Ajith Kumar
and Malavika
in the lead roles, while an ensemble supporting cast includes Karan
, Vivek
, Sivakumar
, and Srividya
. The film's music is composed by Deva
, and the film opened in February 1999 to positive reviews and good box office collections.
Back home, Ajith makes friends with Karan and chances upon his family photograph which surprisingly includes his mother (Srividya), who as far as he knew had no relations. But on questioning, his mother reveals that she was part of a large family (three brothers and a sister) but had been sent out of the family after deciding to wed someone of her own choice.
Ajith travels to the village as Karan's friend and soon endears himself to the members of his family. Turns out Malavika is the daughter of one of the brothers too. But when he learns that Karan wishes to marry her, he decides to bow out. But Karan, on knowing about their romance, wishes that they get together.
The family elders too agree to Ajith marrying Malavika but refuse to let the alliance go any further after learning that Ajith is Srividya's son. Ajith too agrees to sacrifice his love since he does not want to wed Malavika and cause even more friction in the already fractured family. How Ajith eventually reunites the separated family and weds Malavika forms the crux of the film.
's assistant director and Sundar wrote the cript of the film within a week, before discussing the line with actor Ajith Kumar
. Ajith was initially unimpressed but agreed to do the love story anyway, mentioning that if the film became a success he would feature in a future film to be directed by Singampuli. The film began its shoot in late 1998 with scenes being canned in Australia
and in Christchurch
, New Zealand
as well as India.
had featured in throughout 1999 and 2000, while the successful chemistry between the lead pair prompted another them to sign another film together, Anantha Poongathe. Due to the success of the film, it was later dubbed in to Telugu as Premato Pilicha.
, was well received by the audience.
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...
film
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...
directed by Sundar C
Sundar C
Sundar C. is a Tamil film director and actor. He has directed 24 films in Kollywood and debuted his acting career in 2006 with the film Thalai Nagaram. His most notable films include Ullathai Allitha, Arunachalam and Anbe Sivam and other notable films include Mettukudi, Winner, Naam Iruvar...
. The film features 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 Malavika
Malavika
Malavika is the stage name of Shweta Konnur , in Bangalore, an Indian actress. She started out as a model for Fair and Lovely and became an actress in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films....
in the lead roles, while an ensemble supporting cast includes Karan
Karan (actor)
Karan is an Indian actor. He started his career as child actor under the name Master Raghu for more than 20 films in Malayalam. Ina and Kuyiline Thedi were huge hits. After turning 20, he acted in Tamil films where he made his debut in Nammavar starring opposite Kamal Hassan...
, 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...
, 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....
, and Srividya
Srividya
Srividya was a leading Indian film actress of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s in the Tamil film Industry, in addition to being a good singer. In the latter part of her career, she concentrated on Malayalam films. Her brilliant portrayals as a mother in many films were highly acclaimed....
. The film's music is composed by Deva
Deva (music director)
Deva is an Indian film composer and singer. He has composed songs and provided background music for Tamil films in a career spanning about 20 years. Many know his gaana songs, written mostly using Madras Tamil. He is known as the "Father of Gaana Genre" in the Tamil film industry.Deva has composed...
, and the film opened in February 1999 to positive reviews and good box office collections.
Plot
Raghu (Ajith Kumar), studying in Australia, goes to New Zealand with a friend and runs into Malavika. They start off having petty fights but end up falling in love. But circumstances force them to separate without exchanging any information about each other.Back home, Ajith makes friends with Karan and chances upon his family photograph which surprisingly includes his mother (Srividya), who as far as he knew had no relations. But on questioning, his mother reveals that she was part of a large family (three brothers and a sister) but had been sent out of the family after deciding to wed someone of her own choice.
Ajith travels to the village as Karan's friend and soon endears himself to the members of his family. Turns out Malavika is the daughter of one of the brothers too. But when he learns that Karan wishes to marry her, he decides to bow out. But Karan, on knowing about their romance, wishes that they get together.
The family elders too agree to Ajith marrying Malavika but refuse to let the alliance go any further after learning that Ajith is Srividya's son. Ajith too agrees to sacrifice his love since he does not want to wed Malavika and cause even more friction in the already fractured family. How Ajith eventually reunites the separated family and weds Malavika forms the crux of the film.
Cast
- Ajith KumarAjith KumarAjith 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 Raghu - MalavikaMalavikaMalavika is the stage name of Shweta Konnur , in Bangalore, an Indian actress. She started out as a model for Fair and Lovely and became an actress in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films....
as Malavika - SivakumarSivakumarSivakumar 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....
as Adhi Narayanan - Moulee
- SrividyaSrividyaSrividya was a leading Indian film actress of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s in the Tamil film Industry, in addition to being a good singer. In the latter part of her career, she concentrated on Malayalam films. Her brilliant portrayals as a mother in many films were highly acclaimed....
- VivekVivek (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...
as Vivek - KaranKaran (actor)Karan is an Indian actor. He started his career as child actor under the name Master Raghu for more than 20 films in Malayalam. Ina and Kuyiline Thedi were huge hits. After turning 20, he acted in Tamil films where he made his debut in Nammavar starring opposite Kamal Hassan...
as Prakash - Manorama as Aachi
- SwathiSwathi (actress)Swathi is an Indian film actress who has appeared in Hindi, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil films. She is probably best known for her performances in Deva and Vaanmathi.-Career:...
as Chitra - Jai Ganesh as Easwaran
- Rajiv
- Sathyapriya as Rajalakshmi
- Kaka Radhakrishnan
- Shanmugasundaram
- Vinu Chakravarthy
- VaiyapuriVaiyapuriVaiyapuri 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...
- Kushboo in a cameo appearance
Production
The original plot point was recommended by Singampuli, one of Sundar CSundar C
Sundar C. is a Tamil film director and actor. He has directed 24 films in Kollywood and debuted his acting career in 2006 with the film Thalai Nagaram. His most notable films include Ullathai Allitha, Arunachalam and Anbe Sivam and other notable films include Mettukudi, Winner, Naam Iruvar...
's assistant director and Sundar wrote the cript of the film within a week, before discussing the line with actor 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...
. Ajith was initially unimpressed but agreed to do the love story anyway, mentioning that if the film became a success he would feature in a future film to be directed by Singampuli. The film began its shoot in late 1998 with scenes being canned in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and in Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
as well as India.
Release
The film became the first of several successful films that Ajith KumarAjith 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...
had featured in throughout 1999 and 2000, while the successful chemistry between the lead pair prompted another them to sign another film together, Anantha Poongathe. Due to the success of the film, it was later dubbed in to Telugu as Premato Pilicha.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of the film was composed by DevaDeva (music director)
Deva is an Indian film composer and singer. He has composed songs and provided background music for Tamil films in a career spanning about 20 years. Many know his gaana songs, written mostly using Madras Tamil. He is known as the "Father of Gaana Genre" in the Tamil film industry.Deva has composed...
, was well received by the audience.