Kaadhal Mannan
6 /10 1 Votes
Duration | Country India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Release date 6 March 1998 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kaadhal Mannan (English: King of Love) is a 1998 Tamil romance film directed by Saran, which features Ajith Kumar and Maanu in the lead roles. The film also saw prominent music composer M. S. Viswanathan make his debut in a supporting role, whilst Vivek, Karan and Girish Karnad also played other roles. The film, which had a successful soundtrack composed by Bharathwaj, was released in March 1998 to positive reviews and became a profitable venture at the box office. Kaadhal Mannan ran for 100 days and re-established Ajith Kumar's market after a string of failures expanding his fan base.
Contents
Plot
Rudran (Girish Karnad), a very strict disciplinarian father of two daughters, hates the word 'Love'. The very mention of this word makes him punish himself to unimaginable heights. He disowns his elder daughter Menaka because she elopes with her lover. The strictness is doubled for the younger daughter Thilottama (Maanu) and a marriage alliance is fixed for her. She stoically accepts her father's decision till she meets a local mechanic Shiva (Ajith). Shiva lives with his friend Oyya (Vivek) in a mansion owned by Mess Viswanthan (M. S. Viswanathan), Shiva is always ready to accept dares. When he is dared to go to Delhi by a woman to deliver a letter to her soon-to-be-engaged sister, Thilothama, Shiva ends up falling in love with Thilothama. But Tilottama is sadly unable to reveal her love to Shiva and to her father, as she fears the consequences. Are the lovers able to declare their love for each other and get united? Does Rudran take to it kindly?
Cast
Production
Saran describes that he "was wondering what would happen if a girl, who is engaged to a particular person, falls in love with someone else" and this formed the basis of his plot for the film. The film saw veteran music composer M. S. Viswanathan make his acting debut in a supporting role, whilst the lead actress Maanu from Assam and music composer Bharathwaj also debuted. The film's soundtrack gained rave review prior to release. Viswanathan had initially waded away the approach but actor Vivek later convinced him to partake in the film.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of the film was composed by Bharathwaj with lyrics written by Vairamuthu. The music was highly well received by the audience. The track Unnai Paartha Pinbu Naan still remains an all time favorite melody. The highlight of the track is its freshness, the excellent composition with breezy lyrics and beautiful picturisation of Ajith Kumar and Maanu with their cute on-screen chemistry.
Release
The film released in 108 screens worldwide. It won positive reviews from critics, with a reviewer praising the film for tackling a taboo subject. The critic claimed that Ajith Kumar "was back at his best", whilst also crediting success to Bharathwaj's soundtrack. Despite winning plaudits for her portrayal, Maanu quit the film industry for over a decade before resurfacing as a promoter for the 2010 Singaporean film Gurushetram - 24 Hours of Anger and later as an aide to Rajinikanth during his health-related visit to Singapore in 2011.
The film was commercial success at the box office as it released during a period of crisis in the film industry where the FEFSI strikes were ongoing and thus the distributors refused to pick the film up outright and insisted on distribution only. The first copy was worth Rs 22 million, but was only sold for Rs 16 million. Still, it ran for 100 days and re-established Ajith Kumar's market after a string of failures.