Monisha En Monalisa

Monisha En Monalisa (transl. Monisha, my Monalisa) is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language romance film written, directed and produced by T. Rajendar[1] who also composed the music and portrayed a supporting role as a philosopher, Kaadhaldasan. The actors Ramankanth (Raman Trikha) and Mumtaj made their debuts in this film. T. Rajendar's sons, Silambarasan and Kuralarasan, appear in the opening song of the film, "Monisha", sung by the former.

Monisha En Monalisa
Directed byT. Rajendar
Written byT. Rajendar
Produced byT. Rajendar
StarringRamankanth
Mumtaj
CinematographyT. Rajendar
Edited byP. R. Shanmugam
Music byT. Rajendar
Production
company
Chimbu Cine Arts
Release date
  • 12 April 1999 (1999-04-12)
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Monisha En Monalisa released on 12 April 1999. It received negative reviews and became a commercial failure.

Plot

Rahul lives a miserable existence – he is ill-treated by his superficial step-mother (Sharmila's aunt), and largely ignored by his meek father. He is also irritated by his housemate Sharmila. His world brightens when he attends pop singer Monisha's concert. He instantly falls in love with her and pursues her by wooing her over the phone. Monisha, who hates men and the concept of love itself, initially resists his advances. However, his relentless efforts bear fruit and she agrees to meet him in person. Unfortunately, Rahul meets with an accident on the way over and dies. The film hinges on whether Monisha will ever get to meet her lover.

Cast

Production

The song Tholaipesi Enna was shot at a grand budget of ₹10 million, but the film had troubles after floods in Chennai washed away a set erected on the banks of the Cooum. During the production of the film, the film was renamed from Monisha to Monisha En Monalisa due to astrological reasons.[2] The film had begun production as a trilingual in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu, and Rajender cast local actors for the Hindi version. Hindi television actor Raman Trikha was renamed Ramankanth for the Tamil version, while actors including Rahul Saxena, Ravi Kiran, Kunika, and Kalpana Iyer were signed to play roles.[3][4]

Soundtrack

Soundtrack was written and composed by T. Rajendar. The title song of the film is based on "María" by Ricky Martin.[5] HMV (now known as Saregama) bought the audio rights of the film and they said to have sold over three lakhs of cassettes within first round.[6]

Track listing
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."College Irukkutha"Mano, Swarnalatha 
2."Don't Try To Love Me"Anuradha Sriram 
3."Ilamaiye"Anuradha Sriram 
4."Hello Hello"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Sujatha 
5."No Problem"Suresh Peters 
6."Kaadhale Kaadhale"P. Unnikrishnan 
7."Nambathe"T. Rajendar 
8."Monisha"Silambarasan 
9."Mo Mo Monisha"Silambarasan 
10."Monalisa Monalisa"Silambarasan 
11."Uyire Vaa Urave Vaa"Hariharan 
12."Kaadhal Thedi"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam 

Release and reception

Monisha En Monalisa released on 12 April 1999. K. P. S. of Kalki called it an unbelievable, tiring, cliched love story.[7] The film was also made in Hindi as Yehi To Pyaar Hai which remains unreleased even though its soundtrack was released.

References
  1. Manickavel, Kuzhali (17 July 2020). "Monisha En Monalisa was labelled among Tamil cinema's lowest points. So I rewatched the film in 2020". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 21 August 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  2. Rajitha (1 December 1998). "Drama in reel life". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 8 February 1999. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
  3. Rajitha (28 October 1998). "Extravaganza". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 7 February 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  4. Kummar, S. R. Ashok (3 April 1998). "Love story sans tears". The Hindu. p. 26. Archived from the original on 3 June 2000. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  5. "Run, it's T Rajendar again". themusicmagazine.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2001. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  6. "Music sets the pace?". TamilTalkies. 1 May 1999. Archived from the original on 1 May 1999. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  7. கே. பி. எஸ். (2 May 1999). "மோனிஷா என் மோனலிசா". Kalki (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
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