Vaanavil Vaazhkai

Vaanavil Vaazhkai (transl. Colourful life) is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language coming-of-age musical film written and directed by James Vasanthan in his directorial debut. He also worked as music composer. The film stars predominantly newcomers who also sing the songs picturised on their characters. It was released on 13 March 2015.

Vaanavil Vaazhkai
Poster
Directed byJames Vasanthan
Written byJames Vasanthan
StarringJithin Raj
Sai Shankar
Jose Selvaraj
Jonathan Devadoss
Pavithran
Shilvi Sharon
Radhika George
Maya S. Krishnan
Janani Rajan
Cassandra Rachel
CinematographyR. K. Prathap
Music byJames Vasanthan
Production
company
Oceanaa AJR Cine Arts
Release date
  • 13 March 2015 (2015-03-13)
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

Rival bands come together to compete in a national inter-university competition.

Cast
  • Jithin Raj as Jack
  • Sai Shankar as Arvind
  • Jose Selvaraj as Fayaz
  • Jonathan Devadoss as Pramod
  • Pavithran as Saravanan
  • Shilvi Sharon as Ankita
  • Radhika George as Harini
  • Maya S. Krishnan as Shweta
  • Janani Rajan as Preethi
  • Cassandra Rachel as Vinita
  • Gaana Siva as Gaana Raja
  • Santhosh Cherian as GL Judge
  • Josh Mark Raj as GL Judge
  • Ilayaraja as Team Folk Singer
  • Dr. Joseph Selvaraj as Dr. Parthasarathy
  • Aarthi Murali as Prof. Gurupriya
  • Prof. Saravanan as Prof. Selvaraj
  • Rashna Adhiraj as Jack's mother
  • Malic Ibrahim as Jack's mother
  • S. Soumya as Preethi's mother
  • Sundaresan as Preethi's fother
  • Richwin Roy as Harini's brother
  • Prof. Karthik as Loyola College Professor
  • Aparna as Vinita's friend
  • Prajitha as Vinita's friend

Production

Vaanavil Vaazhkai is the directorial debut of music director James Vasanthan, who wrote the script in six months. For the film's cast, he decided to take newcomers, primarily college students and those from college bands.[1] Among the newcomers were vocalist/guitarist Jithin Raj,[2] Carnatic music-trained Janani Rajan,[3] percussionists Jose Selvaraj and Radhika George, singer Cassandra Rachel, Carnatic singer S. Soumya,[4] and Maya S. Krishnan.[5] It took nearly two years to finalise the lead artistes.[6] James Vasanthan did not learn the basics of filmmaking or work as an assistant director before directing this film, saying "I’m just making a film that I would like to see on screen."[1] He likened it to a "Broadway musical", and said the film would feature the actors singing the songs, as opposed to using playback singers.[7] The film was produced by Oceanaa AJR Cine Arts, and had cinematography by R. K. Prathap.[4]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by James Vasanthan. It features 17 songs, all performed by the actors themselves.[8]

Track listing
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Bye to School"Santhosh Cherian4:12
2."Music Makes Me Happy"Jithin Raj2:59
3."Supergirl"Cassandra Rachel3:01
4."We Are Happy This Way"Jithin Raj3:43
5."Vazha Pirandhaval"Janani Rajan3:21
6."This Is Real Love"Shilvi Sharon, Janani Rajan3:27
7."Boys Don't Cry"Jithin Raj, Janani Rajan, Maya Krishnan, Shilvi Sharon3:47
8."God Bless Saturday"Jithin Raj, Janani Rajan, Maya Krishnan, Shilvi Sharon3:12
9."Four In One"Jithin Raj1:28
10."Culturals Vandhirukkum"Gaana Shiva3:06
11."Senthamizh Naadenum"Jithin Raj1:04
12."Vaasanai"Jithin Raj, Janani Rajan, Maya Krishnan, Sai Shankar, Shilvi Sharon, Jonathan Devadoss3:40
13."Vaazhndhidave Vidu"Janani Rajan2:48
14."Please Forgive Me"Jithin Raj2:35
15."Tamizhukkum Amudhendru Per"Jithin Raj, Janani Rajan2:05
16."Tamizh Nadu Engal Veedu"Jithin Raj, Janani Rajan, Cassandra Rachel, Ilaiyaraaja, Niranjana, Vaijaynthi Sri, Vaishali5:18
17."Vaanavil Vaazhkai"Jithin Raj, Janani Rajan, Sai Shankar, Cassandra Rachel, Shilvi Sharon3:30

Release and reception

Vaanavil Vaazhkai was released on 13 March 2015.[9] M. Suganth of The Times of India rated the film 1.5 out of 5 stars, saying, "The film is so devoid of excitement that even the final portions, involving the university championship, do not get our pulses racing."[10] Vishal Menon of The Hindu panned the film, saying, "The idea to make a musical is creditable, but VV is a wasted effort. I only wish James had co-directed the film with someone more capable of handling the technical aspects."[11]

References
  1. Ramanujam, Srinivasa (14 June 2014). "From music to movies". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 20 June 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  2. "Jithin Raj: 'Vaanavil Vaazhkai' will be a musical treat". News18. 12 January 2015. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  3. Ramanujam, Srinivasa (20 March 2015). "A sound choice". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  4. Ramachandran, Mythiliy (11 March 2015). "'Vaanavil Vaazhkai' a true musical entertainer". Gulf News. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  5. Saravanan, T. (24 November 2016). "Sharing screen space with the Superstar". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 25 November 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  6. "The continuing struggle of Lingaa's distributors". The Hindu. 20 February 2015. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  7. "James Vasanthan turns director with Vaanavil Vaazhkai". The Hindu. IANS. 19 July 2014. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  8. "Vaanavil Vaazhkai (2014)". Music India Online. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  9. "Vaanavil Vaazhkai". Fandango. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  10. Suganth, M. "Vaanavil Vaazhkai". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 8 January 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  11. Menon, Vishal (13 March 2015). "Vaanavil vaazhkai: Good music, no movie". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
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