''7G Rainbow Colony'' is a 2004 Indian
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
-language
romantic drama film
Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...
written and directed by
Selvaraghavan
Selvaraghavan is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and actor who has directed and acted predominantly Tamil cinema, Tamil films and few Telugu cinema, Telugu films. He had his directorial debut with ''Thulluvadho Ilamai'' (2002). Still, hi ...
. The film was shot simultaneously in Tamil and
Telugu; the latter titled ''7G Brindavan Colony''. It stars debutant
Ravi Krishna and
Sonia Agarwal. The music was scored by
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja (born 31 August 1979), is an Indian composer and playback singer. He mainly scores music for Tamil films along with few Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use o ...
, whilst
Arvind Krishna
Arvind Krishna (born November 23, 1962) is an American business executive, and the chairman and CEO of IBM. He has been CEO of IBM since April 2020 and chairman since January 2021. Arvind began his career at IBM in 1990, at its Thomas J. Watso ...
performed the cinematography. The film deals with
unrequited love of a boy towards a girl.
Released on 15 October 2004, the film received critical acclaim and was commercially successful. Over the years, the film attained
cult
Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...
status and mass following. Ravi Krishna received the
Filmfare Best Male Debut (South) for his performance, whilst Yuvan Shankar Raja was awarded the
Filmfare Best Music Director Award for his highly praised musical score. A sequel titled ''
7G Rainbow Colony 2'' starring
Ravi Krishna and
Anaswara Rajan is in production.
Plot
The movie begins with Kadhir (Ravi in Telugu version) heading to work. He appears distracted throughout the day and even instructs his assistant to postpone an important meeting with a big client. He then waits for someone at
Marina Beach Marina Beach, or simply the Marina, is a natural urban beach in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, along the Bay of Bengal. The beach runs from near Fort St. George in the north to Foreshore Estate in the south, a distance of , making it the second longest ...
in
Chennai
Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
(
Hussain Sagar in
Hyderabad
Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
in the Telugu version) with a bouquet of flowers. His best friend Lakshmi sees him and asks him whom he is waiting for. Kadhir explains that he is waiting to meet his girlfriend Anitha for their date. In flashbacks, we are shown how Kadhir first met Anitha.
Kadhir belongs to a
lower middle class
In developed nations around the world, the lower middle class is a subdivision of the greater middle class. Universally, the term refers to the group of middle class households or individuals who have not attained the status of the middle or u ...
family, living with his parents and younger sister in Rainbow Colony in
Chennai
Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
(Brundavan Colony,
Hyderabad
Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
in the Telugu version). He is perceived as a good-for-nothing person as he skips classes, fails exams, and gets involved in fights. Kadhir believes that his father hates him and often quarrels with him, even threatening to leave the house, only to be persuaded not to do so by his mother. Kadhir’s life changes when a
Marwadi family who once well-off family moves into the same colony due to a loss in their business. Kadhir is attracted to the daughter of his new neighbor, Anitha. Although he tries to woo her, Anitha treats him with disdain. One day, Kadhir confesses to Anitha that he loves her. He tells her that having always been ridiculed, he found respite in the fact that she at least bothered to look at him. He promises to wipe her thoughts out of his mind, as he is not right for her.
Despite himself, Kadhir continues pursuing her. Anitha realizes that Kadhir is not such a useless fellow when Lakshmi tells her that he has seen Kadhir dismantle and assemble a motorcycle within minutes each time they steal a bike to get drunk. Anitha takes Kadhir to a
Hero Honda dealer and asks them to give him a job. He is promised a job if he can assemble a bike. Initially, the lethargic Kadhir is uninterested and gives up the task. Anitha takes him to the washroom and slaps him before revealing that she has fallen in love with him. She then tells him that they can only be together if he gets a proper job and gets his life straightened out. Kadhir then demonstrates his skill in motorcycle assembly, securing a good job with the dealer.
Later that evening, Kadhir plans a treat for his friends. However, Anitha confronts him and makes him break the good news to his parents first to get their blessings. However, Kadhir’s father berates him as usual for getting a job instead of completing college. Then later at night, Kadhir overhears his father telling his mother how proud he is of their son since getting a job at such a prestigious company, which is not easy. The only reason the father did not openly praise Kadhir is because he feared his son might misjudge him for giving him respect, only now that he is earning money for their household. Only then does Kadhir realize his father's love for him and weeps in joy. The intimacy between Kadhir and Anitha is discovered by her mother, and she refuses to allow them to continue dating even as Kadhir’s father tries to persuade her otherwise. Anitha's family is heavily indebted to another Northern Indian family that has been supporting them since Anitha's father suffered losses in his business. Anitha's parents want Anitha to marry the son of the family that has helped them.
Using her friend's marriage as a ruse and with unwitting help of her friend's aunt, Anitha escapes her home and travels with Kadhir to a tourist place near
Thekkady
Thekkady () in Idukki district is a town near Periyar National Park, an important tourist attraction in the Kerala States and territories of India, state of India. The name Thekkady is derived from the word "thekku" which means teak and "adi ...
in Kerala, and they end up in a hotel room. Anitha reveals that she has made the biggest decision of her life by deciding to make love to him, as he should not regret falling in love with her when she marries the man her parents chose. Though stunned by her decision, Kadhir goes with her plan and the two consummate their love. The next morning, Kadhir and Anitha argue when Kadhir says he wants Anitha to live with him, while Anitha accuses him of being attracted to her only because of the sex. They continue arguing as they exit the hotel, which culminates in Kadhir slapping Anitha in anger, causing her to cross the road alone in tears. While a guilt-ridden Kadhir calls out to Anitha, she is knocked down by a truck as a helpless Kadhir watches, then also hit by another speeding vehicle. Anitha dies gruesomely on the spot as she is subsequently run over by several vehicles, and Kadhir is injured. The following day, he is shocked to find the mere remains of Anitha in the hospital mortuary. Though heartbroken, Kadhir tells the police that Anitha never accepted his love and her death was really an accident. This way, he saves her dignity, and her mother blesses him as she leaves. Though the police wants to file a murder case on Kadhir, Anitha's mother refuses to name him as a murderer. Shortly after Anitha's funeral, Kadhir tries to commit suicide unsuccessfully, only to end up causing a ruckus in traffic and getting assaulted by the angry crowd, but he is saved by a group of nuns. He then hallucinates about Anitha's spirit coming to him and advising him to live life to the fullest and that she will always be with him.
Back in the present day, it is revealed that Kadhir has become successful in his life but has remained
mentally damaged since Anitha's death. He still believes that she is alive and always imagines talking to her. The film ends with Kadhir talking to himself at the beach, thinking that he is talking to Anitha.
Cast
Production
Selvaraghavan revealed that the inspiration for ''7G Rainbow Colony'' came from his college days when he had been fascinated with a Punjabi girl during his education in KK Nagar. He based several of the scenes on real-life happenings with his friends, revealing that the film was "75% biographical" and the lead character was an "average guy" like himself, whom "no one would make a film on". 90% of the filming took place in and around
Hyderabad
Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
and
Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...
in
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
, with some sporadic schedules taking place in
Chennai
Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
and
Thekkady
Thekkady () in Idukki district is a town near Periyar National Park, an important tourist attraction in the Kerala States and territories of India, state of India. The name Thekkady is derived from the word "thekku" which means teak and "adi ...
.
Selva cast Ravikrishna, son of producer Rathnam after a successful screen test. For the lead female role, Selvaraghavan initially considered
Genelia D'Souza
Genelia Deshmukh (née D'Souza; born 5 August 1987), also credited professionally as Genelia, is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Telugu cinema, Telugu, Hindi, and Tamil language, Tamil films. Described in the media as one of the ...
and auditioned Mumbai model Mamta Zaveri, who was to work with Dhanush in Sibi Chakravarthy's shelved film ''Raghava''. The film later began production with
Swathi Reddy in her first lead role, though she later opted out and was replaced by
Sonia Agarwal due to her Punjabi origin.
Soundtrack
Selvaraghavan
Selvaraghavan is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and actor who has directed and acted predominantly Tamil cinema, Tamil films and few Telugu cinema, Telugu films. He had his directorial debut with ''Thulluvadho Ilamai'' (2002). Still, hi ...
teamed up once again with musician
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja (born 31 August 1979), is an Indian composer and playback singer. He mainly scores music for Tamil films along with few Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use o ...
after ''
Thulluvadho Ilamai'' and ''
Kaadhal Kondein''. The soundtrack released on 21 May 2004 and features 10 tracks overall, two of which are
Instrumental
An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...
s. The lyrics were penned by
Na. Muthukumar. Yuvan Shankar Raja used live music for the score, for which he worked with a 40-piece orchestra for one month. The theme music is inspired by ''
Johnny
Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John (given name), John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly ...
'' (1980). As it was the case with ''Kaadhal Kondein'', an "Original Soundtrack", consisting of 25 tracks, which are pieces of the film score and were titled as "Theme Music", was released afterwards. It includes one bit song "Idhu Enna Maatram" (Theme Music 14), sung by legendary singer
P. B. Sreenivas. Yuvan Shankar Raja has given a
Madhuvanti in "Kanaa Kaanum Kaalangal".
Composer Yuvan Shankar Raja received universal critical acclaim for the musical score as the songs and the film score were hailed as "excellent" and the album as a "great" and "must buy".
Particularly, the instrumental track in the album was very much lauded, described as "highly innovative" and "eminently haunting"
and even hailed as "one of the most haunting instrumental tracks ever".
The song became very popular and were topping the charts for some time.
Yuvan Shankar Raja received his first
Filmfare Best Music Director Award in Tamil for the music, at the age of 25, becoming the youngest composer ever to win this award till 2011 when
GV Prakash Kumar won the award in Tamil for his work in ''
Aadukalam''.
Track listing
Release
''7G Rainbow Colony'' was given an
A (adults only) certificate by the
censor board. Despite this, in Chennai, minors were caught watching the film. For allowing this to happen, four people attached to the theatre were arrested, including the booking clerk who sold the ticket, the usher who took the minors to the seat, the theatre manager and one of the partners of the theatre complex.
''7G Brindavan Colony'' was re-released on 22 September 2023.
Critical reception
Shobha Warrier of ''
Rediff.com'' said that "Selvaraghavan has once again displayed his skill making a movie that is touching without being mushy, and believable because of its realism". Malini Mannath of ''Chennai Online'' wrote "
.in '7/g....' missing is the crisp narration and focus. The screenplay meanders, the narrative style is jerky, the situations seeming like they were thrust into the narration as after-thoughts. Also the hangover of his earlier films is clearly evident". ''
Sify
Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology (ICT) company providing telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation integration services, and ...
'' wrote, "Unlike other contemporary film makers running after superstars and making formula films, Selvaraghavan pushes the cinematic envelope and brings savvy freshness to the form, hitherto unexplored". Malathi Rangarajan of ''
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
'' wrote, "Comparisons are odious and at the same time inevitable. Especially when the director's earlier film had been a carefully planned and commendably executed one". ''
Idlebrain.com'' gave ''7G Brindavan Colony'' a rating of three-and-three quarters out of five and noted that "Doing a tragic climax and making it commercially acceptable is one hell of a task. And Sri Raghava succeeded in it".
Box office
The Tamil version opened in 92 screens and expanded to 118 prints. Made on a budget of 3 crore, it turned profitable yielding a distributor share of 10 crore.
The Telugu version opened in 35 screens and expanded to 88 prints.
Accolades
;
Filmfare Awards South
The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by ''Filmfare'' magazine of The Times Group. When it was intr ...
*
Filmfare Best Music Director Award (Tamil) –
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja (born 31 August 1979), is an Indian composer and playback singer. He mainly scores music for Tamil films along with few Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use o ...
*
Filmfare Best Male Debut (Tamil) –
Ravi Krishna
;
CineMAA Awards - 2004
* Best Story Writer -
Sri Raghava
;
Santosham Film Awards
Santosham Film Awards, currently known as Santosham South Indian Film Awards are one of the most popular awards given for Tollywood films and Telugu Music Artistes.
Background
The awards first began in 2004 by the annual ''Santosham'' magazine ...
* Best Debut Actor Award –
Ravi Krishna
* Best Musical hit album –
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja (born 31 August 1979), is an Indian composer and playback singer. He mainly scores music for Tamil films along with few Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use o ...
;35th Annual AP Cinegoers Association Awards
* Best Debut hero –
Ravi Krishna
* Best Comedian (Special Commendation) –
Suman Shetty
Dubbed versions and remakes
The Tamil version of the film was also dubbed in Malayalam under the same title. The film was remade in
Kannada
Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...
as ''
Gilli'' (2009), in
Bengali as ''
Prem Aamar'' (2009), in
Odia as ''
Balunga Toka'' (2011) and in
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
as ''
Malaal'' (2019).
Sequel
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
2000s Indian films
2000s Tamil-language films
2000s Telugu-language films
2004 films
2004 multilingual films
2004 romantic drama films
Film censorship in India
Films à clef
Films directed by Selvaraghavan
Films scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja
Films with screenplays by Selvaraghavan
Indian multilingual films
Indian romantic drama films
Romantic drama films based on actual events
Tamil films remade in other languages
Tamil-language Indian films
Tamil-language romantic drama films
Telugu films remade in other languages
Works subject to expurgation