Chellamae

''Chellamae'' () is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film written and directed by Gandhi Krishna, while the dialogues were written by Sujatha. The film stars Vishal (in his acting debut) and Reema Sen, while Bharath plays the antagonist. Vivek and Girish Karnad play supporting roles. It revolves around Mythili (Sen) who, despite being married to Ragunandan (Vishal), is obsessively pursued by Vishwa (Bharath).

The music of ''Chellamae'' was composed by Harris Jayaraj, cinematography was handled by K. V. Anand and editing by V. T. Vijayan. The film was released on 10 September 2004.

Plot

Mythili showers love and affection on her neighbour Vishwa since childhood. Vishwa is the only son of a business tycoon named Rajasekhar, and lost his mother at a young age. Mythili treats Vishwa as her younger brother and spends all her time with him. Ragunandan, an Income Tax Inspector, turns up at Rajasekhar's house for an IT raid and happens to meet Mythili there. They eventually fall in love, and after a series of incidents, they get wed locked and later settle in Goa. The trouble begins when Vishwa reaches Goa in search of Mythili. He manages to kidnap her and bring her to Chennai. The reasons for Vishwa's obsession and possessiveness towards Mythili unfolds as the movie progresses. Ragunandan, who comes back to Goa, finds the house deserted. The next-door neighbour tells him that Mythili eloped with Vishwa. He then begins to track her down and finds that the duo had left to Chennai. Ragunandan reaches Chennai. With the help of his colleague Harichandra, he tries to trace Mythili out. A chance look at the video of their marriage throws light on Vishwa's hatred towards Ragunandan. Ragunandan is convinced that Mythili did not go on her own will. He confronts Rajasekhar, but he is of no help. Finally, he traces out the location of Vishwa's hideout. Mythili pleads with Vishwa to release her. She explains that she cannot be his wife and can see him as a son or little brother. The plea falls on deaf ears. In a racy climax on high seas, the three protagonists fight it out, and Mythili hits Vishwa with the boat oars. He plunges into the sea in an unconscious condition, taking Mythili along. Ragunandan soon saves her. Even though Mythili had killed Vishwa because of her attack on him, she is filled with remorse.

Cast

Production

Newcomer Vishal was signed to work on the film, after Arjun, under who Vishal worked as assistant director in '' Vedham'', encouraged Vishal to accept the role. Bharath was cast in the role of "obsessed teenage lover" for the first time. Majority of the shoot was held in Goa while it was also shot at places like Chennai, Maldives, Mumbai and Bangkok and was completed in 50 days.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Harris Jayaraj.

Release and reception

''Sify'' wrote, "The story and screenplay of Gandhi Krishna is somewhat in the manner of Yash Chopra?s ''Darr'' and so many other obsessive love stories. Still he has come out with a racy film that is sure to satisfy the youth audience and has been packaged strictly to suit their tastes". Malathi Rangarajan of ''The Hindu'' wrote, "Traces of "''Guna''" and "''Kadhal Kondain''" are evident in "''Chellamae''," but Gandhi Krishna's refreshing approach to the storyline gives the necessary spark to make the venture watch-worthy till the end". Malini Mannath of ''Chennai Online'' wrote, "Gandhi Krishna's apprenticeship under Shanker seems to have been a fruitful one, he having picked up the right ingredients, and extracting excellent team work from his cast and crew, to make ''Chellamay'', an engaging entertainer". Visual Dasan of ''Kalki'' wrote that by taking the outline of the epic ''Ramayana'', the director had given it an interesting plot set in a contemporary setting, strong incidents, seamless character creation, and a flawless script. G. Ulaganathan of ''Deccan Herald'' wrote, "Director Gandhikrishna is a surprise. His direction and screenplay is fast paced and ensures that there is never a dull moment in the film. K V Anand’s camera brilliantly captures the beauty of Andamans. Harris Jayaraj’s music is an asset to the movie".

''Chellame'' ran for 100 days. It was made with a budget of 3.5 crore and collected a share of 6 crore selling 3 million tickets worldwide. The film was dubbed and released in Telugu under the title, ''Prema Chadarangam'' ().

References

External links

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{{Sujatha

2000s Indian films
2000s psychological thriller films
2000s romantic thriller films
2000s Tamil-language films
2004 films
Films directed by Gandhi Krishna
Films scored by Harris Jayaraj
Films shot in Bangkok
Films shot in Chennai
Films shot in Goa
Films shot in Mumbai
Indian psychological thriller films
Indian romantic thriller films
Tamil-language Indian films
Tamil-language psychological thriller films
Tamil-language romantic thriller films