''Kandaen'' () is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...

film written and directed by Mugil, and produced by TCS. It stars

Shanthnoo Bhagyaraj Shanthanu Bhagyaraj (born 24 August 1986) is an Indian actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil language films. The son of actors K. Bhagyaraj and Poornima Bhagyaraj, Shanthanu appeared as a child artist in his father's ''Vettiya Madichu Kat ...

and

Rashmi Gautam Rashmi Gautam is an Indian actress and television presenter who appears in Telugu-language films and TV. She hosts the Telugu television comedy show '' Extra Jabardasth'' and is a conceptual team leader in reality dance show ''Dhee''. Early ...

in lead along with Santhanam,

Ashish Vidyarthi Ashish Vidyarthi (born 19 June 1962) is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, English, Odia, Marathi and Bengali films. He is noted for his antagonist and character roles. In 1995, he received ...

, and Vijayakumar in pivotal roles. The film, which was launched in May 2010, created curiosity after noted film-maker

Gautham Vasudev Menon Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu and Hindi films that either simultaneously shot with or rema ...

's newly launched audio label selected the film's soundtrack to be its first release. It was released on 20 May 2011 to average reviews from critics and was performed averagely at the box office, but Shanthnu's and Santhanam's comedy was appreciated. The film was dubbed and released in Telugu as ''Balapam Patti Bhama Odilo'' in 2016.

Plot

Vasanth is an engineer who comes from Chennai. He falls in love with Narmada at first sight. He feigns blindness, and she eventually falls for him. They date, and Narmadha's father, a police commissioner, becomes aware of it. He manages to tell Narmada the truth, and she learns about Vasanth's "blindness". They reconcile, and as the movie comes to an end, Vasanth has a successful operation, and they return to India happily to get married.

Cast

as Vasanth *

as Narmada * Santhanam as Saami *

as Narmadha's father * Vijayakumar as Vasanth's grandfather * Nirmala Shrimal as Air Hostess *

Nellai Siva Tirunelveli (, ta, திருநெல்வேலி, translit=Tirunelveli) also known as Nellai ( ta, நெல்லை, translit=Nellai) and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tami ...

as Police officer *

Muthukaalai Muthukaalai is an Indian actor, comedian who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Early life and career Muthukaalai was born in Rajapalayam and dreamt of becoming of a Stunt Choreographer. He attained black belt in Karate at the age of 18. He ...

as Bike stealer *

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, h ...

in a special appearance in the song "Narmada"

Reception

The film received mixed reviews. Rashmi Gautam was praised for her acting and glam quotient. Behindwoods quoted that "she was the film's glam quotient and showed streaks of brilliance." Indiaglitz also praised her that "she is a welcome addition to the list of Tamil heroines and that she emoted well and interestingly after a long gap one got to see a heroine hogging major share in a movie." Rohit Ramachandran of nowrunning.com rated it 2.5/5 stating that "Kandaen is a romantic comedy without a heartbeat but enough pulse to crack you up."

Soundtrack

Film score and soundtrack of ''Kanden'' are composed by noted evangelical composer,

Vijay Ebenezer Vijay Ebenezer is an Indian music composer, who mainly produces film scores and soundtracks in the Tamil film industry. He rose to fame with '' Kandaen'', whose audio rights were bought by Gautham Vasudev Menon's Photon Kathaas. Career In 200 ...

, who made his debut into film music with the project. The audio rights of Kanden, were bought by

after Singer Krish and Vijay had given a copy to Menon following the recommendation of actress Sangeetha and producer Sebastian. Menon impressed, wanted to release the audio under his newly launched label,

Photon Kathaas Photon Kathaas was an Indian film production company led by director Gautham Vasudev Menon. It was established in 2010 by Menon along with Venky Somasundaram and Reshma Ghatala, who worked as the co-promoters. Its name is derived from Gautham M ...

Music. The music garnered positive reviews especially the song "Enge En Idhayam" became popular. Behindwoods quoted that the "It was a pretty decent effort composed by a newcomer. " Singer Krish made his debut as a lyricist with this film writing two songs. The launch of Menon's banner and the film's album was held on 9 December 2010 at a ceremony featuring several chief guests including

Suriya Saravanan Sivakumar (born 23 July 1975), known by his stage name Suriya, is an Indian actor, producer, television presenter and a philanthropist. He primarily works in Tamil cinema where he is one of the highest paid actors. He received numerou ...

K. Bhagyaraj Krishnasaamy Bhagyaraj (born 7 January 1953) is an Indian director, actor, screenwriter, music director, producer and politician active mainly in Tamil films. He has also written and directed Hindi and Telugu films and TV serials. As an actor, ...

and prominent composers

Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja or Abdul Haliq (born 31 August 1979) is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer and singer-songwriter. He mainly scores music for Tamil films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use of We ...

and

Harris Jayaraj Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Telugu and two films in Hindi. He has been honoured with ...

. The following a day, a promotional event was held at Odyssey in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...

, with live renditions from the album. The event featured performances from

Chinmayi Chinmayi Sripaada is an Indian playback singer, working mainly for the South Indian film industry. She is also a voice actor, television presenter, radio jockey, and an entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of a translation services company ...

Suchitra Suchitra Ramadurai, known by the mononym Suchitra, is an Indian radio jockey, popular playback singer, songwriter, composer, voice artist, dubbing artist and film actress. She has sung in multiple languages including Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada ...

and Krish whilst Gautham Menon,

and

Karthik Kumar Karthik Kumar (born 21 November 1977) is an Indian stand-up comedian and actor in the Tamil film and television industries. Biography He studied chemical engineering in Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering. After earning his Bachelor's ...

were also in attendance.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Kanden at JointScene.com
2011 films 2010s Tamil-language films Films about blind people in India Indian romantic comedy films 2011 romantic comedy films 2011 directorial debut films