''Karthik Anitha'' is a 2009

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pud ...

romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

directed by Srihari. The film stars newcomers Rathan Trivikrama and Manju, with

Kota Srinivasa Rao Kota Srinivasa Rao (born 10 July 1942) is an Indian character actor known for his work primarily in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He has also starred in a few films in Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam. As a former politician, Rao has ...

Rajan P. Dev Rajan P. Dev (20 May 1951 – 29 July 2009) was an Indian film and stage actor. He was born in Cherthala in the Alappuzha district of the former state Thiru-Kochi (present day Kerala). He had acted in over 500 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu ...

Abhinay Abhinay is an Indian actor who has appeared in Malayalam and Tamil language films. He made his debut in the 2002 film, ''Thulluvadho Ilamai'' directed by Kasthuri Raja. He also appeared in advertisement of Oreo Biscuits, Crownply. Career Abh ...

, Bala, Vishnu, Nihal,

Singamuthu Singamuthu (born 8 December 1958) is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil language films as a comedian. Career Singamuthu has primarily appeared in comedy roles in films as a supporting actor debuting in ''Neram Nalla Irukku'' (1987). He ...

Crane Manohar Crane Manohar (born 4 October 1965) is an Indian actor who appears in Tamil films, mostly in comedy roles. He appeared in many Vadivelu and Vivek comedy tracks. Career Manohar initially worked as a crane technician for films and when he sta ...

and

Lollu Sabha Manohar Lollu Sabha Manohar is an Indian actor and comedian who has appeared in Tamil cinema. He started his career with the television show '' Lollu Sabha'' alongside other comedians, including Santhanam. Career Manohar first garnered attention throu ...

playing supporting roles. The film, produced by Shankar V. Raajhan, had musical score by Jack Anand and was released on 10 April 2009.

Plot

Karthik (Rathan Trivikrama) lives with his widower father Ramachandramoorthy (

) who spoils him since the death of his mother. Anitha (Manju) is his neighbour who lives with her parents and little sister in the neighbouring house in the same apartments. Karthik and Anitha are childhood friends and even study at the same college, moreover, their fathers Ramachandramoorthy and Krishnamoorthy (

) are like brothers. However, Karthik and Anitha are constantly squabbling like children and playing pranks on each other. But one day, a prank went wrong and Karthik gets suspended from college thus he starts hating Anitha. Thereafter, Anitha's wedding is fixed with the wealthy engineer Gowri Shankar (

) and Ramachandramoorthy was the one who made both families agree. It was only then that Anitha realises her love for Karthik. Anitha then briefs Karthik about her wedding and expected him to declare his love for her, Karthik, for its part, manifested his happiness making fun of her. Karthik then realises his love for Anitha and tries to apologise to her but she keeps ignoring him. He even wrote "Karthik loves Anitha" on a ten rupee note that she had gifted him once for his birthday. When his father finds the currency note one night, he felt guilty at not being able to understand his son's feelings and the next morning, Karthik finds his father dead with the note in his hand. Anitha's family asks Karthik, who was consumed and distressed by the death of his father, to move in with them for a few days. At her home, he is still unable to express his love. Karthik finds a job in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

and has to leave them just a few days before Anitha's wedding, thus he will miss Anitha's marriage. After he left, Anitha finds the currency note and starts to tear up. After thinking for a while, Krishnamoorthy cancels the wedding for the good of his daughter and wants Karthik to be his son-in-law. The film ends with Karthik and Anitha romancing via mobile phones and they are looking forward to their wedding.

Cast

*Rathan Trivikrama as Karthik *Manju as Anitha *

as Ramachandramoorthy, Karthik's father *

as Krishnamoorthy, Anitha's father *

as Gowri Shankar (guest appearance) *Bala as Bala *Vishnu as Kumar *Nihal as Ganesh *

as Maths teacher *

as Beggar *

as Pappu *R. Sekar as Rajasekhar, Gowri Shankar's father *

Sathyapriya Sathyapriya is an Indian actress. She has acted in over 350 films, and played the heroine in a few of them. She made her debut in ''Manjal Mugame Varuga'' opposite Vijayakumar in Tamil. Her notable films include '' Besuge'', ''Dharmasere'', ' ...

as Gowri Shankar's mother *Raviraj as College Principal *Arulmani as Auto-driver *

Sampath Ram Sampath Ram is an Indian actor who works primarily in Tamil-language films. He is known for his villainous roles. Career Ram started his acting career with the television series '' Ethanai Manithargal'' that aired on Doordarshan as a thug. He ...

*Sivanarayanamoorthy *Boys Rajan as College Principal *Mangalam Gurukkal * Aarthi as TV Anchor *Srilatha as Anitha's mother *Suchithra as Kavi, Anitha's sister *Sailaja

Production

Srihari, who was earlier working along with

Sundar C. Vinayagar Sundar Vel (born 21 January 1966), known professionally as Sundar C., is an Indian film director, actor and producer. He has directed over 34 films in Tamil and acted in 17 movies as the protagonist. His notable films include ''Ull ...

, made his directorial debut with this venture. The film, produced under the banner of King Magic, had a totally urban setting and is tagged 'a neighbourhood love-story'. Rathan Trivikrama, a debutant and the son of makeup man Babu, signed to play the hero of the film while Manju, hailing from Kerala, was selected to play the heroine.

, known for his villain roles, signed to play the father's role.

Soundtrack

The film score and the soundtrack were composed by Jack Anand. The soundtrack, released in 2009, features 6 tracks with lyrics written by

Thamarai Thamarai (born 10 November 1975) is a noted Tamil poet and lyricist. She is a prominent figure in the Tamil literary world. She made her debut in the Tamil film industry through the 1998 film Iniyavale, which was directed by Seeman and music ...

Na. Muthukumar Nagarajan Muthukumar (12 July 1975 – 14 August 2016) was a Tamil poet, lyricist, and author. Best known for his Tamil language film songs, he received the most Filmfare Awards for Best Lyricist in Tamil and was a two-time recipient of the ...

Yugabharathi Yugabharathi is a Tamil poet and lyricist. His birth name was "Santhanam Desan" and he was known as "Santhanam" by his family and friends. During the early 1990s when he began writing poems for magazines he started using the pen name "Yugabharat ...

and Srinivas. A critic rated the album 2 out of 5 and stated, "This music director should be appreciated for his jaunty spontaneous touches in music interludes".

Release

The film was originally planned to release in February 2009 but was postponed to 10 April 2009.

Critical reception

Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...

'' said, "there is nothing new in the age-old ''squabbling friends turning lovers'' plot ..Karthik Anitha is a refreshingly narrated love story. With no lewd dialogues, item songs or vulgarity it makes for a good, clean film for family viewing". A reviewer rated the film 2.5 out of 5 and stated, "Youth entertainer, can be watched once". ''Indiaglitz'' wrote, "The pacy narration without any lag makes the movie interesting. Lending good support to the script are five catchy songs tuned by Jack Anand. K G Shankar and A Velmurugan does a neat job behind the camera" and concluded with, "Karthik Anitha is a good, clean entertainer sure to entertain youngsters". ''Behindwoods.com'' rated the film 0.5 out of 5 and wrote, "Kaartic Anithaa is a rerun of an often repeated theme of love that is unexpressed. A loose and predictable screenplay by the director Sri Hari is the major pitfall of this movie"

Box office

The film took an average opening at the

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 ...

box office.

References

{{reflist 2009 films 2000s Tamil-language films Indian romance films 2009 directorial debut films 2009 romance films