''Nothing but Life'' is a 2004 Indian

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

film and directed by

Rajiv Anchal Rajiv Anchal (born 20 December 1956) is a film director, screenwriter, and sculptor who works in Malayalam cinema. In 1997, he made ''Guru'', India's official submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. His first English ...

. The experimental film featured actors R. Madhavan,

Neha Pendse Nehha Pendse Bayas (''née'' Pendse; born 29 November 1984) is an Indian actress and producer known for her work primarily in Marathi language, Marathi and Hindi films and television, along with appearances in other language films. Pendse star ...

Kaveri The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery) is a Rivers of India, major river flowing across Southern India. It is the third largest river in the region after Godavari River, Godavari and Krishna River, Krishna. The catchment area of the Kaveri basin i ...

Nassar Nassar (), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer, or Nacer. People with the surname include: People with th ...

and

Sreenivasan Sreenivasan (born 6 April 1956) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, dubbing artist and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Sreenivasan has starred in over 225 films. Sreenivasan wrote the screenplays of films such a ...

. The film was made simultaneously in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

and released later on as ''Made in USA'' on May 6, 2005.

Plot

Roby Thomas migrates to the U.S. with the help of a priest and works as a barman in a casino in Las Vegas. Roby is a simple youngster who believes in helping people in distress but he has a suicidal tendency. The film focuses on the inner turmoil of a youngster who seems to have a positive attitude towards life and emphasizes the importance of inter-personal relationship and friendship.

Cast

Production

Madhavan signed the film in June 2004 and began shooting for the film almost immediately. The film was initially titled ''Life in Las Vegas'', before the makers decided on different titles in English and Malayalam. Actress Kaveri as heroine and actress Neha Pendse made her debut in South Indian films, whilst Nassar and Sreenivasan reprised the roles of the doctor alternatively in the English and Malayalam versions respectively. The film was shot within 40 days in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

and

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, whilst scenes were later recorded in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The movie was shot using high-density television camera with cine lenses instead of a TV lens.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for this film was composed by Vidyasagar and Biju Kurian. Biju Kurian has composed a song for the film, Vidyasagar has composed the remainder. Lyricists were

O. N. V. Kurup Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kurup (known as O. N. V. Kurup; 27 May 1931 – 13 February 2016) was a Malayalam poet and lyricist from Kerala, India, who won the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary award in India for the year 2007. He received ...

and Rajiv Alunkal. The background score for this film was recorded by

Ouseppachan Mechery Louis Ouseppachan (born 13 September 1955), known mononymously as Ouseppachan, is an Indian film composer and singer who primarily works in Malayalam films. He is a recipient of National Film Award, Filmfare Award and Kerala State Fil ...

Release

The English version played across film festivals such as at the Kerala International Film Festival. The Malayalam version of the film opened to audiences in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

on 6 May 2005 gathering mixed reviews. Whilst one reviewer cited that "given the present crisis in Malayalam films where good themes are in short supply, "Made in USA" is certainly a welcome change"; another cited that the movie "left audience confused", describing the film as "plainly mediocre". The film became a financial failure at the Kerala box office, gaining poor collections. The English version prepared for a release in India in August 2006, with director indicating that the film will be released across multiplex cinemas nationwide. The film won Surya S. Nair a Kerala State Award for her dubbing work in the Malayalam version of the film. The film was later dubbed in 2008 into Tamil and released as ''Ananda Punnagai'', and then in Telugu as ''Anjali in America''.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0415943, title=Nothing but Life 2004 films 2000s Malayalam-language films English-language Indian films Indian multilingual films Films scored by Vidyasagar (composer) 2004 multilingual films Films directed by Rajiv Anchal 2000s English-language films