Snegithiye
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''Snegithiye'' () is a 2000 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
mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...
thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...
directed by
Priyadarshan Priyadarshan Soman Nair (born 30 January 1957) is an Indian film director and screenwriter. He has worked primarily in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam and Hindi cinema, Hindi cinema since 1982, directing over 90 films in multiple Indian languages, ...
. The film notably features only female characters, played by Tabu,
Jyothika Jyothika Saravanan (; born 18 October 1978) is an Indian actress and producer who primarily works in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu films. She has received several accolades including a National Film Award, five Filmfare Awards South, four Tamil N ...
, Sharbani Mukherjee and
Ishitta Arun Ishitta Arun is an Indian actress, writer, model, VJ and producer. She is best known for her roles in series like ''Scoop'' (2023), '' Rana Naidu'' (2023), '' Good Bad Girl'' (2022) and the musical '' The Merchants of Bollywood'' (2006-2007). ...
. Music was composed by
Vidyasagar Vidyasagar or Vidya Sagar may refer to: People *Acharya Vidyasagar (born 1946), prominent Digambar Jain Acharya (1946-) *Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820–1891), Bengali scholar *Vidyasagar (composer) (born 1963), South Indian music director * C ...
. The film, released in 2000, proved to be an average grosser at the box office but bagged positive reviews from critics. Originally planned to be made as a multilingual, in Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi, the film was released first in Tamil, while the Malayalam version, ''Raakilipattu'' (), as well as the Hindi dubbed version of the Malayalam version, ''Friendship'' were released seven years later. The film's story is loosely based on the 1999
Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...
film ''
Bindhaast ''Bindhast'' () is a 1999 Indian Marathi-language thriller film directed by Chandrakant Kulkarni and produced by Matchindra Chate. The film is known for its all-women cast. The film was remade in Tamil as ''Snegithiye'' and in Malayalam as '' Ra ...
''.


Synopsis

When Radhika lies about being with a man called Ramesh to avoid marriage, someone with that name contacts her and claims to be her boyfriend. However, he is murdered and Radhika becomes a suspect.


Plot

Best friends Vani "Vasu" Subramaniam (Josephine in Malayalam) and Radhika Menon are carefree pranksters at a prestigious ladies' college 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 ...
. They stay up late, break rules and wreak havoc at their hostel, much to their lecturers' annoyance. They also form a rivalry against Geetha, the college queen bee. Malathi, Radhika's aunt, wants her niece to complete her studies, so that she can take over her late parents' multi-million business. In order to straighten Radhika out, Malathi arranges for her to get married. At this point, Vasu and Radhika are introduced to Gayathri, a fiercely independent and strong
police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...
and an alumnus of their college. During an event at the college, Gayathri explains how women in the country lose their independence and livelihood after getting married. Convinced that they should avoid marriage as long as possible, Vani and Radhika pretend that Radhika has a boyfriend from overseas, named Ramesh, in order to avoid Malathi from arranging anymore suitors. However, this fantasy takes a whole new turn when an actual person named Ramesh calls and sends Radhika letters, claiming to be her boyfriend. To end this nuisance, Vasu and Radhika invite Ramesh to their hostel during the college dance program and plan to trick him into blurt out the truth. Vasu instructs Radhika to bring her aunt's guns for their safety. However, a mysterious shooter kills Ramesh before the girls can confront him. Fearing that suspicion would fall on them, they decide to dispose of the body by hiding it in the air ventilator. Unexpectedly, the body slides down the vent and lands on the auditorium stage, in the middle of a performance. Gayathri, who is the guest of honour at the event, takes charge of the case. She finds Radhika's necklace on the body and the two girls are brought in for questioning. At the police station, an old woman shows up claiming that Ramesh is her son and has gone missing. Realising that the noose is tightening and that the story of their innocence will not stand, Vasu and Radhika escape police custody and hide in an abandoned mansion on the outskirts of the city. Now the prime suspects of Ramesh's murder, they decide to find the real killer before Gayathri catches up to them. Vasu suspects Malathi of framing them in order to inherit Radhika's wealth. When they finally meet her, Malathi explains that she had known all along that the girls had been fooling her. The young man who was pretending to be Ramesh, was actually a family friend, named Vikram, whom Malathi had been planning to marry Radhika off to. Through their college friends, the girls discover that Geetha had gone missing on that fateful night. After much difficulty, the girls find Geetha hiding in a border town. However, Geetha reveals that she too is on the run from Gayathri; on the night of the murder, she had returned to the hostel to take some medications and had inadvertently witnessed Gayathri kill Vikram/Ramesh. Geetha had fled from the scene, fearing Gayathri would use her influence to cover up the crime. Unfortunately, Gayathri manages to catch up on the trio. However, the woman who had pretended to be Ramesh's mother arrives on the scene. She turns out to be a CBI officer, who had been investigating Gayathri and knows that the girls are not responsible for Vikram's murder. Gayathri ends up having a mental breakdown. The CBI officer reveals that Gayathri had murdered Vikram to avenge her sister's paralysis. Vikram had raped Gayathri's sister in the past after Gayathri found out he was a womaniser and stopped her sister from dating him. To escape justice, she had no choice but to frame Vasu and Radhika as the murderers. The film concludes with Gayathri institutionalised at a mental asylum where the three girls, Vani, Radhika and Geetha, now close friends, pay her a visit.


Cast


Production

The original story idea for the film was taken from Marathi writer
Chandrakant Kulkarni Chandrakant Kulkarni (born 1963) is an Indian director, script writer and actor associated with Marathi theatre and film. He is known for his works of directing the plays ''Wada Chirebandi'', ''Dhyanimani'', ''Gandhi Virudh Gandhi'' and most re ...
, who had made the successful Marathi film, ''
Bindhaast ''Bindhast'' () is a 1999 Indian Marathi-language thriller film directed by Chandrakant Kulkarni and produced by Matchindra Chate. The film is known for its all-women cast. The film was remade in Tamil as ''Snegithiye'' and in Malayalam as '' Ra ...
'', based on the story last year. Priyadarshan heard about the film and asked producer Mukesh Mehta to see it and decide whether he would like to produce the movie and thus Mehta went to Bombay, saw the film and liked it. However the producer reiterated that they have taken only the main thread from the Marathi story with the rest of the film, its sub-plots and the treatment are completely different from the original. Initially, it was planned as a Malayalam film with a cast familiar to the Kerala audience. But as Priyadarshan's excitement over the project grew, the canvas got wider and the producer decided to look for a bigger audience. Thus
Jyothika Jyothika Saravanan (; born 18 October 1978) is an Indian actress and producer who primarily works in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu films. She has received several accolades including a National Film Award, five Filmfare Awards South, four Tamil N ...
, Sharbani Mukherjee and Ishita Arun, daughter of
Ila Arun Ila Arun is an Indian actress, TV personality and Rajasthani folk-pop singer known for her works in Hindi cinema, and Indian pop. She has appeared in many prominent Bollywood films such as '' Lamhe'', ''Jodhaa Akbar'', '' Shaadi Ke Side Effe ...
, stepped in to give it a more national flavour. Seasoned actresses like
Sukumari Sukumari Amma (6 October 1940 – 26 March 2013) was an Indian actress best known for her works in Malayalam and Tamil films. In a career spanning more than five decades, She has appeared in more than 2500 films predominantly in Malayalam, T ...
, Manorama,
Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, , ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, beauty, fertility, sovereignty, and abundance. She along with Parvat ...
,
KPAC Lalitha Maheshwari Amma, better known by her stage name K. P. A. C. Lalitha (10 March 1947 – 22 February 2022), was an Indian film and stage actress who worked primarily in the Malayalam film industry. Considered one of the greatest actresses in the ...
,
Mita Vasisht Mita Vashisht (born 2 November 1967) is an Indian actress. Known for her work on screen, stage and television, she has played a wide range of roles. Her most prominent appearances includes; sci-fi television series '' Space City Sigma'' (1989- ...
, Tabu, and Dipti Bhatnagar also joined the all-female team. Cinematographer Jeeva and art director Sabu Cyril also joined the team and they shot 90 per cent of the film in a college in
Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...
and the rest 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 ...
, also featuring live coverage of the Dasara (Dussera) festival of Mysuru. The film was subsequently made simultaneously in Tamil and Malayalam with a title of '' Raakilipattu'', while a Hindi version was also planned in 2000. The title of the Tamil version of the film was taken from a song from the 2000 film ''
Alai Payuthey ''Alai Payuthey'', also spelled as ''Alaipayuthey'' ( ), is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language romantic musical film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Mani Ratnam, starring R. Madhavan and Shalini. The film explores the tensions of married ...
''. Jyothika prioritised her work in the project and thus delayed her schedules for ''
Uyirile Kalanthathu ''Uyirile Kalanthathu'' () is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by K. R. Jaya which stars Suriya, Jyothika and Raghuvaran, with Sivakumar and Radhika in supporting roles. The film was released in September 2000. This fil ...
'' in order to ensure the film was released as early as possible. The songs of the film were released at Devi Theatre with
Kamal Haasan Parthasarathy Srinivasan (born 7 November 1954), known professionally as Kamal Haasan, is an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Considered as one of the most accomplished actors of Indian Cinema, Haas ...
appearing as the chief guest.


Soundtrack

While S. P. Venkatesh composed the score, the songs were composed by
Vidyasagar Vidyasagar or Vidya Sagar may refer to: People *Acharya Vidyasagar (born 1946), prominent Digambar Jain Acharya (1946-) *Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820–1891), Bengali scholar *Vidyasagar (composer) (born 1963), South Indian music director * C ...
, except "Kannukulle" which was composed by Raghunath Seth as mentioned in the original audio cassette. The songs were well received by the audience and critics. In an audio review, Venky of ''Chennai Online'' wote "On the whole, it is a very good effort by Vidyasagar". ;Track listing For ''Raakilipattu'':


Release

Release for the film was postponed several times with the makers hoping to get a simultaneous release for all versions. The team also noted the Kidnapping of Dr. Rajkumar by bandit
Veerappan Koose Munisamy Veerappan (18 January 1952 – 18 October 2004) was an Indian poacher, smuggler, domestic terrorist and Banditry, bandit who was active for 36 years, and kidnapped major politicians for ransom. He was charged with sandalwoo ...
as reason for the delay. ''Snegithiye'' went on to inspire other film makers to produce all women ventures, with director Gnanasekharan announcing that his project, ''Aishwarya'', starring
Uma Uma may refer to: Religion * Uma (goddess), a Hindu goddess also known as Parvati or Gauri People * Uma (given name), including a list of people with the name * Uma (actress) (Uma Shankari, fl from 2000), Indian actress Nature * ''Uma'' (liza ...
,
Monal A monal is a bird of genus ''Lophophorus'' of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. Description The males all have colorful, iridescent plumage. Their physique is rather plump, and their diet consists of plants such as roots and bulbs and insects. ...
and
Abhinayashree Abhinayashree is an Indian actress and dancer known for her works in the Tamil film and television industries. She has also acted in Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada language films. She appeared as a contestant on '' Bigg Boss (Telugu season ...
would be a "small-scale ''Snegithiye''". The film was simultaneously taken in Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi, but only Tamil version released in 2000. The Malayalam and Hindi versions released on 18 April 2007. '' Raakilipattu'' was released in Kerala, only in 2007. The Malayalam version's Hindi dubbed version ''Friendship'' was also released in 2007.


Critical reception


''Snegithiye ''

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, "In a medium where women (read heroines) are thought of as a dispensable commodity, here is a murder mystery, conceived with a cast comprising only women, and made quite interestingly too". Malini Mannath of ''Chennai Online'' wrote, "The first part moves with breezy fun" but concluded that "the script goes haywire in the second half, the shoddy treatment not helping matters either. The scenes here all seem to belong to some c-grade Hollywood thriller. Leading one to suspect whether Priyadarshan really directed this film!"


References


External links

* {{Priyadarshan 2000 films 2000 multilingual films 2000s female buddy films 2000s Indian films 2000s Malayalam-language films 2000s mystery thriller films 2000s police procedural films 2000s Tamil-language films Central Bureau of Investigation in fiction Fictional portrayals of the Tamil Nadu Police Films about letters (message) Films about murderers Films about stalking Films about suicide Films about women in India Films directed by Priyadarshan Films featuring an all-female cast Films scored by Vidyasagar (composer) Films set in Chennai Films set in psychiatric hospitals Films set in Tamil Nadu Films set in universities and colleges Films shot in Chennai Films shot in Karnataka Films shot in Mysore Indian chase films Indian detective films Indian female buddy films Indian multilingual films Indian murder mystery films Indian mystery thriller films Indian rape and revenge films Police detective films Tamil remakes of Marathi films Tamil-language Indian films Three girls movie