''Sundara Travels'' is a 2002

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

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Thaha Thaha is an Indian film director and writer, known primarily for his slapstick comedy movies. Career Earlier Thaha worked as an assistant director in films including ''Rajavinte Makan'', ''Bhoomiyile Rajakkanmar'', ''Kakkothikkavile Appooppa ...

. The film stars

Murali Murali may refer to: People Mononyms *Murali (Malayalam actor) (1954–2009), name of Malayalam film actor Muraleedharan Pillai, who appeared in ''Neythukaran'' and ''Aadhaaram'' *Murali (Tamil actor) (1964–2010), Tamil actor who appeared ...

Radha Radha (, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. In scriptures, Radha is mentioned as the avatar of Lakshmi and also as the Prak� ...

, and

Vadivelu Kumaravadivel Natarajan (born 12 September 1960) known professionally as Vadivelu, is an Indian actor, comedian and occasional playback singer, having acted mainly in Tamil cinema. He has at least 290 credits to his name. He was a recipient of ...

Vasu The Vasus () are a group of deities in Hinduism associated with fire and light. They are described as the attendant deities of Indra, and later Vishnu. Generally numbering eight and classified as the Ashtavasu, they are described in the Ramayana a ...

Sabitha Anand Sabitha Anand is an Indian actress who has performed in Tamil and Malayalam movies and serials. She was one of the lead actresses in the 1980s. She is the daughter of J. A. R. Anand, an Indian actor in Malayalam movies during the 1960s and 70 ...

, and

Vinu Chakravarthy Vinu Chakravarthy (15 December 1945 – 27 April 2017) was an Indian actor, screenwriter and director who is known for acting in more than 1000 movies predominately in Tamil films mostly as a comedian, supporting actor or in a villainous role. ...

appear in supporting roles. Written by Govind Padman and Mahesh Mithra, it is a remake of their Malayalam film ''

Ee Parakkum Thalika ''Ee Parakkum Thalika'' () is a 2001 Indian Malayalam-language slapstick comedy drama film directed by Thaha and starring Dileep, Harisree Ashokan, Nithya Das, and Cochin Haneefa. It was written by V. R. Gopalakrishnan. The film also marked the ...

'' (2001). The music was composed by

Bharani Bharani (Devanagari: भरणी) is the second nakshatra in Hindu astronomy, corresponding to 35, 39, and 41 Arietis all together. In Jyotiṣa, Bharani is ruled by Shukra (the planet Venus). Also, it is classified as a Cruel or Active n ...

, with editing done by P. C. Mohanan. The film released on 30 August 2002.

Plot

Gopikrishna (

) owns an old bus which was received as compensation for his father's road accident. Gopi now faces many consequences due to the bus's pathetic condition. He had sold many valuable things to maintain this bus, and his friend Azhagu (

) was his only companion and the bus's cleaner. A mouse had eaten Azhagu's passport and spoiled his chances of going abroad. Some part of the film's comedy involves Azhagu running behind the mouse for revenge. A live TV show in which Gopi insults the City Traffic Commissioner (

) lands him in more trouble when the latter commands Gopi to leave the city with the bus. His other friends, advocates, and well-wishers try to help him with a bank loan to run a mobile kitchen (Tattukada) from his bus. The plot took a turn when a girl named Vasanthi (

) enters the bus as a nomad, but she was actually Gayathri, the daughter of an influential and politically powerful minister (

P. Vasu Vasudevan Peethambaram (born 15 September 1955), known professionally as P. Vasu, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor who works predominantly in Tamil and Kannada films, apart from a few Telugu, Hindi, and Malayalam language fi ...

) in Puducherry. Her father forced her to join politics, which made her leave home. Initially, Gayathri declines to leave the bus, despite Azhagu's and Gopi's constant efforts. The police traces her and takes her back to her father's custody. Her father was making arrangements for her marriage with someone else. Meanwhile, Gopi realised that he could not live without Gayathri. Gopi and Azhagu secretly entered her house, and finally, all ended well by winning the heart of Gayathri's father.

Cast

Production

The film's shooting commenced at Kodaikanal, and held at locations in Kerala and Thenkasi.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by

. The song "Kannum Kannum" was later reused as "Ding Ding" in the Telugu film ''Siva Rama Raju''.

Critical reception

Malini Mannath of ''Chennai Online'' wrote, "‘Sundara Travels’ originally made in Malayalam as ‘ee Parakkum Thaliga’ was scripted and directed by Thaha and was a success in Kerala. So were its versions in Telugu and Kannada. Thaha directs the Tamil version, and probably to go with the so called ‘nativity’ factor, it is comedy that’s a bit too loud for comfort". S. R. Ashok Kumar 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, "The director starts off very well but loses steam midway and presents something predictable".

References

External links

* * {{Thaha 2000s Indian films 2000s Tamil-language films 2002 comedy films 2002 films Films scored by Bharani (composer) Films shot in Kerala Films shot in Kodaikanal Indian comedy films Tamil remakes of Malayalam films Tamil-language comedy films Tamil-language Indian films