Kaavalan (Tamil: காவலன்; English: Bodyguard) is a 2011 Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Siddique, starring Vijay and Asin in the lead roles. The film is a remake of Siddique's previous Malayalam film Bodyguard. It features Rajkiran, Mithra Kurian, Roja, and Vadivelu in supporting roles with musical score composed by Vidyasagar. The film's principal shoot commenced in April 2010 and was completed by November 2010. Following several hurdles, Kaavalan released on 15 January 2011 with relatively positive reviews.
- Plot
Boominathan (Vijay) idolises Muthuramalingam (Rajkiran) and at the request of his parents, accepts to work for the latter as his bodyguard. There enters Muthuramalingam's rival, who has lost his daughter since she committed suicide, the reason being rejection by Muthuramalingam's son. While Boominathan protects Muthuramalingam, his rival threatens the life of his daughter Meera (Asin). Boominathan is sent to college along with Meera and Madhu to protect them from the threat. Meera tries to distance herself from Boominathan by calling him from a private number; Boominathan falls in love with the girl without knowing that it is Meera herself. At one point, Meera too feels herself becoming attracted to Boominathan and expresses her desire to meet him in person. However due to circumstances they are not able to accomplish this until at the climax when she tells Bhoominathan to run away with her and to meet at a railway station. Bhoominathan agrees, unaware it is Meera. However through certain means,Muthuramalingam comes to think that Bhoominathan and Meera are going to run away. In order to save Bhoominathan's life from the anger of Muthuramalingam, Ammu lies that the lover is not her and that Bhoominathan is meeting another girl at the train station. Muthuramalingam lets Bhoominathan leave as he is desperate, but tells his henchmen to kill Bhoominathan if a girl does not come there at the station. Terrified, Meera sends her friend, Madhu, to the station and tells her to tell Bhoominathan that she is the lover and that she won't be able to make it to the station. Madhu, seeing Bhoominathan, falls in love after all that has happened, and admits that she is the lover, not Meera. Meera calls her, but Madhu throws the cellphone away, hoping to erase Meera out of their love life completely. Many years later, after Bhoominathan and Madhu's marriage, they have a son. Madhu passes away shortly after however before her death, she leaves a diary for her son that outlines the whole story between the phone calls of the Bhoomi and Meera and their love. The son later goes to Meera's house with Bhoominathan to visit an old Muthuramalingam. Bhoominathan is shocked Meera isn't married. The son asks Meera to come with him and become his mother and Bhoominathan is angry at his son for saying something so blunt and rude. But Muthuramalingam begs Bhoominathan to take Meera as his wife. So they go onto the train together but the son runs away before leaving and throws the diary into a trashcan nearby. Bhoominathan finds the diary and realizes soon that his real lover, the girl who had waited for him for so many years faithfully, was Meera. And they live together happily
Cast
- Vijay as Bhoominathan
- Asin as Meera Muthuramalingam
- Rajkiran as Muthuramalingam
- Mithra Kurian as Maadhu
- Roja as Devika Muthuramalingam
- Vadivelu as Ammavasai
- Livingston as college principal
- Mahadevan as Devarajan
- Krishna Kumar as Karthik Muthuramalingam
- Neepa as Poongodi
- Nizhalgal Ravi as Bhoominathan's father
- Yuvashree as Bhoominathan's mother
- M. S. Bhaskar Maadhu's father
- Madhan Bob as college lecturer
- Guinnes Pakru as Meera's collegemate
- Sharmilee as hostel warden
Character map of remakes
The original Malayalam film Bodyguard is being remade in Hindi and Telugu. The Telugu version is being directed by Gopichand Malineli while all the other three versions are directed by Siddique himself. Below is a character map of the lead characters in the story of Bodyguard and its remakes.| Bodyguard (Malayalam) | Kaavalan (Tamil) | Bodyguard (Hindi) | Untitled (Telugu) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jayakrishnan (Dileep) | Bhoominathan (Vijay) | (Salman Khan) | (Venkatesh) |
| Ammu (Nayanthara) | Meera (Asin) | (Kareena Kapoor) | (Trisha Krishnan) |
| Sethulakshmi (Mithra Kurian) | Maadhu (Mithra Kurian) | (Rose Dawn) | |
| Ashokettan (Thiagarajan) | Muthuramalingam (Rajkiran) | (Shatrughan Sinha) |
Production
Development
During the post-production stages of Bodyguard, Siddique had the idea of remaking the film in Tamil. He later announced his decision to remake the film with enhancements in the script to better suite the Tamil audience. The film was initially referred to as Kaavalkaaran, which transliterally means "bodyguard" in Tamil. After rumours of the title being changed to Kaaval Kaadhal,' the film was officially confirmed to be titled as Kaavalan in August 2010.[7] The reason for the name confusion and its eventual permanent change was due to the complications in obtaining the rights to the title of Kavalkaran from M. G. Ramachandran's producers. They refused to sell the title to Vijay, leading to the rechristening of the title to Kaavalan.[8]Casting
With the announcement of the remake, Siddique had finalized Vijay to play the lead role, reminiscent to their previous venture Friends (2001), which was also a remake of Siddique's own Malayalam film. Asin Thottumkal was signed up to pair with Vijay for the third time after their previous pairings in Sivakasi (2005) and Pokkiri (2007), also giving Thottumkal a comeback in Tamil cinema after her last appearance in Dasavathaaram (2008). Vadivelu, Rajkiran, and Roja Selvamani were also signed up for supporting characters. The film's principal shoot began in April at Kumbakonam.[9]Filming
An incident occurred on sets in April, where Asin, her father, and her make up assistants had fainted in their caravan after being exposed to a gas leak. They were treated in hospital the same day and were eventually discharged.[10][11] The second shoot schedule occurred in Vellore. Vijay and Asin, along with director Siddique and rest of crew had taken part in the shooting at the Vellore Institute of Technology. A song was shot at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, making it Vijay's second trip to the country for a film shoot after Kuruvi.Release
After the failure of Vijay's 2010 film Sura, the TN Film Exhibitors Association (TFEA) distributed a circular advising theaters not to screen the actor's future films until he compensated for the losses his movies had incurred. Vijay was asked to pay 30% of an estimated
9 crore loss suffered by theaters, or about 3 crore.[12] Kaavalan ran into turmoil as the Theatre Owners’ Association threatened not to release the movie. The movie's release was postponed from December 17 to January 15, citing the lack of theaters available to release the movie.[13][14] The actor shelled out his salary and four additional crores to release the movie with the help of producer Aascar Ravichandran.[15] The film released a week later in Canada after initial expectations to have the film released on the same day as its worldwide release.The trailer was world premiered on December 16 in the Bay Area, California,, notably the first time a Tamil film trailer was launched outside India Speaking at the event, Vijay made a request to his USA fans to provide support for the growth of Tamil Nadu.
Reception
Critical response
Sify.com gave the film a positive verdict, describing the film as "super fun" and a "perfect Pongal family entertainer". The reviewer particularly praised Vijay's performance, observing that the film works "purely on his star charisma and larger-than-life image" and that "he carries the film on his shoulders and is one good reason to watch the film".[20] A critic from Rediff.com, while giving the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, credited Vijay for "for shedding his action/political persona and digging his toes in and choosing a script that focuses on comedy and emotions", going on to claim that "it's Vijay [...] who knits together the rather lackluster screenplay and keeps the laughs coming. For a nostalgic return to the Vijay of old, comic interludes and lack of double-edged dialogues and future plans, Kavalan works."[21] Behindwoods rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and called it "a relatable love story shot in a cute and simple manner, rich with emotions, but on the slow side of narration". The reviewer noted that Kaavalan "is a throwback to the Thulladha Manamum Thullum days of Vijay" and that he has "lived the character", while Asin "convinces us with her portrayal."[22]Oneindia commented, "After years Vijay has come out of his masala formula; Kaavalan is a family entertainer... [It] is not an extraordinary one but is watchable."[23] Cinesnacks gave the film 6 out of 10, commenting, "Kaavalan is an excellent romantic entertainer that is precisely for audiences from 8-80 years", and added, "Don’t miss the special surprise of Vijay".[24] Kollytalk wrote, "This movie, burdened with expectations, has stayed to be on the safer side and well, it surely has succeeded in a way. Vijay returns folks, that’s for sure. He is yet to give his best though".[25] Get Cinemas wrote, "Kaavalan is a clear departure from what began being dubbed as Vijay-style movies. Barring a few fight scenes, Kaavalan is all about love told in a humorous tone. People who love hilarious comedy or touching love scenes would love this romantic family entertainer."[26]
Box office
Kaavalan was released during Pongal on 15 January 2011, a day after the release of Siruthai and Aadukalam, and it went on to rank in the top 3 online bookings in Chennai for the Pongal weekend. In seven weeks, it collected 3.40 crores at the Chennai box office. Kaavalan received a good response from Kerala as well. The film remained on top 3 list at Kerala box-office for 35 days.The film was officially declared as a box office super hit. Kaavalan had a record-breaking collection in the U.K. Kaavalan became a box office success by collecting 87 lakhs in three weeks.Soundtrack
| Kaavalan | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Soundtrack album by Vidyasagar | ||||
| Released | 8 December 2010 | |||
| Recorded | 2010 | |||
| Genre | Film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 20:56 | |||
| Label | Venus Music | |||
| Producer | Vidyasagar | |||
| Vidyasagar chronology | ||||
| ||||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Vinnai Kaapan" | Pa. Vijay | Tippu, Shweta Mohan | 4:30 |
| 2. | "Yaradu" | Yugabharathy | Karthik, Suchitra | 4:27 |
| 3. | "Step Step" | Vivega | Benny Dayal, Megha | 4:36 |
| 4. | "Sada Sada" | Yugabharathy | Karthik | 4:15 |
| 5. | "Pattamboochi" | Kabilan | KK, Rita | 3:48 |
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