Kandukondain Kandukondain

About the film

Kandukondain Kandukondain (also released internationally as I Have Found It) is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language romantic musical film directed and co-written by Rajiv Menon. Based on Jane Austen's 1811 novel Sense and Sensibility, it features an ensemble cast of Mammootty, Ajith Kumar, Tabu, Aishwarya Rai and Abbas. Veterans Manivannan, Srividya and Raghuvaran play supporting roles. The film's soundtrack was scored by A. R. Rahman and the cinematographer was Ravi K. Chandran.

After several delays, Kandukondain Kandukondain opened to Tamil Nadu audiences on 5 May 2000 and was commercially successful. The producers released subtitled versions worldwide. The film also won a National Film Award and two Filmfare Awards South, and was featured in international film festivals.

Plot

Major Bala, an Indian Peace Keeping Force personnel, loses a leg in an explosion triggered by Tamil militants while fighting in the jungles of war-torn Sri Lanka. Elsewhere, Manohar, a film director, is greeted at a filming location by his parents, who want him to marry Swetha, so that he will inherit her family's company. Sisters Sowmya and Meenakshi are part of a close-knit family living in a Chettiar mansion in Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, with their mother Padma, maternal grandfather Chandrasekhar, servant Chinnatha and younger sister Kamala. Sowmya is a school principal while Meenakshi is passionate about classic Tamil poetry, music and dance. Sivagnanam, a friend of Bala, lives with his mother. His mother has breathing issues, which is fixed as soon as he says the word marriage. After his mother says she wants to see a marriage, Sivagnanam shows her two cats, Raj and Viji, getting married, much to her dismay.

Bala, who now runs a floral business, has become depressed and alcohol-dependent since losing his leg. He quits drinking after an argument with Meenakshi, with whom he falls in love and supports her family when in need. At her behest, he stops drinking in exchange for her to learn music, which she does. Meenakshi, who, considers Bala as a friend, falls in love with Srikanth, a charming businessman who shares Meenakshi's interests. Manohar visits Meenakshi's house for a film shoot where Sowmya and Manohar fall in love with each other.

On his deathbed, Chandrasekhar tries to say something about his will but no one understands him. After his death, their lawyer breaks open the box and find he has bequeathed all of his property to his younger son Swaminathan, at the time when his elder daughter Padma had eloped and married without his knowledge, but was unable to change the will as he was paralysed and unable to speak a few years down the lane when his daughter assisted him. Vidya and Sowmya silently submit themselves to Swaminathan and his wife, Lalitha's demands, but Meenakshi is unable to accept the change in lifestyle. Sowmya and her family move to Chennai when they can no longer stand Lalitha's arrogant behaviour upon inheriting the mansion.

Production

After the success of his directorial debut Minsara Kanavu (1997), Rajiv Menon was signed by producer Kalaipuli S. Thanu to direct a film in the final quarter of 1998. In November 1998, Menon announced he had begun pre-production work on a project titled Theekkul Viralai Vaithal, a title taken from a line by Subramania Bharati. The initial idea of the film came from a conversation between Menon and director Mani Ratnam about the contrast between Menon's life and that of his brother. While Menon entered the film industry, his brother focused on an academic career and later became an officer in the Indian Railway Accounts Service. Ratnam later suggested Menon should make a film on the subject.

Menon wrote a screenplay based on the Jane Austen novel Sense and Sensibility and the project was renamed Kandukondain Kandukondain. The title was inspired by the phrase "kanden kanden Seethaiyai kanden" from Kambar's epic Kamba Ramayanam. Menon said the film's story of two sisters was reminiscent of those of him and his brother during difficult parts of their lives. The film was initially launched as a multilingual project in four Indian languages (Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi), though it was only released in Tamil with a subsequent Telugu-dubbed version titled Priyuraalu Pilichindi. Menon first wrote the story in English then dictated the dialogue in Malayalam; this was then translated into Tamil by Sujatha.

In November 1999, when most of the production was complete, Menon—whose previous film performed poorly in rural areas—wanted to show a rough copy of Kandukondain Kandukondain to a village audience to ensure they could relate to the subject. After showing parts of the film to audiences in Udumalpettai and Pollachi, the team later held a group discussion before thanking the volunteers with gifts while receiving positive feedback.

Soundtrack

The songs in Kandukondain Kandukondain were composed by A. R. Rahman and the rights to the soundtrack album were bought by Saregama for a then-record sum of ₹2.2 crore. The soundtrack includes eight songs, one of which is based on a poem written by Subramania Bharati. The audio launch was held at Devi Theatre on 15 March 2000.

"Kannamoochi" is set in the Carnatic raga Nattakurinji. Rajiv Menon, who is a fan of this raga, presented Rahman with the song "Kavalaiyai Theerpathu Naattiya Kalaiye" from Sivakavi (1943) and asked him to compose at least one piece based on the raga. "Kandukondain Kandukondain" is set to the Nalinakanthi raga, "Smayiyai" is based on jazz music, and "Enna Solla Pogirai" is a folksy and romantic song, set to the raga Misra Kirvani. Menon personally asked Shankar Mahadevan to sing the song "Enna Solla Pogirai". Venky of Chennai Online felt the album "is not in the class of `Minsara Kanavu'" calling "Kannamoochi" as the best song of the album and praised other songs but felt "'Konjum Mainakale' by Sadhana Sargam simply doesn't work because the singer seems completely out of sync with the music and her North Indian accent doesn't gel with the song".

Key details