Chandra (film)

Chandra is a 2013 Indian romantic drama film, simultaneously made in Kannada and Tamil languages. Directed by Roopa Iyer,^[1] it stars Shriya Saran and Prem Kumar.^[2] The film deals with the life of a last generation princess and her love story.^[3] The film was released on 27 June 2013 to positive reviews and emerged as a high success at the Kannada Box office.^[4] The Tamil version of the film was released on 14 February 2014.

Chandra
Directed by	Roopa Iyer
Written by	Roopa Iyer
Produced by	India Classic Arts and Narasimha Arts
Starring	Shriya Saran Prem Kumar Ganesh Venkatraman
Cinematography	P. H. K. Doss
Edited by	Sri Crazymindz
Music by	Gautam Srivatsa
Distributed by	Narasimha Arts
Release dates	27 June 2013 (2013-06-27) (Kannada) 14 February 2014 (2014-02-14) (Tamil)
Running time	117 minutes
Country	India
Languages	Kannada Tamil

Plot

The story revolves around rajkumari Ammani Chandravathi (Shriya Saran), a princess, and Chandrahasa (Prem Kumar) a music teacher. The two falls in love with each other. But the princess is engaged to Arya (Ganesh Venkatraman), settled in the US, against her wishes. She is not at all impressed by the US culture and tries to contact Chandrahasa to express her feelings. In another development, Chandrahasa promises his father that he would forget Chandravathi and allow her to marry Arya. But on the wedding day, the story takes a dramatic turn which ends on a happy note.

Cast

• Shriya Saran as Maharani Ammanmani Chandravathy
• Prem Kumar as Chandrahasa
• Ganesh Venkatraman as Arya
• Srinath as Maharaja
• Vijayakumar as Guruji Parameshwara
• Vivek as Yuvaraj Sukumar
• Girish Karnad
• Sukanya as Queen Sarala Devi
• Sumithra as Lalitha
• Sadhu Kokila as Andy Roberts
• Cell Murugan as Lakajarao / Kizhakku
• Suchendra Prasad
• R. G. Vijayasarathy
• Yash as the dancer in the song "Tasse Otthu"/"Raaja Raajan"

Production

Development

Roopa Iyer has studied the life of quite a few royal families in India to arrive at a subject for her film. The last branches of Royal Families are not in a position to adjust to normal social life. They do not get the right match to lead a royal life that is a gift for them from ancestors. On this basis Roopa Iyer has added the eternal 'Love' and made a meaningful and beautiful love story subject. The royal families taken over by the government facing a perturbed situation is shown in this movie.^[5]

Casting

Roopa Iyer had initially considered Ramya for the lead role and even signed her for the lead role.^[6] However the actress was dropped from the film later as she was not in good terms with the director and the fact that she skipped Kalaripayattu class required for her role to perform stunts.^[7] Following that, various actresses such as Dia Mirza, Amala Paul, Amrita Rao and Aindrita Ray was considered for the role.^[8][9] Then she finalized Shriya Saran as the leading lady.^[10] Saran who earlier made her debut in Kannada cinema through Arasu opposite Puneeth Rajkumar in a cameo role immediately accepted the offer after reading the script. Furthermore, actress Ramya Krishnan and singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam were chosen for a cameo appearance.^[8] Prem Kumar played the protagonist in the film. P. H. K. Doss took the spot behind the camera.^[11] Yesteryear actors Girish Karnad, Srinath and Sumithra was signed to appear in supporting roles.^[12][13] Ganesh Venkatraman has also been roped in to play the protagonist in this film.^[14] Tamil actor Vivek made his Kannada debut.^[15]

Filming

Twenty percent of the shooting was held in USA and rest in India. It was 50 plus days schedule Roopa Iyer had planned for her second direction movie. In Mysore, Bangalore, Rajasthan and Kodagu, Roopa Iyer had chalked out shooting schedules with Mumbai-based Media Networks G.^[16]

Soundtrack

Kannada

Chandra
Soundtrack album by Gautham Srivatsa
Released	14 January 2013 (2013-01-14)
Genre	Feature film soundtrack

^[17]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Mouna Moundadalli"	Roopa Iyer	Sonu Nigam, Anuradha Bhat
2.	"Tasse Otthu"	A. P. Arjun	Tippu
3.	"Dhiranana Dhiranana"	Roopa Iyer	Karthik
4.	"Nee Selave"	Jayanth Kaikini	Anuradha Bhat, Naresh Iyer
5.	"Omkaradalli Jhenkaradalli"	V. Nagendra Prasad	K. S. Chithra, Madhu Balakrishnan

Tamil

^[18]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Mouna Mounamthil"	Roopa Iyer	Anand , Anuradha Bhat
2.	"Raaja Raajan"	Yugabharathi	MLR Karthikeyan
3.	"Vaanil Ulla"	Roopa Iyer	Ranjith
4.	"Nee Arugey Irukkum"	Yugabharathi	Anuradha Bhat, Naresh Iyer
5.	"Omkaraminum"	Yugabharathi	Badri Prasad, Madhu Balakrishnan, Padmalatha

Reception

Critical response

A critic from The Times of India scored the film at 3.5 out of 5 stars and says "Shriya Saran for her excellent portrayal of the princess. She impresses with her expression and dialogue delivery. Prem is superb as a music teacher and has given life to his character. Srinath shines as Shriya’s father. Music by Gowtham Srivathsa is impressive. PKH Das has done an excellent work with his camera".^[19] A Sharadhaa from The New Indian Express wrote "Music by debutant Gautam Srivatsa adds a classic touch. Cameraman PHK Doss has managed to capture the beauty of Shriya well. The verdict: Shot in a light-hearted manner, with a bright palette of colours, and aided by good performances by the actors, the movie is appealing".^[20] B S Srivani from Deccan Herald wrote "Prem and Shriya tease and delight the audience with their expressions and body language. Gautam Srivatsa’s music with evocative lyrics heighten the sense of yearning. All in all, Chandra mesmerises like a full moon but the pleasure wanes in the company of avoidable mistakes".^[21] A critic from Bangalore Mirror wrote  "The comedy track with two of the best comedians from Kannada and Tamil, Sahdu Kokila and Vivek, falls flat. The slow pace does not help either. The two stars are cinematographer PHK Doss and composer Gautam Srivatsa".^[22]

References

1. "Chandra is not a period film: Roopa Iyer". The Times of India. 9 February 2014.
2. "Premkumar confirmed for lead role in 'Chandra'". News18 India. 14 May 2012.
3. "Shriya Saran likely to be actress in 'Chandra'". News18 India. 6 May 2012.
4. "Valentine Day release for Tamil version of Chandra". The Times of India. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
5. . IndiaGlitz. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
6. . Sify. 1 June 2012. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
7. Ramchander (1 June 2012). "Ramya's attitude cost her Roopa Iyer's Chandra?". Oneindia.in. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
8. Ramchander (8 May 2012). "Shriya Saran steps into the shoes of Ramya". Oneindia.in. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
9. P. Sangeetha (Times News Network) (12 May 2012). . The Times of India. Archived from the original on 7 December 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
10. Sunayana Suresh (Times News Network) (11 May 2012). . The Times of India. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
11. "Shriya back in Kollywood". Behindwoods. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
12. "Shriya Saran fits the part of a princess". Deccan Chronicle. 25 May 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
13. . CNN-IBN. 26 May 2012. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
14. . IndiaGlitz. 13 June 2012. Archived from the original on 15 June 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
15. Sampath, Parinatha. "Comedian Vivek dubs in Kannada for Chandra". The Times of India.
16. . IndiaGlitz. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
17. . Archived from the original on 23 April 2014. Retrieved 2013-03-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
18. Chandra songs – Chandra 2013 Music Album – Tamil movie songs 1 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine
19. "CHANDRA MOVIE REVIEW". The Times of India. 14 May 2016.
20. "Chandra (Kannada)". The New Indian Express. 29 June 2013.
21. "A royal touch to love-honour conflict". Deccan Herald. 28 June 2013.
22. "Chandra: Eye candy, but insipid". Bangalore Mirror. 27 June 2013.

External links

• Chandra at IMDb