Sangamam
Directed bySuresh Krissna
Written byE. Ramdoss
Gopu-Babu (Dialogues)
Screenplay bySuresh Krissna
Story byBhoopathy Raja
Produced byPyramid Natarajan
Starring
CinematographyS. Saravanan
Edited bySuresh Urs
Music byA. R. Rahman
Production
company
Pyramid Films International
Release date
  • 16 July 1999 (1999-07-16)
Running time
153 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Sangamam (transl. Confluence) is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language musical romance dance film co written and directed by Suresh Krissna and produced by V. Natarajan of Pyramid Films. The film stars Rahman and newcomer Vindhya with Manivannan, Vijayakumar, Radharavi, and Vadivelu playing other important roles. The film's music was composed by A. R. Rahman, while Saravanan handled the cinematography. The film was released in 1999 but despite the award-winning soundtracks and rave reviews, the film became a financial failure.

Plot

This film depicts the disputes between two forms of the dance styles and music, Classical Indian (in particular Carnatic music and Bharathanatyam danceform) against rural Tamil folk music and dance. The film depicts the misunderstanding and mutual ignorance of the two factions. The parallel plot in the movie is of the children and intended successors of the respective dance doyens falling in love with each other.

Cast

Production

V. Natarajan launched a film to be directed by Suresh Krishna and A. R. Rahman was signed on to compose the music for the film in early 1998, while he was also working with the producer Natarajan in Rhythm and Udhaya.[1][2] In an interview in August 1998, A. R. Rahman revealed that he was working on " a very small budget movie called Sangamam which is based on classical and folk dance".[3] The film would feature his co-brother, Malayalam actor Rahman in the lead role with newcomer Vindhya roped in to play the lead female role.[4]

During production it was reported that the film would be a remake of the 1968 film Thillana Mohanambal, but this was subsequently found to be untrue.[5] The film was briefly delayed in 1999 as A. R. Rahman was too busy to complete the background score for the film, with producer V. Natarajan initially refusing to pay him, causing further delays for the producer's next venture, Rhythm.[6]

Soundtrack

The film's music was composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics by Vairamuthu. The music album of this also made news for the first time rapport of the veteran musician M. S. Viswanathan pairing up with A. R. Rahman. Rahman won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director for the soundtrack he composed. The song "Mudhal Murai Killipparthaein", composed in Bihag ragam, won a National Film Award for Best Lyrics for lyricist Vairamuthu.

All lyrics are written by Vairamuthu; all music is composed by A. R. Rahman

Track listing
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Mazhai Thulli"Hariharan, M. S. Viswanathan6:49
2."Varaha Nadhikarai"Shankar Mahadevan6:17
3."Sowkiyama Kannae"Nithyashree Mahadevan5:55
4."Mudhal Murai Killi Parthen"Srinivas, Sujatha Mohan6:10
5."Margazhi Thingal Allava"S. Janaki, P. Unnikrishnan, Srimathumitha[7]6:57
6."Aalaala Kanda"Hariharan, M. S. Viswanathan2:19
Total length:34:30

Release and reception

R Ananthanarayanan wrote for pvv.ntnu.no that "Sangamam is a credible movie with good music by A. R. Rahman and superlative performance by Manivannan". The critic added that "Rahman does justice to his role and has brought a certain dignity and understatement to his character" but that "Vindhya, the heroine is the only weak link".[8] K. N. Vijiyan of New Straits Times wrote "You should see this movie if you like A. R. Rahman's music. It makes for a pleasant viewing".[9] Kala Krishnan Ramesh of Deccan Herald praised the acting, music, editing and dialogues.[10] K. P. S. of Kalki wrote the film's story was reminiscent of the films Karakattakkaran and Thillana Mohanambal, the screenplay is like a town bus that stops and moves at every stop, and Sangamam, which should be properly positioned to push the two together, is half-positioned.[11] D. S. Ramanujam of The Hindu wrote, "THE FOCUS is more on the fusion of two hearts than the two arts in question – Bharatanatyam and one form of folk dance, other varieties not getting their due – in Pyramid Films' Sangamam. The surprise element is the performance of Manivannan, no humour dipped snide remarks but enjoyable emotional stuff, a rare portrayal by this seasoned actor-director".[12] A critic from Sify wrote that "Rahman dancing folk art is unbearable but his acting is good in emotional scenes. Vindya has nothing much in her debutante role except to look pretty. Manivannan steals the show with his dramatic performance as a folk art exponent. AR Rahman`s music is the only highlight of the film. His background music is good and folk art music art is catchy. Credit also goes to Vairamuthu for his lyrics. Its always better to buy an audio cassette and forget the movie".[13]

The film was also set to be dubbed and released in Telugu under the same name, but the financial losses suffered had deterred the version.[14] Due to the film's failure, Sun TV, who bought the satellite rights of the film, premiered it in September 1999.[15]

Accolades

Event Category Awardee Ref.
47th National Film Awards Best Lyrics Vairamuthu (for "Mudhal Murai Killipparthaein") [16]
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Best Music Director A. R. Rahman [17]
Best Lyrics Vairamuthu
Best Female Playback Singer S. Janaki (for "Margazhi Thingal Allava")
Best Art Director Krishnamurthy

References

  1. ↑ "Old news". pvv.ntnu.no. Archived from the original on 14 April 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  2. ↑ "Rahmaan + Rahmaan". Dinakaran. 5 June 1998. Archived from the original on 15 June 1998. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  3. ↑ "The A R Rahman Chat". Rediff.com. 17 August 1998. Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  4. ↑ "Gossip from the Southern film industry". Rediff.com. 12 February 1999. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  5. ↑ "News bits". pvv.ntnu.no. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  6. ↑ Srinivasan, Gopal. "The Complete Biography of A.R.Rahman". Gopalhome.tripod.com. Archived from the original on 15 June 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  7. ↑ "Soaring musical heights". The Hindu. 27 November 2000. Archived from the original on 22 January 2005. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  8. ↑ Ananthanarayanan, R. "Sangamam – A Review". pvv.ntnu.no. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  9. ↑ Vijiyan, K. N. (31 July 1999). "A feast of A.R. Rahman's tunes". New Straits Times. pp. Arts 4. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  10. ↑ "Sangamam (Tamil)". Deccan Herald. 5 September 1999. Archived from the original on 14 June 2000. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  11. ↑ கே. பி. எஸ். (15 August 1999). "சங்கமம்". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 33. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  12. ↑ Ramanujam, D. S. (23 July 1999). "Film Reviews: Anthapuram / Viralukkaetha Veekkam / Sangamam". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 June 2001. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  13. ↑ "Review: Sangamam". Sify. Archived from the original on 29 December 2004.
  14. ↑ "A.R. Rahman Facts!! [long article]". Google Groups. 1 August 2000. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  15. ↑ "Power gets you anything". Tamil Star. Archived from the original on 18 August 2000. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  16. ↑ "47th National Films Festival" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  17. ↑ "Awards: Tamilnadu Government Announces Cinema State Awards -1999". Dinakaran. 29 December 2000. Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
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