title: Water-tube boiler

text: Saturated water at the bottom of the steam drum returns to the lower drum via large-bore 'downcomer tubes', where it pre-heats the feedwater supply. (In large utility boilers, the feedwater is supplied to the steam drum and the downcomers supply water to the bottom of the waterwalls). To increase economy of the boiler, exhaust gases are also used to pre-heat combustion air blown into the burners, and to warm the feedwater supply in an economizer. Such watertube boilers in thermal power stations are also called "steam generating units".


title: Water-tube boiler

text: The older fire-tube boiler design, in which the water surrounds the heat source and gases from combustion pass through tubes within the water space, is typically a much weaker structure and is rarely used for pressures above . A significant advantage of the watertube boiler is that there is less chance of a catastrophic failure: there is not a large volume of water in the boiler nor are there large mechanical elements subject to failure.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: A water tube boiler was patented by Blakey of England in 1766 and was made by Dallery of France in 1780.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: "The ability of watertube boilers to be designed without the use of excessively large and thick walled pressure vessels makes these boilers particularly attractive in applications that require dry, high-pressure, high-energy steam, including steam turbine power generation".


title: Water-tube boiler

text: Owing to their superb working properties, the use of watertube boilers is highly preferred in the following major areas:


title: Water-tube boiler

text: Besides, they are frequently employed in power generation plants where large quantities of steam (ranging up to 500 kg/s) having high pressures i.e. approximately and high temperatures reaching up to 550 °C are generally required. For example, the Ivanpah solar-power station uses two Rentech Type-D watertube boilers for plant warmup, and when operating as a fossil fueled power station.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: Modern boilers for power generation are almost entirely water-tube designs, owing to their ability to operate at higher pressures. Where process steam is required for heating or as a chemical component, then there is still a small niche for fire-tube boilers. One notable exception is in typical Nuclear power stations (Pressurized Water Reactors), where the steam generators are generally configured similar to firetube boiler designs. In these applications the hot gas path through the "Firetubes" actually carries the very hot/high pressure primary coolant from the reactor, and steam is generated on the external surface of the tubes.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: Their ability to work at higher pressures has led to marine boilers being almost entirely water-tube. This change began around 1900, and traced the adoption of turbines for propulsion rather than reciprocating (i.e. piston) engines – although watertube boilers were also used with reciprocating engines, and firetube boilers were also used in many marine turbine applications.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: There has been no significant adoption of water-tube boilers for railway locomotives. A handful of experimental designs were produced, but none of these were successful or led to their widespread use. Most water-tube railway locomotives, especially in Europe, used the Schmidt system. Most were compounds, and a few uniflows. The Norfolk and Western Railway's "Jawn Henry" was an exception, as it used a steam turbine combined with an electric transmission.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: A slightly more successful adoption was the use of hybrid water-tube / fire-tube systems. As the hottest part of a locomotive boiler is the firebox, it was an effective design to use a water-tube design here and a conventional fire-tube boiler as an economiser (i.e. pre-heater) in the usual position.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: One famous example of this was the USA Baldwin 4-10-2 No. 60000, built in 1926. Operating as a compound at a boiler pressure of it covered over successfully. After a year though, it became clear that any economies were overwhelmed by the extra costs and it was retired to a museum display at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A series of twelve experimental locomotives were constructed at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Mt. Clare shops under the supervision of George H. Emerson, but none of them was replicated in any numbers.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: The only railway use of water-tube boilers in any numbers was the Brotan boiler, invented in Austria in 1902 by Johann Brotan and found in rare examples throughout Europe. Hungary, though, was a keen user and had around 1,000 of them. Like the Baldwin, this combined a water-tube firebox with a fire-tube barrel. The original characteristic of the Brotan was a long steam drum running "above" the main barrel, making it resemble a Flaman boiler in appearance.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: While the traction engine was usually built using its locomotive boiler as its frame, other types of steam road vehicles such as lorries and cars have used a wide range of different boiler types. Road transport pioneers Goldsworthy Gurney and Walter Hancock both used water-tube boilers in their steam carriages around 1830.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: Most undertype wagons used water-tube boilers. Many manufacturers used variants of the vertical cross-tube boiler, including Atkinson, Clayton, Garrett and Sentinel. Other types include the Clarkson 'thimble tube' and the Foden O-type wagon's pistol-shaped boiler.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: Steam fire-engine makers such as Merryweather usually used water-tube boilers for their rapid steam-raising capacity.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: Many steam cars used water-tube boilers, and the Bolsover Express company even made a water-tube replacement for the Stanley Steamer fire-tube boiler.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: The 'D-type' is the most common type of small- to medium-sized boilers, similar to the one shown in the schematic diagram. It is used in both stationary and marine applications. It consists of a large steam drum vertically connected to a smaller water drum (a.k.a. "mud drum") via multiple steam-generating tubes. These drums and tubes as well as the oil-fired burner are enclosed by water-walls - additional water-filled tubes spaced close together so as to prevent gas flow between them. These water wall tubes are connected to both the steam and water drums, so that they act as a combination of preheaters and downcomers as well as decreasing heat loss to the boiler shell.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: The M-type boilers were used in many US World War II warships including hundreds of "Fletcher"-class destroyers. Three sets of tubes form the shape of an M, and create a separately fired superheater that allows better superheat temperature control. In addition to the mud drum shown on a D-type boiler, an M-type has a water-screen header and a waterwall header at the bottom of the two additional rows of vertical tubes and downcomers.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: The "low water content" boiler has a lower and upper header connected by watertubes that are directly impinged upon from the burner. This is a "furnace-less" boiler that can generate steam and react quickly to changes in load.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: Designed by the American firm of Babcock & Wilcox, this type has a single drum, with feedwater drawn from the bottom of the drum into a header that supplies inclined water-tubes. The watertubes supply steam back into the top of the drum. Furnaces are located below the tubes and drum.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: This type of boiler was used by the Royal Navy's "Leander"-class frigates and in United States Navy New Orleans-class cruisers.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: The Stirling boiler has near-vertical, almost-straight watertubes that zig-zag between a number of steam and water drums. Usually there are three banks of tubes in a "four drum" layout, but certain applications use variations designed with a different number of drums and banks.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: They are mainly used as stationary boilers, owing to their large size, although the large grate area does also encourage their ability to burn a wide range of fuels. Originally coal-fired in power stations, they also became widespread in industries that produced combustible waste and required process steam. Paper pulp mills could burn waste bark, sugar refineries their bagasse waste. It is a horizontal drum type of boiler.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: Named after its designers, the then Poplar-based Yarrow Shipbuilders, this type of three-drum boiler has three drums in a delta formation connected by watertubes. The drums are linked by straight watertubes, allowing easy tube-cleaning. This does, however, mean that the tubes enter the drums at varying angles, a more difficult joint to caulk. Outside the firebox, a pair of cold-leg pipes between each drum act as downcomers.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: Due to its three drums, the Yarrow boiler has a greater water capacity. Hence, this type is usually used in older marine boiler applications. Its compact size made it attractive for use in transportable power generation units during World War II. In order to make it transportable, the boiler and its auxiliary equipment (fuel oil heating, pumping units, fans etc.), turbines, and condensers were mounted on wagons to be transported by rail.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: The White-Forster type is similar to the Yarrow, but with tubes that are gradually curved. This makes their entry into the drums perpendicular, thus simpler to make a reliable seal.


title: Water-tube boiler

text: Designed by the shipbuilder John I. Thornycroft & Company, the Thornycroft type features a single steam drum with two sets of watertubes either side of the furnace. These tubes, especially the central set, have sharp curves. Apart from obvious difficulties in cleaning them, this may also give rise to bending forces as the tubes warm up, tending to pull them loose from the tubeplate and creating a leak. There are two furnaces, venting into a common exhaust, giving the boiler a wide base tapering profile.


title: Ilya Salmanzadeh

text: Ilya Salmanzadeh (; born 19 September 1986 in Stockholm), known mononymously as ILYA, is a Swedish-Persian songwriter, producer and singer. He rose to prominence outside of Sweden after co-writing and producing Ariana Grande's "Problem" and Jennifer Lopez's "First Love".


title: Ilya Salmanzadeh

text: In 2005 at the age of 19, Ilya signed with Warner/Chappell Music in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2009, he graduated from the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California. "Miss Me", Mohombi & Nelly's song in 2010, was Ilya's first internationally acclaimed production. In 2011, he produced "Mama" and "Reba" from The Lonely Island's Grammy-nominated album, "Turtleneck & Chain". In 2013, he produced Cher Lloyd's song, "I Wish", and Fifth Harmony's award-winning song, "Me & My Girls".


title: Ilya Salmanzadeh

text: Alongside Max Martin, he co-wrote and produced Ariana Grande's "Problem" and Jennifer Lopez's "First Love" in 2014. "Problem" went on to become one of the fastest-selling singles in iTunes history before winning a Teen Choice Award, VMA and EMA months later. In June 2014, Ilya was nominated for the Denniz Pop Awards, an annual prize handed out to up-and-coming musicians. "Bang Bang", co-produced by Ilya, was released as a joint single by Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj on 29 July 2014 to universal acclaim. In January 2015, Ellie Goulding's "Love Me Like You Do", co-written by Ilya, was released for the soundtrack album to the motion picture, "Fifty Shades of Grey", becoming the most-streamed song in a week on Spotify. In May 2015, he remixed Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" with Kendrick Lamar, which became his first No.1 on the "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: Ilya Salmanzadeh

text: He co-wrote and produced large parts of Ariana Grande's later albums "Sweetener" and "Thank U, Next". In 2019, Salmanzadeh co-wrote and produced Beyoncé's Grammy-nominated song "Spirit". He also worked on the production of Labrinth's singles "Miracle" and "Oblivion" (which features Sia), both taken from his sophomore solo album, "Imagination & the Misfit Kid".


title: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

text: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is a third-person shooter video game developed by Swordfish Studios and published by THQ for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It serves as the sequel to "", and was released in February 2009. The game centers around a fictional 50 Cent and G-Unit concert, set in an unspecified location in the Middle East. After the group's payment, a diamond-encrusted skull, is stolen, they must fight to retrieve it back from the thieves.


title: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

text: "Blood on the Sand" came out of a Covert-One cancelled project at Swordfish Studios, which was tweaked to be less serious. In 2008, Vivendi Games, the initial publisher, merged with Activision. That resulted in the company dropping support for the title, with an uncertain future regarding its release. As the game neared completion, Swordfish Studios leadership finalized a deal to transition themselves into Codemasters Birmingham under Codemasters. Shortly after, THQ took over the publishing rights for the game.


title: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

text: The game was positively received upon release, with praise directed at 50 Cent's involvement. Despite being noted as an improvement over Bulletproof, it was a commercial failure.


title: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

text: The game is set in an urban warzone in an unnamed Middle Eastern country, where 50 Cent and G-Unit have been hired to play a rap concert. After the concert, the promoter, Anwar, is unable to pay them the $10 million in cash he promised but relents after being threatened. However, instead of the cash they were promised, he gives them a diamond-and-pearl encrusted human skull as collateral. This is stolen by a paramilitary group led by the terrorist Said Kamal and his right hand woman Leila. 50 Cent (with the help of a selected G-Unit partner) decides to get it back at any cost and soon, they find out that there is a much bigger enemy than Kamal.


title: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

text: "Blood on the Sand" includes on-foot combat, as well as vehicle missions such as a driver-and-turret-gunner Humvee H2 road chase and a helicopter-borne minigun shootout. There are also boss battles against helicopters.


title: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

text: The game has a feature called the "Shop" (activated in the game by placing a call on payphones hidden on each level), where the characters can use cash to buy new weapons, upgrade their old weapons, and learn hand-to-hand combat moves called "Counter-Kills". Cash can be used to unlock Taunts (each rated by "Profanity", "Braggin'" and "Triple X" levels), which increase the points earned from kills.


title: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

text: Weapons are graded from 1 to 10 by capacity, damage rating, and accuracy, and also list possible weapon enhancements. Players can use a mode called "Gangsta Fire" (50 Cent's variation on the slo-mo "bullet-time" concept used in "Max Payne") to take on multiple opponents at once.


title: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

text: Each level has target enemies (five per level; each is just a high-value target, not a "Level Boss"), crates of gold bars (which are broken open to earn money), as well as collectibles like posters (5 per level). Kills grant points, which help the player to earn bronze, silver, and gold G-Unit Badges; these unlock better weapons, counter-kills, and taunts in the "Shop".


title: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

text: It also features more music tracks than the first game (40+ tracks in all); 50 Cent made 18 exclusive tracks just for the game. Swizz Beatz, Lab Ox and The Individuals made the original score for the game. There are also unlockable songs and videos.


title: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

text: Around 2007, Swordfish Studios was looking to publish a video game based on novel series Covert-One, to coincide with a TV show's release. However, the series got cancelled, and so was the game at the same time. After that, Vivendi Games offered the studio to develop a sequel based on "". While certain parts of the Covert-One project got repurposed during its development (like cover system), Blood on the Sand was being made with a lighter tone in mind. The animations were done from scratch to have a more "rap" feeling to it. 50 Cent and G-Unit occasionally visited the developers to offer some feedback. Every few months, Vivendi would show them a presentation of the game, named as "big release" builds. One of the late additions were the helicopters, due to 50 Cent's son asking for them during the build's playthrough.


title: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

text: The game was officially announced by Vivendi Games subsidiary Sierra Entertainment on March 27, 2008, with no release window announced. Vivendi Games Mobile announced a mobile game based on the title as well, under the same name.


title: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

text: Development of the game went into limbo when Vivendi Games' merger with Activision to form Activision Blizzard was finalized. On July 28, 2008, Activision Blizzard announced that only five Sierra titles would be published through Activision, and "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand" was not one of them. Eventually, THQ announced they had purchased the publishing rights to the game from Activision on October 13, 2008.


title: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

text: Unlike "Bulletproof", which received generally mixed reviews, "Blood on the Sand" was better received by video game critics, scoring a 7 out of 10 on GameSpot and a 4/5 on "X-Play". Jeff Gerstmann of Giant Bomb said the story was "mostly nonsense, with a lot of half-assed dialogue that's usually delivered by people who sound like they have a plane to catch". IGN praised the solid gunplay and strong co-op though they noted that the repetitive nature of the gameplay meant that it did not have great lasting appeal. Chris Watters of GameSpot said "it works surprisingly well. This isn't the best action game you'll play this year, but that doesn't mean you won't have a damn fun time playing it." Garnett Lee of 1Up.com gave the game a C, and agreed with Watter's assessment, saying "Blood in the Sand takes its missteps in stride. The game doesn't takes itself too seriously and if you try to, it completely unravels."


title: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

text: In Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe, Brooker gave the game a negative review, quoting the game and saying Where'd she go? That bitch who took my skull?', that's the entire storyline", and later stated that "there are plenty of atrocious cutscenes detailing a story that's impossible to care about, during which 50 Cent scowls a lot and generally behaves like a prick."


title: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

text: The game was not a commercial success. As of early April 2009, "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand" sold an estimated 56,000 copies in the United States, not enough to make another installment for the series. The game was not released in Germany, likely due to fears that it would be indexed by the Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons.


title: A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits

text: A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits is a 2016 American teen comedy musical film directed by Michelle Johnston (in her directorial debut) and starring Sofia Carson, Thomas Law and Jennifer Tilly. It is the fourth installment in the "A Cinderella Story" series. The film was released digitally on August 2, 2016, and on DVD on August 16, 2016. It premiered on Freeform on November 27, 2016 with 1.11 million viewers tuning in. It also aired on Disney Channel on January 16, 2017 and was watched by 2.13 million viewers.


title: A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits

text: Tessa is a mechanic, who has been left in the care of her evil stepmother, Divine, and stepsisters, Athena and Olympia, following her father's death. Tessa accompanies her stepsisters as their assistant to a competitive audition for a Cinderella musical being held in a luxurious hotel. On first day of the auditions, the director, Freddie Marks, introduces the leading male star of the musical, Reed West, with whom Tessa immediately becomes smitten. Freddie adds that auditions will be open to all and whoever is cast in the lead female role will be signed to a recording contract on the final day of the show. Tessa befriends Georgie, a make-up artist for the show, and helps two stage hands fix up a motorcycle that will be used in the show. Reed comes across her work and mistakes Tessa for a man.


title: A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits

text: During lunch, Tessa witnesses the hotel staff members performing and when encouraged to show off her own skills, she realizes she wants to audition for the show. However, Tessa's stepfamily forbids her to audition so Georgie offers to help. Georgie gives Tessa a full-makeover and she assumes a fake identity for the audition. Tessa's audition goes well, and she impresses both Reed and Freddie with her singing. During the dance audition, Tessa's stepfamily barges into the theater to try to catch who the mysterious new competitor is. Tessa manages to escape, but leaves her dance shoe behind. She tells Georgie that while she wants to do the show, she is too afraid to go against her stepfamily.


title: A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits

text: The next day, Reed announces that he has found his "Cinderella." He holds up the dance shoe that Tessa left behind and announces that whoever can turn in the matching shoe by midnight will win the part. Divine demands that Tessa recreate a copy of the shoe so either one of her daughters can win the part. Tessa is then summoned back to the stage to help the stage crew fix the motorbike and she runs into Reed. The two bond and she confides in him about the death of her father. Reed encourages Tessa to follow her dreams, but the romantic moment is interrupted when Reed gets a call from Harper Halston, his female co-star.


title: A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits

text: Nearing midnight, Tessa ponders what to do if her father was alive, then goes to Reed and Freddie to turn in her other dance shoe. She is given the lead role and she assumes the stage name "Bella Snow." Tessa makes excuses to her stepfamily why she is suddenly so busy and secretly attends rehearsals in her "Bella Snow" disguise. Tessa's romantic attraction to Reed increases as they work together, but Freddie tells Tessa that Reed is already engaged to Harper. Disappointed, Tessa begins distancing herself from Reed for the rest of rehearsals, much to his confusion. Athena and Olympia overhear Tessa complaining to Georgie about the stresses of her dual identities and discover her secret.


title: A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits

text: On the day of the musical's premiere, Athena and Olympia send a note to Tessa, pretending to be from Georgie asking Tessa to meet her in a closed-off section of the hotel. They lock her in a room and head to the stage in an attempt to take the lead role for themselves. Reed tries to ask Georgie about "Bella" and Georgie tells Reed not to lead "Bella" romantically and Freddie told her about his engagement. Meanwhile, Tessa escapes the room via the air vent and rushes to the stage in time for the musical performance.


title: A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits

text: As the musical begins, chaos erupts due to Tessa's stepfamily trying to take the lead role for themselves. Reed uses an opportunity to go offstage and confront Freddie about meddling in his love life. As they argue, Tessa arrives in time to overhear Reed announce that he and Harper aren't engaged and they're just friends, and he has fallen in love with someone else. Tessa finally appears onstage but without her "Bella" disguise, thus revealing her true identity to everyone, including Reed. Reed apologizes to her for the misunderstanding and convinces her to finish the performance with him. Tessa accepts and with the show back on track, it is well received by the audience. Freddie apologizes to Reed for his actions, and he is forgiven. Tessa receives her record contract and Divine attempts to convince Tessa to rejoin the family, but Tessa rebuffs her. The film ends with Reed and Tessa riding off together into the sunset on the motorcycle she fixed.


title: A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits

text: A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits is a soundtrack album by the film of the same name, released on August 2, 2016 by WaterTower Music (The same day as the film's release).


title: Vaanam

text: Vaanam () is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Krish. It is the remake of his own Telugu film "Vedam" (2010) starring Allu Arjun, Manchu Manoj and Anushka Shetty. It features an ensemble cast of Silambarasan, Bharath, Anushka Shetty, Prakash Raj, Saranya, Sonia Agarwal, and Santhanam. The score and soundtrack were composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, while cinematography and editing were handled by Nirav Shah and Anthony Gonsalves, respectively. The film, jointly produced by VTV Ganesh and R. Ganesh under VTV Productions and Magic Box Pictures, respectively was distributed by Dayanidhi Azhagiri's Cloud Nine Movies.


title: Vaanam

text: "Vaanam" is a hyperlink cinema film, with the story revolving around the lives of five individuals from different walks of life, representing the five natural elements — aether, air, water, fire, and earth—and illustrates how their fates intertwine on New Year's Eve at a hospital in Chennai. The film was released on 29 April 2011, opening to universal critical acclaim and had a 100 days run at the box-office.


title: Vaanam

text: Thillai "Cable" Raja is a cable operator born and raised in a slum area in Chennai. He bemoans his poverty and wishes to become rich by marrying his girlfriend Priya. He cons her into believing he is well off and adopts a well-bred persona in front of her. Raja is always accompanied by his best friend Seenu and guided by Bhajan singer Ganesh. When he is asked by Priya to buy high-priced passes to a New Year's Eve gala, he finds himself severely short of money. After a failed attempt at chain snatching and crossing paths with the police, he heads to a hospital with theft on his mind.


title: Vaanam

text: Bharath Chakravarthy is an aspiring rockstar from Bangalore who is irresponsible but well-meaning. His mother disapproves of his dreams and wishes him to become an Army officer, which he opposes. When his band misses their flight to a live concert because of him, he takes them to Chennai via road. En route, Bharath and his girlfriend Laasya are attacked by religious fanatics, but are aided by strangers, which causes him to reflect on life. They finally arrive in Chennai, but their vehicle collides with an auto rickshaw carrying a pregnant woman. Sacrificing their concert, Bharath and Laasya rush her to the hospital.


title: Vaanam

text: Saroja is a prostitute working at Rani Amma's brothel at the Tamil Nadu-Andhra border. When she discovers that her life is constantly in danger while working there, she escapes to Chennai with her sister Karpooram, a eunuch, in hopes of starting her own business venture. On arrival, she is hounded by thugs and policemen, ultimately being led into a trap. In an ensuing fight, Karpooram is mortally wounded. Desperate, Saroja carries her to the hospital.


title: Vaanam

text: Rahimuddin Qureshi and his wife Zara had lost their unborn twins in a communal riot in Coimbatore. When Zara becomes pregnant again a few months later, Rahim heads to Chennai to locate his younger brother, who had run away following the riots. There, he comes into repeated conflict with anti-Muslim officer Shivaram, who suspects him of being a terrorist. Despite his claims of innocence, Rahim is brutally assaulted by Shivaram and is admitted in the hospital under close watch.


title: Vaanam

text: Lakshmi is the daughter-in-law of a poor weaver in Thoothukudi. When the weaver is unable to pay back a loan to a cruel moneylender Narasimman, the latter kidnaps Lakshmi's young son, a bright student, and refuses to release him until his debt is cleared. Lakshmi arrives in Chennai with her father-in-law, hoping to sell her kidney to obtain the money. After initial hassles, she undergoes the operation and receives the money, although it is still insufficient. At that point, Raja enters and steals the cash from her, ignoring her pleas. In a state of despair, Lakshmi and her father-in-law attempt suicide.


title: Vaanam

text: Struck by his conscience, Raja is unable to continue his plan. He admits the truth to Priya and returns the money, even adding in some of his own money to give up, thus gaining Lakshmi's forgiveness. Meanwhile, Rahim discovers that terrorist leader Mansoor Khan and his gang are planning to kill all the people at the hospital. Rahim tries to escape, but on seeing Bharath wheeling in a pregnant woman, he is reminded of his wife and offers to help them. The terrorist strike begins, and several people are shot dead. Raja, Bharath, Rahim, and Saroja lead a small bunch of survivors to an abandoned room.


title: Vaanam

text: Raja and Bharath fight and kill a terrorist one-on-one, with Bharath sustaining multiple bullet wounds to his shoulder in order to save Saroja. Rahim saves Shivaram from a shooter and comes face to face with his brother, who is part of the terrorist gang. When confronted, Rahim's brother shoots himself. Just then, Khan reveals himself to be a suicide bomber, and primes to explode. Raja sacrifices himself by pulling Khan and falling out of the window, followed by the explosion.


title: Vaanam

text: In the aftermath, Bharath has lost one of his hands but is alive; he is hailed as a national hero. Saroja and Karpooram head toward a new decent life, hoping to find redemption. Lakshmi and her father-in-law manage to pay off Narasimman and give her son a proper education. Shivaram apologizes to Rahim and asks for forgiveness, which he grants and accepts him as a brother. Raja is mourned by the people in his community and Priya, while Ganesh and Seenu hail him as a martyr.


title: Vaanam

text: After Tamil producer R. B. Choudary had bought the rights of "Vedam" for a "hefty amount" to remake it in Tamil, his younger son Jeeva was initially supposed to play the role enacted by Allu Arjun in the original film, while either Namitha or Anushka Shetty were reported to essay the lead female role of Saroja. However, to the surprise of all, Silambarasan secured the lead role, who had seen the original version and was immediately impressed by the "Cable" Raju character, and started shooting for the film from early July, while he was expected to work on "Podaa Podi" during that period. By accepting this film, Silambarasan was said to have lost the project with N. Linguswamy and Dayanidhi Azhagiri, who were unhappy about Silambarasan starting to shoot for this film without informing them and further delaying their film.


title: Vaanam

text: Meanwhile, Anushka was reported to have denied the offer, following which Taapsee Pannu, who was the female lead in Vetrimaran's "Aadukalam", was considered for the prostitute character, Saroja. During the launch of the film then, sources claimed that Anushka, following her refusal, had been hired by the producers for an item number only, which was specially included for the Tamil version and didn't feature in the original, for which she was supposedly paid an "exorbitant price". However, Anushka dismissed all these reports and eventually confirmed that she would reprise her role from the original, citing that "at no point did I refuse to be a part of this project". Some of her scenes from "Vedam" were dubbed and used in this film. Mohan Babu's son Manoj Manchu was also supposed to reprise his original character and enact the rockstar role in "Vaanam", but was forced to opt out, following an accident during the shoot of his Telugu film "Jhummandi Naadam" and had to undergo an operation. He was replaced by Bharath, who was approached by Silambarasan himself for the role and immediately agreed as he loved "Vedam".


title: Vaanam

text: For the character played by Deeksha Seth in the original, Sneha Ullal was initially hired. She was to make her Tamil debut with this film and play Silambarasan's love interest. Vega Tamotia was hired to essay a rock musician, played originally by Lekha Washington, being paired to Bharath, while producer Ganesh would appear in a cameo role, too. In September 2010, Sonia Agarwal was also signed up for a pivotal role, returning to acting after four years, replacing Siya Gautham as Zara, the wife of Prakash Raj's character, which she was initially supposed to play in the original version itself, but eventually missed due to personal problems. Compared to the original, however, she cited that she would have more scenes and one "extra song". Prakash Raj himself, would play a Muslim, enacting Manoj Bajpai's role from the original. Noted Telugu actor Ravi Prakash was hired to play the same role he did in the original version, making his Tamil film debut. However, there was a turn of events in early 2011, as Sneha Ullal, who had already shot for significant portions, was replaced by Delhi-based model Jasmin Bhasin. Jasmin, who completed her portions in 15 days and also dubbed for herself, had initially auditioned for the rock musician role of Vega Tamotia. Furthermore, scenes shot with Jagan were removed from the project, and then filmed with Santhanam after Jagan had fallen out with Silambarasan.


title: Vaanam

text: While Krish worked with composer M. M. Keeravani for the score and soundtrack of the original film, Yuvan Shankar Raja was approached and assigned as the music director of "Vaanam" to produce original songs and score, owing to his friendship with lead actor Silambarasan, who recommended him. In a novel attempt, the song "Evan Di Unna Pethan" was separately released as a single track to promote and popularise the film. The track was initially planned to be launched in London, but after several complications and delays, it was officially unveiled on 1 December 2010, at the Citi Center, Chennai, four months ahead of the actual audio launch.


title: Vaanam

text: While the original soundtrack consisted of eight tracks, the "Vaanam" soundtrack featured only five tracks, including the earlier released single. The entire soundtrack album was finally launched on 30 March 2011 at the Residency Towers in Chennai in a simple manner. Na. Muthukumar had penned lyrics for three songs, while the other two songs ("Evan Di Unna Pethan" and "Cable Raja") were penned by the singers themselves. Film composer Srikanth Deva had lent his voice for the fifth song, collaborating with Yuvan Shankar for the first time, as did the composer-duo Abhishek-Lawrence.


title: Vaanam

text: The soundtrack received positive reviews from music critics. Richard Mahesh from "Behindwoods.com" gave a 3/5 rating and said "'Vaanam' can be regarded as one of the Yuvan’s better composition and it is sure to make high waves now. While 'Evandi Unna Pethan', 'Vaanam' and 'Who Am I' touches the surpassing degrees on different styles, 'Cable Raja only if he can' and 'No Money' caters to the tastes of mass audiences." Kollywoodz said "On the whole, 'Vaanam' has a power-packed performance by Yuvan Shankar Raja. Sony BMG fetches one more feather to its cap following the huge success of 'Engeyum Kadhal' and 'Ko'." Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff gave a 2.5/5 rating and said "Like some of Yuvan's most recent albums, Vaanam too, scores in some areas: the number Vaanam and Who am I. The rest fall into the Yuvan template, while the appeal of Evandi Unnai Pethan is almost purely its in-your-face lyrics. For those who hoped for melodious numbers, this one might prove a dampener." Indiaglitz said "The audio album of Vaanam strikes an instant appeal. While all the songs are beautiful in their own right, Evandi Unna Pethan and No Money are picks of the lot, as both come with that special touch."


title: Vaanam

text: "Vaanam" was initially slated to release on 11 February 2011, to coincide with the Valentines Day weekend. However the release of the film was pushed to April 2011; Since the 2011 Cricket World Cup which held on India, will end on 2 April 2011, the makers fixed the release date of the film as the same date, which coincides the Yugadi weekend. The release of the film was further pushed to 29 April 2011.


title: Vaanam

text: The film collected 90 lakhs at the Chennai box office in its first weekend, notably without much publicity. The film recovered its production cost and publicity in its first week itself by share. At the end of its seventh week, the film had collected 4.5 crore in Chennai alone and was declared a success. The film crossed 10 weeks in Chennai.


title: Vaanam

text: "Vaanam" garnered positive response. "Behindwoods.com" rated it as three and a half out of five, citing that the film was "succulent with diverse complex human emotions from deceit to greed to rage to remorse. The film has a plot that can find patrons among wider variety of audience as the theme of humanity is much a catholic one that transcends barriers", going to describe the film as an "intelligent fare with substance". Rediff's Pavithra Srinivasan rated it as three out of five and stated that "Vaanam" was "engaging", further adding that "if you ignore the minor lapses, you've got a reasonably engaging story, and a moving climax." Sify.com's critic felt the film was "very good", citing that the "this short story genre [...] manages to work well for the new age audience. Almost all the stories are deftly told, with the mandatory twist in the climax which keeps you riveted". The reviewer further praised the director and his team as they "push the cinematic envelope and bring savvy freshness to Tamil cinema". A reviewer from Indiaglitz.com wrote that "Vaanam" was a "novel attempt in Tamil cinema and Krish pulls it off well thanks to a beautifully conceived script and well-written characters", comparing the film to "reading a set of interesting short stories". A Oneindia critic claimed that "the first half was entertaining and the second half makes the audience to sit on the edge of their seats", while pointing out that "the common and mass audiences could not understand the story because of its clumsy nature". Krish was labelled as the "real hero" of the film and was lauded for "writing a ripping story, excellent screenplay and brilliant direction".


title: Vaanam

text: Malathi Rangarajan from The Hindu said "Pithy, poignant, funny and serious as the situation warrants, dialogue (Gnanagiri) is a highpoint of Vaanam. Climax is another. Krish seems to have cut and pasted a few scenes from the Telugu original – they give a dubbed-film feel to Vaanam. Coming after the stupendous hit, VTV, Vaanam should be another significant film in STR's career."


title: Vaanam

text: In contrast, Rohit Ramachandran of nowrunning.com gave the film one out of five, stating that "Vaanam is an unrealistic film about uninteresting people that deadlocks into blandness." National Film Award winning critic Baradwaj Rangan wrote that his "glass-half-full side wants to deliver a smallish pat on "Vaanam"'s back and label it [...] a "praiseworthy attempt", especially within mainstream parameters", while the "glass-half-empty side" was "still shaking angry fists at what could have and should have been a milestone", criticising that "half the story strands are simply not interesting enough".


title: Vaanam

text: Silambarasan received the ITFA Best Actor Award for his performance in "Vaanam". Anushka Shetty was nominated for ITFA Best Actress Award and Edison Award for Best Actress. Santhanam received the Chennai Times Awards and SIIMA Awards for "Best Actor in a Comic Role" and "Best Comedian" respectively.


title: Vaanam

text: In August 2011, actor Bharath alleged that he did not receive much attention for being in the film and stated that he was completely "boycotted" during the film's promotions. He added that he was given favourable publicity during his first multi-starrer "Pattiyal" (2006), and that "Vaanam" gave importance only to "one particular actor" – its main lead Silambarasan. In response to this, Silambarasan said that he did not "have any say in promotions", which he claimed was the producer's decision, and added, "Though "Mankatha" is a multi-starrer, it is and it will be publicized as an Ajith film. Likewise, though popular actors like Jiiva and Srikanth are there in "Nanban", it will be promoted as a Vijay starrer".


title: Vaanam

text: The song "Evan Di Unna Pethan" faced severe opposition for its provocative lyrics by Silambarasan. A women's rights organisation in Chennai criticised the lyrics and issued a statement to Silambarasan for the lyrics being "chauvinistic" that "demean women". Further it was argued that "music needs to appeal to larger sections than to the 'thrill-seeking' youth who are often misguided into 'cheap thrills' because of such songs", demanding censorship. However, several prominent people from the film industry came to support stating that there have been more objectionable scenes in films in the past and that there were "bigger issues in society" and applying censorship was not "the ideal way out in democracy."


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: Thomas Charles O'Halleran (; born January 24, 1946) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2017. Beginning his political career as a Republican, he was the Arizona state senator from the 1st district from 2007 to 2009. In 2015, he became a member of the Democratic Party. He also serves as the chair of communications for the Blue Dog Coalition.


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: O'Halleran was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, and graduated from Providence St. Mel School. He attended Lewis University for one year before joining the Chicago Police Department. O'Halleran later attended DePaul University for one year.


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: O'Halleran served with the Chicago Police Department from 1966 to 1975. He then became a member of the Chicago Board of Trade, operating his own futures trading business with a focus in futures contracts on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes.


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: O'Halleran, then a Republican, served in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2001 to 2007. He then served in the Arizona State Senate, representing the 1st district from 2007 to 2009. In a 2008 primary election, he was unseated by Steve Pierce.


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: In 2014 he left the Republican Party, citing its policies on education, water, and child welfare. He then ran for the 6th district seat of the State Senate as an independent, losing by 3%.


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: On August 6, 2015, O'Halleran announced his candidacy as a Democrat for Arizona's 1st congressional district.


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: He explained his switch of party affiliation as a result of his positive attitude toward government, and, in particular, of his support for government regulations that would increase the use of wind and solar energy.


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: In May 2016, O'Halleran was named to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Red to Blue list, indicating that his race was a priority for the group.


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: On August 30, 2016, O'Halleran beat Miguel Olivas in the Democratic primary. He defeated Republican Paul Babeu and Green Party candidate Ray Parrish in the general election with 51% of the vote.


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: O'Halleran ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. In the general election, he defeated Republican Wendy Rogers with 54% of the vote.


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: In the 2021 decennial redistricting, O'Halleran's district was reshaped and renumbered as the 2nd congressional district and he ran for reelection there against Republican Eli Crane. The new district was made significantly more Republican than its predecessor, as it gained heavily Republican Prescott. O'Halleran lost to Crane in the general election, winning only in the district's most Democratic counties, Coconino and Apache.


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: O'Halleran was at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, to certify the results of the 2020 United States presidential election when the Capitol was stormed. He was moved to a safe location along with other members of Congress. He voted in support of a resolution calling for Vice President Mike Pence to use the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution to remove Trump from office. Days later, he voted for the second impeachment of Donald Trump.


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: As of November 2022, O'Halleran had voted in line with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time. He is a chair of the Blue Dog Coalition.


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: O'Halleran describes himself as pro-choice but has a mixed record on abortion issues. In the Arizona state senate, he voted in favor of a ban on abortion after 20 weeks. O'Halleran opposed the 2022 overturning of "Roe v. Wade", calling it "a mammoth setback for women, families and our nation."


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: According to On the Issues, in 2008 O'Halleran introduced HB 2613, an act that would give businesses using renewable energy property tax incentives.


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: According to On the Issues, in 2017 O'Halleran endorsed a two-state solution despite Israeli settlements on the West Bank.


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: In March 2018, O'Halleran criticized the Trump administration for seeking to cut funding for agencies and programs including the Economic Development Administration.


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: After the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, O'Halleran, who had long supported expanded background checks but opposed an assault-weapon ban, suggested he might shift toward a stronger position on gun control. He said: "At times you have to look at yourself in the mirror and do the right thing and say forget about the political consequences."


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: When Trump ordered a travel ban on visitors and refugees from seven predominantly Muslim nations in January 2017, O'Halleran said that the order "does not represent our nation's values" and that it violated the Constitution and "the bedrock ideals of our democracy".


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: In April 2017, O'Halleran criticized Attorney General Jeff Sessions's tougher new guidelines on expelling illegal immigrants who belong to criminal gangs. He said: "I have no problem with getting the felons out of the country. But some of these people that they're taking out of the country, they have children that are Americans, and they have not had a violent felony conviction. Here we are, taking mothers away from their children."


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: O'Halleran was part of a group of Arizona Democrats who, in an August 2017 letter to Trump, urged him not to pardon former Maricopa County chief Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who had been convicted in a federal court of racially profiling Latinos as part of border patrols.


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: In 2021, O'Halleran was among a group of Democrats who sought to remove a provision from a police reform bill that would end qualified immunity for police officers accused of misconduct.


title: Tom O'Halleran

text: O'Halleran and his wife Pat live in unincorporated Yavapai County (with a Sedona address). They have three grown children and four grandchildren.


title: The Voice Kids (British TV series)

text: The Voice Kids is a British singing competition television series. Created by John de Mol, it premiered on ITV during the summer television cycle on 10 June 2017. Based on the original "The Voice of Holland", and part of "The Voice " franchise, it has aired five series and aims to feature young aspiring singers aged 7 to 14. The winners receive a monetary prize and a family trip, courtesy of Norwegian Airlines. Winners of the five series have been: Jess Folley, Daniel Davies, Sam Wilkinson, Justine Afante, and Torrin Cuthill.


title: The Voice Kids (British TV series)

text: The series employs a panel of four coaches who critique the artists' performances and guide their teams of selected artists through the remainder of the series. They also compete to ensure that their act wins the competition, thus making them the winning coach. The original panel featured will.i.am, Danny Jones, and Pixie Lott; the panel for the sixth series will feature will.i.am, Jones, Lott and Ronan Keating. Other coaches from previous series include Jessie J, Paloma Faith, and Melanie C. In August 2022 it was announced that "The Voice UK" and "The Voice Kids" will return in 2023 on ITV.


title: The Voice Kids (British TV series)

text: The sixth series will commence on 26 December 2022. It will feature 3 episodes, following the same format as the previous season.


title: The Voice Kids (British TV series)

text: In early 2016, along with the announcement that "The Voice UK" would move to ITV under a three-year deal, it was announced that the network had ordered "The Voice Kids", a junior spinoff featuring younger aspiring singers, for two series. After attaining high ratings, it was announced that the network had renewed "The Voice Kids" for three series. In 2021, the battles & the semi-final were axed.


title: The Voice Kids (British TV series)

text: The open auditions application for the first series closed on 2 September 2016, with the age limit being 7–14 years old. The show began staging producers' audition days in August 2016 across the United Kingdom, with the blind auditions beginning filming in December 2016. For season 5, filming began in February 2021.


title: The Voice Kids (British TV series)

text: In the first series, the winner received £30,000 and a family trip to Disneyland Paris. Unlike the adult version, there are no knockouts rounds. When it was previously reported that the adult version's sixth series would feature five live shows (which turned out to be the usual three), reports claimed that there would be three live shows; however, there was only one, the live final. In 2021, the battles were axed. The semi-final was pre-recorded at LH2 Studios on 19 February 2017.


title: The Voice Kids (British TV series)

text: In the third series, the winner received £30,000 and the four finalists received a trip to Walt Disney World, Florida on Norwegian Airlines. In the fourth series, the winner received the same £30K prize, and a family trip to Universal Orlando Resort, Florida, also via Norwegian Airlines.


title: The Voice Kids (British TV series)

text: On 15 November 2016, it was announced Pixie Lott and Danny Jones from McFly would be coaches along with will.i.am. Of this announcement, Pixie Lott commented, "I can’t wait to join The Voice Kids and help discover the next big star. I have such a passion for talented young people and I know the UK will have lots – I can’t wait to hear them! I’m looking forward to getting started and working along the sides of my fellow coaches will.i.am and Danny Jones." Jones stated, "I'm pumped about joining The Voice Kids team. There are so many talented kids out there, they just need to be heard and this is a great platform for them. I’m looking forward to finding some fresh talent and coaching them. You never know, there might be a mini McFly out there!" and will.i.am said, "Doing The Voice Kids with Pixie and Danny is going to be dope and I'm really excited to discover just how talented British kids can be."


title: The Voice Kids (British TV series)

text: In December 2018, it was announced that Jessie J would join will.i.am, Jones, and Lott for the third series. Jessie J opted that she would not return to the show's 4th series. In November 2019, it was announced that Paloma Faith would replace Jessie J for the show's fourth season, alongside will.i.am, Lott and Jones. In August 2020, ITV confirmed that series 5 would air in 2021. On 7 February 2021 it was announced that Melanie C would replace Paloma Faith in series 5. In January 2022, it was announced that Ronan Keating will replace Melanie C in series 6.


title: The Voice Kids (British TV series)

text: After the announcement that she would be staying with the adult show, Emma Willis announced in July 2016 that she would be presenting "The Voice Kids", which boosted the show's popularity. Of this announcement, Willis commented, "Hosting The Voice Kids will be like being at my house on a Saturday night; lots of kids singing, with me trying to keep some kind of order. Thankfully, the musical genius that is will.i.am is there to bring some expertise to the table. It’s going to be pretty awesome."


title: Parken Stadium

text: Parken Stadium, also known simply as Parken and as Telia Parken (2014–2020), is a football stadium in the Indre Østerbro ("Inner Østerbro") district of Copenhagen, Denmark, built from 1990 to 1992. The stadium, which features a retractable roof, currently has a capacity of 38,065 for football games, and is the home of FC Copenhagen and the Denmark national football team. The capacity for concerts exceeds the capacity for matches – the stadium can hold as many as 50,000 people with an end-stage setup and 55,000 with a centre-stage setup.


title: Parken Stadium

text: Parken was announced as one of 12 host venues of the UEFA Euro 2020 and it hosted three group stage matches, as well as a round of 16 match.


title: Parken Stadium

text: Parken was built on the site of former Denmark national stadium, Idrætsparken, from 1990 to 1992. The last national team match in Idrætsparken was a 0–2 Euro 1992 qualification loss to Yugoslavia on 14 November 1990, and on 9 September 1992, Parken was opened with a 1–2 defeat in a friendly game against Germany.


title: Parken Stadium

text: The stadium was rebuilt by investors Baltica Finans A/S in turn of the guarantee from the Danish Football Association, that all national matches would be played at Parken for 15 years. The re-construction, tore down and re-built three of the original four stands, cost 640 million Danish kroner.


title: Parken Stadium

text: In 1998, Baltica Finans sold the stadium to F.C. Copenhagen for 138 million DKK, and the club now owns both the stadium and the adjacent office buildings in the company of Parken Sport & Entertainment.


title: Parken Stadium

text: Parken was included in UEFA's list of 4-star stadiums in the autumn of 1993, making Parken eligible for hosting the finals of the Europa League (then named UEFA Cup) as well as the now defunct Cup Winners' Cup. Being a 4-star stadium, Parken can not apply for the biggest European club game, the UEFA Champions League final, as that demands 50,000 seats.


title: Parken Stadium

text: On 1 May 2014 a new stadium covering Wi-Fi solution, powered by Telia was published. The deal provides free high speed Wi-Fi for all spectators at any event at the stadium. The agreement includes a 7 year long naming sponsorship, and on 17 July 2014, the stadium name was changed to Telia Parken.


title: Parken Stadium

text: On 26 August 2020, it was announced that the stadiums name would be reverted to the original name, Parken, five days later on 31 August.


title: Parken Stadium

text: Parken is one of the stadiums that hosted matches for the UEFA Euro 2020. Three Group B matches and a Round of 16 were played there.


title: Parken Stadium

text: Also used as a concert venue, Parken hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2001. As a direct consequence of this, and to make Parken a more useful venue in general, a retractable roof was applied to the existing structure in 2000 and 2001.


title: Parken Stadium

text: Musicians such as AC/DC, Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, The Black Eyed Peas, Bon Jovi, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Coldplay, Depeche Mode, Celine Dion, Guns N' Roses, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Jay-Z, Elton John, Kashmir, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Metallica, Mew, George Michael, Muse, One Direction, Pet Shop Boys, Pharrell, Pink, Pink Floyd, Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., The Rolling Stones, Britney Spears, Bruce Springsteen, Take That, Tiësto, Tina Turner, U2, Roger Waters, and Robbie Williams have performed at Parken. In 2017, Volbeat became the first Danish band to sell out the venue; their "Let's Boogie" DVD is of this concert.


title: Parken Stadium

text: The biggest concert ever held in Parken was a performance by Michael Jackson on 14 August 1997, during his "HIStory" tour, with 60,000 tickets sold; a second show was held on the 29th, in which Jackson was thrown a surprise birthday party after the performance of "You Are Not Alone".


title: Kitty Wells

text: Ellen Muriel Deason (August 30, 1919 – July 16, 2012), known professionally as Kitty Wells, was an American pioneering female country music singer. She broke down a barrier to women in country music with her 1952 hit recording "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", which also made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts and turned her into the first female country superstar. “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” would also be her first of several pop crossover hits. Wells is the only artist to be awarded top female vocalist awards for 14 consecutive years. Her chart-topping hits continued until the mid 1960s, paving the way for and inspiring a long list of female country singers who came to prominence in the 1960s.


title: Kitty Wells

text: Wells ranks as the sixth most successful female vocalist in the history of the "Billboard" country charts, according to historian Joel Whitburn's book "The Top 40 Country Hits". In 1976, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 1991, Wells became the third country music artist, after Roy Acuff and Hank Williams, and the eighth woman to receive the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Wells' success and influence on country music garnered her the title "Queen of Country Music".


title: Kitty Wells

text: Wells was born Ellen Muriel Deason on August 30, 1919, one of six siblings, to Charles Cary Deason and his wife, Myrtle, in Nashville, Tennessee. (She is one of the few well known country performers to have been born in Nashville.) Wells began singing as a child, learning guitar from her father, who was a brakeman on the Tennessee Central Railroad. Her father, Charles, and his brother were musicians, and her mother, Myrtle, was a gospel singer. As a teenager, Wells sang with her sisters, who performed under the name the Deason Sisters, on a local radio station beginning in 1936.


title: Kitty Wells

text: At the age of 18 Wells married Johnnie Wright, a cabinetmaker who aspired to country music stardom (which he would eventually achieve as half of the duo Johnnie & Jack).


title: Kitty Wells

text: Wells sang with Wright and his sister Louise Wright; the three toured as Johnnie Right and the Harmony Girls. Soon, Wright met Jack Anglin (who married Johnnie's sister Louise), and they became the duo Johnnie & Jack. Their band became known first as the Tennessee Hillbillies and then the Tennessee Mountain Boys. At this time, Wells adopted "Kitty Wells" as her stage name. Johnnie Wright chose the name from a folk song called "Sweet Kitty Wells". Wells toured with the pair, occasionally performing backup vocals. Before Wells' rise to stardom with "Honky Tonk Angels", Roy Acuff and the Smoky Mountain Boys toured with Wright and Wells for a time. Acuff advised Wright not to make his wife his show's headliner because he thought women could not sell country music records.


title: Kitty Wells

text: On "Louisiana Hayride", Wells performed with her husband's duo. Wells, however, did not sing on their records until signing with RCA Victor in 1949, releasing some of her first singles, including "Death At The Bar" and "Don't Wait For The Last Minute To Pray", neither of which charted. While these early records gained some notice, promoters still were not keen on promoting female singers, so Wells was dropped from the label in 1950.


title: Kitty Wells

text: In 1952, Paul Cohen, an executive at Decca Records, approached Wells to record "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels". Wells was disenchanted with her career prospects and was considering retirement, but agreed to the session (at Owen Bradley's studio on May 3, 1952) because of the $125 union scale recording payment. "I wasn't expecting to make a hit," said Wells later. "I just thought it was another song."


title: Kitty Wells

text: "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" was an answer song to Hank Thompson's "The Wild Side of Life" and its lyrical treatment of seductive, wayward women. Wells' single retorted, "It's a shame that all the blame is on us women."


title: Kitty Wells

text: The record's message was controversial at the time and was banned by many radio stations. NBC, in particular, was troubled by the lyric, "It brings back memories of when I was a trustful wife". Wells' slight alteration of "trustful" to "trusting" lifted the network ban on the song. It was temporarily banned from the Grand Ole Opry. Nevertheless, audiences were greatly enamored of the song. The single took off during the summer of 1952, and sold more than 800,000 copies in its initial release. It was the first single by a female singer to peak at number one in the eight-year history of the country music chart, where it remained for six weeks. (Certain female country songs, notably Patsy Montana's million-selling "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart", antedate the creation of "Billboard"s country chart in 1944.) "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" also crossed over to "Billboard's" pop charts, hitting number 27. Thanks to her breakthrough, Wells received a membership to the Grand Ole Opry, which had originally banned the single.


title: Kitty Wells

text: Writer Bill Friskics-Warren has argued that part of the song's appeal came from its combination of a modern message with a familiar tune, a melody drawn from the Carter Family's "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes" (as were "The Wild Side of Life" and Roy Acuff's "The Great Speckled Bird"). Practically anyone could hum along with "Angels" the first time they heard it.


title: Kitty Wells

text: "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" was followed by "Paying For That Back Street Affair", a response to Webb Pierce's "Back Street Affair". The single reached number six in the spring of 1953, helping to establish a lasting place at the top of the charts for Wells. Between 1953 and 1955, Wells was popular on the country charts, and was the only female solo artist at the time to be able to maintain her success. In 1953, Wells had two top-10 hits with "Hey Joe" and "Cheatin's a Sin".


title: Kitty Wells

text: The next year, Wells partnered with country star Red Foley for the duet "One By One", which peaked at number one on the "Billboard" Country Chart, and became her second chart-topper. The song led to a string of hit singles from the duo within the next two decades, including 1954's "As Long as I Live", which peaked at number three. As a solo artist in 1954, Wells had two major hits with the number-eight "Release Me" and the top-15 hit "Thou Shalt Not Steal" (written by Don Everly of the Everly Brothers).


title: Kitty Wells

text: Record companies were reluctant to issue albums by country's female artists until Wells proved that women could sell. She became the first female country singer to issue an LP, starting with 1956's "Kitty Wells' Country Hit Parade", which consisted of her biggest hits. Wells released her first studio album in 1957 with "Winner of Your Heart". Soon, other female country singers released LPs in the late 1950s and early 1960s. "Making Believe" and "Lonely Side of Town" were also released as singles. Wells' later 1950s releases included "Searching (For Someone Like You)" written by Murphy "Pee Wee" Maddux, and "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "Amigo's Guitar", which she wrote with John D. Loudermilk.


title: Kitty Wells

text: In 1957, Wells issued "Winner of Your Heart". This was followed by a string of LPs released by Decca Records between 1957 and 1973. She also partnered with Webb Pierce the same year for two duet singles, including the top-10 hit "Oh So Many Years". The duo did not record together again until 1964 with the top-10 hit "Finally". In 1959, Wells had two top-five hits with "Amigo's Guitar" and "Mommy For A Day". Wells was later awarded a BMI award for writing "Amigo's Guitar". Although not known much for her songwriting, Wells has won two BMI awards, including one for "Amigo's Guitar". She has published more than 60 songs.


title: Kitty Wells

text: Wells continued to put much of herself into her songs throughout her career, inspiring other female country singers to record risky material, as well. Loretta Lynn was one of her followers in this sense when she recorded "Don't Come Home A Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)" in 1967. Dolly Parton's 1968 recording "Just Because I'm a Woman", like "Honky Tonk Angels", questioned the male-female double standard.


title: Kitty Wells

text: "Heartbreak USA" peaked at number one on the "Billboard" Country Chart and became her third and final number-one hit. The follow-up, "Day Into Night", was a top-10 hit the same year. Owen Bradley continues as Wells' producer in the 1960s. Bradley produced some of the biggest-selling country crossover singers of the time. The well-known Nashville Sound vocal group The Jordanaires can be heard backing Wells on her big country hit from 1961 "Heartbreak USA".


title: Kitty Wells

text: In 1962, Wells had three Top 10 hits with "Will Your Lawyer Talk to God", "Unloved Wanted", and "We Missed You". Beginning in 1964, Wells' albums began to chart the Top Country Albums chart, starting with the LP "Especially for You". Some of Wells' albums peaked within the top 10 on that chart. That same year, Wells' singles began to return to the top 10 with "This White Circle on My Finger" and "Password", both of which peaked at number seven on the "Billboard" Country Chart. In 1965, Wells had her last top-10 hit with "Meanwhile, Down At Joe's", and in 1966, Wells then had her final top-20 hit with "It's All Over But the Crying", which peaked at number 14 on the country charts.


title: Kitty Wells

text: During the late 1960s and 1970s, Wells managed to have a string of minor hits and remained a popular concert attraction. She continued with a string of top-40 hits nearly until the end of the decade with her last top-40 single, "My Big Truck Drivin' Man", in 1968. In 1968, Wells recorded a duet album with husband Johnnie Wright called "We'll Stick Together". Wells also reunited with Red Foley at the end of the decade for a studio album. Her albums continued to chart the Top Country Albums chart until 1969 with "Guilty Street".


title: Kitty Wells

text: Wells became the first female country star to have her own syndicated television show, with her husband in 1969, "The Kitty Wells/Johnnie Wright Family Show", which also featured appearances by their children, including actor Bobby Wright. The program could not compete, though, against shows starring more contemporary male artists such as Porter Wagoner and Bill Anderson, and only ran for one year.


title: Kitty Wells

text: Wells stayed under the Decca label until 1973. She released three studio albums in 1970 and two in 1971. In 1973, when Decca became MCA Records, Wells stayed with them for a short time before leaving the label. In 1974, she signed with Capricorn Records, a southern rock label of the era, and recorded a blues-flavored album entitled "Forever Young" on which she was backed by members of the Allman Brothers Band and the Marshall Tucker Band. The album received considerable acclaim and, through its association with the Allmans, brought Wells to the attention of a younger audience.


title: Kitty Wells

text: In 1976, Wells was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In the late 1970s, Wells and husband formed their own record label, Rubocca (the name was a composite of their three children's names: Ruby, Bobby, and Carol Sue) and released several albums. In 1979, at age 60, she was back on the "Billboard" charts with "I Thank You for the Roses".


title: Kitty Wells

text: Wells remained a successful concert attraction at smaller venues throughout the country and Canada as late as the early 2000s. In 1987, she joined fellow Opry legends Brenda Lee and Loretta Lynn on k.d. lang's "Honky Tonk Angels Medley", which was nominated for a Grammy award in 1989. Wells' 1955 recording "Making Believe" was included in the soundtrack of the film "Mississippi Burning".


title: Kitty Wells

text: In 1991, Wells was awarded from the Grammy Awards a "Lifetime Achievement award". She, along with Johnnie and Bobby, joined producers Randall Franks and Alan Autry for the "In the Heat of the Night" CD "Christmas Time's A Comin'" performing "Jingle Bells" with the cast on the CD released on Sonlite and MGM/UA for one of the most popular Christmas releases of 1991 and 1992 with Southern retailers. In 1993, Wells appeared on Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette's collaboration "Honky Tonk Angels," joining in on their recording of the title track.


title: Kitty Wells

text: Wells and her husband opened the Family Country Junction Museum and Studio in 1983 in their hometown of Madison, but stopped running it on their own in 2000. Their grandson John Sturdivant Jr. has kept the Junction Recording Studio at its present location, which also houses Junction Records.


title: Kitty Wells

text: Wells and her singing-partner husband of 63 years performed their final show together on December 31, 2000, at the Nashville Nightlife Theater; they had announced their retirement earlier that year. Wells was ranked No. 15 on "CMT's 40 Greatest Women of Country Music" in 2002.


title: Kitty Wells

text: An exhibit honoring Wells at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville ran from August 2008 through June 2009. On May 14, 2008, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" was added to the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress, along with Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman".


title: Kitty Wells

text: Wells married Johnnie Wright in 1937. She was widowed 33 days before their 74th wedding anniversary when Johnnie died in 2011, aged 97. Kitty and Johnnie had three children, Ruby, Bobby, and Carol Sue, eight grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren, and seven great great grandchildren. Carol Sue released a single with Wells in the mid '50s, titled "How Far Is Heaven", which peaked at No. 11 on the "Billboard" Country Chart.


title: Kitty Wells

text: While two of Wells' children pursued music careers, Carol Sue did not, but she was married to Nashville Music Row executive John Sturdivant Sr. and recorded numerous songs with her family, including performing with Ruby as The Wright Sisters. Ruby recorded an album for the Kapp label and was a member of 'Nita, Rita, and Ruby. Bobby recorded albums for both Decca and ABC. Wells and her husband were lifelong members of the Church of Christ. The couple celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in 2007 by visiting the small courthouse at which they were married in Franklin, KY. Kitty and Johnnie were married 74 years before Johnnie's death in 2011.


title: Kitty Wells

text: Kitty Wells died on July 16, 2012, in Madison, Tennessee, from complications of a stroke. She was 92. She is buried at Spring Hill Cemetery in Nashville, alongside her husband.


title: Walden University

text: Walden University is a private online for-profit university headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It offers Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, Master of Business Administration, Master of Public Administration, Master of Public Health, Education Specialist, Doctor of Education, Doctor of Business Administration, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees.


title: Walden University

text: Walden was established in 1970 by two New York teachers, Bernie and Rita Turner, who created a program for working adults/teachers to pursue doctoral degrees. In the summer of 1971, the first classes took place in Naples, Florida, focusing primarily on school administrators. The initial classes allowed students to form dissertation topics with their faculty partners before returning to work at their respective schools while completing their dissertations. In 1972, Walden conferred its first degrees: 46 PhDs and 24 EdDs at its first commencement in Naples.


title: Walden University

text: In 1979, the Minnesota Higher Education Coordinating Board licensed Walden to grant PhDs and EdDs in the state and in 1982 the school moved its headquarters to Minneapolis. In 1990, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools accredited the University.


title: Walden University

text: Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc., purchased 41 percent of Walden University in 2001, gaining a controlling interest in 2002. In 2004, Sylvan Learning Systems became Laureate Education, Inc. Former US President Bill Clinton was an Honorary Chancellor of Laureate International Universities from 2010 to 2015. President Clinton was the keynote speaker at Walden University's commencement on July 30, 2011. Jonathan Kaplan served as CEO from 2007 to 2018. Mr. Kaplan previously served three years as economic policy adviser to President Clinton.


title: Walden University

text: In 2013, Laureate Education Inc. and GSV Capital, IFC, Learn Capital and Yuri Milner provided $43M in funding to Coursera to expand online education. In 2015, Ernesto Zedillo, former president of Mexico and director of the Yale University Center for the Study of Globalization, succeeded President Clinton as Laureate Education's Presidential Counselor.


title: Walden University

text: In October 2016, NBC News reported that the Minnesota Office of Higher Education was investigating a spike in student complaints. NBC News further reported that former students had filed a class action suit against the school for prolonging their enrollments for years, "until they were left hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and still short of a degree."


title: Walden University

text: In September 2020, Adtalem Global Education began the process of purchasing Walden University. In August 2021, Adtalem Global Education Inc completed its acquisition of Walden University for $1.48 billion.


title: Walden University

text: In May 2022, Michael Betz was appointed as the president of Walden University. Betz previously served as a partner at McKinsey & Co. and was a leader in McKinsey’s higher education and growth transformation practices.


title: Walden University

text: Walden is the top granter of healthcare administration master's degrees, Master of Science in Nursing degrees, and public health doctoral degrees in the U.S., according to the National Center for Education Statistics IPEDS database.


title: Walden University

text: Walden University graduates a high number of Black/African American students. According to the NCSES's 2020 Survey of Earned Doctorates, Walden University granted doctorates to 1,383 Black or African American students between 2016 and 2020. This was the highest number of Black doctoral recipients granted by a U.S. university during that period and represented about 37% of the 3,726 total doctoral students that graduated from Walden during that same period.


title: Walden University

text: In January, 2022, the civil rights law firm Relman Colfax and the National Student Legal Defense Network filed a class-action lawsuit against Walden University that alleges that Walden engages in “reverse redlining” by targeting its advertisements to Black and female students while misrepresenting the costs and credit hours required for its doctoral degrees.


title: Walden University

text: From 2010 to 2015, former US President Bill Clinton was an Honorary Chancellor of Laureate International Universities, Walden's former parent company. He received $17.6 million from Laureate as part of this role. President Clinton was the keynote speaker at Walden University's commencement on July 30, 2011.


title: Walden University

text: During the 2016 United States presidential election, then-candidate Donald Trump alleged that his opponent Hillary Clinton used her husband's connection to Laureate Education to launder money through grants to the institution from the State Department. However, fact checkers at The Washington Post and PolitiFact.com found no evidence that Laureate received money from any federal agency during Bill Clinton's presidency or while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state.


title: Walden University

text: Walden University receives more than 75% of its funds from the US government, including more than $750 million a year for graduate student loans, the largest amount for any US college. Walden University has been under "heightened cash monitoring" from the US Department of Education since 2016.


title: Walden University

text: On April 8, 2016, the Minnesota Office of Higher Education (MOHE) notified Walden University that its renewal application to participate in the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (SARA) was rejected because Walden University did not have an institutional federal financial composite score computed by the US Department of Education (DOE). In the absence of an institution-level financial composite score calculated by DOE, MOHE viewed Walden's parent company Laureate's financial composite score, calculated based on its global operations, which does not exceed 1.5.


title: Walden University

text: In 2016, Looney and Yannelis (Brookings Institution) reported that Walden University student loan debt was the second highest in the US, with 120,275 students owing $9.8 billion. While the 5-year student default rate was low (7 percent), the percentage of balance repaid on the loans was 0 percent.


title: Walden University

text: Walden's 2016 three-year student loan cohort default rate (CDR) is 6.9%; the national average is 10.1% for all US institutions. A study by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) found that the average annual federal student loan amounts of Walden graduate degree borrowers is similar to the federal loan amounts of students at public and private non-profit institutions. 1.7 to 3 percent of Walden students defaulted on loans between 2005 and 2008. The average default rate at for-profit universities is 17.1 to 22.6 percent, and the average default rate for all US colleges is 8.4 to 12.3 percent. According to the US Department of Education's College Scorecard, Walden University has a 21 percent graduation rate and a median earnings range of $26,200 (lowest) and $75,700 (highest) in the first year after graduation.


title: Walden University

text: According to College Navigator, Walden University has 204 full-time instructors and 2,821 part-time instructors.


title: Ella Edmondson

text: Eleanor Rose "Ella" Edmondson (born 22 January 1986) is an English singer-songwriter. Her primary instrument is the guitar although she can also play the piano.


title: Ella Edmondson

text: Eleanor Rose Edmondson was born on 22 January 1986 in Hammersmith, London. She is the eldest of three daughters of comedians Ade Edmondson and Jennifer Saunders. She has two younger sisters, Beatrice and Freya. The majority of Edmondson's childhood was spent in Richmond, Surrey before her family relocated to Devon. She attended Exeter School where she wrote songs as part of her music GCSE.


title: Ella Edmondson

text: Edmondson became a fan of death metal because it was the only music that her father did not like. She went through a goth phase as a teenager and became a satanist. She worked as a snowboarding instructor in Canada, a barmaid and a painter and decorator before deciding to focus on music full-time after being encouraged by her father. She "got the bug" after supporting Jools Holland at the Plymouth Pavilions.


title: Ella Edmondson

text: She received her first guitar as a Christmas present from her father and taught herself to play by copying him. Her first gig was at 16 supporting Thousand Natural Shocks in Exeter. She made an appearance in an episode of her mother's sitcom "Jam and Jerusalem" in 2006 performing "Breathe". In 2007, she released her first EP, "Blame Amy", and appeared on the compilation "Folk Rising". Her debut album, "Hold Your Horses", was released on 16 February 2009, on her father's Monsoon record label.


title: Clifford (film)

text: Clifford is a 1994 American slapstick black comedy film directed by Paul Flaherty, written by Jay Dee Rock and Steven Kampmann (under the alias of "Bobby Von Hayes"), and starring Martin Short, Charles Grodin, Mary Steenburgen, and Dabney Coleman with supporting roles done by G.D. Spradlin, Anne Jeffreys, Richard Kind, and Jennifer Savidge. It tells the story of a 10-year-old boy who stays with his uncle while his parents are on a business trip in Honolulu.


title: Clifford (film)

text: The film was shot in 1990 and originally planned for release in the summer of 1991, but it remained in limbo for several years due to Orion Pictures' bleak financial situation. It was not released until 1994, and it was a critical and commercial failure. Despite the negative reception, the film has gained a cult following over the years.


title: Clifford (film)

text: At a Catholic school in 2050, an old priest named Father Clifford catches a boy named Roger running away after blowing up the gym because he was not allowed on a basketball team. Clifford tells him a story of his own youth. As a 10-year-old, Clifford is an obnoxious and eccentric boy who never lets go of a toy dinosaur named Steffen and wants to visit Dinosaur World, a theme park in Los Angeles. While flying with his parents to Honolulu on his father Julian's business trip, Clifford intentionally causes the pilot to make an emergency landing in Los Angeles.


title: Clifford (film)

text: Father Clifford takes this moment to tell Roger about his father Julian's estranged brother, Martin, an engineer working for Gerald Ellis. Martin wants to marry his co-worker Sarah Davis, though Sarah wants to have kids with him. Because Clifford is now banned from the flight, Julian phones Martin to have Clifford temporarily stay with him in LA. Martin thinks that this is the perfect opportunity to prove to Sarah how well he interacts with children and is unaware of Clifford's antics. Upon their reunion, Martin reveals to Clifford that he designed Larry the Scary Rex, a Dinosaur World attraction, and can get into the park free of charge. Martin promises to take him there but has to break it the next day, as Ellis wants him to redesign LA's public transit system in two days. At a gas station, Clifford attempts to sneak away by posing as someone else's son in a dinosaur costume, but he's caught by Martin.


title: Clifford (film)

text: Enraged at Martin's broken promise, Clifford humiliates him during Sarah's parents' wedding anniversary with several pranks. Martin is arrested after Clifford calls in a fake bomb threat to city hall, made from mixing audio of Martin's scolding on an answering machine. Released on bail, Martin scolds Clifford again and wants him to write a confession to the police. Clifford later tricks Martin into catching a train to San Francisco, where Sarah has traveled on the request of Mr. Ellis attempting to seduce her. Back at Martin's home, Clifford throws a party in exchange for a trip to Dinosaur World. When Martin returns home, he boards Clifford up in his room; Sarah later frees Clifford and takes him with her. As Martin arrives late to Ellis's presentation of Martin's transit system, the city model, rigged by Clifford, explodes, costing Martin his job.


title: Clifford (film)

text: Martin kidnaps Clifford from Sarah's house and takes him to Dinosaur World after closing hours, and makes him ride Larry the Scary Rex. After going through it once, Clifford seems to enjoy himself, so Martin increases the ride's speed repeatedly. When set to hyper speed, the ride malfunctions and Clifford's cart crashes, leaving him dangling above the jaws of a robotic dinosaur. Martin rants about what Clifford's mischief has cost him, but he eventually risks his life and rescues Clifford. Clifford apologizes, but Martin won't hear it, and calls him a force of destruction that eventually everyone gets to hate.


title: Clifford (film)

text: Father Clifford tells Roger that "if you destroy everyone in the way of your dreams, you will end up alone with no dreams at all." He had sent 287 apology letters to Martin, which were returned unopened. When Roger asks about what happened to Sarah, Clifford reveals that she and Martin were married, and he was invited as the ring bearer. Through a gesture from Sarah, Martin finally forgives Clifford and gives him a kiss on the head. Moved by the tale, Roger decides to write 287 letters asking for forgiveness. Father Clifford takes Steffen out of his pocket, saying "Mission accomplished, old friend."


title: Clifford (film)

text: Co-writer Steven Kampmann had the idea of doing a comedy version of "The Bad Seed" (1956). The film was greenlit by Orion Pictures, but producer Larry Brezner was concerned that there was another comedy about an evil child coming out, "Problem Child", and put a halt to production. To distinguish "Clifford", Kampmann suggested the child lead be played by Martin Short, who was a fan of "The Bad Seed". Kampmann and Short filmed screen tests with Short as Clifford, and Orion liked the footage. Kampmann was hired as director, but disagreements emerged between him and other members of the creative team, and Orion brought in Paul Flaherty to replace him.


title: Clifford (film)

text: Though shot in 1990, "Clifford"s release was delayed by the bankruptcy of Orion Pictures. The film was not released until April 1994, a year in which the highest-grossing comedies were "The Mask" and "Dumb and Dumber", and enthusiasm for marketing it was low.


title: Clifford (film)

text: The film was critically panned. On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 13% approval rating based on 31 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Ill-conceived and desperately unfunny, "Clifford" stars Martin Short as a 10-year-old boy. You read that correctly. That's the joke."


title: Clifford (film)

text: Roger Ebert gave the film a half-star of a possible four. He wrote: "The movie is so odd, it's almost worth seeing just because we'll never see anything like it again. I hope." He and his colleague Gene Siskel gave "Clifford" "Two thumbs down" on their television show "At the Movies", with particular criticism towards Martin Short's casting; Siskel likened him to "a wizened little dwarf". Desson Thomson for "The Washington Post" praised Grodin but said everything else was "an awful piece of business"; "Variety" called it "gimmicky" and "poorly conceived".


title: Clifford (film)

text: Despite this broader negative reception, "Clifford" has since gained a reputation as a cult film. Martin Short later said, "I remember going to a critics' screening, sitting at the back, and the place was raucous. And yet the reviews did not reflect that. ... I think when a film is obscure enough, you feel it's now yours. Your parents don't know this film, but you do."


title: Oppam

text: Oppam () is a 2016 Indian Malayalam-language crime thriller film written and directed by Priyadarshan from a story by Govind Vijayan. It was produced by Antony Perumbavoor for Aashirvad Cinemas and starred Mohanlal, Anusree, Meenakshi, Samuthirakani and Nedumudi Venu. The film contains songs composed by the group 4 Musics, and the score was composed by Ron Ethan Yohann. N. K. Ekambaram was the cinematographer.


title: Oppam

text: The plot follows Jayaraman (Mohanlal), a blind lift operator and caretaker in an apartment building. He is the loyal friend of Justice Krishnamoorthy (Nedumudi Venu), he cares for his schoolgirl daughter Nandini (Meenakshi). Krishnamoorthy gets murdered by a serial killer Vasudevan (Samuthirakani) with a connection to his past. Jayaraman is framed for the crime, and must protect Nandini from the killer and prove his innocence.


title: Oppam

text: Regular collaborators Mohanlal and Priyadarshan were expected to work on a film in 2015, but it was postponed before principal photography began until the following year. Priyadarshan decided to make another film with Mohanlal, and began looking at screenplays. Both men wanted a break from their usual comedy films. Priyadarshan agreed on a short story by Govind Vijayan which was suggested by Mohanlal. The director developed a plot and screenplay, which was on its final draft in February 2016. The film began principal photography in March and ended in June; it was filmed in Kochi, Ooty, Vagamon, Thiruvananthapuram, and Idukki.


title: Oppam

text: "Oppam" was released in India on 8 September 2016 and internationally on 21 September 2016 where it received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Mohanlal's performance and the film's narrative style. The film performed really well at the box office earning above 52 crores worldwide theatrical gross collection. It became the third-highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time and the second-highest-grossing Malayalam film of the year, behind "Pulimurugan". At the Filmfare Awards South, the film was nominated in five categories (including Best Film, Best Director for Priyadarshan and Best Actor for Mohanlal) and won in the categories of Best Lyricist (for Madhu Vasudevan) and Best Male Playback Singer (for M. G. Sreekumar). It was dubbed and released in Telugu as "Kanupapa" on 3 February 2017, and in Hindi as "Prime Witness". It was remade in Kannada in 2019 as "Kavacha".


title: Oppam

text: Jayaraman was born blind, but has a heightened sense of smell, hearing and touch and is an expert in the martial art of kalaripayattu. Part of a large family, he works as a lift operator and caretaker in Kochi apartment building and is struggling to earn money for his sister's wedding. Jayaraman is loyal to Krishnamoorthy, a retired Supreme Court chief justice who lives in the building, and accompanies Krishnamoorthy unquestioningly on a long search for someone. On one trip, Krishnamoorthy tells Jayaraman the story behind his search. Years ago, a man named Vasudevan was imprisoned by Krishnamoorthy for a crime he did not commit; the judge followed the letter of the law, although he knew that Vasu was innocent.


title: Oppam

text: As a result, Vasu's family poisoned themselves. Vasu, insane with grief, resolves to avenge his loss and tells Krishnamoorthy that he will kill him and his family. Vasu has been released from prison, and Krishnamoorthy feels threatened. Krishnamoorthy has a young daughter, Nandini, and is afraid that Vasu will kill her if he learns of her existence. To keep her safe, he sent her to a convent school and she knows nothing about him. Nandini's only link to her father is via Jayaraman, who frequently visits her at Krishnamoorthy's request. She asks Jayaraman about her father at each visit, and he replies that he will bring him the next time. Krishnamoorthy asks Jayaraman to help him transfer money from his bank account to another account he opened for Nandini.


title: Oppam

text: To reduce scrutiny, they avoid an electronic transfer. Jayaraman withdraws the money and gives it to Krishnamoorthy; the transaction is seen by Devayani, a divorcee and maid in the apartment building. Krishnamoorthy puts the money in a safe in his apartment. A large wedding takes place, to which everyone in the building is invited. Jayaraman goes to Krishnamoorthy's apartment after the party to find him dead and the money missing from the judge's safe. He senses the presence of someone else in the apartment; the killer tries to escape, but Jayaraman subdues him. After learning Jayaraman is blind, Vasu, the killer sneak past him and escapes in a car. In the chaos, Krishnamoorthy's money is missing and the police accuse Jayaraman of stealing it.


title: Oppam

text: They learn at the police station that Devayani's brother had the money, but Jayaraman is charged with murder. He vainly pleads for a chance to find the killer, whose presence he could sense. After Jayaraman is beaten by the police during an interrogation, he fights back and escapes. He tries to hide Nandini from Vasu with the aid of his officer friend Ganga. Jayaraman reveals to Ganga that Nanidini is actually Vasu's daughter, whom the madman is trying to kill. He, Nandini and Ganga hide in the convent under the Mother Superior's supervision. Vasu arrives, and when he approaches Nandini Jayaraman calls his cell phone. When Jayaraman hears the ringtone, he shoots Vasu dead. In the end, Jayaraman and Nandini beginning a life together as a loving father and daughter.


title: Oppam

text: According to Priyadarshan, he was in a traumatic state after separating from his wife Lissy; he "couldn't think straight" and felt he had lost his "ability to make films". Mohanlal encouraged him to return to work, but "not with another comedy" (on which they had frequently collaborated). They were scheduled to work on an untitled, multilingual film in late 2015. The principal photography, expected to begin in September, was first postponed until March 2016 and never begun due to unfavourable weather in Russia (where the film was set). Priyadarshan decided to go ahead with a new project, and began reading screenplays; the director also had a two-month commitment from Mohanlal because of the other film.


title: Oppam

text: He chose a script by November, and it was reported that filming would begin in January 2016; Mohanlal would join the set after finishing his commitment to "Janatha Garage". In December, it was reported that filming would tentatively begin in February. In the same month, the film's title was announced; Priyadarshan would take over the screenplay, based on a story by Govind Vijayan. The film was reported to be a thriller, with Mohanlal playing a blind man falsely accused of murder. Priyadarshan described it as a "cat-and-mouse game" with a "little bit of humour too". Ooty and Kochi were scheduled as the primary filming locations.


title: Oppam

text: "Oppam" was conceived as a crime thriller and developed from the gist of a short story by Vijayan. Mohanlal discovered the story and sent it to Priyadarshan. When the director pointed out several logical errors in the story, Mohanlal asked if he could rework it into a screenplay. Priyadarshan was intrigued by its premise of a blind man witnessing a murder. After spending a month working on it, Priyadarshan told Mohanlal that it can be made into a film and took two more months to draft a screenplay. According to the director, "Oppam" was the most challenging screenplay he had written to date. Priyadarshan said in January that filming would begin on 20 February, but in February he was still working on the screenplay's final draft and casting.


title: Oppam

text: Although it was reported in December 2015 that G. P. Vijayakumar would produce "Oppam" for Seven Arts International, the film was produced by Antony Perumbavoor through his company, Aashirvad Cinemas. Director I. V. Sasi's son, Ani, was an associate director, and Priyadarshan's son Sidharth was an unofficial assistant director. In a later interview, in 2019, Priyadarshan said that Mohanlal had contemplated on directing "Oppam" (which would have been his directorial debut) but later he decided against it.


title: Oppam

text: Priyadarshan tailored the lead character, Jayaraman, for Mohanlal (his regular collaborator) when he wrote the screenplay. Tamil actor Samuthirakani was cast after Mohanlal in December 2015, with the rest of the cast and crew yet to be finalised. Vijay Menon dubbed for Samuthirakani's character. Even though Mohanlal has acted temporarily blinded characters, "Oppam" was the first film in which he played a blind character throughout the film. Mohanlal told Priyadarshan that he would not act like a stereotypical blind man (blinking and look up), but like a sighted person. They had visited a school for the blind in Chennai for pre-production research, and saw children playing and running between obstacles as if they could see. Priyadarshan had also known blind men whose other senses were keen. The character of Jayaraman has exceptionally sharp senses, and an expert in martial art of kalaripayattu.


title: Oppam

text: In a January "Deccan Chronicle" article, Sanchita Shetty said that she liked the screenplay and would play a substantial role in her Malayalam film debut. The following month, Priyadarshan confirmed that Vimala Raman would play one of the film's two lead female roles; Shetty was on the shortlist for the other role. Vimala said that her role was Jayaraman's love interest, and the role is different from what she has done to date. Anusree was later cast in the other role, since Priyadarshan wanted an actress who "look[ed] very much a Malayali". She played Ganga, a newly appointed DSP whose grandfather is visually-impaired; she trusts Jayaraman, and helps him uncover the truth. Anusree was so looking forward to act in a Priyadarshan directorial that she did not ask about her role when he called.


title: Oppam

text: In February, Baby Meenakshi was confirmed in a significant role with Mohanlal. Kalabhavan Shajohn confirmed his role that month as a villainous character. Sreeya Ramesh was confirmed in an unidentified role in April, and Sasi Kalinga in June. Mamukkoya played comic security guard Kunjikka, who was unable to get names right, mistakenly substituting them with Islamic names. Aju Varghese had a brief role as an auto rickshaw driver in scenes with Mohanlal and Samuthirakani. Varghese, a fan of Priyadarshan's films, requested a role in "Oppam". Devshi Khanduri made her Malayalam debut as a Punjabi girl in love with a Malayali boy (Arjun Nandhakumar). Priyadarshan described the film to Nandhakumar during preparations for the 2016 Celebrity Cricket League.


title: Oppam

text: Innocent played Jayaraman's uncle, and Anjali Nair his sister. Producer Antony Perumbavoor made a cameo appearance. Chemban Vinod Jose, Hareesh Kanaran, Renji Panicker, Kunchan, Kalasala Babu, Idavela Babu, Sona Heiden, Kaviyoor Ponnamma, and Siddique also had supporting roles. In a December 2016 interview, Dharmajan Bolgatty said that he was offered a role in the film but could not commit due to scheduling conflicts.