Alai Payuthey

Plot synopsis:
Karthik Varadarajan (Madhavan) is an independent and free-spirited software engineering graduate establishing a software start-up with his friends. At a friend's wedding, he meets Shakti Selvaraj (Shalini), a student of medicine at Madras Medical College. They continue to bump into each other on local trains that they both use on their daily commute, and fall in love. Karthik pursues Shakti aggressively and proposes marriage; Shakthi, however, is reluctant. Karthik manages to convince Shakthi and requests his parents to formally ask Shakti's parents for her hand in marriage; however, when the parents meet, they do not get along, and Shakti calls off the relationship altogether and leaves for an extended medical camp in Kerala.
While apart, both Karthik and Shakti realize that they are desperately in love and decide to get married without the knowledge or consent of their parents. They continue living separate lives after marriage, meeting outside of their homes and hoping that their parents will see eye to eye at some point in the future and can be informed of the marriage. However, when Shakti's older sister Poorni (Swarnamalya) is on the verge of getting engaged, developments ensue resulting in Shakti's parents attempting to fix her marriage to the groom Raghu's younger brother Shyam (Karthik Kumar). Shakti confesses to her parents and Raghu's family that she is already married; Poorni's engagement is called off and her parents throw her out of the house. Karthik too divulges the same to his parents and is also asked by his father to leave his house.
Karthik and Shakti start living together and while all goes well for a while, they soon find that marriage is not as easy as they expected and living under the same roof results in a large number of conflicts. The marriage gets increasingly tense as both cope with frustrations and disappointments.
Shakti learns that her father is seriously ill and requests Karthik to visit him. Karthik declines, citing her father's hatred of him as the main reason. He eventually agrees, but by the time they reach her house, Shakti' father passes away. Wracked with guilt, the two return home, their relationship taking a turn for the worse.
The two stop talking to each other. Meanwhile, Karthik takes it upon himself to sort out Poorni's love life and her broken engagement to Raghu. He arranges a blind date between the two, which initially fails, backfiring on Karthik, however, with more meetings, Poorni and Raghu become closer. This development takes place without Shakthi's knowledge. Karthik waits until Poorni and Raghu's marriage is confirmed before deciding to tell Shakti. However, Shakti witnesses Poorni hugging Karthik in gratitude at the train station and unable to see Poorni's face, misunderstands what she has seen to be Karthik hugging her sister she assumes he is having an affair with.
Shakthi eventually learns from Poorni of her husband's efforts in getting her married, and is overcome with guilt and love. Karthik sets off on the same evening to the railway station to pick up his wife as is their usual routine. However, Shakti in her rush to get home and make up with Karthik meets with a serious accident. Karthik waits for his wife, and as she fails to turn up searches desperately for her throughout the city, ultimately discovering her in the ICU of a hospital, registered under another name and having undergone brain surgery. Shakti is in a coma.
An IAS officer Ram (Arvind Swamy) admits that he caused the accident and admitted Shakti in the hospital. Karthik is inconsolable, wracked with grief and anger, and takes his frustration out on Ram. However, Ram's wife (Kushboo) intervenes and lets Karthik know that she was the person who caused the accident and injured Shakti, and her husband was merely trying to protect her by taking the blame himself. Karthik observes Ram and notes that he has a lot to learn from the latter. He proceeds to Shakti's bedside and admits that he could have been a better husband. Shakti proceeds to wake up from her coma and the two reconcile, admitting their enduring love for one another.

Tags: romantic

Review:
Mani Ratnam Attempts An Urban Love Story.
With 'Alai Payuthey', Mani Ratnam comes back with an urban love story set in contemporary India.
'Alai Payuthey' solely focuses on Karthik and Shakti's love story and how it develops from before till after marriage.
Ratnam's storytelling is sincere and even though one has witnessed such story numerous times in Indian cinema, 'Alai Payuthey' feels fresh.
The chemistry between Madhavan and Shalini, the romantic moments, Karthik and Shakti's struggle post marriage, the guilt etc..all of it is well demonstrated.
A.R. Rehman's melodious soundtrack is mesmerizing but a few of the songs, especially the item number, could have better been left out.
The two leads are outstanding but the 'Alai Payuthey' belongs to Madhavan.
Shalini too is brilliant though at times she's a little over the top.
Overall, this is another winner for Mani Ratnam and I hope he comes back to making good films like he did before 'Yuva'..
At first sight this may seem like just another feel good film about love.But the core theme of this film is the complexities that lovers-turned-couples face.The chemistry between the film's lead pair is good.the hero steals your heart with his expressions right from his introductory song.
the score is exceptional in the original version.But in the Hindi version the lyrics suffer proving that the music is complex.The lyrics deserve a special mention.
especially when the lyricist tries to visualise the colour red through the legs of a new born baby and brings out the difference between marriage and love.Cinematography is the hallmark of this film.
various parts of India such as Kashmir,kerala,chennai and goa are picturised beautifully in the song sequences.The maker has been successful in bringing the muted emotions to the fore.The film sends a subtle message that love before marriage is shortlived and more of illusion while the affection that blossoms after marriage is permanent and real..
A great movie on human relations.
The story of Alaipayuthey may be simple(like any other love story)but the way it is shown,i think all the credit goes to the brilliant Mani Ratnam,A.R.Rahman and cinematographer P.C.Sreeram.Every frame has some meaning in this movie.This movie is not only technically good,but also has moral sense.The lead roles played by madhavan and shalini are very impressive.Every single person who acted in this movie have given their full skills.I personally liked every single scene in this movie.Songs given by A.R.Rahman is one of his best.I think this movie is one of the best in tamil cinema's history.A must see movie for all movie lovers.I'd recommend the DVD if you don't know the language..
Heart warming love story!.
I have NO words to describe HOW WELL this movie has been made.
This movie rediscovers the beauty of LOVE, long after the success of DDLJ, when creativity started dwindling with more and more movies trying to replicate it rather than coming up with something altogether different or FRESH.
We thought to ourselves, WILL WE EVER GET TO SEE A DECENT AND TOUCHING LOVE STORY??!!!!
Mani Rathnam heard us and gave us `Alai Payudhe'.As we all know, Mani is the JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES and MASTER of none, but after watching this movie, we feel that is an UNDERSTATEMENT to praise such a talented Filmmaker who's always filled with new ideas.
Hats off to him and his GREY CELLS, which come in use ever so often.It is the way in which he goes about telling the story which GLUES us to our seat and makes us LAUGH till we CRY.
The treatment is what is important in a LOVE STORY and NOT the Cast or the Locales, which has been given MOST importance in Bollywood and nowadays, even Madrasi filmmakers are going the same way.
Mani tries to prove all of them WRONG.Truly different, this movie has the Best of Mani's creativity, Rahman's music, P.C.Sreeram's cinematography (though it's a bit shaky in the climax), and SUPERB performances by the WHOLE cast.
Well worth the money I spent on the VCD!!!Pros Award winning Direction, Music, Cinematography, Dialogues, First rate performances by the whole cast, simple storyline and Superb screenplay.Cons Few clichés, minor glitches in photography, tear jerking climax and the scantily clad Sophiya Haque song..
Another Heart Soothing Movie ....
Mani Ratnam has once again created a movie par excellence.
A movie with a romantic touch takes you through a romantic journey in which you are glued to your seat on account of the excellent cinematography...A.R.Rehman's ear soothing numbers add color to the movie..Pleasing choreography and camera work for the song "Pachai Niramae" is a treat for eyes...Unique editing adds to the success of the movie..Overall a movie that any movie buff does not want to miss...
Mani continues to mesmerize people with his simple telling techniques..
Creativity added with good script has been always been Mani Ratnam's trademark..
"Roja","Nayagan","Thalapathi" and now "Alai Payuthey" speak why Mani Ratnam is one of the best directors' India has ever seen....
Many friends recommended this movie by Mani Ratnam.
I had been impressed by the Hindi Dil Se (1998) by this director, so even though I don't know a word of Tamil, I rented the DVD since it has English subtitles.I was not disappointed!
The location shooting is also vintage Mani Ratnam.The DVD by Aingharan U.K. is superb---much better than most Indian DVDs, and comparable to the DVD of Dil Se by DEI.
The colorful song sequences can be enjoyed by themselves..
This is Love in India.
Most Indian movies that you see are mostly belong to this category.1) Boy sees a girl .
2) Boy falls in love but the girl rejects.
3) Then the girl realizes that she also like the boy so they start loving.
5) After all the hurdles they get married and the end.But this movie doesn't just end after the marriage , it shows the problem in marriages and what true love really is.Also watch this movie for great song picturisation.Super hit movie with super hit songs..
A Love story that goes after Love...
It is an urban love story.
Not like usual love stories in which heroes will be diving over boards and bikes to fight against the will of (mostly) heroine's dad or some wicked uncle, this one goes some months after a love marriage and tries to look in the problems somewhat realistically.
Basic elements of love story such as good songs, photography and interesting scenes are amply available.
I watched this movie between 15 to 50 times(max).
It's unfortunate that she did not continue acting after her marriage.
She gives a good performance with Madhavan(introduced in this film).AR Rahman's songs of this film are still standing melodies.
The film was a huge hit in A and B centers in TamilNad, India.
I even know certain instances of marriages following this film's logic.
Heard somebody said this one was from an English movie and all.
Another interesting thing to me in this film is the narration style.
If the same story narrated in a linear mode then it would not have evoked the same emotions one would feel.
I bet at least 70% of Chennai city lovers would have watched this movie.
This is a well made, perfectly acted, scored, photographed and scored movie.
Oh..+ 2(just for Shalini alone).Watch it to get your mind wavered with love(alai payuthey's literal meaning is '{my mind} is wavering')..
Movie with eternal subject and wonderful team!.
In fact watching it after such a long time also is a very pleasing experience.
The way movie starts and then moves back and forth in time is wonderfully presented.
Especially for the transition frames with changing color schemes and well-captured emotions which are simply mind-blowing!!
Even the last frame of the movie which could be little disturbing because of the surrounding and situation also seems so beautiful and picturesque that instead of being sad you are awestruck.
I am very thankful to Mr. Mani Ratnam for eventually including the songs (as I read in reviews that he was aiming for a song-less movie).
And finally the soul of the movie: Actors and Mr. Director!!
Definitely this is one of the all-time watch movie..
10 stars for the Songs, -2 for the movie.
While this movie is incredibly stupid, boring and uses the same old formula again and again, the songs by AR Rehman are absolutely mind blowing.
The acting is OK but the story and flow is not what you expect from Mani ratnam.
So why does this movie deserve 8 stars?
Its because without the movie and plot itself, the songs may have never seen the light of day or given AR Rehman the appropriate ideas.
The situation (not plot) is very similar to Thiruda Thiruda where the movie itself is garbage but the songs were ground breaking and downright unbelievable.
Along with Thiruda Thiruda, this film has to have the best songs ever produced from India and some of the best in the world.
Extraordinary musical love film.
It's the love story for all generations with best melody songs(exclusively that colors song)..
I saw the Bollywood remake of this film as a kid, but after seeing the original Tamil version, I can say for sure that this one is even better!
The lead actors have absolutely incredible chemistry and there's this beautiful innocence in the relationship they portrayed in the film.
Madhavan and Shalini created fire on screen in this movie.
Also, this movie is family-friendly and there are no excessive public displays of affection.
The language was not known to me, and this was also the first time I was able to sit through a movie with subtitles.
Here, I was so engrossed in the story and the characters that I hardly paused the film.The romance was so organic and nothing felt forced.
From the first look, the first conversation, the proposal to their marriage, Shalini and Madhavan created magic together.
So much so, that every time they had separate scenes in the movie, I longed to see them together again.
I am usually very skeptical when it comes to romance in movies, so I was pleasantly surprised to see something like this happen.
The story, the direction, the acting, everything is of a superlative degree in this film.
Incredible is an understatement for this movie.A.R Rahman creates an almost perfect album.
Every track (except for one) found its own spot in the film and it did not seem like the filmmakers were using the tunes as fluff.
The songs pushed the story forward and the chemistry of the lead actors, again, did most of the work on the visual front.
That, backed with the picturesque cinematography, turned all the songs into snippets of viewing pleasure.
When compared to the music of the Bollywood remake, Saathiya, it seems that even though the music is the same, the lyrics are different, thus making most of the songs drastically different.
That paired with the lead actors, the innocence in their eyes, the looks shared between them, their conversations...
made this movie a masterpiece.
Words will fall short if I try to compliment Madhavan and Shalini.
The supporting actors were also well suited for their roles and nothing, not a thing of the main story, felt out of place.
I really wish more movies in India were like this.
Suffice it to say, Alai Payuthey is in a league of its own, and even though Saathiya is a good tribute, this movie and the beautiful feelings associated with it, cannot be replicated that easily..
Karthik goes to meet his wife at the train station but finds that she hasn't turned up.
However the film flashbacks to their first meeting, courting, conflict over being different classes, their secret wedding and the reality of day to day marriage.I'm not a big fan of this genre but will always give them a stab just to be fair and not prejudge the genre.
This film is, as almost all of them are, overlong by about 30 minutes, but it still worked quite well.
The plot is a different type of love story and can be quite moving at times, it isn't afraid to show the reality of married life and how things do change as the type of love changes.
I found it quite hard to watch because it resembled my own life in some ways but it was moving without the parallels.The songs are actually pretty good and, for the first time for me, actually sound different across the film as a whole.
There is one artificial dance number (the beach party) but the others, even if they have dancing, seem less work and fit into the film.
Technically, the sound quality is good and doesn't sound totally different during the songs.
Also the cinematography is great apart from a few ill judged slow motion moments towards the conclusion.The two leads are quite good.
They can do the usual genre stuff of falling into romantic love, but they also really perform in the marriage and make it feel like a real couple battling it out and being insensitive to each other daily.Overall this is not a great film mainly because it is a little flabby and overlong  didn't it have editors?
The songs are good (first time I've said that in a review of this genre) and the plot is quite moving at times..
Alai Payuthey is a 2000 Tamil romantic drama film directed by Mani Ratnam which stars Madhavan Ranganathan and Shalini Ajith in the lead roles while Swarnamalya, Aravind Swamy, Kushboo Sundar, Jeyasudha Kapoor, Ravi Prakash, V.
The film carries a popular soundtrack which was composed by the Academy Award winning composer A.R Rahman and the lyrics were written by ''Kaviperarasu'' Vairamuthu.
Srinivasan who was Mani Ratnam's elder brother produced the film.The film revolves the story of a troubled couple who fell in love and got married against their parent's wish.
Karthik (Madhavan Ranganathan) and Shakthi (Shalini Ajith) are two young individuals from different class of family.
They both meet for the first time at a wedding and later begin to meet on suburban trains frequently.
They both fall in love, but Shakthi denies to get married to him without her parent's consent.
Karthik's parents meet Shakthi's parents and ask for their consent to a marriage between Karthik and Shakthi, but eventually disagree because of misunderstandings and cancel the wedding plans.
Shakthi breaks up with Karthik and decides to move on.Shakthi later goes to a medical camp in another city and Karthik decides to go after her.
While Shakthi is at the medical camp and Karthik is traveling to find her, they both realize that they miss each other so much that they can not live without each other.
When Karthik arrives the medical camp, Shakthi hugs him and asks him to marry her.
One day when Raghu (Venu Aravinth) and his family come to ask Shakthi's parents to a marriage between him and Shakthi's elder sister Poorni (Swarnamalya), his father asks Selvaraaj for his consent to a marriage between Shakthi and his younger son (Karthik Kumar) as well.
Shakthi denies and tells the truth that she is already married to Karthik.
Both Shakthi and Karthik get kicked out of their house and they move together to an apartment and begin to live their married life.After several months Shakthi meets her mother (Jeyasudha Kapoor) and Poorni on a suburban train.
Shakthi then decides to not go to a house where people do not respect Karthik, but Karthik changes his mind and they both decide to go and visit her father the next day.
Her mother gets angry, tells Shakthi to get out of the house and the relationship between the two young lovers begins to walk on the edge.
Misunderstandings gradually turn out to be suspicions and the silence begins to speak.The couple stop talking, but Karthik re-arranges the wedding plans for Poorni and Raghu to win back Shakthi's heart.
One day when Shakthi gets to know that Poorni and Raghu are going to get married and that Karthik was behind everything, she decides to go to Karthik's office to meet him and ask for apology.
On the way to Karthik's office Shakthi gets into an accident and is taken to the hospital.
Shakthi is admitted at the hospital and fights for her life while in Karthik's mind Shakthi is missing.
How Karthik finds Shakthi forms the crux of the story.Madhavan Ranganathan (credited as R.
Madhavan in films) made his debut as a big screen actor with this movie and quickly got everybody's attention because of his acting skills and his look.
Both him and Shalini were faithful to their roles and they had a beautiful chemistry throughout the film.
The film had great visuals and colorful locations which not only made the couple to look beautiful, but the whole movie beautiful.
It did not surprise me that the film carries a popular soundtrack.
With A.R Rahman's music and ''Kaviperarasu'' Vairamuthu's lines you can be 100% sure and say that the soundtrack will definitely be a hit and this soundtrack did not fail to win everybody's heart.
Songs like ''Endrendrum Punnagai'', ''Pachai Nirame'' and ''Snegithane'' have turned out to be nowadays youngster's favorite songs when it comes to Tamil Cinema Music.
If you ask for my opinion I would say that this album is the finest work by both A.R Rahman and Vairamuthu.Like Mani Ratnam's earlier films this film does not have focus on politics, terrorism and today's society.
This film explores a marriage life and learns the audience about how important the word ''sacrificing'' is when it comes to marriage.
I am sure that every married couple who love their life-partner from the bottom of their heart will enjoy this film and learn the meaning of true love.
Alai Payuthey will definitely be one of the best romantic drama films in Tamil Cinema's history for the next 20-30 years.
According to me this is the finest work by Mani Ratnam till date.Verdict: Alai Payuthey...
A treat of love!