SUCCESSFUL TIMES AHEAD-CHERAN AND RAMYA

Successful times ahead

Cheran pairs with five heroines in the forthcoming Tamil film Raman Thediya Seethai, directed by Jagannathan. KK Moidu writes

Actor-director-producer-writer Cheran romances five ladies in Raman Thediya Seethai. Malayalam actress Ramya Nambeesan will make her Tamil debut in the maiden production venture of Moser Baer in Tamil as an individual producer. The four other heroines are Vimala Raman, Karthika, Gajala and Navya Nair. Other important roles are played by Manivannan, Pasupathy, Nithin Sathya etc.
Raman Thediya Seethai tells the story of a young man, who is looking for a life partner. The bright young man is highly successful in his career but his hunt for a suitable girl always ends in disaster.
The honest confession of a hidden truth in his dark past works against him among the girls. He pursues his search for a bride with the help of a blind radio jockey, who is determined to help him.
The romantic entertainer Raman Thediya Seethai tells five love episodes in a humorous way. The film is not the remake of the MGR-Jayalalitha starrer of the same title released in 1972.
Raman Thediya Seethai will be directed by Jagannathan, who directed Puthiya Geethai with Vijay and Kodambakkam with Nandha. Vidyasagar set the tunes for the lyrics of Yughabharathy, Kabilan and Jayantha. Rajesh Yadav is the cinematographer.
Cheran is known for making controversial films with rich cultural values. His movies were noticed by the social messages and that fetched National Awards. Firstly, Vetri Kodi Kattu won Best Film on other social issues, Autograph for most entertaining film and Thavamai Thavamirunthu for Best Film on family welfare.
Cheran is the son of a cinema operator father and nursery school teacher. He was born in Dec., 12, 1970 in Pazhaiyurpatty, near Melur in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
Right from his childhood days he developed an interest in acting and proved his skills in stage dramas in local festivals. He imitated screen legend Sivaji Ganesan by speaking out the dialogues of his films in front of the mirror. His stardom in filmdom was preceded by a long and arduous struggle.
In order to fulfil his dream to become an actor, Cheran ran away from home and reached Chennai. His dream of acting in cinema was not fulfilled initially. His unwillingness to accept defeat turned his attention to film making. He trained under KS Ravikumar and started his career as his assistant.
However, Cheran gained the attention of Henry, the producer of the Malayalam superhit Yavanika directed by KG George. After the success of Yavanika, Henry entered the Tamil industry with Kolangal. Since he did not want run-of-the-mill subjects, he found a strong offbeat theme in young Cheran's script.
Cheran made his directorial debut in Bharathi Kannamma produced by Henry. The film, with a strong social base, was a love story of a poor, low caste youth and a rich zamindar girl. Due to the caste difference, the girl was forced to marry someone else. Parthiban played the male lead opposite Meena in the critically acclaimed and commercially successful film.
Cheran repeated his directorial success with his second film Porkaalam, which tells the story of a handicapped girl in a village. The bold subject, efficient crafting and Deva's music made the film a big hit.
After delivering two hits, Cheran was treated in the industry as a front liner and that hiked his remuneration.
But his nest few films like Desiya Geetham, Vetri Kodi Kattu and Pandavar Bhoomi were commercial flops. Desiya Geetham created controversy because Nasser played the role of a chief minister sporting dark glasses. Tamil Nadu chief minister Karunanidhi was unhappy over the resemblance and the indecent dialogues accusing the government. Cheran's formula of playing with controversies to invite the crowds into movie halls failed in the film. His award winning Vetri Kodi Kattu again handled another subject with a predictable end and his maiden production venture Pandavar Bhoomi also failed at the box office.
Cheran once again repeated his magic of success in Autograph. The film was not only produced by Cheran but also written and directed by him. He played the male lead opposite four heroines Gopika, Kanika, Mallika and Sneha. The romantic movie was screened at Lyon Asian Film Festival in France and at the Montreal World Film Festival in Canada. Autograph won critical acclaim and box office success. The film also bagged the Golden Lotus Award for Best Popular Film providing wholesome entertainment, Silver Lotus Award for female playback singer KS Chithra and best lyrics for Pa. Vijay respectively.
After the massive success of Autograph, Cheran directed Thavamai Thavamirunthu. He played the lead in the film, which explores the father-son relationship. The film grabbed the National Award for best film on family welfare and it was only a moderate success at the box office.
The big budget film Mayakannadi directed and written by Cheran and produced by Subbu, the son of veteran producer Panchu Arunachalam, was a big flop at the box office. Cheran played the lead opposite Navya Nair. Sarath Kumar, Arya and Malavika made guest appearances. The key message of the three-hour long film was that "each person's life is in his or her own hands."
Cheran also appeared in other director's films like Solla Marandha Kadha directed by Thangar Bachchan and Pirivom Santhippom, a heroine-oriented film opposite Sneha directed by Karu Pazhaniappan.
Cheran once again came in front of the camera in a lead role in the erstwhile assistant Jagannathan directed film. One of the highlights of the film is the impressive line up of five young heroines Vimala Raman, Gajala, Karthika, Navya Nair and Ramya Nambeesan.
Except debutante Ramya, all the other heroines played lead roles in Tamil films earlier. Malayalam actress Ramya was lucky enough to make her Tamil debut opposite famed film personality Cheran.
Ramya Nambeesan made her debut as a heroine in Malayalam film Anachantham directed by Jayaraj. As per the title, the story of the film revolves around an elephant and that gained enough publicity for the film even before the release. But the film did not create any ripples at the box office.
As a debutante heroine, Ramya's performance was welcomed by the audience. Although it was her first appearance as a heroine, she faced the camera in her high school days for the film Sayahnam directed by Sarath. She played the granddaughter of O Madhavan in the film. She also appeared in small roles in Gramaphone, Perumazhakkalam etc.
Ramya has acted in around 10 Malayalam films as a heroine and second heroine, but all her movies except Chocolate didn't perform well at the box office. Her prominent role as Susan in the superhit Chocolate gave her the much needed boost in her career. She played the role of a modern college girl, a friend of the heroine. The film was a full fledged entertainer with songs, dances, humour, action and sentiments and it was one of the biggest hits of last year.
Ramya played one of the heroines in the recently released College Kumaran opposite superstar Mohanlal. She was the love interest of young actor Jayasoorya in Changathi Poocha. The film, directed by debutante SP Mahesh, added one more flop to her career. She played a meaningful role in the horror film Sooryakireedam directed by George Kithu. She performed a challenging role as a mute and dumb girl in Panthayakozhi. She played the female lead of young heroes like Arun, Saiju Kurup and Sudheesh in the recently released Anthiponvettam and Salabham. The box office disaster of the films could not established her as a successful heroine in the industry.
After doing a few films on home turf, many Malayalam heroines cross the border for lucrative offers and achieve success. The success of Malayalam heroines in other languages started a trend and all upcoming heroines try their luck in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films.
The young and beautiful actress Ramya Nambeesan is also trying her luck in the Tamil film Raman Thediya Seethai as the ladylove of Cheran. Will she get the needed recognition that will open the road to success for her in the future?