I clearly remember the first day. For me it was just a Delhi boy with no filmi background coming on the set of this film - back then I had no idea how well the film would be received, but it was my first time appearing as a lead.
Motwane wrote the script in 2003, but could not find a producer. He co-wrote Kashyap's Dev.D (2009), and Kashyap produced and co-wrote Udaan. The film was set and shot in the industrial town of Jamshedpur. Mahendra J. Shetty was its director of photography, and Dipika Kalra was the editor; Aditya Kanwar was the production designer.
Download Film 5 Udaan
Seventeen-year-old Rohan is expelled from the Bishop Cotton boarding school in Shimla with three of his friends (Vikram, Benoy and Maninder) after they are caught watching a pornographic film outside campus in the middle of the night. Rohan returns home to Jamshedpur, where his stern, abusive, alcoholic father, Bhairav Singh, and his six-year-old half-brother Arjun (whom Rohan hadn't known before) live. Bhairav forces him to run every morning (racing him the last leg) and work at his metalworking factory and attend engineering classes at the local university. Bhairav expresses his disappointment in him by humiliating and abusing him, both verbally and physically. Rohan aspires to be a writer and his uncle, Jimmy, supports his ambition.
Udaan is not autobiographical, but Motwane said that the script has traces of his life: "As a first-time writer there was a lot that I took from my own life, in terms of certain themes and references, with observations of friends."[13] He initially made some changes to the script when he looked for financing, and called its final version "a combination of first and second drafts."[13] Kashyap told Motwane in 2003, after reading the script, that he would solely produce the film. Motwane was the co-writer for Kashyap's Dev.D (2009) before Kashyap agreed to produce Udaan.[14] He said that it is "one of the few films made on teenagers and their issues growing up", since teen films "usually tackle love stories".[14] For a scene in the film involving Rohan's mother, Motwane used his wife's photograph.[15] Motwane called it a "simple straightforward film" about a boy "who wants to break free from his clutches."[16]
Newcomer Rajat Barmecha was cast as Rohan after several screen tests by casting director Jogi. Motwane did not like his initial auditions, but Barmecha later improved and was chosen.[17] The film was set and shot extensively in Jamshedpur, with a local production crew.[18] It was filmed for 39 days (out of a 42-day shooting schedule) in a HUDCO bungalow and the Circuit House area and also in Shimla for three days.[18] The production crew included 13 students and ten actors from the city.[18] The film was shot on super 16 mm film with sync sound.[16] Mahendra J. Shetty was Udaan's director of photography, and Dipika Kalra was the film's editor; Aditya Kanwar was its production designer.[19] The film featured Ronit Roy, Aayan Boradia, Ram Kapoor, Manjot Singh and Anand Tiwari in supporting roles.[19]
The film's score was composed by Amit Trivedi, with lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya and Kashyap.[20] The soundtrack album had seven songs, including one instrumental; Joi Barua, Neuman Pinto, Bhattacharya, Trivedi, Mohan Kannan, Raman Mahadevan, Bonnie Chakraborty, Kashyap, Kshitij Wagh, Tochi Raina, Shriram Iyer and Nikhil D'Souza provided vocals. It was released on 29 June 2010 on the T-Series label.[21]
Udaan was acclaimed by critics with particular praise on direction and the performances.[33][34] Writing for The Times of India, film critic Nikhat Kazmi called Udaan "unconventional Bollywood at its biting best" and stated that it "has the edgy feel and the bittersweet emotional core characteristic of India's neo-wave cinema."[35] Mayank Shekhar also gave it a positive review: "The movie's certainly worth a trip back to somewhat figure why."[36] Rajeev Masand mentioned it as one of the year's best films, and said that Motwane makes "a terrific directing debut, offering up a film whose images will linger in your head long after you've left your seat."[37]
Kaveere Bamzai of India Today described the film as "an extraordinary story told without veering into the maudlin": "It's a tightly controlled drama without any melodrama."[38] Pratim D. Gupta said, "For every rupee you have wasted on big, bad Bolly noise, you must back this beautiful and brave voice."[39] Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com felt that the film "refreshingly distinct and unyielding" and an "enriching experience."[40] According to an Indo-Asian News Service review, "Udaan is both a celebration and a triumph of that spirit rebellious."[41] Blessy Chettiar of Daily News and Analysis praised Barmecha's performance, calling him a "raw talent" who plays "a wide emotional range with panache."[42]
The film was inspired by events from the life of G. R. Gopinath, founder of Indian low-cost airline Simplifly Deccan, as described in his memoir Simply Fly: A Deccan Odyssey. The project was announced in mid-2018 under the working title Suriya 38 and the official title was announced in April 2019. Principal photography began the same month and ended that September, and filming took place in Madurai, Chennai, and Chandigarh. G. V. Prakash Kumar composed the film's music while Niketh Bommireddy was the cinematographer and Sathish Suriya edited the film.
Soorarai Pottru received critical acclaim, with praise for the film's major technical aspects and appreciation for the writing, Suriya's performance and Kongara's direction. It was selected as one of ten Indian films to be screened in the category Best Foreign Film at the 78th Golden Globe Awards. The film also entered the Panorama Section of the Shanghai International Film Festival. It won five awards at the 68th National Film Awards: Best Feature Film, Best Actor (Suriya), Best Actress (Aparna), Best Screenplay (Kongara and Nair) and Best Background Score (Prakash Kumar). In November 2022, a Hindi remake, again directed by Kongara and produced by Suriya, was in production with Rawal reprising his role.
In late 2009, Sudha Kongara conceptualised a film based on Simply Fly: A Deccan Odyssey by Simplifly Deccan founder-and-entrepreneur G. R. Gopinath when she assisted Mani Ratnam during the production of Raavanan (2010).[4] Kongara did extensive research for the script for more than ten years, while also working on the direction of Drohi (2010), and Irudhi Suttru and its Telugu remake Guru (2017).[3] During the audio launch of Irudhi Suttru, Sudha met Suriya, who attended the event as a guest and narrated one line of the script. Suriya decided to start working on the film after his acting commitments in 24 and Si3 while Sudha started working on Guru.[3]
After completing Guru, Sudha again met Suriya in his residence in February 2017 to hand over the half-completed script. Suriya was impressed by the narration and story, and agreed to appear in and produce the project. Suriya wanted no-one to interfere in the film's budget or to change any sequence.[5] He was also concerned about the film's quality and believed producing the project could let him handle the supervision.[3] Because the proposed budget was considerably higher than expected, Suriya approached producer Guneet Monga to substantially fund the film under the Sikhya Entertainment banner, which was known for producing critically acclaimed films such as The Lunchbox (2013), Masaan (2015) and the Academy Award-winning documentary film Period. End of Sentence. (2018).[6] The company agreed to fund the project, which became its first South Indian film.[7] The film was officially announced in April 2018 with the tentative title Suriya 38.[8]
Pre-production work on the film began in June 2018,[9] and filming was speculated to start in November[10] but was postponed because of delays in pre-production. G. V. Prakash Kumar was selected to work on the film's music; Kumar worked with director Sudha and actor Suriya for the first time.[9][11] The film's technical crew were cinematographer Niketh Bommireddy,[12] and Sathish Suriya, who edited the director's Irudhi Suttru and Guru and was production designer on Jacki.[12][13] Sudha confirmed the film is not a biopic of Gopinath[14] but was inspired by events in his life.[15] Kongara made changes to the script and screenplay to suit the film's real-life events.[16] On 13 April 2019, the title was revealed with a poster release as Soorarai Pottru.[17][18]
Suriya played the role of Nedumaaran Rajangam (Maara), an ambitious man from Madurai; the character is loosely based on G. R. Gopinath.[20] Sudha hired two or three assistant directors and writers from Madurai, to speak in Madurai dialect.[21] Suriya said his character "is prone to anger ... Even in anger, he is able to think of why certain people are coming from a different perspective. He knows how to behave with his wife, his friends and others". Sudha fixed these elements before filming to make the performance look consistent.[19] He also did few physical transformations;[22][23] For scenes of the character as a young man, Suriya had lost almost 20 kg (44 lb) to gain physique for the role;[24] he also underwent a strict dietary regime by eating cucumbers.[25]
The film has 96 characters because the story tracks the protagonist's life from birth and many characters have importance despite their limited screen time.[26][27] Aparna Balamurali was signed to play the female lead, working with Suriya for the first time.[28][29] Her character Sundari was modelled on Gopinath's wife Bhargavi.[30][31] Balamurali also learnt the Madurai dialect for the film.[29] In June 2019, Telugu actor Mohan Babu was signed to play a senior officer named Bhakthavatsalam Naidu.[32] He immediately accepted the role when approached, and dubbed in his own voice.[33] Soorarai Pottru is also the acting debut of Arjunan's son Ilan and daughter Iyal.[34] 2ff7e9595c
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