A Friendship Saga: The Jeeva Audio Launch Report

 

Thursday was an eventful day. Right after meeting Prabhu Deva, we rushed to attend the audio launch of director Suseenthiran’s Jeeva. The travel to the venue was the shortest ever; just a minute in the elevator, a storey down.

Without much ado, the trailer was screened, when the producers of the film – actors Vishal and Arya – joined the Jeeva team.

Jeeva marks the reunion of many important people in the industry. Vishal and Arya, who are close friends, bankroll the film. Also, for the first time, Vairamuthu and his sons, Madhan Karky and Kabilan, have worked in the same project.

And, the film is music director Imman’s second with Suseenthiran after Pandianaadu.

Hence, there was a lot of brotherhood on display, and we could see more hugs than hand-shakes.

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We watched three songs – Ovvondraai Thirudigirai, Oru Rosa and Oruthi Mela. While Madhie’s cinematography literally caused a dip in the room temperature, courtesy many rain scenes and the film’s light colour palatte, Imman’s tunes were soothing.

If Ovvondraai Thirudigirai is for those who can’t get enough of the Ilaiyaraaja of 80s, then Oruthi Mela is for the new-age audience; with the A cappella arrangement, and great classical choir vocals by El Fe Choir. Oh, and the memorable voice of Abhay Jodhpurkar. The song also has the Kannale Pesi Pesi Kollathey hangover.

We also noticed Imman’s loyalty toward veterans. The music director had roped in Yesudas for Sigaram Thodu and SP Balasubrahmanyam for an emotional song in Jeeva.

And, while his music was widely discussed at the event, Imman chose not to talk much. But when the emcee reminded us of Priya Anand’s fondness for Imman’s cheeks, he burst forth with: “En kannam unga ellarkum cricket play ground aayiduchu!”

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Vishal, Arya and Vishnu Vishal, on the other hand, are the quintessential nanbendas of Kollywood. The three sat together on stage, joked, giggled and lived in their  own world; not unlike those last-benchers at school. When Vishnu wielded the mic, he reminisced about buying tickets in ‘black’ to watch Vishal’s Thimiru and kicking himself for arriving late at a party, ages ago – where he was hoping to get a glimpse of Arya. “And today, I’m so proud that they are releasing my film.”

The trio became best pals while playing the Celebrity Cricket League. Vishnu, a trained cricketer, has played the Ranji Trophy too. “Jeeva follows the life of a cricketer and in a way, this film is a lot about me as well. Jeeva moved me at a personal level.”

Arya and Vishal were asked to deliver their speech together. When Arya concluded his oh-so-short speech by admitting that his contribution to the making of Jeeva was very small, words failed Vishal. “Machi, naan ennada pesatum,” he asked Arya quite audibly. In the end, Vishal decided to use it as an opportunity to thank filmmaker Bala. “What Avan Ivan did to my career is what Jeeva will do to Vishnu.”

And while we wondered aloud whether he produced Jeeva for his favourite director Suseenthiran or for his best friend Vishnu, Vishal exclaimed, “For the content!” with a playful warning that we shouldn’t read between lines.

Click here to view pictures of the launch.