Roja | |
Directed by | Mani Ratnam |
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Produced by | Mani Ratnam K. Balachander |
Written by | Mani Ratnam |
Starring | Arvind Swamy Madhoo Pankaj Kapoor Nasser Janagaraj |
Music by | A. R. Rahman |
Cinematography | Santosh Sivan |
Distributed by | Kavithalayaa Productions Pyramid |
Release date(s) | 1992 |
Running time | 137 mins |
Language | Tamil |
Gross revenue | $4 million |
Roja (Tamil: ????) (1992) is a Tamil film directed by Mani Ratnam. The film was subsequently dubbed in Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, and Telugu.
The film won three National Film Awards, including Best Film on National Integration, catapulting Ratnam to national acclaim. The film also gained international acclaim with its nomination for Best Film at the Moscow International Film Festival.[1] The film was recently re-released for international audiences in light of the growing fear of terrorist attacks across the world. This film was so popular during that time, that terrorists in Kashmir, got a copy of the movie in Tamil.[2]
The film's score and soundtrack were composed by A. R. Rahman, who debuted as a music director with this film. This soundtrack is among the "10 Best Soundtracks" of all time listed by TIME magazine, issued in 2005.
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Plot
Roja revolves around one Man's love for his motherland and a wife's unfailing love for her husband. Roja (Madhoo) is a village girl, born and brought up in Sundarapandianpuram in Tirunelveli district in Southern Tamil Nadu. She prays that the handsome suitor and top cryptologist Rishi Kumar (Arvind Swamy), arriving in the village soon, accepts a proposal to get married to her sister. It soon emerges that Roja's sister is in love with another, and to everyone's surprise Rishi requests Roja's hand in marriage. Being unaware of her sister's love affair, Roja is not willing to accept Rishi's proposal as she believes that he is the best match for her sister. But due to her parent's pressure, she gets married to Rishi, and the couple move out of the village to live in Madras. Initially Roja is angry with Rishi for rejecting her sister but when she comes to know that it was her sister's own wish to marry her love rejecting Rishi, she apologizes and starts to fall in love with Rishi. Working for the Indian Government, Rishi is assigned a posting at an army communications center in Kashmir. Being accompanied by Roja, her world gets shattered when Rishi is abducted by the terrorists from Pakistan who are fighting for Kashmir and demanding the release of their terrorist leader Wasim Khan from prison, held by Indian military forces. Roja pleads with politicians and the military for help, but it all goes in vain. What happens to Rishi and Wasim Khan forms the rest of the story.
Cast
- Arvind Swamy
- Madhoo
- Pankaj Kapoor
- Nasser
- Janagaraj
Awards
The film has been nominated for the following awards since its release:[1]
1993 Moscow International Film Festival (Russia)
- Won - Golden St. George (Best Film) - Mani Ratnam
The film has won the following awards since its release:[1]
1993 National Film Awards (India)
- Won - Silver Lotus Award - Best Music Director - A. R. Rahman
- Won - Silver Lotus Award - Best Lyricist - Vairamuthu
- Won - Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration
1993 Filmfare Awards South
- Won - Filmfare Best Director Award (Tamil) - Mani Ratnam
- Won - Filmfare Best Movie Award (Tamil) - Roja
- Won - Filmfare Best Music Director Award (Tamil) - A. R. Rahman
Music
The soundtrack features score and 6 songs composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics in the Tamil language by Vairamuthu. Songs such as "Rukkumani" had a loud thumping feel and became ingrained in pop culture.
Also many new singers were introduced to the Tamil music scene. Time magazine's noted film critic, Richard Corliss stated that the "astonishing debut work parades Rahman's gift for alchemizing outside influences until they are totally Tamil, totally Rahman." Including the album on a list of Time magazine's "10 Best Soundtracks" of all time in 2005,[3][4] he admitted to failing to properly check facts on a lyrics website when describing two songs using dubbed Hindi titles on his article.[5] The soundtrack also found success in its many dubbed versions released in subsequent years.
Track listing:
- "Rukkumani" (6:02) – S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Chitra
- "Chinna Chinna Aasai" (4:57) – Minmini
- "Kaadhal Rojave" (5:04) – S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
- "Pudhu Vellai Mazhai" (5:18) – Unni Menon, Sujatha
- "Tamizha Tamizha" (3:05) – Hariharan
- "Chinna Chinna Aasai" (1:07) – Minmini
Released on Lahari, the soundtrack for Roja proved immensely popular.
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