Wikipedia

Pammal K. Sambandam

Pammal K. Sambandam is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language comedy film directed by Moulee and scripted by Crazy Mohan. The film stars Kamal Haasan in the title role alongside Simran, Abbas and Sneha. The film was produced by P. L. Thenappan under Media Dreams, while Deva composed the music.

Pammal K. Sambandam
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMoulee
Screenplay byMoulee
Story byCrazy Mohan
Produced bySujatha
P. L. Thenappan
(co-producer)
Starring
CinematographyArthur A. Wilson
S. Saravanan
Edited byKasi Viswanathan
Music byDeva
Production
company
Release date
  • 14 January 2002 (2002-01-14)
Running time
150 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Pammal K. Sambandam released on 14 January 2002. It received positive reviews and became a commercial success. It was later remade in Hindi as Kambakkht Ishq in 2009.[1][2] The core plot of the film was reported to be based on the 1999 film The Bachelor.[3]

Plot

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When a stuntman Pammal Kalyana Sambandham alias P.K.S and a reputed surgeon Dr. Janaki come across each other at his younger brother Anand's and her best friend Malathi's elopement in Chennai, they instantly develop a dislike for each other. They both have a very low opinion of the opposite gender, and also refuse to believe in the concept of marriage. Sambandham humorously often censors his middle name "Kalyana" as it means "marriage". Janaki, in particular, hates Sambandham for his uncouth manners and language. She gets Sambandam arrested when he argues with her at the police station over Anand and Malathi's marriage. Sambandham is eventually released on bail.

Anand and Malathi's marriage soon turns rocky as Malathi feels that Anand had lied to her over a job assignment in Australia before they had eloped. On the advices of Janaki, Malathi harasses Anand at every opportunity and makes him do the household work. On hearing about Anand's plight, Sambandham decides to fix the relationship by "hooking up" Anand with a woman named Vanaja in order to make Malathi jealous and a more caring and dutiful wife to Anand. But, unfortunately for Anand, Janaki makes Malathi to believe that Anand is cheating on her and forces her to file for divorce.

Meanwhile, Janaki tries to get Sambandham into trouble by barging into a movie shoot involving Sambandham and claiming that he is "involved" in animal cruelty since he is using a bull and a snake as part of the movie. In the chaos which was accidentally created by Janaki as she accidentally throws the snake on to the bull's head, the bull goes mad, the snake gets killed and the bull gores Sambandham in his stomach when he was trying save Janaki from the bull as it was trying to attack her. Janaki performs an emergency surgery on him and saves his life, but during the surgery, her prized possession (a wristwatch gifted to her by her aunt) falls into his stomach, which is detected by the X-Ray. She pretends to become close with Sambandham, with the intention to somehow sedate him and perform the surgery again to retrieve the watch. Sambandham, who is unaware that Janaki's watch is in his stomach due to a mix-up with another patient's X-Ray, mistakes Janaki's romantic overtures to be genuine, and falls in love with her. He also inadvertently foils all her plans to sedate him. Eventually, Sambandham provides another shock to Janaki; they are to be engaged at his grandfather's house. Post the engagement ceremony, Janaki finally manages to sedate Sambandham and retrieve her watch. Following the surgery, Janaki reveals the truth to Sambandham and ends their engagement; leaving Sambandham heartbroken. Sambandham's troubles increase when he realises that his grandfather had signed a legal document which stipulates a time limit for him to get married and get the lodge, or the lodge goes to their Caste's union. When his grandfather finds out the reasons why Janaki cancelled the engagement from Sammandham, he suffers a massive heart attack and dies. Meanwhile, Malathi and Anand manage to reconcile in an elevator emergency and get back together, cancelling their divorce.

Janaki feels guilty over being responsible for Sambandham's grandfather's death. She also finds out that Sambandham had decided to transfer the ownership of the lodge to her and convert it to an orphanage if they had got married, and on this revelation, she realises that she has indeed fallen in love with him. She decides to confess her love to Sambandham, but instead she inadvertently convinces him to marry his relative, a weightlifter Rajeshwari alias Raji. The marriage is set within the next two days, as he would lose the possession of the lodge if he doesn't marry by then. However, it turns out that Raji has no interest in the marriage and is in love with a Malayali boy. In a hilarious climax, Sambandham, Janaki, Anand and Malathi help Raji in eloping with her boyfriend, and Sambandham and Janaki too elope as well. Both duo get married in a police station within the deadline, thus ensuring that the lodge remains under Sambandham's ownership, and he gives it to the orphanage.

Cast

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Production

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Kamal Haasan initially approached Moulee to make a film for his own production house, but efforts were fruitless. Subsequently, the film was started under P. L. Thenappan in August 2001 and the shoot was complete within three months.[4] The film's invitation card for the launch was shaped in the form of the alphabet "K", which formed a significant theme throughout the film. The card also featured images of Devayani who was later replaced in the film by Sneha.[5][6] Devayani was removed after she went on honeymoon following her sudden marriage and thus she was unable to fulfil her original schedules.[7] Kamal Haasan's character was a stunt double under Vikram Dharma in the film and the stunt director had used the air-ramp for the first time in a Tamil film.[8] During the making of the film, the significance of the initial "K" was hidden before Kamal Haasan revealed at a press conference two weeks before release that it stood for "Kalyanam" (Marriage), which the lead characters despised.[9] The title was inspired by Pammal Sambandha Mudaliar, who was considered as one of the fathers of Tamil theatre.[10]

Soundtrack

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The music was composed by Deva and lyrics for all songs were written by Vaali, Kabilan, Pa. Vijay and Kamal Haasan.[11] The song "Kandhasamy Maadasamy", written and sung by Haasan, has his character teasing a friend who is in a troubled marriage.[12] S. Suchitra Lata of The Music Magazine wrote "Deva, the music director for this production, does a decent job. The song I liked most for its warm listening experience was the Hariharan-Chitra duet Sakalakalavallavane".[13]

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Endi Sudamani"VaaliAnuradha Sriram3:54
2."Kandhasamy Maadasamy"Kamal HaasanKamal Haasan5:30
3."Sakalakala Vallavane"KabilanHariharan, Sujatha5:40
4."Gadothkaja"VaaliSrinivas, Mahalakshmi Iyer5:38
5."Penne Kadhal"VaaliKK4:22
6."Dindukallu Poota"Pa. VijayShankar Mahadevan, Mahalakshmi Iyer5:06
Total length:30:10

Release and reception

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Pammal K. Sambandam was released on 14 January 2002, Pongal day,[14] and became a major commercial success, easily recovering its investment due to the low budget.[15] Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu claimed that "if Mouli had sustained the humorous strain throughout, PKS would have turned out to be a complete comic treat from start to finish. Why he did not do it remains a riddle." The critic also praised the lead performances and Crazy Mohan's dialogue writing.[16] Rajita of Rediff.com described it as "an average film", stating that the only "real highpoint is 'Crazy' Mohan's dialogues".[17] BizHat said, "While Pammal K Sambantham does provide good humor, it falls short to be considered as a full-length comedy movie because of its unbalanced mix of drama and humor".[18] Visual Dasan of Kalki wrote called the film "above average", saying Deva's music did not help the film in any major way, but Mohan's dialogues and Moulee's direction were the film's saving graces.[19] Malini Mannath of Chennai Online wrote "The director has taken the first half of the film at a racy pace, the characters with their quirks, the resultant confusion, Crazy Mohan's crazy lines (though few and far between) helping to pep-up the proceedings. Then the desperation shows in the forced attempts to generate humour. There are too many characters around and too less happening. And with almost all the characters giving up their individuality and receding from their earlier stand, the movie comes to a dull and expected ending".[20]

References

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  1. ^ Chokkapan, S (5 July 2009). "I've heard KI is a remake of Pammal: Mouli". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  2. ^ "Bollywood borrows southern spice for 'Kambakkht Ishq', 'Short Kut'". Deccan Herald. IANS. 1 July 2009. Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  3. ^ "19 International films Inspired Kamal Haasan movies…?". The Times of India. 17 June 2022. Archived from the original on 29 August 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  4. ^ Warrier, Shobha (21 January 2002). "'We would measure Kamal's hair every day!'". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  5. ^ Reddy, T. Krithika (7 May 2001). "Some glitz to glamour". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ^ "Talk of the Town". The Hindu. 4 April 2001. Archived from the original on 12 November 2004. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  7. ^ "The changing times". Cinematoday2.itgo.com. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  8. ^ Kamath, Sudhish (25 December 2001). "Pammal K Sambandam is a family man". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  9. ^ "Talk of the town". The Hindu. 2 January 2002. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  10. ^ "Pancha Thanthiram is Kamal's next film". The Times of India. PTI. 20 January 2002. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  11. ^ "Pammal K.Sambandham". JioSaavn. Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  12. ^ "Talk of the town". The Hindu. 4 July 2001. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  13. ^ "Carry on Crazy". The Music Magazine. 24 January 2002. Archived from the original on 16 January 2003. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  14. ^ Jha, Subhash K (19 January 2002). "Kamal, Madhavan: Boys just wanna have fun". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  15. ^ "Funds elude Kamal Hassan's mega flick". The Economic Times. 22 April 2003. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  16. ^ Rangarajan, Malathi (18 January 2002). "Pammal K. Sambandham". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 27 June 2003. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
  17. ^ Rajita (15 February 2002). "This stunt is quite average". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
  18. ^ "Pammal K. Sambantham". BizHat. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  19. ^ தாசன், விஷுவல் (27 January 2002). "பம்மல் K சம்பந்தம்". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 96. Archived from the original on 2 May 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  20. ^ Mannath, Malini. "Pammal K. Sambhandham". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 8 April 2005. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
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