O Kadhal Kanmani (), also known as OK Kanmani, is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language musical romantic drama film written, directed and produced by Mani Ratnam. The film stars Dulquer Salmaan and Nithya Menen, portraying a young Tamil couple in a live-in relationship in Mumbai. Prakash Raj and Leela Samson play supporting roles as an older couple in the film, portraying the younger couple's landlords. The film was said to be a "reflection of the modern mindset of urban India", dealing with issues such as marriage and traditional values. The film featured music composed by A. R. Rahman, cinematography by P. C. Sreeram and editing by Sreekar Prasad. The title of this film is borrowed from the song 'Pottu Vaitha Kaadhal Thittam' from Kamal Haasan's 1992 film Singaaravelan.
Prior to the film's release, the soundtrack was well received and the promotional activity of the film on social media also garnered praise. O Kadhal Kanmani was released on 17 April 2015 and won positive reviews from critics, praising the lead pair's performances and the film's technical aspects. The film became a blockbuster at the box office, performing extremely well in Indian multiplexes and overseas. The film was later remade in Hindi as Ok Jaanu in 2017. O Kadhal Kanmani has gained a cult status over the years.
Plot Aditya Varadarajan is a progressive video game developer who relocates from Chennai to Mumbai to join a major tech firm. He secures accommodation as a paying guest at the residence of Ganapathy, a retired bank manager and an old colleague of Aditya's elder brother. Ganapathy lives with his wife, Bhavani, a former classical vocalist who is suffering from advanced Alzheimer's disease. At a colleague's wedding, Aditya encounters Tara Kalingarayar, an aspiring architect. They quickly realize they share a mutual skepticism toward the institution of marriage. Aditya subsequently learns that Tara is planning to pursue higher studies in Paris to escape her overbearing mother, who is constantly pressuring her to abandon her architectural ambitions to manage a traditional family business in Coimbatore.
The duo begin spending their leisure time together, eventually falling in love during a brief vacation. Tara discloses that her aversion to marriage stems from the severe psychological and emotional trauma she endured during her parents' bitter divorce. Bound by a mutual desire to avoid long-term legal commitment, they decide to enter a temporary live-in relationship before their respective global careers force a geographical separation. Although a traditional Ganapathy initially refuses to host an unmarried couple, Tara's warmth and respectful demeanor convince him to relent, allowing her to move into Aditya's room. The couple enjoys a blissful, uninhibited period of cohabitation, intentionally focusing on the present.
The impending reality of their careers begins to fracture their carefree dynamic. Tara admits to Ganapathy that her Parisian student visa is nearing approval, confessing her growing distress over leaving Aditya. When Tara travels to Jaipur on a brief architectural restoration project, Aditya experiences profound loneliness in her absence. Upon her return, she discovers that Aditya has been missing for two days, prompting a frantic search across the city with his colleagues. Aditya returns and reveals that Tara's elitist mother had tracking units locate him, pulling administrative strings to have the police briefly detain him in a lockup to intimidate him. Though the incident sparks a heated argument between Aditya and Tara, they quickly reconcile. Observing Ganapathy's absolute, patient devotion to the increasingly disoriented Bhavani, the young couple begins to subvert their own cynicism, silently recognizing the profound value of lifelong companionship.
Aditya's career advances when his game prototype is greenlit, securing him a lucrative promotion that requires a relocation to the United States. Recognizing that they only have ten days remaining before their paths diverge, Aditya and Tara agree to spend their final days together celebrating their bond. However, as the departure date nears, the emotional pressure manifests in frequent, unresolved arguments.
The turning point occurs when a disoriented Bhavani wanders out of the house alone in search of Ganapathy. As Aditya and Tara scour the streets of Mumbai to find her, their repressed anxieties boil over into a fierce confrontation regarding their impending separation. During the argument, Aditya breaks their original pact, confessing that his love for her outweighs his career ambitions and demanding that they marry. After successfully locating Bhavani and returning her to a relieved Ganapathy, Tara accepts Aditya's formal proposal. The couple marries in a modest civil ceremony surrounded by friends and family. Following the wedding, they honor their professional commitments; Tara departs for Paris while Aditya relocates to the United States. During the post-credits sequence, it is revealed that Aditya successfully concludes his American venture and relocates permanently to Paris, where the couple happily reunites and raises two children.
Cast
Dulquer Salmaan as Aditya 'Adi' Varadarajan Nithya Menen as Tara Kalingarayar Prakash Raj as Ganapathy Iyer Leela Samson as Bhavani Ganapathy Vinodhini Vaidyanathan as Saroja Ramya S. as Ananya Prabhu Lakshman as Buddy Siva Ananth as Vasudevan Varadarajan Rama Ramasamy as Chandrika John Devasahayam as John Kanika as a woman at the clinic (cameo appearance) B. V. Doshi as himself (cameo appearance) Ciby Bhuvana Chandran as Aditya's co-worker (uncredited) Ashwin Kumar Lakshmikanthan as Aditya's co-worker (uncredited) Pavithra Lakshmi as Aditya's co-worker (uncredited) Arav as Aditya's co-worker (uncredited)
Production Development In early 2014, Mani Ratnam first approached Telugu actor Ram Charan to be a part of the film, but he felt the lead role would not work for him. In August 2014, Madras Talkies had confirmed that Dulquer Salmaan would play the lead role in their forthcoming production and it was reported that Mani Ratnam's regular collaborator, composer A. R. Rahman would also work on the film. Vairamuthu renewed his collaboration with Mani Ratnam and A. R. Rahman to write song lyrics, and stated that the director had told him the film's plot concisely within three minutes and described it as a "beautiful love story" about "two characters and their love and mindset". P. C. Sreeram joined the team later in the month, collaborating with the director after Alaipayuthey (2000). During the making of the film, the cinematographer hinted that the film has contents on the lines of Ratnam's Alaipayuthey (2000), and that it was also loosely based on a real life incident.'Okay Kanmani' will be like 'Alaipayuthey −2': PC Sreeram. Sify.com (5 January 2015). Retrieved on 19 May 2015. In October 2014, the film was revealed to have a working title of OK Kanmani.
Mani Ratnam revealed that he had the fascination for making a film on the gaming culture before Kadal, and set the story in Mumbai as it was India's gaming hub and a place where a live-in relationship can happen more naturally than in South India. He revealed it was an urban love story, and added that the Mumbai setting was also justified as it dealt with people away from home who become independent of the rules and regulations of a family. The film was earlier wrongly reported to be bilingual in both Tamil and Malayalam; it was made only in Tamil.
In a press conference at Taj Coromandel in Chennai, Ratnam said that the film is a contemporary take on the new generation, their attitudes and their values. Through the film, Ratnam wanted to portray the change that takes place every five or six years when a new generation comes in with a different set of values.
Casting The female lead role was initially offered to Alia Bhatt, who opted out citing her lack of ability to speak in Tamil, while Pooja Hegde also refused the offer, citing her commitment to Ashutosh Gowariker's Mohenjodaro (2016), which prevented her from working on other films. Parvathy Thiruvothu was also considered, before Nithya Menen was selected. Dulquer and Nithya worked together on O Kadhal Kanmani alongside their commitments in Jenuse Mohamed's Malayalam film 100 Days of Love, which eventually released a month before Mani Ratnam's film. The director revealed he first met Dulquer at the audio release function of Vaayai Moodi Pesavum (2014) and felt that he was the right choice to play the character Aadi, although he hadn't seen any of the actor's films. Ratnam had only previously seen Nithya Menen's 180 (2011) and Urumi (2011), where she had played small roles but was impressed. Ratnam was quoted saying, "I found something alive about her, something real and perfectly beautiful about her. Nithya carries an individuality and is not just a glamorous girl. Like her character in the film, Tara, she has a mind of her own."
Prakash Raj accepted to play a role in the film in September 2014 and expressed his excitement at being offered a unique character. Leela Samson, a Bharathanatyam dancer and author, was selected to make her acting debut and portray a retired Carnatic singer in the film, appearing as Prakash Raj's wife. Television anchor Ramya Subramanian was also picked to play Dulquer's friend in the film, and it became her first full-fledged acting role. The rest of the cast consisted of Mani Ratnam's assistant directors Sivakumar Ananth and Chandrika Chandran, while his friends Rama Ramasamy, Prabhu Lakshman and the former manager of Sify, John Devasahayam, were given other roles. Actress Kanika shot for a day in Chennai, to portray a small role in the film as did architect B. V. Doshi. A number of rookie actors, who later went onto feature in larger projects, including Arav, Ashwin Kumar Lakshmikanthan, Ciby Bhuvana Chandran and Pavithra Lakshmi made appearances as colleagues of Dulquer's character.
Filming Principal photography began from 6 October 2014 with scenes featuring Dulquer Salmaan and Nithya Menen being filmed. Menen revealed that the film would be shot in a short span of time and her portions would be completed by December 2014, while the team swiftly shot scenes at locations in and around Chennai, including near a bank in Parry's Corner. The last leg of filming, started in Mumbai in November 2014 with the shooting lasting for a week. The team shot scenes at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and CEPT University during December 2014, with renowned Indian architect B. V. Doshi filming for a guest appearance as Nithya's mentor. The team subsequently moved back to film further outdoor sequences in Mumbai, later that month. Following the schedule, P. C. Sreeram revealed that the film was practically complete and that the film would aim to release in early 2015.
The game animations for the film were handled by Studio Dreamcatcher, who worked on two versions of a fictional game called Mumbai 2.0, which Dulquer's character develops in the film. A 2D prototype and a 3D 2.0 version were created for the film, while the team also took care of the animation sequences for the end credit segments. The company also took care of character designs, story board and animatics of the lead characters Dulquer, Nithya and John for the 3D sequences. The 2D animated opening title sequence for the film was handled by Mumbai-based animation studio Plexus. The film's title was changed in February 2015 from OK Kanmani to O Kadhal Kanmani in an attempt to gain an entertainment tax exemption in Tamil Nadu, through the use of a pure Tamil title.
Music