1999 Indian film
Anantha Poongatre (transl. Breeze of happiness) is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Raj Kapoor. The film stars Ajith Kumar and Meena in the lead roles, with Malavika in a supporting role and Karthik in a guest appearance. The film is based upon how respect can be mistaken as love by circumstances.
Anantha Poongatre released on 27 May 1999. It subsequently opened to positive reviews and became a commercial success.
Plot
Meenatchi is a widow living with her son, Nandu. Jeeva, who lives in the same colony, has been pining silently for her for the last four years. He runs an organization called A-to-Z, which can get anything done for anybody.
Jeeva follows Divya to get some information on her for her suitor but, she ends up falling for him and pursues him relentlessly. He avoids her, telling her that he is already in love with someone else, and when cornered, reveals that it is Meenatchi.
This leads to some surprising revelations about Meenatchi's past. The flashback is revealed. Meenatchi is a music student of Haridas. Haridas has a child, Nandu, whose mother, Banu, died giving birth to him. Their mutual respect is mistaken for romance by her father, Dharmalingam, who is a zamindar, and Haridas is killed in the fracas. Later, Meena vows to live like a widow, taking care of Haridas's child. However, that very day, Jeeva and his parents were about to see Meenatchi as a prospective bride. When Jeeva sees this scene unfold before his eyes, he starts admiring her courage. Despite his parents' protests, he assures Meenatchi's father that he would make her change her mind and that he would marry her. But Meenatchi's world turns upside down when Divya's father, a staunch supporter of love marriage, kidnaps Nandu and asks Jeeva to marry Divya. Jeeva of course accepts and things are then resolved in the climax.
Production
During production, the producer M. Kajamydeen had attempted unsuccessfully to oust Ajith Kumar from the project and replace him with Prashanth.[1] The producer and Ajith later clashed following the failure of their action film, Jana in 2004. Initially Vindhya was assigned to play Malavika's role in the film, but due to her commitment to Sangamam, she was later dropped from the project.[2] Sathyaraj was reported to play a cameo where he would appear in two scenes after intermission, this proved untrue.[3]
Soundtrack
The music was composed by Deva.[4][5]
Release and reception
The film won two Tamil Nadu State Awards with the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Dialogue Writer going to Shivaram Gandhi while it also won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film Portraying Woman in Good Light. The film was remade as Subhakaryam in Telugu and then also later remade in Kannada in 2009 as Rajakumari.[6][7][8] K. N. Vijiyan of New Straits Times, writes "Generally go for this movie if you are an Ajith, Karthik or Meena fan. It has star value and good comedy"[9] K. P. S. of Kalki praised Raj Kapoor's screenplay, performances of Ajith and Karthik and Deva's music but felt Meena and Malavika came and went and concluded saying due to routine plot and sentiments could not enjoy happiness in this breeze of happiness.[10]
