Love Birds (1996 film)

2021-07-07T04:38:41Z

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{{Short description|1996 film by P. Vasu}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Love Birds
| image = Tamil-lovebirds.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Release poster
| image_size =
| director = [[P. Vasu]]
| producer = [[Pyramid Natarajan]]
| writer = P. Vasu
| starring = {{unbulleted list|[[Prabhu Deva]]|[[Nagma]]}}
| music = [[A. R. Rahman]]
| cinematography = M. C. Sekar
| editing = P. Mohanraj
| studio = Pyramid Films
| distributor =
| released = {{Film date|1996|01|15|df=y}}
| runtime = 160 minutes
| country = India
| language = Tamil
| budget =
| gross =
}}

'''''Love Birds''''' is a 1996 Indian [[Tamil language|Tamil]]-language [[romance film]] directed by [[P. Vasu]]. The film features [[Prabhu Deva]] and [[Nagma]] in the lead roles with [[Raja (Tamil actor)|Raja]], [[Vadivelu]] and [[Sarath Babu]] playing other pivotal roles. The film's score and soundtrack composed by [[A. R. Rahman]] was highly successful. The film was released on 15 January 1996 and had an average performance commercially.<ref>http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.tamil/browse_thread/thread/2971605fe3027b02/eca6457f1e03db88%3Fq%3D%2522%2BKuberan%2522%23eca6457f1e03db88&ei=iGwTS6eaOpW8Qpmqic0O&sa=t&ct=res&cd=36&source=groups&usg=AFQjCNGJGQkGcN5wVAZMfMwKQ5FMgvk0Ww{{Dead link|date=March 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The film is a remake of the 1986 Kannada film ''[[Ratha Sapthami]]'' for which P. Vasu was the co-screenplay writer.<ref>https://medium.com/@bollywoodbeatles/did-you-know-kaho-naa-pyaar-hai-is-inspired-by-the-kannada-blockbuster-ratha-sapthami-1986-eeb7bff168c</ref><ref>http://www.indiaglitz.com/shivalinga-mounts-kannada-news-121138.html</ref>

==Plot==
After accidentally meeting, Mridula ([[Nagma]]) and Arun ([[Prabhu Deva]]) fall in love. The young couple both come from affluent families, and so, to test whether they will be suited for a long-term relationship, they both decide to live together. However, a few months into their relationship, Arun and Mridula get in an accident and Arun dies. A devastated Mridula is unable to get over his absence, and before long starts seeing Arun in strange visions everywhere she goes. Her family eventually decide that relocating to another country might help Mridula move on, and so they send her to the UK. Once she arrives there, she meets Mano ([[Raja (Tamil actor)|Raja]]), a young man attracted to her. She knows that her parents expect her to fall for Mano. But as she can't move on, she runs away. She meets David who looks exactly like Arun. She follows him and finds out where he lives and works. Whenever she tries to talk to him, he denies his relationship with her and says he doesn't know her. However, she later finds out that her father had Arun sent away as he had helped with Arun's sister's marriage and had threatened to let it all go downhill for her. Arun moves to the UK in hopes that he can forget about Mridula but he can't and when he meets her, he realises this. When Mridula's father finds out Arun is still alive, he tries to kill him. However, he realises his mistake and lets the lovebirds reunite.

==Cast==
{{colbegin}}
* [[Prabhu Deva]] as Arun/David
* [[Nagma]] as Mridula
* [[Vijayakumar (Tamil actor)|Vijayakumar]] as Rathnakumar
* [[Sarath Babu]] as Prakash
* [[Manorama (Tamil actress)|Manorama]] as Susheela
* [[Raja (Tamil actor)|Raja]] as Mano
* [[Vadivelu]] as Raja
* [[Veniradai Moorthy]] as Professor
* [[Santhana Bharathi]] as College principal
* Raviraj as Professor
* [[Chinni Jayanth]] as Arun's friend
* [[Delhi Ganesh]] as Ramalingam
* Veera Pandiyan as Student
* [[H. Ramakrishnan]] as Susheela's husband
* [[LIC Narasimhan]] as Raghupathy
* [[Dhamu]] as Dhamu, Arun's friend
* Meena Kumari as Sheela, Arun's sister
* Vittal Rao as Vittal
* [[Apache Indian]] in a special appearance
* [[P. Vasu]] in a cameo appearance
{{colend}}

==Production==
[[Prabhu Deva]] was signed to work on the film after working in [[S. Shankar|Shankar]]'s 1994 blockbuster ''[[Kaadhalan]]'', and his pair from that film, [[Nagma]], was also roped in again. British Indian musician [[Apache Indian]] was also roped in to sing and dance for a music video in the film.<ref>http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Apache--s-comeback/886151/</ref>

The film was predominantly shot across [[London]], with scenes also canned at [[Buckingham Palace]] and at a Hilton Hotel. The producers had earlier location scouted in the city and took music director, [[A. R. Rahman]] along to get a feel of the city.<ref name="nst">{{cite web | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lblOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Px8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=3954,2615390&dq=love+birds+nagma&hl=en | title=A twist to the typical love story | work=[[New Straits Times]] | date=6 February 1996 | accessdate=11 September 2016 | last=Vijiyan | first=K. | archiveurl=https://archive.org/details/LoveBirdsNSTReview | archivedate=11 September 2016}}</ref>

==Soundtrack==
{{Infobox album
| name = Love Birds
| type = [[Soundtrack]]
| artist = [[A. R. Rahman]]
| cover =
| alt =
| released = 1996
| recorded = [[Panchathan Record Inn]]
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = [[Soundtrack]]
| length =
| label = [[Pyramid Saimira|Pyramid]]<br>[[Aditya Music]]
| producer = [[A.R. Rahman]]
| prev_title = [[Muthu (film)|Muthu]]
| prev_year = 1995
| next_title = [[Indian (soundtrack)|Indian]]
| next_year = 1996
}}

The soundtrack features 5 songs composed by [[A. R. Rahman]], his only collaboration with P. Vasu till date with lyrics by [[Vairamuthu]] for the original Tamil version, by [[Sirivennela Sitaramasastri]] for the Telugu version and by P. K. Mishra and [[Mehboob (lyricist)|Mehboob]] for the Hindi version. The album was appreciated by critics.<ref>http://www.planetbollywood.com/music/lovebird.html</ref>

=== Tamil ===

{{tracklist
| headline =
| all_lyrics = Vairamuthu
| all_music =
| extra_column = Singer(s)
| title1 = Come On Come On
| extra1 = [[Mano (singer)|Mano]]
| length1 = 5:20
| title2 = Malargaley
| extra2 = [[K. S. Chithra]], [[Hariharan (singer)|Hariharan]]
| length2 = 7:15
| title3 = Naalai Ulagam
| extra3 = [[P. Unnikrishnan|Unnikrishnan]], [[Sujatha Mohan]]
| length3 = 7:27
| title4 = No Problem
| extra4 = [[Apache Indian]], [[A. R. Rahman]]
| length4 = 6:13
| title5 = Samba Samba
| extra5 = Aslam Mustafa
| length5 = 5:28
}}

=== Hindi ===

{{tracklist
| headline =
| all_lyrics = P.K. Mishra, Mehboob
| all_music =
| extra_column = Singer(s)
| title1 = Come On Come On
| extra1 = [[Udit Narayan]]
| length1 = 5:20
| title2 = Milgaye Milgaye
| extra2 = [[K. S. Chithra]], [[Hariharan (singer)|Hariharan]]
| length2 = 7:15
| title3 = Na Ho Kal Jab
| extra3 = [[S. P. Balasubrahmanyam]], [[Sujatha Mohan]]
| length3 = 7:27
| title4 = No Problem
| extra4 = [[Apache Indian]], [[A. R. Rahman]]
| length4 = 6:13
| title5 = Samba Samba
| extra5 = Aslam Mustafa
| length5 = 5:28
}}

=== Telugu ===

{{tracklist
| headline =
| all_lyrics = [[Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry]]
| all_music =
| extra_column = Singer(s)
| title1 = Come On Come On
| extra1 = [[Mano (singer)|Mano]]
| length1 = 5:20
| title2 = Manasuga Manasuga
| extra2 = [[K. S. Chitra]], [[Hariharan (singer)|Hariharan]]
| length2 = 7:15
| title3 = Repe Lokam
| extra3 = Unnikrishnan, [[Sujatha Mohan]]
| length3 = 7:27
| title4 = No Problem
| extra4 = [[Apache Indian]], [[A. R. Rahman]]
| length4 = 6:13
| title5 = Samba Samba
| extra5 = Aslam Mustafa
| length5 = 5:28
}}

==Release==
The film opened in January 1996. The film opened days earlier in Malaysia than India and was shown across 27 theaters in the country, a figure only usually exceeded for Tamil films starring [[Rajinikanth]], and this mirrors the large release the film received.<ref name="nst"/> Vijayan of ''[[The New Straits Times]]'' gave a positive review saying, "This movie seems made for courting couples, especially those who are facing problems with disapproving parents" and added that "strong dialogue makes the film rise slight above the ordinary".<ref name="nst"/>

''Love Birds'' however became an average grosser at the box office but was a little better than Prabhudeva's next, ''[[Mr. Romeo]]''. The actor thus had to go through a slump in his film career.<ref>https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=svxOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PRUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4889,5608258&dq=mr+romeo+prabhu+deva&hl=en</ref> The film was later dubbed and released in Telugu and Hindi under the same title.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|id=0353675|title=Love Birds}}
{{A. R. Rahman}}
{{P. Vasu}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Love Birds (Film)}}
[[Category:1996 films]]
[[Category:Indian films]]
[[Category:Tamil-language films]]
[[Category:1990s Tamil-language films]]
[[Category:Films scored by A. R. Rahman]]
[[Category:Films directed by P. Vasu]]
[[Category:Indian romantic drama films]]
[[Category:1996 romantic drama films]]
[[Category:Tamil remakes of Kannada films]]

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Love Birds (1996 film)