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{{Short description|2000 film by K. S. Ravikumar}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Thenali
| image = Thenali.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| writer = [[Crazy Mohan]]
| screenplay = [[K. S. Ravikumar]]
| starring = [[Kamal Haasan]] [[Jayaram]] [[Devayani (actress)|Devayani]] [[Jyothika]]
| director = [[K. S. Ravikumar]]
| producer = K. S. Ravikumar R. Karpagam
| distributor = R. K. Celluloids
| studio = R. K. Celluloids
| released = {{film date|df=y|2000|10|26}}
| runtime = 165 minutes<ref>https://www.myreviewer.com/DVD/29105/Thenali-Ayngaran-International-Region-Free/About</ref>
| cinematography = [[Priyan (cinematographer)|Priyan]]
| editing = K. Thanikachalam
| country = India
| language = Tamil
| music = [[A. R. Rahman]]
| budget =
| gross = {{INRConvert|10|c|year=2000}}<ref>{{cite news|url=http://i49.tinypic.com/14mthlx.jpg|title=The boss, no doubt|work=[[Business Today (business magazine)|Business Today]]|author=Krishna Gopalan|date=29 July 2007|access-date=25 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812182923/http://i49.tinypic.com/14mthlx.jpg|archive-date=12 August 2019}}</ref>
}}
'''''Thenali''''' is a 2000 Indian [[Tamil language|Tamil]]-language [[comedy film]] produced and directed by [[K. S. Ravikumar]] and written by [[Crazy Mohan]]. The film stars [[Kamal Haasan]] in the title role, while [[Jayaram]], [[Devayani (actress)|Devayani]] and [[Jyothika]] did the supporting roles. The film's music was composed by [[A. R. Rahman]]. The film's cinematography and editing was handled by Priyan and K. Thanigachalam respectively.

The film revolves around a senior psychiatrist who is jealous of his junior doctor Kailash getting all attention sends Thenali Soman, a disturbed Sri Lankan Tamil to prove his methods a failure. Kailash who is annoyed by the presence of Thenali tries various ways to throw him out of home, the rest of the film shows whether he succeeds or not.

The film opened in 26 October 2000<ref>{{Cite web|title=#20YearsOfThenali: The film which made Kamal Haasan Ulaga Nayagan - Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/news/20yearsofthenali-the-film-which-made-kamal-haasan-ulaga-nayagan/articleshow/78876089.cms|access-date=2020-10-27|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref> to positive reviews from critics and was a commercial success at the Tamil Nadu box-office. The film won three [[Tamil Nadu State Film Awards]], including a [[Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize|Special Jury]] award for Jayaram's performance as Dr. Kailash. The story of the film was inspired by the <abbr>1991</abbr> American film ''[[What About Bob?]]''.

== Plot ==
Thenali Soman is a [[Sri Lankan Tamils|Sri Lankan Tamil]] refugee who has come to [[Chennai]] for psychiatric treatment. This is because of numerous [[phobia]]s he has developed due to the [[Sri Lankan Civil War]]. Panchabhootham and his assistant, the doctors treating Thenali, are jealous of a relatively junior doctor Kailash getting all the media attention. They send Thenali over to him, believing his failure to cure Thenali of his phobias will derail his success. Soon after their first appointment, Kailash heads to his home in [[Kodaikanal]] on a vacation with his wife Jalaja and his two children Arjun and Aishwarya. Kailash tells Thenali to wait until after the vacation before his therapy can begin, but Panchabhootham asks for Thenali to go meet Kailash while on vacation.

Thenali reaches Kailash's Kodaikanal home. He falls in love with Janaki, Kailash's younger sister, which is vehemently opposed by the latter. The whole film is about how Kailash goes mad with Thenali's antics and even begins to suspect that his wife has an affair with Thenali, as she has a soft corner for the latter. He even tries to kill Thenali by tying him to a tree with a [[time bomb]]. Thenali, thinking it is a fake bomb used only to relieve him from his fears, removes it and puts it in Kailash's house where it explodes. Seeing this, Kailash suffers a paralytic attack. Thenali later marries Janaki.

While Thenali, Kailash, and family are at a picnic, Thenali's long-lost wife shows up and reunites with him. Enraged, Kailash jumps out of his wheelchair and berates Thenali for ruining Janaki's life, but soon realises this was all a set-up by Thenali to cure Kailash's paralysis through a drama, which succeeded; the woman was actually actress [[Meena (actress)|Meena]], who Thenali hired to pose as his wife. Kailash thanks Thenali and realises his mistake. All of them reconcile to a happy ending.

== Cast ==
{{colbegin}}
* [[Kamal Haasan]] as Thenali Soman
* [[Jayaram]] as Dr.Kailash
* [[Devayani (actress)|Devayani]] as Jalaja, Dr.Kailash's wife
* [[Jyothika]] as Janaki, Dr.Kailash's sister and Thenali's Love interest
* [[Delhi Ganesh]] as Dr. Panchabhootham
* [[Charle]] as Guide Kanthaswamy
* [[Ramesh Khanna]] as Dr. Panchabhootham's assistant
* [[Madhan Bob]] as "Diamond" Babu
* Master Suraj as Arjun, Kailash's son
* Baby Taj Nisha as Aishwarya, Kailash's daughter
* [[Crane Manohar]] as Servant
* [[Lavanya (actress)|Lavanya]] as Raj TV Reporter
* Bayilvan Ranganathan as Inspector
* Karnaa Radha
* [[Meena (actress)|Meena]] as Meena (cameo)
* [[C. R. Vijayakumari]] as mental patient (cameo)
* B. H. Abdul Hameed as himself (cameo)
* [[K. S. Ravikumar]] as himself (cameo)
{{colend}}

== Production ==
[[Kamal Haasan]] approached [[K. S. Ravikumar]] to make the film after the success of the director's ''[[Padayappa]]'' featuring [[Rajinikanth]] and the film took four months to be scripted by K. S. Ravikumar, Kamal Haasan and [[Crazy Mohan]].<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20000818180653/http://www.tamilstar.com/topnews/thenaali2.shtml</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cinematoday2.itgo.com/thenali.htm |title=Thenali |publisher=Cinematoday2.itgo.com |access-date=18 October 2012}}</ref> The story of the film was inspired by the 1991 American film ''[[What About Bob?]]'' directed by [[Frank Oz]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.sify.com/movies/from-ghajini-to-yaan--remake-inspiration-or-plagiarism-imagegallery-4-kollywood-olzlcaadchibg.html|title=From 'Ghajini' to 'Yaan': Remake, inspiration or plagiarism?|work=Sify|access-date=26 July 2017|language=en}}</ref> [[Mohanlal]] and [[Simran (actress)|Simran]] were the original choice for the role of Kailash and Janaki, but [[Jayaram]] and [[Jyothika]] later took the roles.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.idlebrain.com/movie/archive/mr-tenali.html |title=Tenali |last=Jeevi |date=26 October 2000 |website=[[Idlebrain.com]] |access-date=18 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2000/aug/18tt.htm |title=Slap in the face for Kamal |date=18 August 2000 |work=Rediff.com |access-date=18 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://cinematoday2.itgo.com/Interviews-jothika.htm |title=Jothika: 'Critics have compared my acting to Savitri's' |website=Cinematoday2.itgo.com |access-date=18 October 2012}}</ref> Actress [[Meena (actress)|Meena]] was approached for the role of Jalaja but later on signed by the producers to appear in the second half of the film.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2000/aug/04ss.htm |title= No kiss for this miss |last=Rajitha |date=4 August 2000 |website=Rediff.com |access-date=12 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kerals.com/kerala/interview-with-meena/ |title=Interview with Meena |date=9 February 2010 |website=Kerals.com |access-date=18 October 2012}}</ref> [[Vivek (actor)|Vivek]] rejected the film as he felt that he "didn't have the best laugh lines".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rediff.com/movies/2000/jun/07spice.htm |title=Vivek turns down Tenali |last=Rajitha |date=7 June 2000 |work=Rediff.com |access-date=18 October 2012}}</ref> The film was launched at the Kalaivanar Arangam in [[Chennai]] on 22 March 2000 with [[Y. Gee. Mahendra]] as compere and with Rajinikanth as chief guest.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pvv.ntnu.no/~kailasan/news.htm |title=thennali |date=15 August 2000 |website=Tamilstar |access-date=18 October 2012}}</ref>

Kamal Haasan played a [[Sri Lankan Tamils|Sri Lankan Tamil]] in the film and to get the accent right, he took lessons from television host, Abdul Hameed.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rediff.com/movies/2000/sep/21tamil.htm |title=Thenali: A Kisstory! |last=Rajitha |date=21 September 2000 |work=Rediff.com |access-date=18 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.chennaionline.com/reeltalk/oct402.asp |title=Good Teacher, Good Pupil |last=Rasika |date=2000 |website=Chennai Online |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041103052620/http://www.chennaionline.com/reeltalk/oct402.asp |archive-date=3 November 2004 |url-status=bot: unknown |access-date=23 February 2018}}</ref> Scenes were shot predominantly in [[Ooty]], while some song sequences were shot in [[New Zealand]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/2000/09/11/stories/13110694.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180223053623/http://www.thehindu.com/2000/09/11/stories/13110694.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 February 2018 |title="Crorepathi" spin-offs are here |last=Ashok Kumar |first=S. R. |date=11 September 2000 |work=[[The Hindu]] |access-date=23 February 2018}}</ref> The shoot of the film was completed in 25 days.<ref>https://www.rediff.com/movies/2006/jun/29jayaram.htm</ref>

== Soundtrack ==
{{Infobox album
| name = Thenali
| type = [[soundtrack]]
| artist = [[A. R. Rahman]]
| cover =
| alt =
| released = 2000
| recorded = [[Panchathan Record Inn and AM Studios|Panchathan Record Inn]]
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = [[Soundtrack|Feature Film Soundtrack]]
| length = 35:55
| label = Star Music [[Saregama|Sa Re Ga Ma]]
| producer = [[A. R. Rahman]]
| prev_title = [[Rhythm (2000 film)|Rhythm]]
| prev_year = 2000
| next_title = [[Zubeidaa]]
| next_year = 2000
}}

The soundtrack of the film was composed by [[A. R. Rahman]], with lyrics written predominantly by newcomers. The album also featured the song "Injerungo", which became the first noted song of lyricist [[Thamarai]], who used [[Jaffna]] slang within the song.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-cinemaplus/grillmill/article3023263.ece |title=Grillmill |last=Ashok Kumar |first=S. R. |date=22 August 2008 |work=The Hindu |access-date=18 October 2012}}</ref> Due to the rift between Rahman and Vairamuthu the lyricist has been replaced by newcomers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pvv.ntnu.no/~kailasan/news.htm |title=www.arrahman.nu – news |publisher=Pvv.ntnu.no |access-date=18 October 2012}}</ref> The song "Swasame Swasame" was re-used in the final scene of the American film ''[[The Accidental Husband]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.radioandmusic.com/entertainment/editorial/news/160106-40-times-world-celebrated-rahmans-legacy | title=40 times world celebrated Rahman's legacy | publisher=Radioandmusic.com | date=6 January 2016 | access-date=4 February 2017}}</ref> The song is set in Hamirkalyani raga.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/chen-columns/the-joy-of-hamirkalyani/article5124087.ece|title=The joy of Hamirkalyani|last=Mani|first=Charulatha|date=13 September 2013|work=The Hindu|access-date=1 January 2019|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

=== Tamil ===
{| class="wikitable tracklist"
! Song !! Singer(s) !! Lyrics !! Duration
|-
| "Athini Sithini"
| [[Hariharan (singer)|Hariharan]], [[Chitra Iyer|Chitra Sivaraman]], [[Kamal Haasan]]
|[[Arivumathi]]
| 5:32
|-
| "Swasame Swasame"
| [[S. P. Balasubrahmanyam]], [[Sadhana Sargam]]
| [[Pa. Vijay]]
| 5:42
|-
| "Injerungo Injerungo"
| Kamal Haasan, [[K. S. Chithra]]
| [[Thamarai]]
| 6:16
|-
| "Porkalam Ange"
| [[Srinivas (singer)|Srinivas]], [[Gopika Poornima]]
| [[Piraisoodan]]
| 6:32
|-
| "Alangatti Mazhai"
| Kamal Haasan, Srinivas, [[Sujatha Mohan]], Baby Silono Rath & [[Sharanya Srinivas|Baby Sharanya Srinivas]]
| Kalaikumar
| 5:24
|-
| "Thenali"
| [[Shankar Mahadevan]], [[Clinton Cerejo]]
| Ilayakamban
| 6:10
|}

=== Telugu ===
{| class="wikitable tracklist"
! Song !! Singer(s) !! Lyrics !! Duration
|-
| "Poredabatai"
| [[S. P. B. Charan]], Pallavi
| [[Veturi]]
| 6:32
|-
| "Praname"
| [[S. P. Balasubrahmanyam]], [[K. S. Chithra]]
| [[Vennelakanti]]
| 5:42
|-
| "Taalalato Vaana"
| S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, [[S. P. Sailaja]], Saloni, Pardhasarathi & [[Sharanya Srinivas|Saranya]]
| Veturi
| 5:24
|-
| "Thenali"
| S. P. B. Charan, [[Clinton Cerejo]]
|Vennelakanti
| 6:10
|-
| "Yevayo Yevayo"
| S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra
| [[Samavedam Shanmukha Sarma]]
| 6:16
|-
| "Ikkada Tadite Hastini"
| S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. P. Sailaja
| [[Bhuvana Chandra]]
| 5:46
|-
|}

== Release ==
The film released on 26 October 2000. [[The Hindu]] gave a verdict that the film was "a wholesome mix of rip-roaring action, witty dialogues and exotic locales".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hindu.com/2000/11/03/stories/09030225.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020220165741/http://www.hindu.com/2000/11/03/stories/09030225.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 February 2002 |title=Film Review: Thenali |date=3 November 2000 |website=[[The Hindu]] |access-date=18 October 2012}}</ref> [[Rediff.com|Rediff]] stated, "the comedy is on a single track in ''Thenali''" and that "it is more tiresome than humorous".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rediff.com/movies/2000/nov/06thenal.htm |title=The comedy that wasn't |last=Rajitha |date=6 November 2000 |website=Rediff.com |access-date=18 October 2012}}</ref>

''Thenali'' completed 175-day runs across halls in South India.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenindia.com/old/20010119/renews.htm |title=Drop in releases |work=Screen india |access-date=19 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091005153554/http://www.screenindia.com/old/20010119/renews.htm |archive-date=5 October 2009 }}</ref> A success meet was also held with Rajinikanth again attending the function, where Ravikumar revealed that it was the actor who picked the title, ''Thenali''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oocities.org/siliconvalley/Pines/9480/rajni/rajnews.html |title=Latest News about Rajnikanth |publisher=Oocities.org |access-date=18 October 2012}}</ref> It went on to win three [[Tamil Nadu State Film Awards]] with [[Thamarai]] picking up the [[Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Lyricist]] and S. Maniraj won the [[Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Art Director]] in the technical award categories. [[Jayaram]] received a [[Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize]] for his role in the film.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/article/10733.html |title=Tamil Nadu announces film awards for three years |date=1 October 2004 |publisher=IndiaGlitz |access-date=18 October 2012}}</ref> The satellite rights of the film were sold to [[Raj TV]] at a very high price.

The film was dubbed into the Telugu language as ''Tenali'' under the production of singer, [[S. P. Balasubrahmanyam]] and won good reviews.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.idlebrain.com/news/2000march20/news40.html |title=Telugu Cinema Etc |publisher=Idlebrain.com |date=11 September 2000 |access-date=18 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fullhyderabad.com/profile/movies/110/2/tenali-movie-review |title=Tenali review: Tenali (Telugu) Movie Review – fullhyd.com |publisher=Fullhyderabad.com |access-date=18 October 2012}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0262037|Thenali}}

{{K. S. Ravikumar}}
{{A. R. Rahman}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:2000 films]]
[[Category:2000s Tamil-language films]]
[[Category:Films about stalking]]
[[Category:Films directed by K. S. Ravikumar]]
[[Category:Films scored by A. R. Rahman]]
[[Category:Films shot in New Zealand]]
[[Category:Films shot in Ooty]]
[[Category:Indian comedy films]]
[[Category:Indian films]]
[[Category:Tamil-language films]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan Civil War in film]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Crazy Mohan]]
[[Category:2000 comedy films]]

Thenali - Revision history

DIGITALBIRJESH at 09:29, 22 March 2026

imported>Kailash29792: clean up