Unnale Unnale

Unnale Unnale (transl. Because of You) is a 2007 Indian

The film revolves around the aftermath of a relationship between a careless man and a serious woman. Despite being in a relationship, the latter walks out on the former due to his antics with other women. However, the man changes his ways and on a business trip to Melbourne, he encounters another woman. This other woman's boss turns out to be the man's former lover. The events that follow and who the man eventually gets together with form the crux of the story.

The film opened to Indian audiences after several delays, on 14 April 2007, coinciding with the

The film opens with a man (Aravind Akash) and woman interviewing civilians on love and the opposite sex. After a mixture of answers, they cease their questions, and the credits roll. The credits end as a boy, after being rejected by his girlfriend, is accidentally hit by a passing car and dies. Karthik (Vinay) walks off, disturbed, to his girlfriend Jhansi's (Sadha) office. There, he is criticized by her for his antics with other women and his lack of passion for their love. She walks off, ending their relationship.

Karthik is then shown as a

While Deepika takes a liking to Karthik, Jhansi ignores him, even though he has hopes of getting back together. At a restaurant, Karthik bumps into a fellow

As the pair have a love-hate relationship, the breakup beckons when Jhansi sends her friend (Vasundhara Kashyap) undercover to flirt with Karthik. However, he lies by claiming that he was at home ill, prompting Jhansi to end their relationship. At the end of the flashback, Vaidyanathan suggests to Karthik that it is more important to move on than think regretfully, and Karthik gets over his relationship with Jhansi. However, finding out about Deepika's love towards Karthik, Jhansi becomes jealous and reinstates her love for Karthik. Soon, as she sees Deepika and Karthik's compatibility and understanding her fault, she finally understands what went wrong in their relationship. Then, Karthik tells her through a meaningful conversation that he still loves her, not Deepika. After this, Jhansi runs away to Sydney surreptitiously.

At the end of the film, the male interviewer who appeared at the start questions Jhansi on her decision to leave anonymously; however, she refuses to answer at first. Later, she replies that though she still loves Karthik, she was unable to understand him well. She knew that it would not work out and that she did not want to hurt Karthik further, thus becoming the sole reason for her departure. She then confirms that she met up with Deepika recently, and had found that she is married to Karthik and they have a child. She then walks away, claiming that her future lies in her own hands, and she is happy the way she is now.

Cast

The cast from the film was minimal, mainly focused on the three lead actors.

• Vinay Rai as Karthik, a fun-loving young man, who, despite being a civil engineer, keeps his main intentions of attracting women. The child in his heart is released when he gets to know Jhansi.
• Sadha as Jhansi, a very reserved and caring young woman who expects Karthik to stay loyal to her.
• Chinmayi
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• Srinath as Vaidyanathan, who meets Karthik in Melbourne and becomes an advisor to him.
• Raju Sundaram as Raju, an energetic friend to Karthik with a severe habit of ruining the situation.
• Sathish as Sathish, a silent friend to Karthik who attempts to reconcile the relationship.
• Uma Padmanabhan as Karthik's sister.
• Vasundhara Kashyap in a cameo role, as a friend of Jhansi whom Karthik meets at the theater on his birthday.
• Aravind Akash in a cameo role, as a male interviewer, alongside a female interviewer. They give a brief introduction on the movie.
• Paloma Rao as Priya, Raju's girlfriend.
• Lekha Washington in a cameo role, as a bride at a wedding attended by her friends of Karthik, Raju and Sathish together with Jhansi joining them as Karthik's girlfriend.

Production

The key elements

The entire production of the film took about a year and a half to be completed and released.^[6] Prior to Unnale Unnale, Jeeva had directed three films, 12B, Ullam Ketkumae and Run, a Hindi film. Unnale Unnale became his last finished film prior to his death on the sets of his next film, Dhaam Dhoom.^[7]

The film was originally announced under the title of July Kaatril (In the Winds of July)^[8] with a scheduled casting of Arya, Sonia Agarwal and Parvati Melton.^[9] However all three of the proposed lead cast opted out of the film. Agarwal cited that her marriage was on the cards and she would find it difficult to sign on for a year, whilst the other two were unable to star in the film due to undisclosed reasons.^[10]

In an interview, Jeeva said, "Romance always finds a special place in Tamil films. My new film July Kaatril is also about love", confirming it was a romantic flick.^[11] While Harris Jayaraj was signed on as the music director with Kavignar Vaali and Pa. Vijay assisting him with the lyrics, Jeeva's wife, Aneez was signed as a costume designer.^[12]

Casting, location and music

The casting of

The film was mostly shot in

The film has six songs composed by Harris Jayaraj with the lyrics primarily penned by Vaali and Pa. Vijay. The audio of the film released nationwide on 24 January 2007, three months prior to the movie release.^[19] Sify gave a positive rating stating "Full marks to Harris Jeyaraj for the songs especially the “Unnale Unnale...”, “June Pona...” and the background score which stays long after you leave the hall. They are picturised aesthetically in never-seen-before locations with utmost care going into details. "^[20] The soundtrack was highly acclaimed and won the "Youthful Album of the Year" award at "Tamil Music Awards". Harris Jayaraj was also nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director and the Vijay Award for Best Music Director.^[21] The song "June Ponal" is based on All Rise by Blue.^[22]