Bangalore Naatkal

Bangalore Naatkal
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Bhaskar
Produced by	Prasad V. Potluri
Written by	T. Gnanavel — Pon Parthiban (dialogues)
Story by	Anjali Menon
Based on	Bangalore Days by Anjali Menon
Starring	Arya Sri Divya Bobby Simha Rana Daggubati Raai Laxmi Parvathy Samantha Ruth Prabhu
Narrated by	Bobby Simha
Music by	Gopi Sunder
Cinematography	K. V. Guhan
Edited by	Marthand K. Venkatesh
Production companies	PVP Cinema Bommarillu Bhaskar Cinema
Distributed by	PVP Cinema
Release dates	5 February 2016 (2016-02-05)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Bangalore Naatkal (English: Bangalore Days) is an Indian Tamil comedy drama film directed by Bommarillu Bhaskar, which is a remake of the 2014 Malayalam film Bangalore Days written and directed by Anjali Menon. Featuring an ensemble cast consisting of Arya, Sri Divya, and Bobby Simha in the lead roles, it tells the story of three cousins who live their childhood dream of living and enjoying in the city of Bangalore. It also stars Rana Daggubati, Raai Laxmi, Parvathy and Samantha Ruth Prabhu in other pivotal roles. Produced by Prasad V Potluri under his banner PVP cinema, the film released on 5 February 2016.

Plot

The film's story revolves around three cousins Divya "Ammu" Raghavan (Sri Divya), Kannan "Kutty" (Bobby Simha) and Arjun "Ajju" (Arya), who share a close bond since their childhood. Kannan is a software engineer whose heart and soul is back home in his village. Arjun, whose parents are divorced, is a bike mechanic who lives his life on his own terms. Divya had completed her B.Com and aspired to do her MBA from IIM but is compelled to get married to workaholic corporate executive Shivaprasad "Prasad" (Rana Daggubati) because of her family astrologer's suggestions. After their wedding, Divya moves to Bangalore as Prasad is settled there. Kannan does the same for his job while Arjun joins a biker gang as a mechanic in the same city.

Divya feels emotionally alone as Prasad often goes on long corporate trips and ignores her. Her only solace is the time she gets to spend with her cousins Arjun and Kannan. One day, upon inspecting a room in their apartment that Prasad never lets anyone enter, she is shocked to find it filled with photos, knick knacks and possessions of a strange girl (Samantha Ruth Prabhu). In thought of not having a place in Prasad's heart and life, she leaves Prasad and returns home to her village in sorrow.

Naive Kannan, who wants a traditional, modest, saree-clad girl for a wife, falls in love with an air hostess named Lakshmi (Raai Laxmi) on a flight from Bangalore to Coimbatore. They date and Kannan changes from a reserved and shy person to a trendy person to impress her. But his dreams are shattered when her ex-boyfriend arrives at her apartment and he realises that she was only trying to get back with him. He breaks off his relationship with her.

Arjun was a bike racer but due to a foul incident, he is forced to serve a one-year ban from racing. He falls for a radio jockey named Sarah (Parvathy), but when he finally meets her in person, he finds that she is a paraplegic. He starts to like her attitude and follows her. They became good friends but Arjun is saddened when he learns that Sarah is to leave for Australia on a University scholarship.

Meanwhile, as Divya and Prasad are in the middle of getting a divorce, Arjun learns that a few years back, Prasad was a bike racer. He then went by the name Shiva and was the leader of his biker gang. Shiva had given up on racing after he was involved in an accident that killed his girlfriend Grace Francis (Samantha Ruth Prabhu). Upon knowing what happened, Divya decides to return to Bangalore and takes up her MBA. She gradually wins over a repentant Prasad and soon arranges for him to meet Grace's parents. After the meeting, Prasad is able to let go of his past. Divya forgives him and they get their marital life on track.

Arjun gets a chance to race on the same day that Sarah has to leave for Australia. With Divya, Kannan and Prasad cheering for him, he wins the race. After the race, Arjun realises how much important Sarah is to him and his life. He pleads with her not to go to Australia. Sarah forgoes her scholarship to stay with him in Bangalore.

In the end, Kannan gets married to his neighbour in Bangalore, a European Bharathanatyam dancer, Michelle (Paris Laxmi), who has embraced the culture of India. The film ends with Divya, Prasad, Arjun, and Sarah breaking into their room and all of them posing for a photo.

Cast

• Arya as Arjun "Ajju"
• Sri Divya as Divya Raghavan "Ammu"
• Bobby Simha as Kannan "Kutty"
• Rana Daggubati as Shivaprasad "Prasad" & "Shiva"
• Raai Laxmi as Lakshmi
• Parvathy as RJ Sarah Elizabeth
• Samantha Ruth Prabhu in a cameo appearance as Grace Francis
• Prakash Raj in a special appearance as Francis, Grace's father
• Saranya Ponvannan as Kannan's mother
• Rekha as Sarah's mother
• Vinaya Prasad as Mrs Francis, Grace's mother
• M. S. Bhaskar as Kannan's father
• Pattimandram Raja as Raghavan, Divya's father
• Sriranjini as Divya's mother
• Paris Laxmi as Michelle
• Prince
• Sijoy Varghese as Coach Zechriah
• Sajid Yahiya as Saamy

Production

Development

The success of Anjali Menon's 2014 romantic drama film Bangalore Days, prompted producers Dil Raju and Prasad V Potluri to acquire the Tamil and Telugu remake rights for the film in June 2014. Bommarillu Bhaskar was signed on to direct the film, while the producers sought to cast the seven lead roles from actors who were renowned in both the Tamil and Telugu film industries. Initial reports suggested that the main lead role portrayed by Dulquer Salman would be played by Arya and the roles of the other two cousins, originally Nivin Pauly and Nazriya Nazim would be played by Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu. Siddharth was also approached to portray the supporting role played by Fahadh Faasil, while Prasanna and Bharath were also linked to roles in the film. Similarly reports suggested that Nani and Sharwanand were being considered to portray two of the lead roles instead. The team also approached Nazriya to be a part of the cast, but the actress was reluctant to feature in films after her marriage. However a delay in casting led to the film being delayed till the following year.

Casting

In January 2015, the official cast of the film was announced with Arya, Siddharth and Samantha selected, as initially expected. Nithya Menen was also added to the cast to play a different character instead of her role from the original. Meanwhile, Bobby Simha and Sunil were also signed on to play the same role, with Simha in the Tamil film and Sunil in the Telugu version. Simha had requested PVP Cinemas to cast him in the role after being approached by the production studio for a different film. However, by the end of the month, Siddharth and Samantha exited amidst speculation that the pair were uncomfortable to feature opposite each other, after a recent break-up. Subsequently Rana Daggubati and Sri Divya were bought into replace the pair, while Parvathy opted to reprise her role from the original ahead of Nithya. Raai Laxmi was signed on to portray the role played by Isha Talwar, while it was reported that Nayantara was in talks to portray a guest appearance in the film. Nayantara eventually was replaced by Samantha, who worked on the film for a week, shooting for a guest role. Despite indications that Santhosh Narayanan would be selected to compose the film's music, Gopi Sunder was retained from the original. The film was launched in mid March 2015 in Chennai, with the cast attending the ceremony. It was revealed that the Telugu version of the film would be made by a completely different team led by Dil Raju and would start after the Tamil version.

Music

The soundtrack features 6 songs composed by Gopi Sunder. The song I Want To Fly is the featured in the film as "Unnodu Vazha" with lyrics completley in Tamil instead of the original english version.

Track list

Bangalore Naatkal
Soundtrack album by Gopi Sunder
Released	2016
Recorded	2016
Genre	Film soundtrack
Language	Tamil
Label	Think Music
Producer	Gopi Sunder
Gopi Sunder chronology
Bhale Bhale Magadivoy (2015)Bhale Bhale Magadivoy2015 Bangalore Naatkal (2016) Puli Murugan (2016)Puli Murugan2016

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Naan Maati Konden"		Karthik	3:05
2.	"Aaga Motham Ennai"		Gopi Sunder	5:02
3.	"En Vizhiyin Kanavu"		Gopi Sunder, Anna Katharina Valayil	5:17
4.	"Thodakkam Mangalyam"		Vijay Yesudas, Sachin Warrier, Divya S. Menon	3:52
5.	"Paraparapa Oru Ooru"		Ranjith	3:13
6.	"I Want to Fly/Unnodu Vazha"		Anna Katharina Valayil	3:08

Critical reception

Hindustan Times wrote "Bommarillu Bhaskar’s just opened Tamil work, Bangalore Naatkal -- which is a remake of Anjali Menon’s Bangalore Days in Malayalam -- also lends itself to a good measure of comparison. Honestly, the core idea behind Menon’s work -- about the average Keralite’s craze for Bangalore (Bengaluru) -- does not ring true in Bhaskar’s Tamil edition." The Hindu wrote "Bangalore Naatkal quite worked for me, despite the aforementioned minor niggles. It made me well up at all the right moments, even if it didn’t get me laughing as much as the original." Times of India wrote "this remake works to a large extent (if you haven't seen the original, even better), because the director, Bommarillu Bhaskar hasn't made any drastic change to the original script and manages to capture the emotional drama of the scenes." Rediff wrote "Remakes are never easy and director Bhaskar’s Bangalore Naatkal is far from perfect, but the film does have its moments, especially for those who missed the original." Behindwoods wrote "Overall, despite its lively storyline, Bangalore Naatkal is let down by the treatment and casual performances." IndiaGlitz.com gave 2.8/5 and wrote " Bangalore days is fresh, youthful and certainly a good one time watch with family for its entertainment quotient is spot on

External links

• Bangalore Naatkal at IMDb