Locations in Europe: Spain, Netherlands
Storyline
Star(s): Jiiva, Ileana D’Cruz, Srikanth, Joseph Vijay
Songs/Dance: Located in Spain and Netherlands.
Indian/ International Crew: Indian and international
Language: Tamil
Director/Producer: Siddharth Anand (Director); Aditya Chopra, Alexander Dostal, Maxim Ajjawi, Keshav Purushot
Director/Producer: Director: Shankar Producers: Manohar Prasad, Ravi Shankar Prasad
Film Location Analysis
By Veena Hariharan
‘Asku Laska’ Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7-q2P5uZzs
Riya (Ileana D’cruz) loves Panchavan (Joseph Vijay) and imagines a life together with him. This fantasy sequence in the song is shot at different exotic locations by Shankar known for his experiments with foreign locales. In this film, he seems to be nodding to his other films similarly shot in exotic milieus. The song ‘Asku Laska’, which is an ode to the word ‘love’ in sixteen languages—from Turkish, Slovakian, Russian etc to the Indian languages of Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada.
The lyrics penned by Madan Karky go like this:
“Aah asku laska amo amo aai/ asthu asthu laibae/ ha habo bolinga chintha chintha/ isku isku meela/ Love ista prema piyaaro piyaaro/
oru kadhal undhan mele.”‘I joined words/ from all the languages/ Made a flower/ by knotting those words/ And I showed my love by giving it to you.”
To match the lyrics, the song also switches between the foreign locations of Netherlands, Spain, and India. It opens in a sequence set in the tulip fields of Netherlands’ Keukenhof Tulip Garden, in an obvious nod to the hit song in his own film Anniyan (2005), set amid the tulip gardens. As the camera follows the actors amid close-ups of the tulips, they are seen serenading each other with the song ‘Asku Laksa’. A group of nuns also figure in the scene swaying to the lyrics in support of the love of the young couple.
[The Keukenhof is the largest bulb park in the world and covers over 30 hectares and 15 kilometres of footpaths with 7 million flower bulbs planted by hand every year. The result is simply breath taking; even photos cannot quite do justice to the splendour of acres of blooming tulips during the tulip season. The ideal season to visit the Keukenhof is said to be between March and May, also known as the tulip season. During the short two-month period that it is open to the public each spring, the Keukenhof receives hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world. The Keukenhof is situated in the heart of a tulip-growing territory between Amsterdam and the Hague. The gardens are primarily designed in the classic English landscape style but contain many examples of other garden styles.]
This sequence cuts abruptly to the La Defense building in Spain, again a nod to the superhit song featuring the Tamil superstar Rajnikanth, ‘Oru Koodai Sunlight’ from his own film Sivaji (2007). The actors are now dressed in black leather costumes, also reminiscent of the song, including Panchavan and Riya’s hairdos for the sequence. As quick cuts capture the dynamic energy of the actors and their entourage as they dance to the amped up music, the lighting and cinematography enhance the multicoloured glass panelled facades. As the colours reflect the changes with the time of day and the angle of incident sunlight, the reflections, including a close-up of the actors’ sunglasses reflecting the heroine, highlights this theme.
[The La Defense office complex is well integrated structure. The external facade reflects the urban context, while the interior facades of the courtyards have been designed with the office tenants in mind. These facades are clad with glass panels with an integrated multicoloured foil. The colours reflect changes with the time of day and the angle of incident sunlight, brightening the courtyards.]
Again, the sequence cuts without warning to the third location—the Crystal Palace in a sequence reminiscent of the ‘Sahaan Saraal’ song from Sivaji. The heroine and her entourage are now dressed in sheer period costumes as they remind one of apsaras dancing in heaven, or nymphs or princesses of yore. As they shimmer and dance, their reflections caught by the camera and light, their movements are enhanced by the reflecting effects of the glass walls and high domes of the Crystal Palace. Vijay, now dressed as a dapper prince from a colonial historical novel enters the frame in a horse-driven chariot that takes him to the sunlit courtyard. Carrying forward the theme of reflections from the previous sequence, a mirror reflects the sun onto the hero’s face.
[Located in the centre of the Buen Retiro Park in central Madrid is an imposing glass palace modelled on London's Crystal Palace. The Palacio de Cristal, in the shape of a Greek cross, is made almost entirely of glass set in an iron framework on a brick base, which is decorated with ceramics. Its domed roofs make the structure over 22 metres high. The glass palace was created in 1887 to house exotic flora and fauna.]
Additional Information & Links
Promos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZe9pjHknjc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNDldGqh3kk
Tourism
