Minsara Kanavu (transl. The electric dream) is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language musical romantic comedy film that was co-written and directed by Rajiv Menon. The film stars Arvind Swamy, Prabhu Deva, and Kajol in her Tamil debut, and revolves around Priya (Kajol), a convent student who wants to become a nun. Having returned to India from his studies overseas, Thomas (Swamy)—Priya's childhood friend—falls in love with her following their first meeting at her convent. With the help of hairstylist Deva (Prabhu Deva), who is known for his ability to change woman's minds, Thomas tries to dissuade Priya from her ambition but Deva instead falls in love with her.

AVM Productions wanted to make a film to celebrate their golden jubilee in 1997. The project, which would be titled Minsara Kanavu, was produced by M. Saravanan, M. Balasubramanian, and M. S. Guhan. Menon responded to an advertisement for a director and cinematographer, and made his directorial debut with the film. Venu and Ravi K. Chandran completed the principal photography, and Prabhu Deva choreographed the film. A. R. Rahman composed the soundtrack, which received positive reviews, and the songs "Mana Madurai", "Strawberry", "Thanga Thamarai", and "Vennilave" became popular.

Minsara Kanavu premiered on 14 January 1997 during the Pongal festival and ran in theatres for over 175 days. The film was a commercial success in Tamil Nadu, though it initially opened to mediocre box-office earnings, but its dubbed versions performed poorly in North India and Telugu states. Critical reception to the film was mixed-to-positive; the plot, the cast's performances—particularly that of the lead actors—the screenplay, the cinematography, and the soundtrack were praised. The film won several accolades, including two Cinema Express Awards, one Filmfare Awards South, four National Film Awards, one Screen Awards, and three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.

Plot

Priya is a student at Lawrence School, Ooty known for her friendly, and precocious nature. Since childhood Priya is interested in singing, and church. Priya's father Amalraj is a widower and a clothing industrialist who expects Priya to look after Amalraj Garments, but her main ambition is to become a nun. Amalraj tries to stop this by unsuccessfully trying to arrange a marriage for Priya. Thomas Thangadurai, a non-resident Indian, returns to his home town Ooty after earning PhD from Harvard to look after his father James Thangadurai's business. James, a former associate of Amalraj, had set up his clothing business opposite Amalraj's factory. Amalraj dislikes James due to his boorish and clumsy attitude, even though Thomas and Priya are childhood friends.

Priya, after several years at the convent, unexpectedly meets Thomas, who is visiting his aunt, the Mother Superior of the Lawrence School. He takes Priya's help in surprising his aunt with a gift on her birthday, and falls in love with Priya but is unable to tell her. Thomas is shocked when he learns of Priya's ambition to become a nun; he approaches a hairstylist named Deva, who is known for his ability to change women's minds, to stop her ambition. Deva is hesitant but accepts. Deva and his friend, a blind, aspiring musician named Guru, befriend Priya and persuade her to join their music troupe. Priya's singing talent helps the troupe gain recognition and they are approached to audition for a film. Deva, Guru, and the rest of the troupe play tricks to make Priya fall in love with Thomas. Deva soon realises that he is also falling in love with Priya.

Complications arise when Priya reciprocates Deva's love and Thomas, with the help of Deva, declares his love to Priya. Priya finds out about Deva's reason for his association with her and, feeling betrayed, decides to return to the convent to undergo nun training and fulfil her ambition. She quits Deva's and Guru's troupe at Chennai and leaves. Deva tries to persuade Priya to remain with the troupe but he gets into a serious accident and falls into a coma. Priya undergoes the training but cannot forget Deva. Deva recovers from his coma and is visited by Thomas, who is upset and angry but realises Deva and Priya are meant for each other. Thomas rushes to the convent on the day Priya is to become a nun and, with the help of the Mother Superior, changes her mind and persuades her to marry Deva.

Thomas, now a priest, baptizes the daughter of Deva and Priya, who are married. Deva is looking after his father-in-law's business and Priya is working as a full-time singer. Guru has become a renowned music composer but is facing charges of plagiarism; James redistributes his wealth to everyone.

Cast

Production

Development

AVM Productions wanted to make a film commemorating their 50th anniversary in 1997. They wanted the film Minsara Kanavu, which was produced by M. Saravanan, M. Balasubramanian, and M. S. Guhan, to revolve around young people. Before choosing a director, the three producers approached Prabhu Deva to play the male lead and A. R. Rahman to compose the music. Rahman suggested his friend Rajiv Menon, then an advertisement director and film cinematographer, to direct the project. Menon thought about the offer for two months, saying he was not "mentally prepared" to direct a film. Initially reluctant, he was persuaded to direct the project by Rahman and filmmaker Mani Ratnam, and so this became his directorial debut. Menon wrote Minsara Kanavu's story, which is based on Robert Wise's 1965 film The Sound of Music; he also co-wrote the screenplay with V. C. Guhanathan in English.

Casting

Arvind Swamy was cast as Thomas, a non-resident Indian who, after returning from his studies abroad, meets and falls in love with his childhood friend Priya; he had earlier been Menon's replacement for the lead role in the 1992 film Roja. Menon's wife Latha suggested the Bollywood actor Kajol to play Priya, making Minsara Kanavu one of her only two appearances in Tamil cinema—the other being in Velaiilla Pattadhari 2 (2017). He originally wanted Aishwarya Rai for the role but felt she was "too stylish" and that he wanted a woman "who looked Indian". He recommended her to Ratnam, whom he thought was better than her; she would instead star in Ratnam's Iruvar (1997), her acting debut. Another actress, Madhuri Dixit, was chosen but she rejected the offer due to her busy acting schedule. Kajol said working on Minsara Kanavu was an "unforgettable experience", and that she was happy Menon gave her the part immediately after the earlier choices rejected it. Kajol, a non-Tamil speaker, had her voice dubbed by Revathi.

Prabhu Deva, the first actor to be cast in the film, played the hairstylist Deva and also choreographed the film. The producers chose Vikram to dub him; Menon said they "wanted a new voice for Prabhu Deva". Nassar, playing the aspiring musician Guru, found the part fun and working in the film to be a "delightful experience". He described the character as high-spirited and added that "it was like, going through my youth again. Dancing, for instance—I never thought I could dance, but in this film I did it and loved it too." Janaki Sabesh, who was later known for portraying mother roles, made her acting debut in Minsara Kanavu by playing a nun. S. P. Balasubrahmanyam was chosen to play Thomas' father James. In his obituary published by The Hindu in 2020, Menon said Balasubrahmanyam was "so enthusiastic and joyous on [the] set", noting that it was interesting to see him acting opposite Girish Karnad, who played Priya's father Amalraj.

Filming

Venu and Ravi K. Chandran did the principal photography on Minsara Kanavu, and Chandran was credited with providing additional cinematography. Asked on his decision to not handle the cinematography, Menon said working as a director and cinematographer simultaneously could make him not "pay attention to both the departments equally". Menon even approached his mentor Ashok Mehta to handle the cinematography, but Mehta could not accept due to other commitments. Saravanan's brother Palu's daughter Lakshmipriya, who had returned from her costume design studies in Singapore, designed the costumes. Thota Tharani finished the art direction, Vikram Dharma was the action director, and Prabhu Deva, Farah Khan, and Saroj Khan did the choreography. Filming took place at Lawrence School, Lovedale; in preparation, Menon interacted with several Christian priests. The song "Thanga Thamarai" was filmed at an artificial waterfall, while the filming for "Poo Pookkum Osai" took place as AVM's studios in Madras (now Chennai) and Ooty, Kullu, and Manali. Filming took between 70 and 75 days, and the footage was edited by Suresh Urs.

Soundtrack

Minsara Kanavu's soundtrack album includes six songs that were composed by A. R. Rahman with lyrics by Vairamuthu. Recording of the tracks took place at Panchathan Record Inn. The film used different ragas (melodic modes) throughout the soundtrack, with the choral music being written in Sankarabharanam, and the song "Anbendra Mazhayile in Anandabhairavi. In an interview with Frontline Balasubrahmanyam said of the recording session of "Thanga Thamarai": "[I]t required a tone that reflected the feelings of someone totally smitten and intoxicated by love. The character singing the song in the film is on a high after finding his girl." He said he tried to imitate the composer, who helped to record vocals for the singer. Rahman chose K. S. Chithra for the song "Mana Madurai", also known as "Ooh La La La". He advised Chithra not to sing as she usually does but to completely open her voice to sing the track. The re-edited version of the track was featured on the international musical Bombay Dreams.

The soundtrack album was released on 25 December 1996, with the cast and crew attending the event and M. K. Stalin, the then-Mayor of Chennai, as the chief guest. Lyrics for the dubbed-Telugu soundtrack were written by Vennelakanti. Javed Akhtar wrote lyrics for the Hindi version of the soundtrack and a new song titled "Teri Meri Baat" was added.

Release

Minsara Kanavu was released on 14 January 1997 during the Pongal festival released at the same time as Ratnam's Iruvar, with which it competed. On its opening, Minsara Kanavu drew mediocre box-office earnings but it was eventually a success after running for 216 days in Chennai. On 3 August 1997, an event was held to celebrate its silver jubilee. In order to celebrate the film's silver jubilee, AVM collaborated with 3 Roses tea brand and conducted a contest where audience who answered questions from the film will be travelling in a special train with cast and crew specially organized for the film's silver jubilee.

Minsara Kanavu's Telugu-dubbed version Merupu Kalalu, which was also released on 14 January, was a commercial disappointment. Screen suggested the possibility of the film, whose themes are intended for youths, being rejected by youths themselves. The magazine also thought that this was due to the producers, who took "a gamble in acquiring the rights of the films without knowing anything of their story or content". Minsara Kanavu was dubbed into Hindi as Sapnay, which premiered on 2 May 1997 and also failed commercially. The result of the Hindi version caused Menon to stop dubbing his films into that language.

Critical reception

Minsara Kanavu received mixed response from critics. S. R. of Kalki praised the film's cinematography and music but criticised the plot and found the climax tiring. K. N. Vijiyan, who reviewed the film for the New Straits Times, likened its plot with that of a Hollywood film, finding it to be "vaguely similar. But even so, it has been adapted well to suit Indian culture." Calling the film "good entertainment", he lauded its screenplay and Kajol's performance, adding that she was at her best when she is "her naughty self or belting out songs" such as "Maana Madurai". Writing for The Indian Express, M. S. M. Desai was ambivalent about the Hindi dubbed version Sapnay, saying it is filled with many songs and dances that make "the pace of the narrative dull and drab".

Initial responses to the soundtrack were unfavourable; Desai said Rahman "fails miserably to come up with catchy numbers", but reception improved in the 21st century. The songs "Mana Madurai", "Strawberry", "Thanga Thamarai", and "Vennilave" became popular. A critic from Behindwoods stated Rahman's work is "an electrifying effort", noting it as one of the rarest albums in which all of the songs were chartbusters.

Accolades

Award	Category	Recipient(s) and nominee(s)	Ref.
Cinema Express Awards	Best Lyrics Writer	Vairamuthu
	Best Cinematography	Venu
Dinakaran Cinema Awards	Best Music Director	A. R. Rahman
Filmfare Awards South	Best Music Director – Tamil	A. R. Rahman
National Film Awards	Best Music Direction	A. R. Rahman
	Best Male Playback Singer	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam for "Thanga Thamarai"
	Best Female Playback Singer	K. S. Chithra for "Mana Madurai"
	Best Choreography	Prabhu Deva for "Strawberry" and "Vennilave"
Screen Awards	Best Music – Tamil	A. R. Rahman
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards	Best Music Director	A. R. Rahman
	Best Male Playback Singer	Unni Menon for "Mana Madurai"
	Best Female Playback Singer	Sujatha Mohan for "Poo Pookkum Oosai"