Amara Kaaviyam

For the 1981 Tamil film, see Amara Kaaviyam (1981 film).

Amara Kaaviyam (transl. Immortal epic) is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film written and directed by Jeeva Shankar and produced by Arya. The film stars Arya's younger brother Sathya and Miya. The movie features a successful soundtrack composed by Ghibran. It opened to positive reviews in September 2014. The film was remade in Bengali in 2020 as Love Story.^[1]

Amara Kaaviyam
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jeeva Shankar
Written by	Jeeva Shankar
Produced by	Arya
Starring	Sathya Miya
Cinematography	Jeeva Shankar
Edited by	Sathish Suriya
Music by	Ghibran
Production companies	The Show People Vignesh Pictures
Release date	5 September 2014 (2014-09-05)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

The movie begins with Jeeva being taken to court, where he recalls his past. In 1988, at the beginning of his 12th grade, his friend Balaji falls in love with their classmate Karthika. Jeeva talks to Karthika but learns that she is actually in love with him. The next day, he accepts her love. Jeeva's father died when he was young, and his mother remarried. Once, when Jeeva and Karthika are out, they are caught by the police, and both their families are informed. Later, when Jeeva goes to apologize to Karthika's parents, he is hit by her father. Meanwhile, Karthika's father applies for a transfer. Jeeva and Karthika promise that they will not meet until their last exam. On the last day, Karthika leaves but gives a letter to Balaji and tells him to give it to Jeeva, but Balaji does not give it and tries to convince Jeeva that Karthika does not love him anymore.

Jeeva and Karthika try to meet each other but in vain. Finally, Jeeva learns Karthika's whereabouts, and they meet. When he meets her, he ends up in a fight with her friend. He goes to her home and asks her if she still loves him. She says no but later feels she should talk to him and marry him the way he asked her as proof, but fate has other plans. The next day when she meets him, he stabs her before she can say anything and later realizes she is still in love with him. He tries to save her, but she dies in his arms. The scene returns to the present, where Jeeva escapes from the police to find Karthika's grave, then jumps off a cliff. The movie ends with Jeeva and Karthika united in heaven, and their names are written on the bark of the tree by Jeeva when they first met.

Cast

• Sathya as Jeeva
• Miya as Karthika
• Ananth Nag as Balaji
• Thambi Ramaiah as Gnanam
• Sudeepa Pinky as Karthika's sister
• Aroul D. Shankar as Chandrasekhar, Jeeva's stepfather
• Rindhuravi as Jeeva's mother
• Vaidyanathan as Karthika's father
• Elizabeth as Karthika's mother
• Supergood Subramani as Petti Kadai owner
• Ashok Pandian as Judge

Production

Following the critical and commercial success of his previous project Naan (2012), director Jeeva Shankar wrote a new script titled Amara Kaaviyam, a college love story set in the 1980s.^[2] Madhan of Escape Artistes Motion Pictures was to produce the film, while Yuvan Shankar Raja was announced as the music composer.^[3] Adharvaa was announced to play the lead role but consequently opted out during pre-production stages, and the production house dropped the film.^[4]

Jeeva Shankar replaced him with Sathya in September 2013 with Sathya's brother, Arya producing the film under his production house, The Show People.^[5][6] Malayalam actress Miya was signed to play the female lead role, making her debut in Tamil films. The film began production in October 2012 in Ooty, with costume designer Sai preparing clothes for the film's 1980s backdrop.^[7] Mia said that she played a school girl named Karthika in the film, a "very cute character", going on to add that she had to act in a lot of emotional scenes and that she would be seen mostly in the school uniform costume and the half saree. She had shot for 45 days in Ooty, with most of her scenes being shot in a set.^[8] Sathya played a school boy named Jeeva, a character that required him to shed more than 10 kg, with the actor stating that the film was an "intense love story...on the lines of Kaadhal Kondein (2003), 7G Rainbow Colony (2004), and Kaadhal (2004)".^[9]

Soundtrack

Main article: Amara Kaaviyam (soundtrack)

The film's score and soundtrack were composed by Ghibran.^[10] The soundtrack album features six tracks, with lyrics written by Madhan Karky, Parvathy, P. Vetriselvan and Asmin. The album was released at Sathyam Cinemas on 27 June 2014 by actresses Trisha Krishnan and Nayantara while director Bala and actresses Pooja Umashankar, Lekha Washington and, Rupa Manjari were also present.^[11]

Release

The satellite rights of the film were sold to STAR Vijay.^[12]

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews .^[13] Sify wrote that "the movie moves at snail pace and the second half of the movie wanders aimlessly before convoluting in a tragic climax. Had the director tweaked his screenplay a little and had made it tight, Amara Kaaviyam would have lived up to its title".^[14] Behindwoods rated the film 2.75 out of 5 and noted that "Amara Kaviyam has brilliant music, great visuals, good acting, wish it had left little more impact".^[15] The Hindu noted that "Amara Kaaviyam, though fleetingly good, isn’t the thriller that it should have been, and isn’t the romance it intended to be".^[16] Rediff wrote "Director Jeeva Sankar has attempted to portray an intense love story and he does succeed to some extent".^[17]