Ninaithale Inikkum (2009 film)

Ninaithale Inikkum (transl. Sweet Memories) is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language coming of age drama film written and directed by G. N. R. Kumaravelan. It is a remake of the 2006 Malayalam film Classmates. The film was produced by Gemini Film Circuit and distributed by Sun Pictures. Prithviraj Sukumaran reprises his role from the original film, alongside Shakthi Vasu, Priyamani, Karthik Kumar, Anuja Iyer, and Vishnupriyan. The soundtrack was composed by Vijay Antony with cinematography handled by Balasubramaniem and editing by A. Sreekar Prasad.

Ninaithale Inikkum
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	G. N. R. Kumaravelan
Screenplay by	G. N. R. Kumaravelan
Story by	James Albert
Based on	Classmates (Malayalam)
Starring	Prithviraj Sukumaran Shakthi Vasu Karthik Kumar Priyamani Anuja Iyer Vishnupriyan
Cinematography	Balasubramaniem
Edited by	A. Sreekar Prasad
Music by	Vijay Antony
Production company	Gemini Film Circuit
Distributed by	Sun Pictures
Release date	4 September 2009 (2009-09-04)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Ninaithale Inikkum was released on 4 September 2009 and was a commercial success at the box office. The film's title was taken from a 1979 Tamil film.

Plot

Shivaram alias Shiva returns to the college to reunite with his friends for a college reunion. With his eyes sparkling with nostalgic memories, he takes a trip down memory lane, and reminisces about his college days which forms the crux of the story.

Shiva is an energetic, enthusiastic college student. Being short-tempered, he gets easily provoked by the rich and proud Vasu and his arrogance, leading to many fights between the two. Their fights are often stopped by Shakthi. Shakthi strives to bring Shiva and Vasu together on friendly terms, but in vain. Shiva, Shakthi, and their faithful friend Bala (Vishnupriyan) stay together through thick and thin and are always ready to voice out their views on behalf of those who stay in the hostel in the college.

Shakthi’s father, Pazhaniyappan (Bhagyaraj) often visits his son in the hostel and is seen as a father to all of Shakthi’s friends. Meera (Priyamani), the daughter of an MLA, nurtures a soft corner for Shiva. She is brave enough to stand up to him and pacify him when he throws unnecessary tantrums. Shalee (Anuja Iyer), Meera’s friend, is a shy, reserved Muslim girl who comes from an orthodox family background. She is often preoccupied with her own thoughts. Karthik (Lollu Sabha Jeeva) is a total showoff who fails to humiliate Shiva and Shakthi and ends up making a fool of himself.

At the reunion, the friends are happy to see each other after eight long years. However, they are burdened by the tragic death of Shakthi; Shiva seems to be the most affected of them all. All seems well until Shiva is found almost strangled to death. Everyone suspects Vasu, though Shakthi's father discovers that the murder was attempted by Shalee.

In a flashback, it is revealed that Shakthi and Shalee were in love. Shalee revealed that Shiva, who was running away from the police after breaking into an election booth, accidentally killed Shakthi after mistakening him for someone else, with chloroform as the latter suffered from asthma. Shalee is upset that Shakthi's father prevented her from taking revenge against Shiva.

Shiva recovers and seeks forgiveness from Shakthi's father. Shakthi's father forgives Shiva and requests him to marry Meera, who has been waiting for him over those eight years. Vasu also apologizes to Shiva for all of his antics in college. Shakthi's parents adopt Shalee, whose family has died, and decide to take her in as their own. The film ends as Shalee bids farewell to her friends and to the image of Shakthi, who is forever present on the college campus.

The film goes ends with the message: "Never forget the sweet memories that happened in college."

Cast

• Prithviraj Sukumaran as Shivaram Nair IAS
• Shakthi Vasu as Shakthi
• Karthik Kumar as Vasu
• Priyamani as Meera
• Anuja Iyer as Shalee
• Vishnupriyan as Bala
• K. Bhagyaraj as Pazhaniyappan, Sakthi's father
• Manobala as Lecturer
• Lollu Sabha Jeeva as Karthik
• Ilavarasu as Sethuraman, hostel warden
• Boys Rajan as Principal
• Bava Lakshmanan as Subramani, cook
• Anjali Devi as Sakthi's mother
• Jayashree as Shalini's friend
• Kausha Rach in a Special Appearance in Song "Sexy Lady"

Production

Writer G. N. Rangarajan's son G. N. R. Kumaravelan ventured into direction with this film. Kumaravelan modified the screenplay from the Malayalam original.^[1]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Vijay Antony. The song "Azhaghai Pookuthe" is based on Keeravani raga.^[2]

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Azhagaai Pookkuthey"	Kalai Kumar	V. V. Prasanna, Janaki Iyer	4:58
2.	"Pia.. Pia.."	Annamalai	Vijay Antony, Dinesh Kanagaratnam	4:16
3.	"Nanbanai Partha"	Annamalai	Benny Dayal	5:05
4.	"Sexy Lady"	Priyan	MK Balaji, Sheba, Maya, Ramya NSK	4:27
5.	"Kalloori"	Sheba	Sheba	1:27
6.	"Allah"	Annamalai	Vijay Antony	4:51
7.	"Naatkal"	Prabha	Vijay Antony, Kaushik	1:39
Total length:				26:43

Reception

A critic from The Hindu wrote that "Kumaravelan’s screenplay bubbles with youthful spirit in the first half while the knots are unreeled in the second".^[3] A critic from The New Indian Express wrote that "Though it seems a watered-down version of the Malayalam film, Ninaithale Inikkum does offer a different viewing experience to the Tamil audiences".^[4] Critic R. Richard Mahesh wrote that "Finally, Ninaithale Inikkum is a poignant film that has a middling start and gradually brimmed with interesting moments".^[5] A critic from Rediff.com wrote that "The Tamil version doesn't exactly pull at your heart-strings like the Malayalam version seems to have done -- but it at least has a plot with all the loose ends tied up".^[6]