As Saran's romantic drama completes 25 years, we give you some interesting trivia on its making...

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Revisiting Kaadhal Mannan: A look back at the film which gave Ajith Kumar a much-needed image makeover

Team CE

Updated:7th Mar, 2023 at 7:51 AM

Saran, who joined as an AD to K Balachander when the latter was making Puthu Puthu Arthangal, made his debut with Kaadhal Mannan.

Saran describes that he 'was wondering what would happen if a girl, who is engaged to a particular person, falls in love with someone else' and this formed the basis of his plot for the film.

Kaadhal Mannan saw veteran music composer M. S. Viswanathan make his acting debut in a supporting role.

Viswanathan had initially waded away the approach, but actor Vivek later convinced him to be part of the film.

The mansion scenes in the film were shot at Murugesan Mansion at Triplicane.

Maanu from Assam made her debut as lead actress in the film. She then made an appearance in the low-budget film, Enna Satham Indha Neram, 16 years later., in 2014.

Music composer Bharathwaj also debuted with this film.

All the songs from the album were huge chartbusters at the time

The 'Kanni Pengal' song was sung by independent vocalist, Ada Ali Azad.

Unnai Paartha Pinbu Naan, sung by SPB, went on to become a cult classic romantic song in Tamil.

The 'Mettu Thedi' song was rendered by MS Viswanathan, while the 'Marimuthu Marimuthu' track was sung by Deva.

The 'Thilothamma' song was performed by Bharathwaj himself.

The 'Vaannum Mannum' track was sung by Hariharan and Chithra.

The film released in 108 screens worldwide. It won positive reviews from critics, with many praising the film for tackling a taboo subject.

Despite winning plaudits for her portrayal, Maanu quit the film industry for over a decade before resurfacing as a promoter for the 2010 Singaporean film Gurushetram – 24 Hours of Anger.

The film was released during a period of crisis in the film industry where the FEFSI strikes were ongoing and thus the distributors initially refused to buy the film.

The first copy was worth Rs 22 million, but was only sold for Rs 16 million. Still, it ran for 100 days and re-established Ajith's market after a string of failures.

Here are a few more nostalgic snapshots and rare posters from the film...