Dumm Dumm Dumm Explained

Dumm Dumm Dumm
Director:Azhagam Perumal
Producer:Mani Ratnam
G. Srinivasan
Starring:R. Madhavan
Jyothika
Cinematography:Ramji
Editing:Sreekar Prasad
Music:Karthik Raja
Studio:Madras Talkies
Runtime:151 minutes
Country:India
Language:Tamil

Dumm Dumm Dumm is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film co-written and directed by Azhagam Perumal and produced by director Mani Ratnam under his home studio, Madras Talkies. It stars R. Madhavan and Jyothika, with Vivek, Manivannan and Murali portraying other pivotal roles. The film featured cinematography by Ramji, editing by Sreekar Prasad and music composed by Karthik Raja.[1]

Dumm Dumm Dumm opened on 13 April 2001 to positive reviews and became a commercial hit.[2]

The film depicts two career-oriented young people being pressured into an arranged marriage by their respective families. To their own surprise, they get along well and are attracted to each other. Their wedding is cancelled due to a violent quarrel between their families over cheating at a card game. The would-be-couple make efforts to reunite.

Plot

Ganga lives in a small village in Thenkasi district of Tamil Nadu and yet secures state second rank in XII board exams. Although she wishes to pursue civil engineering, her father Veluthambi plans to get her married to young Lawyer Adhithya aka Adhi, who also hails from the same village. The reason for this alliance is that Adhi's rich dad was Veluthambi's former boss who helped him become a rich rice mill owner, and Velu wants to repay the moral debt. Adhi is a fun-loving person who has just completed his law degree and prefers to enjoy his bachelor life and is not interested in marriage.

Adhi comes to the village and meets Ganga trying to convey his feelings. To his surprise, Ganga is also not interested in marriage as she wants to study in Chennai. Both of them decide to somehow stop the wedding by creating some problem before the wedding, but all their efforts go in vain as both the families get even closer following their plans.

Slowly, Adhi and Ganga start liking each other and decide to get married. However, to their shock, on the day before the wedding, a small quarrel erupts between Veluthambi and Adhi's father while playing cards. Adhi's father accuses Veluthambi of cheating during the game, which was actually done by Adhi's relative Dr Kathamuthu. Veluthambi retaliates to prove his genuineness. The argument, which started in a funnier tone, gets serious slowly, and immediately, both of the families decide to get the wedding cancelled and in the tussle, Adhi's house servant is stabbed. Ganga's brother-in-law, a government school PT teacher, is blamed for the incident and is arrested.

Ganga is sent to Chennai to pursue engineering and stays with her paternal uncle Sivaji, who is a leading lawyer by profession. Adhi, who also lives in Chennai, meets Ganga, and they both now plan to get the cancelled wedding re-arranged again by their families. Adhi comes in place of his friend Jim as a junior lawyer to assist Sivaji, thereby meeting Ganga every day. Sivaji finds that Adhi has not come as a junior and instead for some other reason. However, he misunderstands that Adhi is in love with his own daughter and fears that his daughter might elope with Adhi someday. Adhi appears as lawyer for Veluthambi's son-in-law, and saves him based on lack of evidence.

Finally, Adhi's father understands that Veluthambi was innocent and apologizes to him. Adhi and Ganga are united in the end.

Production

Mani Ratnam chose his assistant Azhagam Perumal to direct a film for his production studio, Madras Talkies in late 2000 and the pair worked on a screenplay together. Azhagam Perumal had earlier begun two projects, Mudhal Mudhalaaga in 1998 and Udhaya in 1998, but both films ran into production troubles, so his mentor Mani Ratnam was keen to launch him as a director. The basic plotline of the film was taken from the episode Love Story from Suhasini's 1991 miniseries Penn.[3] While Mani Ratnam worked on writing the film's city portions, Azhagam Perumal wrote the portions set in the village.[4] R. Madhavan, who played the lead role in Mani Ratnam's previous project Alaipayuthey (2000), was signed on to play the lead role alongside actress Jyothika.[5] It was initially reported that Madras Talkies had signed on composer Dhina to work on the film's soundtrack, but he was later replaced by Karthik Raja.[6] [7]

A song sequence was shot at Thanjavur Periya Koil and became the final film to shoot there until Kandaen released in 2011.[8] [9] The film had a premiere on 13 April 2001 at Sathyam Cinemas in aid of the Ability Foundation, an organisation working for the welfare of the disabled.[10]

Release

Upon release on 13 April 2001, Dumm Dumm Dumm garnered predominantly positive feedback from critics. Chennai Online wrote "It is a youthful, clean entertainer from debutant director Azhagam Perumal. The film begins a little differently, the first part interspersed with enjoyable humour. Some of the scenes and song picturisation (like, 'Deising Raja….', the catchy tunes by Kartik Raja) have the Manirathnam touch. Not surprising, since the director has had his apprenticeship with Manirathnam. It is after the story shifts to the city that the narration lags a little and becomes confused".[11] The critic from Rediff.com cited that the film "has what it takes to come up with a box office bonanza" and said that "the real star, though, is director Azhagam Perumal."[12] Furthermore, the reviewer praised R. Madhavan and Jyothika, the lead pair, as "perfectly cast, and perform as per expectations," whilst labeling that Murali delivered a "measured performance." The Hindus verdict was that the film was "a neat entertainer that seems to lose focus on and off," whilst drawing particular praise for the performance of the leading actors.[13] New Straits Times wrote "Dumm Dumm Dumm is a surprisingly good effort from a new director and one suspects Maniratnam had a close hand in guiding him".[14] Likewise, a reviewer from Screen noted "Azhagam Perumal has shown a good grasp of the medium and the ability to finely blend the rustic charm and city slickness in a love story extracting fine performance from the lead pair, Madhavan and Jyothika."[15] Cinesouth wrote "The tempo of the film has been maintained throughout as Selvaraj, Manirathnam and Alagam perumal have combined their brainwork very efficiently with regard to story, screenplay and direction. But more care could have been given to the final scenes. The Cinematography by Ramji and the edit by Sridhar Prasad are commendable."[16] Visual Dasan of Kalki praised the performances of Madhavan, Jyothika and other actors and also praised the director for directing the film well.[17]

The film went on to become a commercially successful venture at the box office.[18] Subsequently, the film was later dubbed and released in Telugu as Dum Dum Dum.[19] It subsequently was awarded with several Cinema Express Awards and was the most awarded film at the award function with Karthik Raja winning Best Tamil Music Director Award for his work.[20]

Soundtrack

Dumm Dumm Dumm
Type:soundtrack
Artist:Karthik Raja
Released:16 February 2001
Genre:Feature film soundtrack
Label:Sa Re Ga Ma
Cee (I) TV Audio
Prev Title:Ullam Kollai Poguthae
Prev Year:2001
Next Title:Mitr, My Friend
Next Year:2001

The soundtrack features six songs composed by Karthik Raja.[21] The lyrics were penned by Vaali, Pa. Vijay and Na. Muthukumar.

Song title Singers Lyricist
"Desingu Raja" Na. Muthukumar
"Suttrum Bhoomi" Harini, Chorus
"Un Perai Sonnale" P. Unnikrishnan, Sadhana Sargam
"Ragasiyamai" Sadhana Sargam, Hariharan, Ramanathan
"Krishna Krishna" Karthik, Febi Mani, Harish Raghavendra Vaali
"Athan Varuvaga" Pa. Vijay

Notes and References

  1. Web site: rediff.com, Movies: 'I want to go on my knees and kiss Mani Sir's hand'. 16 February 2016. 29 February 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160229235700/http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2002/jan/11mad.htm. live.
  2. Web site: Memorable flicks that made it big . 2001-12-28 . 2013-06-11 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121109110106/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/fr/2001/12/28/stories/2001122801200100.htm . 9 November 2012 . . dmy .
  3. Web site: Where is my dabra ?. 8 August 2020. 21 October 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231021105512/https://ideallaedi.tumblr.com/post/155253598002/shobana-and-raja-in-love-story-a-short-skit-in-a. live.
  4. Web site: rediff.com, Movies: 'I'm jealous of Mani Ratnam!'. 16 February 2016. 24 October 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121024090709/http://www.rediff.com/movies/2001/apr/24peru.htm. live.
  5. Web site: "We Rise fast, fall fast": Jyothika. 16 February 2016. 28 December 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131228071430/http://cinematoday2.itgo.com/we_rise_fast_fall_fast_jyothika.htm. live.
  6. Web site: Tamil Movies Online News . https://web.archive.org/web/20010129085300/http://tamilmovies.com/cgi-bin/news/viewnews.cgi?id=968265567 . 29 January 2001 . dead.
  7. Web site: TFM Old News Items. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20021028073013/http://www.tfmpage.com/oldnews01.html. 2002-10-28.
  8. Web site: Screen the business of entertainment-Regional-Tamil . https://web.archive.org/web/20020108234446/http://www.screenindia.com/20010406/tamil.html#1 . 8 January 2002 . dead.
  9. Web site: Kanden — Preview . Supergoodmovies.com . 2011-05-17 . 2013-06-11 . 1 April 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120401194633/http://www.supergoodmovies.com/17967/kollywood/Kanden-Preview-Preview-Details . live .
  10. Web site: The Hindu : Premiere for a 'special' purpose . https://archive.today/20130126021135/http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/04/17/stories/0417401z.htm . usurped . 26 January 2013 . The Hindu . 2001-04-17 . 2013-06-11.
  11. Web site: Dumm Dumm Dumm . https://web.archive.org/web/20010624215650/http://chennaionline.com/Moviereviews/tammov114.asp . 24 June 2001 . dead.
  12. Web site: The Rediff Review: Dum Dum Dum . Rediff . 2001-04-28 . 2013-06-11 . 16 April 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180416034743/http://www.rediff.com/movies/2001/apr/28dum.htm . live .
  13. Web site: The Hindu : Film Review: Dumm...Dumm...Dumm... . https://web.archive.org/web/20021113232633/http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/04/20/stories/09200223.htm . usurped . 13 November 2002 . The Hindu . 2001-04-20 . 2013-06-11.
  14. Web site: New Straits Times - Google News Archive Search. 7 May 2019. 30 May 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220530031414/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=x8G803Bi31IC&dat=20010421&printsec=frontpage&hl=en. live.
  15. Web site: Screen the business of entertainment-Regional-Tamil-Preview . https://web.archive.org/web/20011119152743/http://www.screenindia.com/20010427/tamil3.html . 19 November 2001 . dead.
  16. Web site: Cinesouth. டும் டும் டும். https://web.archive.org/web/20010624172705/http://cinesouth.com/scopes/reviews/dumdum.shtml. 24 June 2001. 1 September 2023.
  17. Kalki. ta. டும் டும் டும். 1 September 2023. 82–83. விஷுவல் . தாசன் . 29 April 2001.
  18. Web site: Runaway success? . https://web.archive.org/web/20030701114213/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2002/09/18/stories/2002091800310200.htm . dead . 2003-07-01 . 2002-09-18 . . 2013-06-11.
  19. Web site: Telugu Cinema — Review — Dum Dum Dum . Idlebrain.com . 2001-09-21 . 2013-06-11 . 8 November 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121108165547/http://www.idlebrain.com/movie/archive/mrg-dumdumdum.html . live .
  20. Web site: rediff.com, Movies: Meena wins award for best actress . Rediff.com . 2001-10-15 . 2012-12-06 . 18 October 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121018134128/http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2001/oct/15meera.htm . live .
  21. Web site: Dumm Dumm Dumm Songs Download: Dumm Dumm Dumm MP3 Tamil Songs Online Free on Gaana.com. 7 May 2019. 7 May 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190507081116/https://gaana.com/album/dumm-dumm-dumm-tamil-0. live.