| Kanda Naal Mudhal | |
| Director: | V. Priya |
| Screenplay: | V. Priya |
| Story: | V. Priya |
| Producer: | Prakash Raj |
| Starring: | Prasanna Laila |
| Cinematography: | P. C. Sreeram |
| Editing: | A. Sreekar Prasad |
| Music: | Yuvan Shankar Raja |
| Studio: | Duet Movies |
| Runtime: | 129 minutes |
| Language: | Tamil |
| Country: | India |
| Budget: | 1.75 crores[1] |
Kanda Naal Mudhal is a 2005 Indian Tamil language romantic comedy film written and directed by newcomer V. Priya, who had earlier assisted Mani Ratnam. Produced by Prakash Raj under the Duet Movies banner, the film stars Prasanna and Laila, with Karthik Kumar, Revathi, Lakshmi and Regina Cassandra in the supporting roles. The film's music was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja. The film was released on 18 November 2005 with positive reviews.
The movie begins with two kids who fight with each other in a marriage hall. They meet after two decades, now Krishna and Ramya during a college cultural meet and again lock horns with each other. Fate brings them together in Chennai after a few years, again fighting with each other. Meanwhile, a series of events forces Krishna's close friend Aravind to come to India from the United States to get married. His parents arrange his wedding with Ramya. Ramya, who decides to marry to help her younger sister's love, displays herself as a passive character before Aravind who accepts whatever her life partner feel is right.
On the contrary, she is bold, active, independent and assertive in nature. Knowing this, Krishna tries hard to let her true character come out before Aravind. However, Aravind stalls the wedding plans and returns to the USA as he finds Ramya as a person who does not think on her own and is not independent. Mistaking Krishna for influencing Aravind, Ramya locks horns with him.
Meanwhile, same day, when Ramya returns home, she finds her sister elopes with her lover which causes her mother to trauma and end up in the hospital. Ramya mistakes Krishna behind the call of her marriage by Aravind, elopement of her sister and health of her mother.
Krishna comes to the help off the family and slowly Ramya knows his true nature in helping her family that of his one, she started to love him. Krishna eventually develops an affinity for Ramya which turns into romance between them. Though respective sisters of Krishna and Ramya smells the blossom of love between Ramya and Krishna, but, both Krishna and Ramya delay to propose to each other.
When they both decide to propose to each other, Krishna playfully calls Aravind who declares his decision to marry Ramya. The climax was expected after the closeness between Ramya and Krishna. In the end, they both come to receive Aravind at the airport, they end up in each other's arms and Aravind also feels happy for them.
Film ends on a happy note as Ramya and Krishna marry and two kids randomly fight with each other just like the first time Ramya and Krishna met at a wedding hall.
The soundtrack composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, features 6 tracks with lyrics written by Thamarai. The album was released on 17 October 2005 at Taj Connemara Hotel.[2] The Carnatic song "Kanda Naal Mudhalai" was remixed for the film. Singer Subhiksha Rangarajan was 15 when she recorded the song.[3] Behindwoods wrote "Yuvan’ music has got to do something in this movie and it could be a big reason for the success of the movie. From, his side he has done an excellent job".[4]
Rediff.com wrote "The fresh treatment and Priya's conviction are evident. But what goes against the film is its script."[5] The Hindu wrote "From the title to the treatment everything about Duet Movies' `Kanda Naal Mudhal' glistens with a poetic touch, and first-time filmmaker Priya V. proves with each frame that she's here to stay. Boy-girl tussles leading to love are not new to cinema. But plaudits to the way Priya weaves her story and characters into an enjoyable film!"[6] Sify wrote "Kanda Naal Mudhal directed by debutant Priya V is in good taste without a shred of vulgarity, violence or risque comedy that has become the bane of Tamil cinema. Priya deserves a pat on her back for weaving a gossamer romance like her mentor Mani sir did in [''[[Mouna Ragam]]] or [''[[Alai Payuthey]]]. But the film has its own minor drawbacks mostly in narration and lags especially in the second half".[7] Lajjavathi of Kalki praised the performances and characterisation of actors, Sriram's cinematography, Yuvan's music but panned the placement of songs and concluded saying even if it is a commercial film, Priya has followed a quality and style. With producers like Prakash Raj in search, anything becomes possible.[8] Chennai Online wrote "In her debut effort - after an apprenticeship with Maniratnam and some work on the small screen - Priya, who's scripted and directed the film, makes a sincere attempt to provide a clean family entertainer sans vulgarity, overt glamour, double-entendres, item numbers and fights. While the early part of the love-triangle moves at a steady pace with subtle humour weaved in, the script in the second half could certainly have been worked to better advantage".[9]