Roja

:"for the town in Mozambique see Roja, Mozambique"Infobox Film
name = Roja


director = Mani Ratnam
writer = Mani Ratnam
starring = Arvind Swamy
Madhoo
Pankaj Kapoor
Nasser
Janagaraj
producer = Mani Ratnam
K. Balachander
distributor = Madras Talkies
released = 1992
runtime = 137 mins
language = Tamil
music = A. R. Rahman
imdb_id = 0105271

"Roja" (1992) is a Tamil film directed by Mani Ratnam. The movie was subsequently dubbed in other Indian languages, catapulting Mani Ratnam to national acclaim. This film's score and soundtrack were composed by A. R. Rahman, who debuted in this movie. This soundtrack is among the All Time Top 100 soundtracks listed by TIME magazine, issued in 2005.

Roja was dubbed in Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, and Telugu. The film was recently re-released for international audiences in light of the growing fear of terrorist attacks the world over. It is considered as one of the best films from Indian film industry stable from the 90s.

Plot

"Roja" revolves around one Man's love for his motherland and a wife's unfailing love for her husband. Roja (Madhoo) is a village girl, born and brought up in Sundarapandianpuram in Tirunelveli district in Southern Tamil Nadu. She prays that the handsome suitor and top cryptologist Rishi Kumar (Arvind Swamy), arriving in the village soon, accepts a proposal to get married to her sister. It soon emerges that Roja's sister is in love with another, and to everyone's surprise Rishi requests Roja's hand in marriage. Being unaware of her sister's love affair, Roja is not willing to accept Rishi's proposal as she believes that he is the best match for her sister. But due to her parent's pressure, she gets married to Rishi, and the couple move out of the village to live in the city. Initially Roja is angry with Rishi for rejecting her sister but when she comes to know that it was her sister's own wish to marry her love rejecting Rishi, she apologizes and joins with Rishi. They both fall in love here, and settle down. Working for the Indian Government, Rishi is assigned a posting at an army communications center in Kashmir. Roja's world is shattered when Rishi is abducted by militant Kashmiri separatists who demand the release of their terrorist leader Wasim Khan from prison, held by Indian military forces. Roja pleads with politicians and the military for help, but she has little success. The film is set against the backdrop of the longstanding struggle between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, an issue that is still in the melting pot.

Cast

*Arvind Swamy
*Madhoo
*Pankaj Kapoor
*Nasser
*Janagaraj

Awards

The film has been nominated for the following awards since its release:

1993 Moscow International Film Festival (Russia)
* Nominated - Golden St. George Award - Mani Ratnam

The film has won the following awards since its release:

1993 National Film Awards (India)
* Won - Silver Lotus Award - Best Music Director - A. R. Rahman
* Won - Silver Lotus Award - Best Lyricist - Vairamuthu

"'1993 Filmfare Awards South
* Won - Filmfare Best Director Award (Tamil) - Mani Ratnam
* Won - Filmfare Best Movie Award (Tamil) - "Roja"
* Won - Filmfare Best Music Director Award (Tamil) - A. R. Rahman

Music

Album infobox
Name = Roja:
The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Type = Soundtrack
Artist = A. R. Rahman


Background = Gainsboro
Released = 1992
Genre = Soundtrack
Length = 25:33
Label = Lahari
Producer = A. R. Rahman
Reviews =
Last album =
This album = "Roja: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack"
(1992)
Next album =

"Roja: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack"

The soundtrack features score and 6 songs composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics by Vairamuthu. This soundtrack was revolutionary in that it changed the face of Tamil Film music, announcing the arrival of Rahman as a potent force in the Indian music scene. He used many instruments and grand arrangements to generate an epic sound to the songs. Songs such as "Rukkumani" had a loud thumping feel and became ingrained in pop culture.

Also many new singers were introduced to the Tamil music scene. "Time" magazine's noted film critic, Richard Corliss stated that the "astonishing debut work parades Rahman's gift for alchemizing outside influences until they are totally Tamil, totally Rahman."cite web | author=Corliss, Richard| title=Best Soundtracks - ALL TIME 100 MOVIES - TIME | work= Time | url=http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/0,23220,soundtracks,00.html | date= 2005| accessmonthday=24 February | accessyear=2008] Including the album on a list of "Time magazine's" Top 100 soundtracks of all time in 2005, he admitted to failing to properly check facts on a lyrics website when describing two songs using dubbed Hindi titles on his article.cite web | author=Corliss, Richard| title=That Old Feeling - Secrets of the All-Time 100 - TIME | work= Time | url=http://aolsvc.timeforkids.kol.aol.com/time/columnist/corliss/article/0,9565,1068026-3,00.html | date= June 02 2005| accessmonthday=24 February | accessyear=2008] The soundtrack also found success in its many dubbed versions.

Track listing:
# “Rukkumani” (6:02) – S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Chitra
# “Chinna Chinna Aasai” (4:57) – Minmini
# “Kaadhal Rojave” (5:04) – S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
# “Pudhu Vellai Mazhai” (5:18) – Unni Menon, Sujatha
# “Tamizha Tamizha” (3:05) – Hariharan
# “Chinna Chinna Aasai” (1:07) – Minmini

The soundtrack for Roja proved immensly popular and with success upon release.

References

External links

* [http://www.arrahman.net/roja Roja Lyrics]