Roja

Roja
Directed by	Mani Ratnam
Produced by	Mani Ratnam K. Balachander
Written by	Mani Ratnam
Starring	Arvind Swamy Madhoo Pankaj Kapoor Nasser Janagaraj
Music by	A. R. Rahman
Distributed by	Madras Talkies
Release date(s)	1992
Running time	137 mins
Language	Tamil
IMDb profile

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 [1], issued in 2005. In late 2007, Time magazine voted Roja as one of the top ten soundtracks of the world.[2] 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 the one of the best films from Indian film industry stable from the 90s.

Plot

Vaishnavi and Madhoo from the film Roja

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 (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. Roja gets married to Rishi, and the couple move out of the village to live in the city. 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
• Won - Nargis Dutt Award - Best Feature Film on National Integration - Roja - Mani Ratnam

Music

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. It was dominated before by older music directors. But this soundtrack announced the arrival of A.R.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 like Rukkumani had a loud thumping feel and became ingrained in pop culture. Also many new singers were introduced to the Tamil music scene. They were not traditional voices and they were able to sing any type of song. Track listing:

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

External links

• Roja Lyrics