Baashha
Baashha is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Suresh Krissna. The film stars Rajinikanth, Nagma and Raghuvaran, with Janagaraj, Devan, Shashi Kumar and Vijayakumar in supporting roles. It revolves around a humble auto-driver who stays away from violence, but is forced to show his violent side after his sister is attacked and his past life as a gangster is revealed.
During the making of Annaamalai, Rajinikanth and Krissna discussed a scene from the former's Hindi film Hum which was not used; the story of Baashha developed from this scene. Principal photography began in August 1994, and was completed in less than five months. P. S. Prakash was the film's cinematographer, and it was edited by Ganesh Kumar. The dialogues for the film were written by Balakumaran. The soundtrack and background score were composed by Deva and lyrics were written by Vairamuthu.
Baashha was released on 12 January 1995 to positive feedback and became one of the most successful films and in the career of Rajinikanth, running for nearly 15 months in theatres. Rajinikanth won the Filmfans Association Award and the Cinema Express Award for Best Actor for his performance. The film was remade in Kannada as Kotigobba. A digitally restored version of the film was released on 3 March 2017.
Plot
Manikam is a humble auto-driver who lives in Chennai with his mother Vijayalakshmi, brother Shiva, and sisters Geetha and Kavitha, and would go to any extent for their well-being. He gets Kavitha married to her boyfriend, who is from an affluent family. Shiva manages to become a sub-inspector. On seeing Manikam's photo, DIG Dinakar who interviewed Shiva wants to meet Manikam. Manikam hesitatingly comes to meet Dinakar in his office. Dinakar is reminded of a don on seeing Manikam. Geetha gets admission in a medical college, but the chairman asks for her carnal company in return for a seat. Manikam interferes and discloses that his name is "Baasha", after which the scared chairman unconditionally gives Geetha a seat.Meanwhile, Priya, the only daughter of a businessman Kesavan, travels in Manikam's auto frequently and develops a liking towards him seeing his good character. Priya discovers that her father is a smuggler and decides to maintain a distance with him. Priya proposes her love to Manikam but Manikam does not accept at first as he knows that she is the daughter of Kesavan. But eventually he accepts her love.
Indiran is a gangster who uses his henchmen to collect "commission" from all business owners. When Shiva beats two of Indiran's henchmen who attacked a man for not being able to pay commission, Indiran arrives and tells Shiva that he runs that area and his laws apply. Shiva's and Indiran's fight is stopped by Manikam, who requests Indiran to beat him and spare Shiva. Manikam is tied to a pole and is severely beaten by Indiran and his men, but Manikam bears it for the sake of his brother without any retaliation.
Later Shiva again takes action against Indiran by submitting an arrest warrant which makes him furious again. This time after his release from jail, Indiran kidnaps Geetha and tries to molest her in front of the public. To everyone's surprise, Manikam finally snaps and hits back Indiran and his men, thereby saving his sister. The beating of Indiran and his henchmen is so severe that it shocks Shiva. He confronts Manikam about his activities in Mumbai, where he lived previously.
In a flashback, Manikam lives with his family in Mumbai while his siblings are young and studying in Chennai. Manikam's father Rangasamy is an honest man but employed with gangster Mark Antony. This is because Antony helped Rangasamy during initial days, and Rangasamy in turn decided to stay loyal to Antony for life. Manickam and his friend Anwar Baasha protest against the ridiculous behaviours of Antony's men, prompting Antony to kill Anwar; Manikam is spared as he is Rangasamy's son. He decides to take the same path to destroy Antony and kills Antony's hitmen to avenge Anwar's death.
Manikam gets the support of local people in Mumbai who feared for Antony. Manikam transforms into a gangster named "Manick Baasha" and frequently interferes in Antony's activities which create enmity between the two. Baasha's command over the city increases and Antony decides to kill Baasha. But Baasha escapes from Antony's plan. Enraged, Antony kills Rangasamy. Before dying, Rangasamy requests Baasha to return to Chennai and start a new peaceful life. Baasha fakes his death and secretly leaves to Chennai along with his mother where he starts a new life as Manikam, an auto-driver. Antony gets arrested; meanwhile, Kesavan kills Antony's family and steals his wealth.
In the present, Kesavan arranges Priya's wedding against her wishes. Manikam comes to the wedding hall and Kesavan is shocked to see Baasha alive in the form of Manikam. Frightened, he permits Priya to go along with Manikam. On learning that Baasha is alive, Antony escapes from prison and comes to take revenge. First, he kills Kesavan for betraying him. He also kidnaps Manikam's family members and threatens Manikam to surrender to him failing which his family members will be killed. Manikam rushes to the spot and he fights against Antony and saves his family. Antony then tries to shoot Manikam, but is shot dead by Shiva from behind.
Cast
- Rajinikanth as Manikkam / Manik Baashha
- Nagma as Priya
- Raghuvaran as Mark Antony
- Janagaraj as Murthy
- Devan as Kesavan
- Shashi Kumar as Shiva
- Vijayakumar as Rangasamy
- Anandaraj as Indiran
- Charan Raj as Anwar Baashha
- Kitty as DIG Dinakar
- Sathyapriya as Vijayalakshmi
- Shenbaga as Kavitha
- Yuvarani as Geetha
- Sethu Vinayagam as the college chairman
- Hemalatha as Mark Antony's daughter
Production
Development
During the making of the Hindi film Hum, its director Mukul S. Anand had considered and discussed with Rajinikanth a potential scene, where Shekhar would help his younger brother Vijay get a seat in the Police Academy. Anand discarded the scene because he did not find it suitable, but Rajinikanth felt it had the potential to develop into a script for a possible feature film. On the sets of Annaamalai, Rajinikanth and its director Suresh Krissna discussed the scene, which Krissna also found to be interesting. The title Baashha was suggested by Rajinikanth to Krissna, who suggested to Rajinikanth that a Muslim connection to the script was needed. Krissna brought up the subject again to Rajinikanth during the making of Veera, but Rajinikanth wanted to discuss the script only after completing Veera. The discarded scene became the foundation for Baashha where Rajinikanth's character in the film, Manikkam, helps his sister get admission in the medical college she had applied for. Krissna planned to weave the rest of the film's story around the scene. Though Manikkam was initially considered to be written as a bus conductor, the "auto driver was the commonest man around. And Rajini liked the idea".R. M. Veerappan, who had earlier collaborated with Rajinikanth in Ranuva Veeran, Moondru Mugam, Thanga Magan, Oorkavalan and Panakkaran, was the film's co-producer, along with V. Rajammal and V. Thamilazhagan. Development regarding the film's script commenced in the Taj Banjara hotel in Hyderabad. Eighty percent of the script, including the flashback portions of Rajinikanth as Baashha, were ready in ten days. Balakumaran was selected to write the film's dialogues. The entire team of technicians, including music director Deva, who had worked with Krissna in Annaamalai, returned to work with him for Baashha. Nagma was the first and only choice for the heroine's role after Krissna was impressed with her performance in Kadhalan. Krissna considered some Bollywood names for the role of the antagonist Mark Antony, but nothing worked out. He then thought Raghuvaran would be a good fit, considering his tall height and deep voice. Rajinikanth also readily agreed to this proposal. Krissna met Raghuvaran at his residence and explained about the role. Raghuvaran was excited and agreed to play Antony.
Filming
Principal photography began in August 1994, and was completed in less than five months. The muhurat shot took place at AVM Studios at the venue which later came to be known as the Rajni Pillaiyar Temple. Fans of Rajinikanth were invited for the shot. Choreography for the song "Naan Autokaaran" was done by Tarun Kumar, whose father, Hiralal, choreographed the song "Yaaradi Nee Mohini" from Uthama Puthiran. Rajinikanth recommended Tarun to Krissna, who had initially wanted Raghuram to choreograph the song. Tarun completed the choreography in five days and the entire sequence was rehearsed at AVM Studios with fifty back-up dancers. As in the song "Vandhenda Paalakaaran" from Annamalai, the sequence was shot with Rajinikanth looking into the lens with a smile, which was intended to make the audience feel that he was looking directly at them and then putting his hands together to greet them. The gesture, which was already effective in Annamalai, prompted Krissna to extend the screen time of the shot. Krissna wanted Rajinikanth to sport a dress that would make him look slightly unkempt in appearance, but Rajinikanth finished the sequence in a smartly-tailored uniform and told Krissna that the audience would not find it odd. The filming of the song took place at the open space at Vijaya Vauhini Studios in Chennai, the same area where Hotel Green Park is present; the song was completed with a hundred back-up dancers used for it in four days. Choreographers Kalyan and Ashok Raj were part of the back-up dancers for the song.In one of the action sequences involving the protagonist in a face-off against the antagonist's henchmen, the dialogue Naan oru thadava sonna, nooru thadava sonna madhiri is spoken. The first half of the film was shot for twenty-three days at a stretch. Regarding the dialogue's development, Rajinikanth said to Balakumaran that the dialogue had to be simple yet effective, as it would be used in a sequence where another side of the protagonist was revealed. On the day when the sequence which featured the dialogue was to be shot, Rajinikanth came up with the dialogue, which was originally spoken by him as Naan oru vaatti sonna, nooru vaatti sonna madhiri, which impressed Balakumaran and Krissna. Before the take, Rajinikanth, who repeatedly rehearsed the dialogue, told Krissna that the word "thadava" sounded more effective than "vaatti", and suggested Krissna use "thadava" instead of "vaatti". Balakumaran initially disagreed with Rajinikanth and Krissna as he felt that "vaatti" was fine and did not need changing. Rajinikanth then spoke both the versions of the dialogue and convinced Balakumaran to change "vaatti" to "thadava". The dialogue had such an impact on everyone present at the set that, in the break that followed, everyone started using it one way or another. The dialogues occur only five times in the film. The scene where Manikkam gets beaten up to protect his sibling and the following sequence where he beats up the antagonist in turn, was suggested to Krissna by Raju, the choreographer for both the stunt sequences.
Ramalingam, the son of R. M. Veerappan, informed Krissna that Veerappan wanted to meet him. Krissna had finished shooting the sequence where Manikkam gets beaten up by Indiran after trying to protect his younger brother Shiva. When Veerappan enquired Krissna about how the film was shaping up, Krissna spoke about the scene which he had shot before his meeting with Veerappan. Veerappan wanted the scene to be deleted from the film as he felt that people would not want to see an actor like Rajinikanth getting beaten up. Rajinikanth offered to show a sneak preview of the film to Veerappan on 15 December 1994, and if Veerappan did not want the scene to be in the film, the scene would be re-shot, and Rajinikanth offered to bear the costs for re-shooting the scene himself. The shooting was stalled for five days after Krissna's meeting with Veerappan. Later, Krissna, Raju, the choreographer for the stunt sequence, and cameraman Prakash concluded that the scene would be tweaked in such a way that it would be as if Mother Nature is angry at the treatment being meted out to a peace-loving person like Manikkam; it was also planned that backlighting and a poignant background music would be used as well. Twenty-five scenes, including those which show Rajinikanth's house and neighborhood were shot at Vijaya Vauhini Studios. The set at the studio was designed by Magie, the film's art director. The set also consisted of a tea stall, a cycle stand and a theatre. The scenes featuring the comedy sequences, interludes featuring Nagma and some of the action sequences featuring Anandaraj were also filmed at Vijaya Vauhini Studios. Krissna wanted to complete the scenes scheduled to be filmed there before dismantling the sets.
Music
The film's soundtrack was composed by Deva, with lyrics by Vairamuthu. Due to the popularity of the rap genre at that time, Deva and Krissna wanted the introduction song to be in the Boney M. group style of music, but the method was not successful. Then Deva tried the gaana genre and sang a few lines to Krissna: "Kappal paaru, kappal paaru, Kappal meledora paaru, Dora kezhey aaya paaru, Aaya kayila kozhandahai paaru". This tune, originally done by Deva, laid the foundation for the song, "Naan Autokaaran".After Rajinikanth and Vairamuthu heard Deva's rendition, Vairamuthu composed the lyrics for the song in ten minutes. Recording for the song was done by Deva in collaboration with Sabesh-Murali. Vairamuthu revealed that he had completed the lyrics of the song "Ra Ra Ramaiya" in eight minutes. The song "Namma Thozhan" is initially a sad version of the song "Baatcha Paaru" played during a fight sequence, where Manikkam was tied to the pole and gets beaten by Indiran, however he bears it for the sake of his brother without any retaliation. However, in the album, it was credited as "Namma Thozhan".
The song "Style Style Thaan" is partly based on the James Bond Theme. The song "Azhagu" is based on the Hindi song "Dilbar Dil Se Pyaare", composed by R. D. Burman for Caravan. The theme music of Baashha is based on the theme of ', while a sample of Enigma's "Carly's Song" was used as the theme of Mark Anthony. The music rights were acquired by AVM Audio for. The soundtrack was a large success, and all the numbers were chartbusters. A special function was held at Hotel Chola Sheraton to celebrate the success of the film's soundtrack. Rajinikanth was presented a platinum disc on the occasion.
Tamil version
Hindi version
The Hindi version was repackaged by Prasad Rao as Baashha which was originally dubbed and released in Hindi as Manik Baasha in 1995.
Telugu version'''
Release
Baashha was released on 12 January 1995, two days before Pongal. It was released with 18 prints in North Arcot, South Arcot and Chengalpet areas. The film was dubbed into Telugu under the same title Baashha, and released it on the same day.Reception
On 13 January 1995, a review from The Hindu said, "Rajini blossoms fully to portray two different characters, a former dada of Bombay and a docile peace-loving auto driver in Tamil Nadu, trying not to fall back on his old ways and finding it difficult to do so when force of circumstances pressure him" and that Suresh Krishna "has fashioned his screenplay to suit the image of Rajini and the taste of his fans and the songs and sequences are fashioned to boost the image of the hero". On 29 January 1995, Ananda Vikatan said the director had intelligently created scenes to present Rajinikanth with full honour, also noting that Rajinikanth had taken the majestic form in the film through his acting and action sequences, and that made the film a treat to watch. On 23 January 1995, K. Vijiyan of the New Straits Times said "If you are not a Rajini fan, go without expecting too much and you may not be disappointed". The film took nearly 15 months to complete its entire theatrical run. For his performance, Rajinikanth won the Filmfans Association Award and the Cinema Express Award for Best Actor.In October 2008, Outlook included Rajinikanth's dialogue "" in its list, "13 Cheesiest, Chalkiest Lines in Indian Cinema". In May 2007, K. Balamurugan of Rediff.com ranked the film tenth in his list of "Rajni's Tamil Top 10" films.