Thavam

Thavam
Title card
Directed by	Sakthi Paramesh
Story by	Puri Jagannadh
Based on	Itlu Sravani Subramanyam (Telugu) by Puri Jagannath
Produced by	Arjun
Starring	Arun Vijay Vandana Gupta
Cinematography	Freddy J David
Music by	D. Imman
Production company	Sree Raam Films International
Release date	5 October 2007 (2007-10-05)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Thavam (transl. Penance) is a 2007 Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by Sakthi Paramesh and produced by Arjun, who also has a cameo appearance in the film. A remake of the Telugu film Itlu Sravani Subramanyam,^[1] it stars Arun Vijay and Vandana Gupta while Vadivelu, Janagaraj, and Kalairani play supporting roles. The music was composed by D. Imman. The film released on 5 October 2007. The dialogue Aahan spoken by Vadivelu in this film is famous.

The movie begins with Sumathi (Vandana Gupta) and Subramaniam (Arun Vijay), strangers to one another, meeting at a suicide point in Chennai. They realise that their goal is the same: suicide. Both had chosen to end their lives and duly write suicide notes. Sumathy's reason for taking the extreme step is her nagging relatives, who are also her guardians. They are after her ancestral money. Subramaniam is cheated by a friend who promises a job for him in Dubai after taking Rs. 5 lakh from him. Both consume sleeping pills in a bid to end their lives in Subramaniam's room.

Parallel narration is the comedy track of petty thief Keeripulla (Vadivelu).

However, Subramaniam and Sumathi are rescued by the house owner Mani (Janakaraj). Life takes a turn, and Subramaniam lands a good job, while Sumathy's relatives take her home. Subramaniam's marriage is settled with a girl of his mother's choice, and Sumathy's marriage is fixed with her maternal uncle. Both flee the respective marriage halls independently. How they reunite forms the crux.

The film was shot at Kovalam, Arjun Garden, Pankajam theater, AVM Studio, Reddiar Bungalow and T R Garden and two of its songs have been picturised at Chalakudi and Pollachi.^[2]

The soundtrack was composed by D. Imman.^[3]

Indiaglitz called it "breezy love story for youngsters".^[4] Behindwoods wrote "As the sequences right from the start to the finish tread on an expected path, it is difficult to get involved with the film. There is no depth in story, screenplay and narration is weak and pathetic."^[5] Rediff wrote "Debutant Sakthi Paramesh directs the proceedings as if he doesn't give a damn. Lesser pleasure the audiences take home, the merrier. Nearly every known film device -- plot, logic and good dialogue -- is thrown to the winds as actors and technicians recklessly go through the mere motions of making a movie."^[6] Chithra of Kalki praised acting of cast, music, Vadivelu's humour, cinematography, fights, dialogues and stated the director who managed to extract good acting from cast has completely failed in the screenplay. She said the director had bored us with weak, predictable scenes and uninteresting incidents and concluded saying despite having good plot, good artists, this Thavam (penance) ceases halfway due to not taking efforts.^[7] Malini Mannath of Chennai Online wrote "[..] Arjun appears in a cameo as the saviour of Subbu in a tense situtation, and wishes him all success. Relate this to the well-intentioned effort of the Action King in producing the film to resurrect the down and out career of Arun. But unfortunately, this film with not many high points, and with not much chance for 'heroism', hardly makes for an ideal comeback vehicle for the 'Rising Star'!".^[8]

In early 2015, a quote and shot from the film has been used as a meme template, called Aahaan.^[9] This word was spoken by Vadivelu in one comedy scene involving him and Arun Vijay at a bus stop. The exact reason for this sudden phenomenon is unspecified, but it is believed that due to the unspecific tone that he says this line in, and given the fact that he has said this line frequently throughout his career with different tones, it has become a fan-favourite quote.^[10]

• Thavam at IMDb