bharath tamanna in south scope oct 2009

The air-conditioning whirs comfortably from some unseen corner. The small room is crammed with computers, odd tables, trunks stacked up, while a harried assistant speaks on two cell-phones simultaneously.
In the midst of it all, arrives R Kannan, highly preoccupied, a little sheepish for coming late and delves straight into the film that's being talked about quite a bit these days.
Kanden Kadhalai, one of 2009's most anticipated films is complete. Pride and relief echo in Kannan's voice, more so as it is a faithful remake of Imtiaz Ali's smashhit, Jab We Met. "My first movie Jeyam kondaan was my own script, so Kanden Kadhalai was a very different experience as the completed script came to me," he shares.
Mani Ratnam's erstwhile assistant, Kannan has worked with the ace filmmaker on films like Ayudha Ezhuthu, Alaipayuthe, Yuva and Guru among others. With something like that on his resume, it was rather easy to be picked from a handful of directors by Moser Baer, that produced the film. Originally called Raja Rani ­ "Someone else blocked the title and wouldn't give it to us, so we had to change it," Kannan grins ­ the movie is now all set to hit screens.
"It's a faithful reproduction," Kannan confirms. "There are a lot of expectations riding on this Film, and we are sure it will live up to them," he shares.
We've gone to the extent of tranlating diologues from the original, for the Tamil audience, and we're sure we'll be able to hit the right note. We've been very careful not to give a `dubbed sort of feel' to the movie since that would end up spoiling things." His calm assurance mingles with his nervousness about how the film will be received. "But we had a blast, filming it in 60 days flat," he shares. Aside from a mild feverish upset ­ thanks to Tamannaah who apparently took it upon herself to spread the flu to the whole unit ­ things were pretty high energy. Such confidence usually indicates that Kannan did his homework by watching the original innumerable times, right?
Yes, he says, but they had to rely on subtitles. "I don't know Hindi," he grins disarmingly.
Language, though, was not such a big problem. "Jab We Met was never in any danger of getting lost in translation," he argues. The songs have been tuned all over again with music director Vidhyasagar. And the casting was more or less perfect, in his opinion. "Bharath, who is playing the male lead was a complete professional, as always. It takes some guts to attempt a role like this one. The script is heroine-oriented and the hero's character is subdued in comparison, yet firm in its individuality.
"He had to play it down, and Bharath did that very well. Tamannaah too," Kannan adds gravely. How did this eminently Punjabi girl play a typical, Theni ponnu (girl from Theni)? Kannan recreates the magic of Jab We Met in its Tamil remake, Kanden Kadhalai.
In this exclusive with Pavithra Srinivasan, he talks of the adaptations from the original and the departures that make it so much more
"It might surprise some, but she memorised her dialogues well and delivered them perfectly," Kannan is firm. "There are girls in those areas who aren't unlike her in complexion and looks. So she didn't seem out of place" Aside from these two, there's Santhanam as well, who's playing the heroine's uncle. The story has been retained, essentially ­ "but there are changes," he lets us know.
Like that sensual lip-lock in the original? "Well, yes," says Kannan.
"Obviously, we had to tone that down, as Shahid and Kareena were lovers in real life at that time.
The Tamil audience's sensibilities are different. Also, the pace is faster. There needs to be a little bit of everything, and in the right proportions."

Apparently, the changes Kannan made were for the better, as Imtiaz Ali saw the Tamil version and pointed out. "You've ironed out all the wrinkles in my film," he's said to have commented. "For him to say that is a great thing," Kannan acknowledges. And in the end, that's what he's looking forward to ­ staying loyal to the original, while letting a whole new set of viewers experience the refreshing breezer that Jab We Met was.