Thenali

After the success of K. S. Ravikumar's directorial Padayappa (1999), Kamal Haasan approached him, since production on Haasan's Marudhanayagam was delayed and he wanted to act in two films in a year. While Haasan planned to direct one himself (Hey Ram), he offered Ravikumar to direct the other, and Ravikumar agreed. Haasan later asked Ravikumar if he would also produce the film. Though Ravikumar was initially in a dilemma, with encouragement from Rajinikanth, who starred in Ravikumar's Muthu (1995) and Padayappa, he agreed.[4] The film thus became the first one produced by Ravikumar's company R. K. Celluloids, with his wife Karpagam handling production duties.[5][6]

Due to Haasan's commitments to Hey Ram lasting almost a year, Ravikumar spent the time by "writ[ing] a few stories" for him. The title Thenali was suggested by Rajinikanth for the story that was finalised.[4] The core premise, that of the lead character following his reluctant psychiatrist on vacation, was inspired by the American film What About Bob? (1991),[7] but Ravikumar opted against making a shot-for-shot adaptation.[4] To emphasise the film's comedy, Crazy Mohan was hired to write the dialogues.[8] Cinematography was handled by Priyan, art direction by Maniraj, dance choreography by Tarun Kumar and stunt choreography by Vikram Dharma.[9]

Kamal Haasan played the title character, Thenali Soman.[10] He said he chose to do the film "mainly because it was a K. S. Ravikumar film. I knew his talent and was sure that he would spring a few surprises in the comedy".[11] Ravikumar felt the film needed a unique selling point, and Haasan remembered the original script of Anbe Sivam (2003) he discussed with Ravikumar, in which Haasan's character was a Sri Lankan Tamil; hence the title character of Thenali was changed into one.[4] To get the right accent, Haasan took lessons from the television host B. H. Abdul Hameed, who made a cameo appearance in the film.[12][13]

Mohanlal and Simran were considered for playing the psychiatrist Kailash and his sister Janaki, before Jayaram and Jyothika were cast.[14][15] Simran has stated that, though she liked the script, to her dismay the role required body exposure; she therefore demanded an exorbitant fee so that she would be rejected, and succeeded.[16] Ravikumar chose Jayaram because of his "ear for comedy", and Jyothika after seeing pictures of her from Poovellam Kettuppar (1999).[4] Jyothika's casting caused widespread scepticism as she had acted only in a few films to that point, and was not yet an established star.[17] Devayani, who portrayed Kailash's wife Jalaja, accepted to act in the film at Ravikumar's request, without asking about details such as the story or the lead actor; she later realised that she would not be paired opposite Haasan, but did not mind being side-lined by Jyothika.[18]

Vivek was offered the role of Diamond Babu and took an advance, but later left as he felt he "didn't have the best laugh lines";[19] the role later went to Madhan Bob.[4] Delhi Ganesh and Ramesh Khanna were cast as the psychiatrist Panchabhootham and his assistant at Haasan's insistence.[20] Meena, who had been approached by Ravikumar to star in some of his earlier films but declined due to unavailability of dates, was asked to do at least a cameo in Thenali, and agreed. She portrays a fictional version of herself.[21][22] Yugi Sethu has stated that he was offered to act in the film by Haasan, but was unable to accept due to his commitment to the TV series Nayyandi Durbar.[23]

The film was launched at the Kalaivanar Arangam in Chennai on 22 March 2000 with Y. G. Mahendran as compere and with Rajinikanth as chief guest.[5][24] Scenes were shot predominantly in Ooty and Kodaikanal, while some song sequences were shot in New Zealand.[4][25] A scene required Jyothika and Haasan to kiss; in contrast to other Tamil film actresses at that time, Jyothika agreed without hesitation.[26] While filming the scene where Panchabhootham and his assistant jump into a lake, Ganesh and Ramesh Khanna did so despite the "freezing temperature". Haasan later gave them self-made kashayam to prevent illness. While filming other scenes, Haasan was the only one wearing a coat; the other cast members including Devayani and Jyothika had to "brave the temperature and get wet in the rain for a sequence".[4]

Haasan would describe in detail on how to make his core audience of city-bred people laugh to Ravikumar, who would then add slapstick elements to make it applicable to rural audiences too.[27] For one part of the "Porkalam Ange" song sequence, Jyothika and Jayaram dressed like African tribal people. Jyothika sported dreadlocks, and Jayaram's attire took 20 minutes to wear. The background artists had white paint applied throughout their body and wore plastic leaves.[28][29] During the filming of the climax where Kailash slaps Thenali, Jayaram had no issues since he was "quite comfortable" with Haasan, the two having previously appeared together in the Malayalam film Chanakyan (1989).[30] The shoot of the film was completed in 25 days.[31]

Thenali was edited by K. Thanikachalam.[9] It is the first film where Haasan was credited as "Ulaga Nayagan" (Universal Hero). The idea to create a graphic title card containing this honorific was Ravikumar's, and Haasan relented after initial reluctance. Although Haasan had by then undergone a body transformation for acting in Aalavandhan (2001), Ravikumar was unfazed since he only needed Haasan's eyes to be filmed for the Ulaga Nayagan title card. Ravikumar recalled how the card was created: "We shot in high speed, and at the count of five, asked him to wink and smile. I took that footage to the CG department and came up with the visuals – we show his Alwarpet office, pull back to show Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India and then the world, which becomes a small, black circle, which is his eyeballs, and he winks. The terms Universal Hero and Ulaga Nayagan flash on the screen".[4] Jyothika's voice was dubbed by Savitha Radhakrishnan.[32] Thenali is the 49th film for visual effects supervisor Madhu Sudhanan.[33]

Thenali received positive reviews from critics.[50] Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu gave a verdict that the film was a "wholesome mix of rip-roaring action, witty dialogues and exotic locales". She was particularly appreciative of Jayaram's performance, Haasan's Sri Lankan diction and his comedic prowess, "both the physical and dialogue-oriented kind", adding, "Logic has no place in the story, which is only meant to make you laugh".[51] Rajitha of Rediff.com stated, "The comedy is on a single track in Thenali" and that "it is more tiresome than humorous". She appreciated the technical aspects of the film, but was critical of the music.[9] Visual Dasan of Kalki lauded Haasan's delivery of Sri Lankan accented Tamil, but said the real show stealer with regards to acting was Jayaram. He also appreciated the dialogues written by Mohan, but felt Jyothika was underutilised.[52] Tamil Star Online wrote that Ravikumar, Mohan and Haasan "have offered an enjoyable comic fare", but criticised the music, though the reviewer said "it is to be commended that each lyricists has put in his best in his lyrics".[53]

Writing for Chennai Online, Malini Mannath said, "Kamal's perfect timing for comedy, matched equally by Jairam, the antics of Delhi Ganesh and Ramesh Khanna, the humour, some situational, some slapstick, and Crazy Mohan's lines sustain the film for sometime. But then how long can one fool around with a one-line story? The second half has its dragging moments and some forced humour. Rehman's tunes are not very inspiring, the song picturisation too leaving much to be desired".[54] Indiainfo lauded Haasan's "flawless" Sri Lankan accent, but felt the film had "nothing new to offer", criticised the music, dance choreography and cinematography. The critic added that Jayaram's performance "matches Kamal [Haasan] but otherwise the other artistes [Devayani] and Jyothika have nothing much to offer".[55]