Neethaane En Ponvasantham () is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film co written, co produced and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, starring Jiiva and Samantha. This film is shot simultaneously in Telugu, Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu, with Nani replacing Jiiva, while the team also briefly filmed an incomplete Hindi version (Assi Nabbe Poorey Sau) with Aditya Roy Kapoor, with Samantha playing the leading female role in all three versions. The film is based on a story written by Reshma Ghatala, who produced the film alongside Elred Kumar, Venkat Somasundaram and Menon. The cinematography was handled by M. S. Prabhu and Om Prakash. The film's background score and soundtrack were composed by Ilaiyaraaja which went on to become a chartbuster, and the soundtrack album sold a record 8.5 million units through various platforms on its release.
Neethaane En Ponvasantham tells the love story of Varun (Jiiva) and Nithya (Samantha) through three stages of their life; their school days, college life and then in their late twenties. The film was released on 14 December 2012, receiving positive to mixed reviews from critics, before enduring a good run at the box office.
The film was praised for its ravishing music and the chemistry between the lead actors; Jiiva and Samantha were appreciated for their performances, although the film's screenplay was criticised. At the end of its theatrical run Neethane En Ponvasantham received a number of awards, including the Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Actress for Samantha.
Story
Varun and Nithya were childhood friends who were misunderstood by each other. Later they unite each other during school after having a good conversation. And varun joins nithya's school to be with her. But this was not the result. Nithya was close to Deepak, a classmate, which made Varun angry about that and they fought again. Finally, they became enemies. During a college festival, Varun again falls in love with Nithya by admiring her performances and beauty in the culturals. Nithya and Varun talk again and both fall in love. One day, when the two are sitting in a car on a rainy day, Nithya proposes to Varun. The love between them strengthens until when Varun's father tells him to finish the CAT exams for a better future. Varun doesn't talk as much as he used to with Nithya, due to the amount of revision he does for the CAT. Varun gets a seat in college at Kerala. Nithya asks Varun whether she can also come with him. But Varun does not encourage this, as he thought she must not be jobless by coming with him for no reason, which causes another fight between the pair.
Years later, Varun searches for Nithya, with the assistance of his friends. He finds Nithya is at Manapad, a village in Tamil Nadu and goes there. He professes his love to Nithya, but she rejects and scolds him. They break up again after the row. Varun has a marriage fixed for him and Nithya is sad as she scolded Varun in anger. The day before Varun's marriage, Nithya and Varun share their thoughts. After that, Varun's dad talks to him about Nithya, noting his infatuation with her and urging him to make the right decision. The next morning, Varun stops his marriage and tells Nithya's father about their romance. The film ends, showing Varun and Nithya had fought and united and lived happily as a family.
Cast
Jiiva as Varun Krishnan
Manav as Young Varun
Samantha Ruth Prabhu as Nithya Vasudevan
Khushi Jain as Young Nithya
Ravi Prakash as Harish
Saran Shakthi as Young Harish
Santhanam as Prakash
Vidyullekha Raman as Jenny
Ravi Raghavendra as Krishnan
Sriranjani as Nithya's mother
Anupama Kumar as Varun's mother
Christine Thambuswamy as Vidya Vasudevan
Abhilash Babu as Deepak
Abhishek Jain
Arjun Rajkumar
Rajkumar Pichumani as Varun's friend
Ashwathy Ravikumar as Radhika
Dhanya Balakrishna as Nithya's friend
Kavita Srinivasan
Kota Prasanth
Preethi Rajendran
Rajesh Trakkia
Sahithya Jagannathan as Nithya's friend
Shriya Sharma as Kavya Vasudevan
Swetha Shekhar
Vaidyanathan
Vetri
Vivek Pathak
Nani as a train passenger (special appearance in "Kaatrai Konjam") VTV Ganesh as Ganesh (special appearance) Sathish Krishnan as a dancer at Vidya's wedding (special appearance)