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Lesa Lesa

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Lesa Lesa
DVD cover
Directed byPriyadarshan
Written byN. Prasanna Kumar (dialogues)
Story byOriginal Story:
Ranjith
Additional Story:
Priyadarshan
Based onSummer in Bethlehem (1998)
Produced byVikram Singh
Starring
CinematographyTirru
Edited byN. Gopalakrishnan
Music byHarris Jayaraj
Production
company
Film Works
Release date
  • 16 May 2003 (2003-05-16)
Running time
154 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Lesa Lesa... (/ˈleɪsɑː/ transl. Gently, gently), also referred to as Laysa Laysa,[1] is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Priyadarshan. The film stars Shaam and Trisha, while Vivek, Radharavi and Sreenivasan play supporting roles. Madhavan appears in a guest appearance. The music was composed by Harris Jayaraj. The film is a remake of the 1998 Malayalam film Summer in Bethlehem, which was written by Ranjith.[2][3]

Plot

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Chandru, who has spent all his money lavishly, stays with Rakesh, his friend, who has tasted success in his business. Rakesh owns a vast estate and hundreds of cattle in a valley. Chandru is a fun-loving, jovial chap who has fabricated stories of his success to his parents, grandparents, and relatives.

During a vacation, Colonel Rajasekar, his grandfather and grandmother arrive with their extended family to spend a couple of days at Chandru's farmhouse. Chandru successfully makes them believe that he is the real owner of the estate and that Rakesh is just his working partner. Rakesh, who is an orphan, is happy to meet a huge family and generously welcomes them. Colonel Rajasekar plans to get Chandru married to one of his granddaughters. Chandru is a bit confused about whom he should choose. To make matters complicated, he has been receiving gifts and messages from one of the granddaughters expressing her love for him. Meanwhile, a few days after they arrive at the estate, Bala, another granddaughter of Rajasekar arrives alone. She seems to be too upset and worried. But within a short period, she calms down and starts enjoying the vacation. During their stay, Chandru and Rakesh decide to discover the girl who had been teasing them with cryptic messages. Eventually, Rakesh falls in love with Bala.

In a conflict between Pandi and Colonel, Pandi exposes that Chandru is a fraud while Rakesh, his owner is the real landlord of the estate. Colonel enraged on hearing this news plans to arrange a marriage between Chandru and Bala. Bala snubs the proposal by declaring that she is in love with Rakesh. Her decision is strongly opposed by the family but eventually agrees as the Colonel approves. Rakesh, at the same time, is happy at heart knowing about Bala's love for him. But she shocks him by saying that she was just using his name to escape the marriage. She tells Rakesh that she is in love with Deva, a college lecturer who is about to be hanged soon over a public issue. Bala has taken a vow not to marry anyone other than Deva.

The night before the wedding, Bala requests Rakesh to take her to jail to meet Deva for one last time. Deva lies that he hates Bala and asks her to never see him again. Enraged, Bala tells Colonel that she doesn't want to marry anyone as she has lost faith in marriage which further disappoints her family.

In the end scene, we can see the family in the railway station showing that their vacation has ended. Bala runs back to Rakesh conveying that Bala loves Rakesh. The train departs slowly and a girl's hand reaches out of the coach window, holding the puppy which was sent as a gift to Chandru before. Chandru takes off running to find out who it is, but he catches only a cryptic message that teases him to follow and discover her identity.

Cast

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Production

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12B film producer Vikram Singh hired Shaam and composer Harris Jayaraj again for his next venture directed by veteran Priyadarshan.[4] The story of the film was partially adapted from the 1998 Malayalam film Summer in Bethlehem, which was written by Ranjith, and Priyadarshan developed a new screenplay.[5][6] The project initially developed under the title Kanmani Nee Vara Kaathirunthen, before the makers changed it to Lesa Lesa after hearing the song composed by Jayaraj for the film.[7][8][9]

Lesa Lesa became the first film Trisha had signed,[10] and she recalled that she had been trying to avoid films until she finished college but Priyadarshan's offer was "irresistible".[11] She revealed she had no idea about the script of Lesa Lesa when she agreed to do the film and only later did Shaam and her have a one-hour narration of the script. During the making of the film, Trisha was dubbed as the "most happening debutante in Tamil film industry", and signed on to three other projects before the release of Lesa Lesa – Ennaku 20 Unnaku 18, Mounam Pesiyadhe and Thiruda, which she later opted out from.[12] The story of the film also required a guest appearance and Priyadarshan chose Madhavan for the role, despite initially considering Arjun.[13][14] The team also hired Radharavi and Sathyapriya along with four comedians – Vivek, Sreenivasan, Cochin Haneefa and Innocent to play pivotal roles in the film.[15][16] Art director Sabu Cyril constructed a house in Ooty for the film.[17] Venket Ram took the film's principal photographs, while Siddharth Chandrasekhar of Mittra Media made his debut as a publicity designer with the project.[18]

In order to concentrate on the project, Vikram Singh briefly shelved his other venture, Sivakumar's Acham Thavir starring Madhavan and Jyothika.[15] The team had a forty-day schedule at Ooty, beginning at 6 and winding up at 6.[12][19] The film was initially set to release in the Diwali season of 2002 but was delayed.[14] The film was to release on Pongal of 2003, but was delayed again.[20] The delay meant that Lesa Lesa did not become Trisha's first film release, with pundits describing the film as "jinxed".[4]

Soundtrack

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The film's songs were composed by Harris Jayaraj and lyrics by Vaali. For the first time in Tamil cinema,[21] the team released a single, the title song, priced at nine rupees.[22][23][24][25][26] Vikram Singh chose to release the audio of the film at a cheap rate, to avoid piracy.[15] The intro of the song "Yedho Ondru" before the hook is based off of the Christmas carol "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen".[27]

Track listing
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Aval Ulaghazhagi"Karthik5:09
2."Lesa Lesa"Anuradha Sriram4:41
3."Lesa Lesa" (Remix)Anuradha Sriram, DJ Ivan4:29
4."Mudhal Mudhalai"Yugendran, Srimathumitha, Tippu5:29
5."Yedho Ondru"Srilekha Parthasarathy, Harish Raghavendra, Franko5:37
6."Ennai Polave"K. S. Chitra, Suchitra5:19
Total length:30:44

Release and reception

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Lesa Lesa was released on 16 May 2003.[28] Initial collections were not so impressive, so distributors in Coimbatore and Madurai allegedly re-printed posters of the film which marketed Madhavan, who appeared in the film in a guest appearance, as the lead star of the film over Shaam to bank in on his star image.[29] </ref>

Controversy

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The producer of the film Siyad Koker accused Priyadarshan of remaking Summer in Bethlehem in Tamil without taking permission or purchasing the right. The Kerala Film Producers Association had banned the screening of all the films of Priyadarsan in the state at the time.[30] Kokker alleged that Priyadarshan's Tamil film Lesa Lesa is an uncredited remake of Summer in Bethlehem. Priyadarsan refuted by alleging that Summer in Bethlehem itself is an uncredited remake of American films Fiddler on the Roof and Come September.[31] The matter was later settled, with Priyadarshan paying ₹ 8 Lakhs to Siyad and ₹ 3 Lakhs each to Ranjith and Sibi Malayil.[32]

Critical response

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Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu gave the film a positive review mentioning that "Shaam once again shows that he is a natural performer" and that the "surprise packet is the entry of Madhavan and as a fiery, forthright and straightforward professor, he makes a mark". The critic added that "every frame of "Lesa Lesa" spells aesthetics, thanks to award winning efforts by art director Sabu Cyril and cinematographer Tirru", concluding that "if one can forget the avoidable protractions in the second half, Vikram Singh's "Lesa Lesa" is a visual treat".[33] Sify praised the performances of the cast, the music, the cinematography, and the art.[34] Malini Mannath of Chennai Online opined that "A clean family entertainer from producer Vikram Singh, the film bogged down by some problems took a long time to hit the theaters. But fortunately, it does not look dated, and seems worth the wait".[35] Visual Dasan of Kalki wrote apart from the music and cinematography, Sabu Cyril's art direction is amazing. Priyadarshan, who has been appreciated for his way of storytelling, as for this film he will be packed up.[36]

References

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  1. ^ Srinivasa Ramanujam; Vishal Menon (14 February 2017). "Love, life and audiotapes". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  2. ^ Josekutty, Jim (7 June 2003). "Priyadarshan's films banned". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  3. ^ "Trisha's Lesa Lesa is a remake of a Malayalam film". The Times of India. 17 August 2015. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  4. ^ a b Poornima (19 April 2003). "Dhool, the only real Tamil hit". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 6 May 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  5. ^ "Lesa Lesa was inspired from a Malayalam movie". The Times of India. 12 February 2015. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  6. ^ "'Muthu' to '36 Vayathinile': Five blockbuster Tamil films that were remade from Malayalam movies". The Times of India. 19 March 2020. Archived from the original on 25 March 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  7. ^ "Kanmani Nee Vara Kaathirunthen". cinematoday3.itgo.com. Archived from the original on 31 May 2008. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  8. ^ "Gossip". Dinakaran. 20 April 2002. Archived from the original on 6 March 2005. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  9. ^ "Lesa Lesa!". Cinesouth. Archived from the original on 13 December 2003. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Trisha's first project was Lesa Lesa". The Times of India. 2 November 2015. Archived from the original on 27 November 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  11. ^ "Trisha Krishnan makes all the right moves – beauty queen crown, commercials to movies". India Today. 17 June 2002. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  12. ^ a b "An offer she couldn't refuse". The Hindu. 3 June 2002. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  13. ^ "Yet another list of new films". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 3 June 2004. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  14. ^ a b "Slick flicks his forte". The Hindu. 30 September 2002. Archived from the original on 14 November 2003. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  15. ^ a b c "Working to a professional script". The Hindu. 30 May 2002. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  16. ^ Nair, Unni R. (24 September 2010). "Malayalam actor Innocent in Tamil film". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  17. ^ "Artistic touch". The Hindu. 10 July 2002. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  18. ^ "SHOT at success". The Hindu. 26 February 2004. Archived from the original on 28 September 2004. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  19. ^ "Screen vs. studies". The Hindu. 6 October 2003. Archived from the original on 17 November 2003. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  20. ^ "Delayed again". The Hindu. 17 January 2003. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  21. ^ "Ivan's remix is all the rage". The Times of India. 11 September 2002. Archived from the original on 22 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  22. ^ "A sound single". The Hindu. 29 June 2002. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  23. ^ "A costly tape". The Hindu. 21 June 2002. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  24. ^ "Selling music on the beach". The Hindu. 14 July 2002. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  25. ^ "Fame on a platter". The Hindu. 25 October 2002. Archived from the original on 14 October 2003. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  26. ^ Radhakrishnan, Sankar (5 June 2002). "A gentle promo for Lesa Lesa". Business Line. Archived from the original on 28 November 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  27. ^ S., Karthik. "Tamil [Other Composers]". ItwoFS. Archived from the original on 22 May 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  28. ^ "Lesa Lesa". directorpriyadarshan.com. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  29. ^ Pillai, Sreedhar (22 May 2003). "Cameo comes into focus". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 29 August 2004. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  30. ^ "Priyadarshan's films banned". Archived from the original on 17 April 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  31. ^ "Why blame me for everything? Asks Priyadarshan". Sify. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  32. ^ "Priyan settles copyright issue! - Sify.com". Sify. 15 August 2004. Archived from the original on 15 August 2004. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  33. ^ "Lesa Lesa". The Hindu. 23 May 2003. Archived from the original on 30 July 2003. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  34. ^ "The director works and re-works all his tried and tested formula". Sify. 18 May 2003. Archived from the original on 16 October 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  35. ^ Mannath, Malini (23 May 2003). "Lesa Lesa". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 24 March 2005. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  36. ^ தாசன், விஷுவல் (15 June 2003). "லேசா லேசா". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 32. Archived from the original on 9 February 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2024 – via Internet Archive.
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