Gentleman is a 1993 Indian Tamil-language vigilante action film written and directed by S. Shankar, marking his debut, and produced by K. T. Kunjumon. It stars Arjun and Madhoo in the lead roles while Goundamani, Senthil, Charan Raj, Subhashri, and Vineeth play supporting roles. The film's music (score and soundtrack) was composed by A. R. Rahman. The choreography in the film was viewed as a highlight. This high-budget production won positive reviews and became a blockbuster at the box office. The film was remade in Hindi as The Gentleman in 1994, by Mahesh Bhatt, starring Chiranjeevi.
After scoring back-to-back successes like Vasanthakala Paravai (1991) and Suriyan (1992), producer K. T. Kunjumon wanted to collaborate again with director Pavithran and actor R. Sarathkumar; however since they went on to do other projects, the collaboration did not happen. Photographer Stills Ravi and editor V. T. Vijayan suggested the name of S. Shankar who worked as an assistant in these two films. Impressed with Shankar's story, he decided to produce the film, Gentleman. Arjun Sarja was selected to portray the lead role after attempts to sign Sarathkumar failed.
The climax scene where a student sacrifices his life by killing the film's antagonist was inspired from the assassination of Sri Lankan president Ranasinghe Premadasa. Kunjumon insisted Shankar to rewrite the climax by adding this element, much to the dissatisfaction of Arjun, who felt that his heroism would get diluted. However, Kunjumon was adamant about the climax and it was shot as per his wish.
The score and soundtrack of the movie was composed by A. R. Rahman and lyrics by Vairamuthu and Vaali. Gentleman marked the beginning of a famed collaboration between A. R. Rahman and director S. Shankar. The film and soundtrack were dubbed and released in Telugu with the same name. The lyrics were penned by Rajashri for this version.
The choreography was done by Prabhu Deva, who also made an appearance in the song "Chikku Bukku Rayile", written by Vaali.
The soundtrack earned A. R. Rahman, his second Filmfare Best Music Director Award of the year 1993. He also won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director for his work. Sujatha got the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback for her rendition of the track "En Veettu Thotathil".
A Gentleman instrumental adaptation album was subsequently released on Lahari and became a runaway success. The track "Ottagathai Kattiko" soundtracked a BBC fashion show. The song is based on Carnatic rāgam Dharmavati.The song "Paakathe" is based on Mohanam raga.
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