A clear parallel between Shah Rukh Khan/Tabu and Vivek Oberoi/Rani Mukherji could not been attained, as well. The climax also in Tamil which has a more realistic look is better than in Hindi which is too filmy despite Vivek's performance and Rahman's orchestra. and gets new hopes to set a new beginning in his marriage. `Karthik' in Alai Payuthey talks with his Malayalee neighbour/houseowner (in Hindi Tinnu Anand) about love, marriage etc. For example, in Saathiya `Aditya' has no one whom he can tell all his sorrows and lands up as a depressed husband. But small scenes which might be unnecessary are missing to achieve a very good quality. Ali's direction is very good and is the best debutant director since Farhan Akhtar for Dil Chahta Hai. But where is then the problem? It's certainly unfair to compare a youngster's work like Shaad Ali's with that one of a genius like Mani Ratnam's. Tabu is unfortunately not as good as Khushboo who has done a superb job in Tamil. Perhaps Shah Rukh Khan and Tabu? Shah Rukh Khan is fantastic in his 10 minutes and portrayed the role differently as Arwind Swamy did. Gulzar then? I must admit that I don't understand Hindi and not much Tamil (thanks to English-subtitling) but the songs have good meanings and are as good as Vairamuthu's work for `Alai Payuthey'. The orchestra in the climax where Vivek apologizes to Rani is absolutely mind-blowing. His new songs are nice to hear and fit to the North Indian milieu.
As a result he didn't bring too many new songs which would destroy his early work. It's one of Rahman's best works and he knows that he can't top it. The songs and the background score which is filled with soulful tunes are absolutely great. Rahman? He was the one who gave the wonderful scent to `Alai Payuthey' which you won't forget so easily. Both were great and for me difficult to say who was the better one. Rani Mukherji then? She portrayed her character, Suhani Sharma, completely different as her counterpart Shalini did in the original version. So where is its weakness then? Vivek Oberoi? Certainly not! It's a difficult job to top Madhavan's great performance in `Alai Payuthey'. The film's strength is that it is suitable to North Indian milieu but fails to reach the quality that `Alai Payuthey' spread. Saathiya, a Mani Ratnam creation, is a great movie. Therefore directors are remaking their own films in Hindi but are failing, as well, because there is too much South Indian touch (Nayak Mudhalvan Rehna Tere Dil Main Minnale Dil Hi Dil Mein Kadhal Dhinam Doli Sajake Rakhna Aniathiypravu etc.). FLOP! But why? Because these remakes can't achieve the status of the original versions (although good story, good performances or good music).
And the results at the box-office are mostly the same.
Some from Hollywood and some from South India.