Jeans

Star(s): Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Prashanth
Songs/Dance: The "Adhishayam/Ajooba/ Poovukul" song was shot in different locations across the world.
Indian/ International Crew: Indian and international.
Language: Tamil
Line Producer: Jean Patrick Constantini
Director/ Producer: S. Shankar (Director); Ashok Amritraj, Jayabalan Murali Manohar, Sunanda Murali Manohar (Producers)

Film Location Analysis

By Veena Hariharan

“Adhisayam/ Ajooba/ Poovukkul” Song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEXR5ii9Ht0

Context

With a budget of Rs 20 crore, Tamil director S. Shankar's film was the costliest Indian production in its time. It was so successful that it was dubbed into Hindi and Telugu with the same title. The film’s success rode on its song “Adhisayam/ Poovukkul” famously described as the director’s "around the world in one song”—the song that was shot in front of the seven wonders of the world. The song is placed at the end of the film with just seven minutes or so left to run in the film; that song was the “main event” and would make the ‘90s audience sit through the film’s runtime just to catch a glimpse of the seven wonders.

The lyrics of the song go: The bunch of fruits hidden in the flowers are wonders! /The arts on the wings of butterflies are wonders! /The air travelling through a hole (flute) turning into a sweet music is a wonder! /The cuckoo’s song without having a guru is a wonder!/ A wonder to amaze all the other wonders, you are my wonder! Indeed, the film was a paean to the “eighth wonder of the world” —Aishwarya Rai herself—as she was referred to in the industry hyperboles of the time, as much as it was to the seven wonders of the world.  Aishwarya Rai was at the time the “most beautiful woman in the world” as she had just won the title for Miss World in 1994 launching her into international success, and her spectacular Bollywood career since her debut in Mani Ratnam’s Iruvar a year earlier in 1997.  

If Mani Ratnam’ s film also featured Aishwarya Rai in similar song sequences in various pan-Indian locales and in front of iconic monuments, then the scope of Jeans is truly global (breaking the record for maximum number of international locales filmed in Indian film) and one that changed the landscape of Tamil cinema forever. Famous for using exotic locales in his films from Kilimanjaro to The Great Wall, Shankar’s Jeans, was an early forerunner featuring the seven wonders of the world in one dream sequence. Backed by AR Rahman's music, the film went on to break box office records and set off a youthful trend in fashion, music, VFX and world travel.   Jeans won awards for its bold takes on costume, and since then we have become accustomed to seeing our stars dress in the haute couture of other cultures when visiting foreign locales. 

Shankar admitted in an interview that he only had a rough idea for shooting the wonders of the world, and did not have a formal plan as the cast and crew (including hundred junior artistes as background dancers for the songs) travelled the globe together for 45 days, stopping to shoot at the world’s most popular tourist sites and the seven wonders including the Pyramids in Egypt, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon in Iraq,  Taj Mahal in India, The Great Wall of China, The Empire State Building, Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Colosseum in Rome, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Pisa. 

The sequence edited to the catchy bars of the melody, begins in China at the Great Wall with Aishwarya Rai dressed in traditional Chinese costume before it cuts to the Eiffel Tower in Paris without warning. With a grey morning sky and the stark and steely Eiffel Tower in the background, Aishwarya Rai in a modern Parisian evening dress and Prashanth (in a grey suit) are dancing immersed in each other in a medium close-up, several such shots are intercut with close-ups of Aishwarya in a traditional Parisian white costume and blonde wig. This is followed by a close shot of the two of them framed against the gigantic Eiffel Tower’s base through which one sees the car-lined streets of Paris. Low-angle shots frame them against the giganticity of the tower. Next is a long shot of Aishwarya dancing in her flowing white dress with an evening sky at a tree-line park and the tower in long shot, followed by night shots framed by the golden light of electric lamps and the tower in the background. 

This is followed by shots of the Empire State Building, the Taj Mahal, and the Pyramids of Egypt until it cuts again without warning to Aishwarya emerging in a regal brown costume, hoop skirt and all, framed against the background of the Colosseum ruins before it cuts to a joyous dance of Aishwarya and Prashanth dressed in elegant black evening dresses in mid close-ups and the Colosseum’s monumental ruins in the background. The song cuts to the Colosseum in golden light, cuts again to the golden shields of extras dressed as ancient warriors in a Roman empire and Aishwarya as the undisputed Queen followed by her masked bodyguards. This is interspersed with extreme close-ups of her face with the elaborate blonde hairdo and then her eyes, lips, and gestures (mudras), and close shots of the monuments with the pair in exaggerated postures of romantic intimacy. This sequence also follows the diurnal cycle starting during the day and ending at night with a few night shots of them dancing in front of the Colosseum.

Once again, without a segue, the film cuts to the whiteness of the Leaning Tower of Pisa as the camera tilts down to reveal the lovers cavorting in the foreground. Aishwarya in a rust-coloured flowy evening skirt and Prashanth in a dapper black tux, several shots of the tower and the dancing pair in medium close-ups are interspersed with Aishwarya in a blue ancient costume, followed by a bevy of extras in similar costumes cutting to Aishwarya’s close-ups and profile shots framed against the tower. Several low-angle shots also reveal the beauty of the tower and sky as they are framed with Aishwarya’s dancing postures in the foreground. The sequence ends with the pair framed against the gateway as several pigeons fly away until the camera freezes on them and the song ends on a melodious note.

Additional Information & Links

Promos:

https://www.mxplayer.in/shorts/watch-trailer-jeans-online-6aa95badbeab9ecf52c9d940905b2640

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVMElA7OMH0

Tourism

The film spawned a wave of global tourism in India. An enthusiastic fan even mapped the travel in the song trying to arrive at what would be the easiest way to travel the route of this song…