of Sundar C's assistant director and Sundar wrote the script of the film within a week, before discussing the line with actor Ajith Kumar. Ajith was initially unimpressed but agreed to do the love story anyway, mentioning that if the film became a success he would feature in a future film to be directed by Singampuli. Eventually the film became hit, and As promised by Ajith Kumar he did the film, Red with the director Singam Puli. This film began its shoot in late 1998 with scenes being canned in Australia and in Christchurch, New Zealand as well as India. The producers initially approached Laila to play the lead role, however she refused to commit to any other films until the release of her Kallazhagar. Subsequently, she was replaced by newcomer Shweta Konnur, who was given the stage name of Malavika by the director. Release The film received positive reviews from critics. In contrast, a critic from Tamil Star noted "the initial half where Ajith and Malavika meet, is very similar to Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995). Sundar.C could have done a lot better than this". The film was one of the hit films among several films that Ajith Kumar had featured in throughout 1999, while the chemistry between the lead pair prompted them to sign another film together, Anantha Poongatre. The film was later dubbed into Telugu as Premato Pilicha, while the movie was partly remade in Bengali as Bandhan. Soundtrack The soundtrack of the film was composed by Deva, was well received by the audience. Deva reused most of the background music from Annamalai without changing it in this film. Lyrics were written by Palani Bharathi, Kalaikumar, Ra. Ravishankar. References External links 1999 films Films shot in Australia Films shot in New Zealand Films shot in Tamil Nadu Indian drama films Indian family films 1990s Tamil-language films Films directed by Sundar C. Films scored by Deva (composer) Films set in Australia Films set in New Zealand 1999 drama films