Hampi, Bellari and Poomparai. The film was initially slated to face a box office battle with several other big films, notably Kamal Haasan's Hey Ram, Mani Ratnam's Alaipayuthey, Rajiv Menon's Kandukondain Kandukondain, and Shankar's Mudhalvan, but the delay of the first three gave Taj Mahal a possible leeway to become a success. Release The New Indian Express gave the film a mixed review citing that it was "vintage Bharatiraja at his best", while also adding that Riya Sen "shines in spite of an alien language and the totally strange cultural milieu in which she is placed". The reviewer adds that "song picturisation is brilliant and Revathy and Radhika, both favourite ex-heroines of the director, put up an impressive show." The critic also labels that the "only eyesore is hero Manoj" and that "Bharatiraja has been a little over-ambitious here and could have edited at least 20% of the film, including many unnecessary action scenes." The film became a financial failure at the box office and Manoj's career failed to take off despite a high-profile launch. The film was also set to be dubbed and released in Telugu, but the financial losses suffered had deterred the version. Soundtrack The soundtrack features 10 songs composed by A. R. Rahman and lyrics by Vairamuthu. The album marked Rahman's fourth collaboration with Bharathiraja. The songs were noted for the extensive use of traditional instruments. Rahman introduced several singers into the Tamil music scene, the most notable being Palakkad Sreeram. He sang a dappan koothu style song "Thirupaachi". References External links 1999 films 1999 romantic drama films Films directed by Bharathiraja 1990s Tamil-language films Films scored by A. R. Rahman Indian romantic drama films Films shot in Kollam