Monisha En Monalisa

Rahul leads a wretched life. He is mistreated by his stepmother, who is Sharmila's aunt, and largely ignored by his submissive father. He is also irritated by his housemate, Sharmila. His world brightens when he attends a concert by pop singer Monisha. He instantly falls in love with her and tries to win her over by wooing her over the phone. Monisha, who hates men and the concept of love itself, initially resists his advances. However, his relentless efforts pay off and she agrees to meet him in person. Unfortunately, as Rahul happily goes to meet Monisha, he meets with an accident and dies. The film hinges on whether Monisha will ever get to meet her lover. == Cast ==

The song Tholaipesi Enna was shot at a grand budget of 10 million, but the film had troubles after floods in Chennai washed away a set erected on the banks of the Cooum. During the production of the film, the film was renamed from Monisha to Monisha En Monalisa due to astrological reasons. The film had begun production as a trilingual in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu, and Rajender cast local actors for the Hindi version. Hindi television actor Raman Trikha was renamed Ramankanth for the Tamil version, while actors including Rahul Saxena, Ravi Kiran, Kunika, and Kalpana Iyer were signed to play roles. == Soundtrack ==

The lyrics and soundtrack were written and composed by T. Rajendar respectively. The title song is based on "María" by Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin. His Master's Voice bought the audio rights of the film and they said to have sold over three lakhs of cassettes within first round. == Release and reception ==

Monisha En Monalisa released on 12 April 1999. K. P. S. of Kalki called it an unbelievable, tiring, cliched love story. D. S. Ramanujam of The Hindu gave the film a more positive review, calling it a "feather in the cap of versatile artiste and technician, T. Rajender. With single-minded devotion and perseverance, he has taken up the seven important tasks in the film - story, screenplay, dialogue, lyrics, music, cinematography and direction". == References ==