Nanban (2012 film)

Nanban (transl. Friend) is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language coming-of-age comedy drama film directed by S. Shankar and produced by Gemini Film Circuit. The film stars Vijay,Jiiva, Srikanth, Sathyaraj, Ileana D'Cruz, Sathyan and Anuya, with S. J. Suryah and Vijay Vasanth in cameo appearances. It is a remake of the Rajkumar Hirani's 2009 Hindi-language film 3 Idiots, which itself is based on Chetan Bhagat's novel Five Point Someone. The film follows Venkat, Senthil and Srivatsan, who are on the search for their long lost friend, Panchavan Parivendhan.

Gemini Film Circuit acquired the remake rights for 3 Idiots in January 2010. Several directors were approached to direct it, with Shankar finalised in that October. Vijay was signed to portray Aamir Khan's role in the film, however, he walked out due to schedule conflicts in December. After trying to get Suriya on board, which failed, Vijay was again brought on board. Casting process completed in February 2011, and principal photography commenced the same month. It was shot sporadically in several legs, before wrapping by late-October. Filming locations included Ooty, Dehradun, Pondicherry, Chennai, London and Buckingham. The film has music composed by Harris Jayaraj, cinematography handled by Manoj Paramahamsa and editing by Anthony Gonsalves.

Nanban released on 12 January 2012 worldwide in theatres to positive reviews from critics. The film was also screened at the Melbourne Film Festival. Indian Express reported the film grossed ₹1.50 billion at the box office. It was dubbed in Malayalam with the same name and in Telugu as Snehitudu, the latter of which was released two weeks later.