Jeans is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by S. Shankar, and produced by Ashok Amritraj and Murali Manohar. The film stars Prashanth and Nassar in double roles each along with Aishwarya Rai, while Lakshmi, Raadhika Sarath Kumar, and Raju Sundaram play supporting roles. The film's background score and the soundtrack are composed by A. R. Rahman, while Ashok Kumar and the duo B. Lenin and V. T. Vijayan handled the cinematography and editing respectively.
The film opened on 24 April 1998 and was the most expensive film to be made in Indian cinema at that time. The film was selected by India as its official submission for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards in 1998, but was not nominated.[3][4][5][6]
Jeans [1998 -MP3-VBR-320Kbps]
The film's launch was held at the AVM Studios in Vadapalani, Chennai in December 1996. The Jeans invitation was printed, wrapped in denim and hand-delivered by Shankar to his close colleagues and friends in Chennai, which included prominent actors in the Tamil filmdom.[13] The cast and crew of the film wore their favourite pair of blue jeans to the launch, as requested by the film's producers.[13]
After a 45-day schedule in the United States, Shankar and the team returned to India to film a couple of scenes in the climax. The team then visited several other countries to picturise the song Poovukkul, with featured scenes with seven prominent buildings in the world, dubbing Aishwarya Rai as the "eighth wonder of the world".[9] Shankar admitted that due to no real list being present, thought had been put into which wonders were selected.[21] The team made a thirty-day trip around the world stopping to can scenes at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Empire State Building, the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, the Egyptian pyramids, the Roman Colosseum and the Eiffel Tower.[22] During the shooting in Paris, Diana, Princess of Wales had died and shooting was delayed as a result of her death.[13] Three weeks prior to the release of the film, on 1 April 1998 a screening was held labelled the Making of Jeans with prominent personalities invited, however, the short film showed the real manufacture of jeans courtesy of a company named Diana Garments. The prank was claimed by a Tamil journal who utilised an April Fools joke.[21]
The soundtrack of Jeans was composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics by Vairamuthu.[23] The audio launch took place in March 1998. To make the audio cassettes more "elegant and memorable", cassette store owners were told to wrap the cassettes in jeans clothing before giving them to customers.[24]
The soundtrack album features eight songs, with last two being featured in the cassettes only. To make the audio cassettes more "elegant and memorable", cassette store owners were told to wrap the cassettes in jeans clothing before giving them to customers.[25]
Jeans was released worldwide on 24 April 1998.[28] With 240 prints, the films holds the 1998 record for a Tamil film.[29][24][30] The team also released 35 prints of the film in Malaysia, a record at the time.[31] The film completed 100 days of screening in the theatres in the state of Tamil Nadu, and the Tamil versions was commercially successful.[32][33][34] Shankar later revealed that the film's box office performance improved with time.[35] At the Mumbai box office, it performed poorly.[36] The film performed well in Malaysia, running for over 100 days in cinemas.[37] The film was later dubbed and released in Telugu and Hindi under the same title.[38]
Jeans was nominated by India as its entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards in 1998,[42] but did not make the final shortlist.[43][44][45][46] The decision to submit the film met with heavy ridicule as it was seen as a "populist popcorn entertainer".[47] Sudhir Srinivasan, writing for The Hindu Thread in 2016, also disliked the decision to submit Jeans.[48] The film won four Tamil Nadu State Film Awards: Best Comedian (Senthil), Best Female Playback Singer (Nithyasree Mahadevan), Best Choreographer (Raju Sundaram) and Best Costume Designer (Kasi).[49] It also won a Filmfare Award for Best Music for A. R. Rahman,[50] and the National Film Award for Best Special Effects.[51]
In November 2013, Prashanth announced that he had registered the title Jeans 2 and was completing the pre-production works of a sequel to the 1998 film. The film was set to be directed and produced by Prashanth's father Thiagarajan, who revealed that production would begin in May 2014 and that they were trying to bring members of the original team back for the venture.[52][53] In January 2014, Ashok Amritraj stated that he was not involved in the sequel and questioned the viability of the project, citing that he did not believe that Prashanth and his father had the rights to make a sequel.[54] In February 2016, Prashanth reaffirmed that the sequel was in development.[55]
Lang's iconic 'Painter Jean' was introduced for S/S 1997 and is certainly one of his most celebrated denim creations. Besides dominating the S/S 1998 runway (pictured), the jeans were also worn by actress Nicolette Krebitz on the cover of New Order's 2001 album 'Get Ready', art directed by Peter Saville. Like all Helmut Lang jeans, the detailing is inspired by Levi's 1947 501XX model, featuring a traditional five-pocket design reinforced with metal rivets. The fabric is medium-weight denim that has been washed, sanded, distressed and painted to give it a vintage appearance that emulates years of wear. Light wear throughout has softened the fabric while further adding to its beauty. The jeans have Lang's typical 'classic' cut which consists of a medium rise, fitted seat, fitted thigh and a narrow straight leg. The reward of this carefully considered pattern is a flattering shape that looks simultaneously effortless and sharp.
The Like all Helmut Lang jeans, the finishing is of a very high standard with considerable attention to detail. The coloured splashes found throughout the piece (the hallmark of the 'painter' model) are done by hand using off-white, black and grey paint. Interestingly, the logo-engraved hardware has a matte silver finish (fly buttons) and copper (rivets), a very rare detail that can be mainly seen in Helmut Lang jeans before 1997. The interior is flawlessly finished with mainly flat fell seams that ensure the jeans will be worn for years without fraying.
Overall, these hard-to-find jeans capture the sophistication and subtlety that became synonymous with Helmut Lang's iconic Jeans range. Classic and simultaneously modern, they are a wardrobe staple that will only improve with age.
Denim Day was inspired a 1998 Italian Supreme Court ruling, which overturned a rape conviction that asserted because the victim wore tight jeans, she must have assisted in their removal, thereby constituting consensual sex. The worldwide outrage, in which protestors wore jeans, led to an update to Italian law.
Piccoli A/S ("Piccoli"), a former exclusive distributor of Calvin Klein jeans in Scandinavia, alleges that its American counterpart, defendant Calvin Klein Jeanswear Co. ("Jeanswear"), conspired with Jeanswear's co-defendants to export Jeanswear's surplus jeans to Scandinavia and thus to destroy plaintiff's market. Piccoli asserts that Jeanswear's actions constituted breaches of contract and of the duty of good faith and fair dealing and that each defendant is liable for unjust enrichment, unfair competition, tortious interference with contractual relations, and violations of the Lanham Act and the Paris Convention. Jurisdiction is premised on the federal claims as well as alienage.
In 1991, Calvin Klein Inc. ("CKI"), the beneficial owner of the Calvin Klein trademarks,[1]*161 granted Piccoli an exclusive license to distribute Calvin Klein jeans in Scandinavia (the "CKI/Piccoli Agreement").[2] The CKI/Piccoli Agreement required Piccoli to purchase set amounts of jeans and to market, promote, and distribute them solely to upscale retailers.[3] Between 1991 and 1994, Piccoli successfully built relationships with upscale retailers and significantly increased sales "by making a substantial marketing effort, hiring additional skilled marketing personnel, spending thousands of hours and investing hundreds of thousands of dollars building and maintaining a distribution network."[4]
In 1994, CKI granted Jeanswear an exclusive license to manufacture, distribute, and wholesale Calvin Klein jeans in North America (the "CKI/Jeanswear Agreement").[5] The CKI/Jeanswear Agreement prohibited Jeanswear from selling Calvin Klein products outside North America and also from selling to third parties whom it knew or should have known would sell the products outside North America.[6]
In May 1995, CKI granted CK Jeanswear Europe, S.P.A. ("European") an exclusive license to manufacture, distribute, and wholesale Calvin Klein jeans in Europe (the "CKI/European Agreement").[7] A few months later, in August 1995, the CKI/Piccoli Agreement expired.[8] Piccoli then entered into an agreement with European which granted Piccoli another exclusive distributorship in Scandinavia (the "European/Piccoli Agreement").[9] The European/Piccoli Agreement imposed upon Piccoli essentially the same obligations as had the CKI/Piccoli Agreement.[10] In furtherance of those obligations, Piccoli expended "substantial time, money, and effort in promoting and trying to maintain the prestigious market for Calvin Klein jeans in Scandinavia."[11]
Trouble arose in the summer of 1995 when the defendants began to export Jeanswear's excess inventory of Calvin Klein jeans to Denmark.[12] The exported jeans were sold "through different distribution channels, to lower-end stores, and [were] advertised using different marketing methods."[13] Not surprisingly, the majority of them ended up on the shelves of Scandinavian discount stores.[14] In February 1996, Piccoli complained about these imports to European, noting "that its complaints to New York `have not been dealt with in a satisfactory' manner."[15] 2ff7e9595c
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