Amaravathi (Tamil: அமராவதி) is a 1993 Tamil film directed by Selva. The film featured debutants Ajith Kumar and Sanghavi in the lead role, and released in May 1993 to a positive response at the box office.
Aasai is a 1995 Tamil romantic thriller film directed by Vasanth and produced by Mani Ratnam The film featured Ajith Kumar and Suvalakshmi, making her debut, in the leading roles with Prakash Raj in a pivotal role. The film has camera work by Jeeva and a popular soundtrack by Deva. Upon release, the film won positive reviews and went on to become a blockbuster, completing a 285-day run at the box office.
Meanwhile Madhavan settles his father-in-law's debts and earns his trust. He also pays for connecting a landline to Yamuna's house and talks to her regularly. But his wife is unaware of this. One day Madhavan's wife finds it and starts to realize his true identity. Madhavan then expresses his love affair on Yamuna to his wife. This makes her so upset that she attempts to go and live with her father and Yamuna. Madhavan prisons her in home and one day he tells her that she can go to her father's house by flight and tricks her by putting a sleeping-pill in milk and makes her drink it. She falls unconscious. Madhavan then murders his wife by suffocating her to death with a polythene cover and tying it around her neck by his shoe-lace, and lies to everyone that she died from heart attack. He then makes Yamuna and her father stay with him in Delhi to look after his baby, but he has other plans.
Hearing this Jeeva comes to Delhi. One day he sees Yamuna who ignores him. Later he sees her carrying the puppy he presented and tells why she needs the puppy when she does not need him. Yamuna leaves the puppy in the middle of the road. Later that night Yamuna comes to take the puppy in the rain. Jeeva sees this and realizes that she really loves him. Couple of months later Yamuna's father (Poornam Vishwanathan) decides to get Yamuna married to Jeeva. This shocks Madhavan and he decides to stop the marriage between Jeeva and Yamuna. Yamuna's family meets Jeeva in a restaurant. While Jeeva was talking to Madhavan, a Singh dashes against him. And in the confusion Madhavan steals Jeeva's purse. Later when Jeeva senses his purse missing, he argues with the Singh. Later he suspects Madhavan and wants to check him. This angers Yamuna's father as he blindly believes Madhavan.
Later Madhavan arranges some men to pour liquor into Jeeva's mouth and lay him in the middle of the road. Madhavan makes Yamuna and her father believe that Jeeva is a drunkard. Madhavan later gives Jeeva's flight ticket and wants to send him to Madras. But Jeeva makes a fool of Madhavan by tearing the ticket and spends the day with Yamuna. In a rage, Madhavan makes his baby get wet in the rain and calls Yamuna to look for his baby. Meanwhile Jeeva complains to Captain Hariharan (Nizhalgal Ravi) who is a friend and higher officer to Madhavan, but he does not believe Jeeva. Later when celebrating Holi, Madhavan asks Jeeva the puppy he had presented to Yamuna. Jeeva gives it and Madhavan purposely throws it at a running car. The puppy dies and Madhavan makes everyone believe that Jeeva threw the puppy. An argument ensues between them and Madhavan tries to kill Jeeva with a rod but leaves him on behalf of Yamuna.
One day Hariharan finds the truth about Madhavan and questions him. An enraged Madhavan arranges men and kills Hariharan, faking it to be a car accident. Madhavan hides brown sugar in Jeeva's pillows and informs the police. Jeeva lands in Jail. One day while meeting Jeeva in jail, Madhavan tells him how he cruelly killed his own wife for getting Yamuna. Yamuna overhears this and informs her father. They plan to escape but Madhavan arrives and hits Yamuna's father with a lamp and holds her imprisoned in his house. Jeeva escapes from jail and arrives there. A fight ensues between Madhavan and Jeeva, in which Jeeva gains the upper hand. Yamuna and Jeeva take the baby to the hospital as it fainted. Yamuna's father locks the doors, opens the gas cylinder and lights a match stick in which they both die in the explosion. In the end, Jeeva is released from prison and is united with Yamuna and the baby.
Kadhal Kottai (Tamil: காதல் கோட்டை) is a 1996 Tamil film directed by Agathiyan, in which Ajith Kumar and Devayani play lead roles, apart from Heera Rajgopal, Thalaivasal Vijay, and Karan who played important roles.
The film was a major blockbuster and also won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil, the National Film Award for Best Direction as well as the National Film Award for Best Screenplay for Agathiyan. It garnered positive critical acclaim and completed a 240-day run at the box office. The film was dubbed into Telugu as Prema Lekha and to Kannada as Yaare neenu cheluve. Agathiyan also remade the movie in Hindi titled Sirf Tum (1999). The film was released as a novel in 2010 under the same name.
Vaali is a 1999 Tamil thriller film written and directed by S. J. Suryah. The film stars Ajith Kumar in a dual role with Simran appearing in another leading role. The supporting cast of the film include Jyothika in her debut venture, Livingston and Vivek. The film's music is composed by the music director, Deva while Jeeva
was in charge of the cinematography. The film released on 1 May 1999 to
critical acclaim and went on to become a commercial success.
Deva meanwhile chances upon Priya and becomes obsessed with attaining her. His obsession continues even after his younger brother gets married to the girl of his dreams and he devises various means of getting close to Priya and keeping Shiva and her separated. Some of the methods Deva uses to woo Priya are masochistic (wounding his hand by the running car engine to stop the couple’s first night) and psychotic (trying to kill his brother in so many ways).
Priya realises the not-so-honourable intentions Deva has towards her but Shiva refuses to believe her and has full faith in his brother. He even goes as far as to take Priya to a psychiatrist. To get away from it all, Shiva and Priya go on a long-delayed honeymoon. But Deva shows up there too. Shiva watches Deva kissing the photo of Priya and realises Priya was right all along. While Shiva is away, Priya has to take care of Deva. Deva beats Shiva mercilessly, packs the unconscious Shiva in a gunny bag and throws him in a lorry.
Deva disguises himself as Shiva and goes near Priya. Priya comes to know he is Deva and escapes from him before shooting him with her revolver. Deva falls in pool and when Shiva comes she narrates the whole incident to him. Suddenly, Deva comes back to life, but Shiva immediately kills him with the revolver. Deva's soul talks about his inability to express his feeling as he was mute. His grave with lots of flowers grown on it is shown.
About the making of the film, Ajith mentioned that Vaali "was very close to my heart and I gave it everything I had", revealing that he had initially received a lot of bad publicity and scepticism for doing a dual role too early in his career.
Villan is a 2002 Tamil film directed by K. S. Ravikumar and produced by S. S. Chakravarthy. The film stars Ajith Kumar in a dual role while Meena and Kiran play female leads. Sujatha, Fesi Vijayan, Karunaas and Ramesh Khanna appear in other significant roles, while Vidyasagar
composed the score and soundtrack for the film. It opened to positive
reviews and became a major box office success in November 2002, with
Ajith's performance leading to his second Filmfare Award for Best Actor.
As a result of an incident when 'dada' Sundara Moorthy, who runs a beggar trade beats Vishnu brutally, Vishnu becomes handicapped for life. Shiva leaves Vishnu in a home run by a social worker (Sujatha). During the day, Shiva works as a bus conductor, and at the same time, poses as the handicapped Vishnu: to play Robin Hood and steal from the rich and corrupt. A gang including Thangam (Meena), Ramesh Khanna and others assist him in these operations.
He is never suspected, and so, with the stolen money, he takes care of not only Vishnu but also 800 people in other institutions for the physically handicapped.
A college student Lavanya (Kiran Rathod) falls in love with Shiva, but Shiva later comes to know that she is the sister-in-law of the 'dada' who handicapped Vishnu. Matters worsen when Sundara Moorthy becomes the chairman of the institute for the physically handicapped. How Shiva deals with the situation forms the rest of the story. Meanwhile Thangam is in love with Shiva, though he does not know this. Later she gives up her love and lets Lavanya marry Shiva.
Varalaaru ('History') is a 2006 Indian Tamil film written and directed by K. S. Ravikumar. The film stars Ajith Kumar in three roles as a father and his two sons, while Asin and Kanika also played leading roles. Ramesh Khanna, Suman Shetty, Sujatha and M. S. Baskar play other supporting roles. The film's score and soundtrack were composed by A. R. Rahman, while the film's cinematography is by P. C. Sreeram. The film was referred to as Godfather
prior to release but entertainement tax exemption changes led to the
film being renamed. The film released on 20 October 2006 after long
delays and became a major blockbuster at the box office while Ajith's work in the film was critically acclaimed.
At a large feast that evening, Divya and the other girls woo Vishnu and his friends before leading them to the bedrooms. Vishnu's friends are injected with a substance called "Monkey Blood", which makes them itch all over and they leave, screaming and scratching. Vishnu himself refuses to sleep with Divya, saying he has committed lots of small mistakes and doesn't want to make a big one by sleeping with her. He asks her to leave her profession and Divya lies to him, saying she can't, as she has to support a family that is crippled with various diseases. Vishnu, moved, leaves. Vishnu offers Divya money so she can start a new life, but Divya refuses once again, saying she doesn't need a new life, she has to restore her honour - so Vishnu agrees to marry her in the village temple. Divya doesn't believe him, but Vishnu says he will be there to marry her the next day.
Divya doesn't come, however, and Vishnu and his friends see her leaving on a bus bearing the name of the girls' college. Vishnu and his friends now know they have been tricked and the girls weren't really prostitutes. When Vishnu returns home, Shivshankar discovers that his son has fallen in love. With his influence, Vishnu and Divya get engaged. Shortly thereafter, Shivashankar is disappointed with Vishnu's behaviour and his attitude.Vishnu went to Divya's house after a party.Her father and brothers resisted him to talk to her in drunken state. This eventually led to a fight.Vishnu went to Divya's cousin's house to meet Divya and apologise for his behaviour the previous night but suddenly attempted to rape Divya's cousin.After several days of this misbehavior, Vishnu is sent to a therapist.
Here enters Jeeva (the third role played by Ajith Kumar), Vishnu's twin. Assuming Vishnu's identity, he had taken the money from the bank, gone to Divya's place after party and attempted to rape Divya's cousin. Jeeva tries to stab Shivshakar and but stabs Shivshankar's assistant instead. It is revealed that Jeeva hates Shivshankar for leaving Jeeva's mother (Kanika). At the same time, Divya manages to sneak into Vishnu's hospital and tells him that she thinks he's innocent. She leaves and shortly afterwards, Jeeva appears, smuggles Vishnu out of the hospital, dumps him somewhere, takes over his identity and goes to kill Shivshankar. The father notices that it's not his son and gets out of his wheelchair to defend himself. Vishnu arrives at the scene, surprised that his father is able to walk and demands an explanation.
Shivshankar tells him that he once was a dancer who, due to dancing, gained a reputation of being effeminate. His mother had arranged for Shivshankar to marry her friend's daughter, (Kanika). He agreed but the girl rejected Shivshankar for being too feminine, therefore insulting him in front of the wedding crowd. Unable to bear the embarrassment, Shivshankar's mother died on the spot. Shivshankar, enraged, raped the girl, a deed that resulted in a pregnancy. The doctor refused to give her an abortion and so Vishnu was born, because Vishnu's grandmother wanted the child. Shivshankar takes his child from the mother saying that this child would be the only hope and reason of his life. Shivshankar confesses to Vishnu that he is ignorant of Jeeva's existence and the reason for his resemblance to them.
Jeeva escapes and now threatens the wedding between Vishnu and Divya. Shivshankar tries to stop him. Finally, Jeeva's grandmother comes out of hospital, explains that Jeeva is also Shivshankar's son and Vishnu's twin and that Kanika went mad when Jeeva was about to get hit by a lorry. Jeeva realises what he has done. He wants Shivshankar to shoot him, but police misunderstand and think that Jeeva is pointing a gun at Shivshankar and the police try to shoot Jeeva. Shivshankar intervenes and is shot instead. Jeeva is taken into custody. Jeeva's mother does not accept food from anyone, until Vishnu comes dressed up as Jeeva and feeds her. It ends with stating that Shivshankar is their godfather.
In January 2005, it was announced that the film was put on hold due to financial problems, beginning a long delay in the production of the film. The film also faced problems, after the government had banned scenes involving smoking in films, with Godfather featuring several such scenes. Furthermore in mid-2005, Ajith Kumar had also fell out with the producer, who had made several films with him in the past and stated that the pair would never work together again. The indefinite delay had led to Ajith taking a forced sabbatical, with his market being at a low following the failure of his previous film Ji. Ravi Kumar tried to get in R. B. Choudary and his banner of Super Good Movies to finish the movie but to avail.
Chakravarthy avoided trouble by claiming he would finish the film by 15 June 2005 and signed a contract in March with the Tamil Nadu Producers Committee, who wanted to resolve the problem. The film restarted in April 2005, with a 10-day shoot in Ooty including a song, with Ravikumar revealing that further shots would be canned in Hyderabad and then in Canada and that the film will be ready for release by 22 July 2005. P. C. Sreeram opted out of the film after his dates clashed with his work in Kanda Naal Mudhal and was replaced by Priyan. Actress Meena who was supposed to do the father Ajith’s wife character has also opted out due to dates problems, Devayani was also considered for the role but she refused as she did not want to scold Ajith and after unfruitful discussion with Nadhiya, Kanika was signed. Problems arose in mid-2005, when Asin could not allot dates for the film due to her work in Ghajini, Majaa and Sivakasi. However by 15 June, thirty five days work was still required and Ajith was forced to leave the project to begin work on Bala's Naan Kadavul as per the signed contract. Chakravarthy later reported Ajith Kumar for the delays and before further problems occurred, L. Suresh of Ananda Pictures, a leading Chennai based distributor, intervened and solved the existing problems by providing an interest-free loan. Subsequently the film became trouble free but took more than a year to finish the remaining portions and only released in October 2006 as Ajith took priority in completing Paramasivan and Thirupathi. Meanwhile, the title Godfather was reverted to Varalaru (History) after the state government gave an order to grant entertainment tax exemption to moviees titled in Tamil.
Ravi Teja announced he was going to remake the film in Telugu in 2007, but eventually did not do so. Further discussions by Pawan Kalyan to do the role in Telugu with Ravikumar as director also failed to materialise. In 2012, cinematographer Sethu Sriram opted to remake the film in Kannada under the original title, Godfather, featuring Upendra, Soundarya Jayamala and Catherine in the lead roles.
The film's soundtrack, composed by A. R. Rahman, features nine songs. Rahman finished composing the songs for the film by December 2004, with all songs written by Vairamuthu.
Billa is a 2007 Indian Tamil gangster-thriller film directed by Vishnuvardhan. It is based on the 1980 Tamil film of the same name which was itself a remake of Hindi film Don (1978). Ajith Kumar and Nayantara played the lead roles while Prabhu Ganesan, Namitha, Rahman, Adithya and Santhanam were also part of the cast. The film was produced by L. Suresh, while featuring musical score and soundtrack by Yuvan Shankar Raja, cinematography by Nirav Shah and editing by A. Sreekar Prasad.
The project commenced in April 2007 and was released and distributed worldwide by Ayngaran International on 14 December 2007. The film, upon release, emerged a high financial success, and was selected to be screened at the 61st Cannes Film Festival.
The DSP trains Velu and sends him back to Billa's gang as a person who has lost his memory. Slowly Velu starts to learn about Billa's gang and even speaks to Jagdish, Billa's boss, on the phone. Velu provides a pen drive with the secret information of the crime network to the DSP, but he is about to be killed by Sasha (Nayantara) because her brother Rajesh as well as his fiancee Rhea (Rose Dawn) were killed by Billa. At this juncture, the DSP arrives and tells her that he is Velu and not Billa. Later before a party, Velu secretly provides information to the DSP about a meeting of Billa's network and C.J. (Namitha), Billa's girlfriend, overhears his conversation. She challenges Velu but in the fight, he accidentally kills her. A shootout occurs at the party and the DSP is secretly killed by Jagdish, leaving his gun behind. Velu finds the DSP's body and the gun, but is taken into the custody of the police team, now headed by Interpol Officer Gokulnath. He argues during interrogation that he is Velu and not Billa to Gokulnath. Velu mentions a piece of evidence – the pen drive which may prove his innocence but the pen drive is nowhere to be found.
Unable to prove his innocence, he escapes from a police van. He phones Gokulnath and ask him to meet at the Aero bridge. Here it is revealed that Gokulnath is none other than the Underworld Crime Don Jagdish(Rahman) and he is the one who killed Jayprakash. Officer Anil Menon apparently had the pen drive all along and strikes a deal with Velu to get hold of Jagdish. Meanwhile, Sasha and Karan have been kidnapped by Jagdish and wants the pen drive in return for it. Velu meets Ranjith and gives him a second pen drive with the same data, but corrupted. When Ranjith tries to kill Velu, a scuffle ensues making Ranjith fall from the top. In a final confrontation, Jagdish fights with Velu. Jagdish posing as Gokulnath asks the police to arrest Velu as Billa but gets shot by the squad of police and dies as the police have wired the entire conversation between Jagdish and Velu, thus proving his innocence. Velu finally hands over the original pen drive to Officer Menon as the film ends.
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In an interview, Vishnuvardhan mentioned that he had "twice missed out on the chance to direct him [Ajith Kumar]. The third time when I got a chance to direct him, I made sure that I would not miss it. I was all ready to write a good script for him but he said, he wanted me to remake Billa", confirming it was Ajith Kumar's idea. The film was originally announced, provisionally after the release of the Bollywood film, Don: The Chase Begins Again – which was a remake of the yesteryear film with the same name from 1978. Also from the 1978 version of Don, a remake was made in 1980 into Tamil, called Billa. 2007's Billa drew inspirations from these three versions. Suresh Balaji, who had acted in the yesteryear version of Billa, acquired the rights to produce the film. The film became the second Tamil film to be remade from its yesteryear version after Naan Avanillai.
After the official announcement of the production company, the director and the cameraman, Vishnuvardhan and Nirav Shah began to select other members of the cast and the crew to be a part of the Billa team, Ajith Kumar could not assist in helping choose the other members. On 13 April 2007, the eve of Tamil New Year's Day, the launch of Billa took place at the AVM studios in Vadapalani, Chennai. Among the attendees were the stars of the old cast, Rajinikanth, Sripriya, Suresh Balaji as well as noted directors Mani Rathnam, Dharani, K. S. Ravikumar, and Saran. The confirmed cast until the date of the launch also were invited, among them being Ajith Kumar along with his wife, Shalini; Nayanthara, Namitha and Prabhu Ganesan.
The remaining members of the cast were selected subsequently after the launch, which was held on 13 April 2007. Despite early reports of Prakash Raj playing the role enacted by Suresh Balaji of an inspector in the original, the role was eventually bagged by Prabhu Ganesan. The role of the comedian was tipped to go Vadivelu, after he received rave reviews for his comic chemistry in Chandramukhi with Rajinikanth, however, despite the reviews, Vishnuvardhan's regular pattern meant that the spotlight for a comedian will be limited. Santhanam replaced him and became a part of the project, as did another character artiste, Adithya also signed up to be one of the members of the police troupe, as did Malayalam actor, Rahman, who with Billa, made his comeback into Tamil cinema. The item number, danced by Helen in the original was originally given to Mumaith Khan, but was later changed to newcomer, Rose Dawn, for unknown reasons.
For his crew, Vishnuvardhan picked his preferred technicians; with Sujatha as the dialogue writer, Nirav Shah as the cinematographer, William Ong as the stunt master, Thotta Tharani as the art director, Pa. Vijay as the chief lyricist and A. Sreekar Prasad as the editor. Vishnuvardhan's orthodox music composer, Yuvan Shankar Raja was chosen, creating great expectations for the project, while Vishnuvardhan's wife, Anu, debuted as a costume designer. The film was entirely shot in Malaysia at locations including Langkawi, Kuala Lumpur overlooking the Petronas Towers and other parts.
For the film's music and soundtrack, Vishnuvardhan renewed his previous association (Kurumbu, Arinthum Ariyamalum and Pattiyal) with Yuvan Shankar Raja. The soundtrack has 6 songs, while lyrics were penned by Pa. Vijay. Since the film was a remake, two songs from the original soundtrack, composed by M. S. Viswanathan, were remixed and included in the soundtrack. The formal release of the soundtrack of Billa was held on 26 November 2007 at Hotel Residence Towers in Chennai. The album had achieved record audio sales. Sify reported that it took the "best ever audio opening" for an Ajith Kumar film and the second highest opening day sales recorded in 2007 after Sivaji: The Boss. Nearly 22,000 CDs and cassettes were said to be sold out by the first day evening all over Tamil Nadu.
The album received very positive reviews. Pavithra Srinivasan from Rediff noted that Billa's music "rocks" and gave it four out of five. The reviewer wrote: "Yuvan Shankar Raja has etched an intricate musical feast to compliment the tale – and quite a feast it's turned out to be, a la the original". She concluded The guitar-ridden theme song was the most appreciated song, with a reviewer from Indiaglitz.com writing that the track was a "masterly work from young Yuvan... [which]... takes us to a different world", while another reviewer from Behindwoods wrote that it was the "soul of the film" which "stands out as the highlight of the album, giving that eerie feel required of a film about a don" and an "interesting composition with arrangements that spell international quality".
15 crore and sold to Ayngaran International for 25 crore, Billa became the second highest grossing film of the year. In Chennai alone it collected 8.35 crore. The film completed a 100 day run at theaters and was declared a blockbuster. It is reported to have grossed more than 70 crore worldwide. In Kerala, it was supposed to have collected more than top Malayalam films of the year.
Mythili Ramachandran of Nowrunning.com wrote: Billa [...] lives up to its hype and Ajith simply rocks", rating it 3 out of 5. Another reviewer from the same site, gave the same rating, citing: "Billa [...] is slick and stylish in keeping with the present modern world...View the movie from technical angle and it is undoubtedly in par with Hollywood movies. What a pulsating thriller it has turned out to be". In contrast, TSV Hari from Rediff wrote that the film "disappoints" and gave it 2.5 out of 5, further claiming: "Director Vishnuvardhan seems to have been in a dilemma as to whether to focus on Ajith or give the film well-etched characters. There are too many diversions in the form of female cleavages in the rain forests of Malaysia and garish sets".
In mid-2010, sources confirmed that Vishnuvardhan had finished penning the script for a prequel and that Ajith Kumar would reprise the titular character. The project became officially announced in late 2010, after Ajith Kumar signed up and first production poster were published to the media. Suresh Balaje, son of producer and actor K. Balaje, who produced the original Billa with Rajinikanth, and George Pius from Wide Angle Creations banner, were confirmed as the producer, who associated with Mumbai-based IN Entertainment Limited, a Hinduja group company. However, in a turn of events, Vishnuvardhan was replaced by Chakri Toleti, and a new script was written by Toleti and his assistants. The prequel was released at 13 July 2012.
Mankatha is a 2011 Indian Tamil action thriller film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu. It features Ajith Kumar in the lead role, starring in his 50th film, along with an ensemble cast including Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Vaibhav Reddy, Lakshmi Rai, Andrea Jeremiah, Premji Amaren, Mahat Raghavendra and Anjali. It was produced by Dhayanidhi Alagiri's Cloud Nine Movies while Yuvan Shankar Raja composed the musical score and soundtrack, with Sakthi Saravanan working as the cinematographer and the duo Praveen K. L. and N. B. Srikanth
as editors. The story, set in Mumbai, revolves around a heist of
cricket betting money, executed by a gang of four thieves, who are
joined by a fifth unknown man, and its aftermaths. A sequel of the film
(Mankatha 2) is planned in 2015,the film maker Venkat Prabhu said it in the film Naveena Saraswathi Sabatham released in 2013,who acted in the guest role.
The film was formally launched in August 2010, with its principal photography beginning on 25 October 2010. Filming was held for more than eight months and took place primarily across Chennai, the Dharavi slum in Mumbai and Bangkok, Thailand. Following speculations regarding the film's release, Sun Pictures acquired the theatrical rights and distributed the film via Raadhika Sarathkumar's Radaan Mediaworks. Mankatha released on 31 August 2011 worldwide to generally positive reviews and grossed the second biggest opening of all time after Endhiran at the time of release. The film was declared an "All-Time Blockbuster" at the end of its theaterical run. The film was also dubbed into Telugu as Gambler and released in Andhra Pradesh ten days later while it was a box-office hit in Kerala as well.
5 billion (US$84 million) to be used in betting. Vinayak is introduced to Arumuga Chettiyar through his girlfriend Sanjana (Trisha). Sanjana is in love with Vinayak, but Vinayak just pretends to love her.
Sumanth (Vaibhav Reddy), a goon working for Arumuga Chettiyar, hatches a conspiracy to rob the money in the company of his friends – Ganesh (Ashwin Kakumanu), a local Sub-Inspector, Mahat (Mahat Raghavendra), who owns a bar in Mumbai and Mahat's friend Prem (Premji Amaren), an IIT graduate. Vinayak befriends the boys at Sumanth's marriage with Suchithra (Anjali). One late evening, Vinayak meets Prem, who becomes inebriated by him and reveals their heist plan. Vinayak starts spying on them and confronts them on the day of the planned heist, stepping in. The four, reluctantly take him in, promising him a fifth of the share. Vinayak, however, has other plans. He wants to kill his four accomplices and take the entire amount. He promises to help them and divide it between them. After looting the money they leave the money in an abandoned godown. Later, all of them celebrate the turn of events at Mahat's bar. But Sumanth is identified at the party by Faizal and is later caught by him. Sumanth is cornered by Chettiar, who orders Faizal to kill him for his treachery but is rescued in time by Ganesh and Vinayak, and the trio escape from the hide-out taking Chettiar as hostage. While driving back to the godown, Vinayak finds Sanjana on the way and in front of her, he brutally shoves Chettiar out of the vehicle. Sanjana engulfs in grief when she comes to know about Vinayak's true intentions.
Meanwhile, upon reaching the godown, they discover that Mahat and Prem had escaped with the cash and are accompanied by Sona (Lakshmi Rai). The three are then confronted by Faizal and Chettiar's men but manage to evade them and get on the run. Sumanth later turns against Vinayak when he comes to know that his wife had been kidnapped by Chettiar. After a brief scuffle, Sumanth runs into Prithvi who takes him to custody and rescues his wife on the condition that he turns approver and divulge everything. He is however killed when Prithvi's wife Sabitha Prithviraj (Andrea Jeremiah) is kidnapped and threatened by Vinayak.
Vinayak comes to know of the whereabouts of Mahat and Prem through Ganesh and along with him, starts pursuing them. Prithvi and the others also follow suit and all of them are holed up in a highway resort with the money. Sequence of events lead to the murders of the gang members one by one—Mahat is killed by Sona who betrays him, Prem is killed by Prithvi who he mistakenly assumes was about to kill him, and Sona is killed by Vinayak—with Ganesh and Vinayak remaining alive. A final fight ensues between Vinayak and Prithvi. The two actually prove to be equal. At the final moment of the fight, Kamal throws a gun to Prithvi who shoots Vinayak, and a huge explosion rocks the shack seemingly ending the fight.
After several days, the police gets information about Ganesh to be living in Thailand. Kamal (under the name of Praveen Kumar) arrives there, but instead comes across Vinayak. Kamal confronts him and calls up Prithvi to inform him of Vinayak's presence, but then it is then revealed that Prithviraj and Vinayak are actually best friends since their college days and took trainings together. They had come to know about that betting money and operated the plan together (including Vinayak's fake death). Ganesh had also been killed by Vinayak as a part of the plan. Prithvi informs Vinanyak that their money was safe somewhere abroad, and asks him to deal with Kamal. Vinayak then snatches Praveen's gun and points it at his forehead, saying "Game Over".
The film officially commenced on 2 August 2010 with the formal launch and a simple pooja held at the AVM Studios, Chennai, coinciding with Ajith Kumar's 18th anniversary of his entry into the film industry. The film's title, initially being Mangaatha, derived from a popular Indian traditional card game, underwent a minor change in its spelling, due to numerological reasons. During the pre-production stage, while Prabhu was still working on the scriptment, sources claimed the film to be on the lines of Steven Soderbergh's crime thriller Ocean Eleven (2001). The story was later reported to revolve around a Mafia gang gambling during the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket season. In June 2011, reports emerged that the film was a remake of the 2008 Hindi film Jannat that was based on match fixing. However, Dhayanidhi and Venkat Prabhu quickly denied the news and assured that Mankatha was original. Upon completion of filming, Prabhu named it "his favourite film so far" and "close to my heart".
Prabhu termed the film as "male-oriented", attaching less importance and significance to the female characters in the film. Early reports suggested that Samantha Ruth Prabhu, and Anushka Shetty were initially approached for the lead female roles, while in July 2010, reports surfaced that Neetu Chandra, and Lakshmi Rai were supposedly signed for the roles. However, the following month Neetu Chandra opted out of the film, refusing the project due to unavailability of dates. Subsequently Trisha Krishnan was signed to portray Sanjana, Ajith Kumar's love interest, pairing with him for the third time, with Lakshmi Rai being confirmed later, who was signed on to play an important and "lengthy role". Venkat Prabhu revealed that changes in the script resulted in changes of the female characters' personalities, clarifiying that Trisha was not the replacement for Neetu Chandra and that the characters offered to both were different, while adding that Trisha's role was specifically written for her. Prabhu further stated that Lakshmi Rai was first chosen to play Ashwin's pair, which was dropped when the screenplay was altered, and that she was eventually offered the role of Sona, resolving that Rai was not given a choice to select between the roles of Sanjana and Sona, as the actress had claimed post the film's release. Earlier, reports had claimed that Sri Lankan model and actress Jacqueline Fernandez was also roped in for a guest role. In November 2010, Sneha was reported to be added to the cast to be paired opposite Arjun, however the role was later finalised with Andrea Jeremiah portraying that character. She was also expected to perform a song for the soundtrack album.
Other additions to the cast in the following months included Subbu Panchu, who rose to fame with his appearance in Boss Engira Bhaskaran and would essay a police officer character, Jayaprakash, enacting also a character with negative shades as the father of Trisha's character, and Anjali, playing Vaibhav's pair. Sources claimed that Venkat Prabhu himself would also enact a pivotal role in the film, while reports suggesting that Vijay would appear in a cameo role were dismissed by the producer, who clarified that Vijay Vasanth would appear in a pivotal role. Concerning the film crew, Venkat Prabhu renewed his previous associations with his cousin Yuvan Shankar Raja, for the background score and soundtrack of Mankatha, Sakthi Saravanan, who would handle the cinematography, and Praveen K. L., who along with N. B. Srikanth, would take care of the editing. Vasuki Bhaskar and Kalyan remained the costume designer and the main choreographer, respectively, with Shoby joining the latter for a couple of songs, while Selva was assigned as the stunt coordinator.
The film's second schedule was planned to begin on 6 December 2010 in a studio in Chennai, which was slightly delayed due to heavy rain, and started couple of days later. This led to speculation that the film had been shelved due to financial constraints, which was quickly denied by Venkat Prabhu. During the schedule, all important stunt sequences were canned at Binny Mills in Perambur, while simultaneously a grand set, resembling the Dharavi slum in Mumbai was erected in a Chennai studio. Ajith Kumar also performed one of the action choreographies with the use of a body mounted camera, weighing around 30 kg. In late December, the third song, a "high-spirited peppy number", was shot for five days, with Shobi choreographing the steps. An item number, titled "Machi, Open The Bottle", it featured actresses Debi Dutta and Kainaat Arora dancing to the song along with Ajith Kumar and the rest of the gang. The schedule was wrapped up by early February, with which approximately fifty per cent of the film was reportedly completed.
The remaining part of the film was supposedly to be shot during the third and last schedule to be held in Mumbai, which was to start in late February. However, sourced clarified that the subsequent schedule, too, would be held in Chennai only, with filming being carried on at the Padmanabha Theatre in North Chennai. In late March, the crew eventually moved to Mumbai, where the filming was held for nearly two weeks, mostly at the Dharavi slum. The climax portion was planned to be filmed at Madurai, which was considered as "apt" for the "action-oriented" sequence, but was eventually filmed in Chennai as well, while the remaining scenes were to be canned in Hyderabad. During the first week of June, Ajith had reportedly completed his portion, with his last day shoot being held in Hyderabad, while sources confirmed that filming was still being carried on later that month in Hyderabad. Shooting was further extended, with the crew leaving for Bangkok again in late June for a ten-day schedule to shoot the pending scenes, including a lengthy fight sequence and a song, involving Premji and Lakshmi Rai. Despite earlier announcement that Ajith had finished his portions, a "special scene" featuring Ajith in a different look was filmed on one day during the first week of July. By 10 June 2011, the crew returned to Chennai and announced the completion of the entire filming.
Mankatha's post-production works commenced by mid-June 2011, and were carried on for over one month. Earlier, an animation sequence lasting about 4 minutes was being created by specialised technicians, while CGI special effects were included in a song and action scenes, which was cited as the reason for the delay. By early August, all actors but Ajith Kumar had finished dubbing for their characters, including Trisha who on Venkat Prabhu insistence spoke dubbing for herself in the film, which became only the third film to feature her original voice. Rekhs, who had previously subtitled films including Enthiran and Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, subtitled Mankatha during the first week of August, while Yuvan Shankar Raja worked on the re-recording, being assisted by Premji.
10 million. The soundtrack album, following several postponements, was released on 10 August 2011 at Radio Mirchi's Chennai station, while two days later the team arranged a press meet, showcasing two songs and the trailer of the film. The album was reported to have achieved record breaking sales.
The songs received mixed response, with their placements in the film
being criticizied, while the film's score was widely appreciated.
However in a turn of events, Studio Green cancelled the deal the very next day due to "various reasons" which Gnanavel Raja did not want to elaborate, in spite of posters in newspapers featuring Studio Green's logo. Times of India reported that Azhagiri bought back the rights, since Gnanavel Raja had planned to sell the satellite rights to Jaya TV, a channel run by the opposition party, AIADMK. On 24 August, Azhagiri announced that Kalanidhi Maran's Sun Pictures had bought the theatrical and satellite rights of the film and would distribute it along with Cloud Nine Movies. Udhayanidhi Stalin was said to have negotiated the deal and united the production houses to release the film jointly. Mankatha thus became the first Ajith Kumar film under Sun Pictures banner as well as their first release after the assembly election. Actress Raadhika Sarathkumar's Radaan Mediaworks distributed the film to Tamil Nadu theatres.
Dhayanidhi Azhagiri announced that the film would be a worldwide release with subtitles in English, simultaneously opening across Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Canada and many other parts of Middle East and Europe. Noted Telugu producer Bellamkonda Suresh acquired the film's dubbing rights by late August 2011 and released a dubbed Telugu version titled Gambler on 9 September 2011 across 225 screens, enabling the biggest opening for a dubbed version of a Tamil film. The film became scheduled for a release on 1 September 2011 in order to cash in on the Vinayaka Chaturthi-Ramadan weekend, before Ayngaran International eventually finalised 31 August 2011 as the release date in overseas theatres few days later. In the United States, the film was released at 34 theatres.
28 Crore from 700 screens during the opening five-day weekend, and around 360 million in its first week. The film became the biggest grosser of the year as well as that of Ajith's career, while also garnering the second-highest opening after Enthiran (2010). In Chennai city alone, the film earned 27.2 million
in the first weekend from 19 screens. The multiplexes gave it the
maximum number of shows including morning shows in all screens. At the Mayajaal multiplex, Mankatha was screened in all 14 screens on the first day, resulting in 70 shows per day, all being sold out, while Sathyam Cinemas reported a net of 3.4 million from two screens for the five-day weekend. The film grossed 65 million in 19 days in Chennai. The Telugu version Gambler, which released in 225 screens. In Kerala, the film was released in the original language in Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad
districts on 31 August while a dubbed version released all over the
state on 9 September, opening at first rank, outclassing other Malayalam
releases. The film bought for 60 lakh in Kerala was expected to get distributor share of 14 million. The Telugu version got high opening compared to other mainstream films It was successful at the Bangalore box office.
The film opened at second rank in Malaysia, grossing $803,666 in its first weekend, with a per screen average of $19,602 (highest per screen average) claiming the second-highest opening weekend for a Tamil film. After four weeks, the film grossed60 million in Malaysia. In the United Kingdom, the film grossed $179,054 from 16 screens, opening at No.1 spot and No.4 in the all-time chart Overall the film grossed $1,104,911 in Malaysia in six weeks, and $268,533 in UK at the end of the third week. Sun Pictures the distributor declared that Mankatha grossed 800 million in the first month. Sify termed the film as a blockbuster as well as the year's biggest commercial success. The film completed a 50-day run at the box office and was ranked as the fourth biggest grosser in Tamil film history. Brand merchandise
related to the film were launched for sale after the 50th day. Items
included sun glasses, T-shirts, hand cuffs and lockets, all on a limited
edition basis.
Arrambam (English: Beginning) is a 2013 Indian Tamil action thriller film directed by Vishnuvardhan. Produced by A. Raghuram and co-written by Subha, the film features Ajith Kumar, Arya, Nayantara and Taapsee Pannu in lead roles. While the score and soundtrack of the film were composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, the cinematography was handled by Om Prakash and editing by A. Sreekar Prasad.
Following pre-production works for six months and the official announcement of the project in May 2012, filming commenced in June 2012 and was held for the next 15 months. The majority of filming took place in Mumbai, where the story unfolds, while other shooting locations include Chennai, Bangalore, Dubai, Hyderabad, Mahabaleshwar, Jaisalmer, Leh and Ladakhs. The film was not titled until it entered post-production and was mostly referred to as Thala 53 or Valai, a supposed working title. Arrambam released on 31 October 2013, coinciding with the festival of Diwali and received mostly positive reviews from both critics and audience; going on to become a blockbuster.
The film's plot is set in the backdrop of 26/11 serial blasts in Mumbai, and revolves around Ashok Kumar (Ajith),
who is on a mission to expose a scam regarding faulty bullet proof
jackets that are provided to security forces, which resulted in many
bloody deaths including his best friend and colleague, Assistant Commissioner Sanjay (Rana). He along with his lady love Maya (Nayanthara), hacker Arjun (Arya) starts hacking one system after the other. When Ashok gets closer to achieve his goals, he gets arrested by the police.
Later, Ashok uncovers himself as a former member of an Anti-Terrorist Squad and reveals about the scam. The rest of the story is about how he takes revenge on the Home Minister Mahadev Rane (Mahesh Manjrekar) and his associate (Atul Kulkarni) who are involved in the scam.
Subsequently speculation arose that Vishnuvardhan may remake his own 2011 Telugu action thriller Panjaa, or the Bollywood action flick Race, but the director clarified that he would not remake either film. Writer-duo Subha joined the team and worked on the script and dialogues. According to a "close source from the production house", a remake of Race was planned initially, as there was not much time to write a fresh script, but after Subha's entry into the team, the idea was scrapped and work on an original script began, with the writers telling that they took "nearly three months to come out with the sketch". In an early interview during the scripting phase, Vishnuvardhan opened up about the film that he was planning to work "on a drama, more on family action drama". Upon completion of the film, he made clear that the film was not a gangster film, and labelled it as an "action drama", further adding that it was a "fictional story based on a real incident". Vishnuvardhan also said that work on the story began only after he was signed on to direct a film with Ajith Kumar. Ajith Kumar continued the "salt and pepper look" from Mankatha, as he would play a "mature guy", and underwent supervised weight-training, working out at the gym for six hours a day. The actor later disclosed that he played a "mean guy ... a politically incorrect character" while adding that the film would have a "strong social message". Vishuvardhan opened up that Ajith would play an officer in the cyber crime department of the country. Closer to the film's release, the director revealed that Ajith would have "two faces in the film".
The film was started without a title and remained untitled for over 15 months, during which it was widely referred to as Thala 53 in the media, denoting Ajith Kumar's 53rd film. A teaser trailer released in May 2013 on YouTube did not feature a title either. The makers had tossed with the idea of naming the film Thala, Ajith Kumar's nickname, which was refused by the actor, while Vishnuvardhan also requested fans to suggest a suitable title. Several false titles including Surangani, and Paravai went around in the media, and in January 2013 "A source in the know" stated that the title was Valai, after one of the writers, Suresh, had tweeted that the title begins with a 'V'. Although not officially confirmed, the film was henceforth referred to as Valai by the media. At Anna University’s Gateway 2013 Short Film Festival by the Department of Media Sciences in April 2013, Vishnuvardhan revealed that the film was not titled Valai, adding that two titles were under consideration. On 24 July 2013, Arrambam was unveiled as the film's official title. The dubbed Telugu version was titled Aata Arambham.
Richa Gangopadhyay was supposed to play the second female lead, but was replaced with Taapsee Pannu, who stated that she played a journalist, a "very lively character, who is always on the go". It was then reported that Arvind Swamy and Prithviraj Sukumaran would play pivotal roles, and that Telugu actors Akkineni Nagarjuna, Ravi Teja and Jagapathi Babu would have cameo appearances in the film; however none of the actors had any roles in the film. By late May, Hindi actor Mahesh Manjrekar was finalised for the role of a villain in the film, stating that he would be shooting for it from August onwards. The next month, Suman Ranganathan was cast for the role of Ramya, a "hard-nosed reporter", making a comeback to Tamil cinema after 17 years. Telugu actor Rana Daggubati was signed to do a "special appearance" in the film, and took part in the shooting in Mumbai; he completed his part in June 2013. It was reported that the 2008 Mumbai attacks would be part of the storyline, which would feature Rana's portion. Kishore joined the cast in July 2012 to enact an Anti-terrorist squad member, claimed to be a prominent role in the film. Akshara Gowda stated that she was also part of the film, while Prashant Nair informed that he had a small role in Valai.
Vishnuvardhan's norm composer Yuvan Shankar Raja was recruited to compose the film score. Stephen Richter who was one of the stunt coordinators in Ajith Kumar's Billa II was hired to choreograph stunts in this film, too. Besides Richter, Lee Whittaker, who has worked in Hollywood films, and Kecha designed several stunts sequences. Sunil Babu was initially called in as the art director but opted out later, with Ilaiyaraja taking his place. Vishnuvardhan's wife Anu Vardhan, who had worked on all of her husband's film, was in charge of costume designing in this film as well. Nirav Shah was approached to work as the cinematographer, but as he was busy with other commitments, P. S. Vinod, who had filmed the director's previous film Panjaa, was recruited. Vinod was later replaced by Om Prakash.
The team returned to Mumbai a third time for a 15-day schedule on 1 January 2013, with scenes involving Arya, Nayantara and Taapsee being filmed in the Bandra area of Mumbai in the first week and Ajith Kumar's part in the latter part of the schedule. The crew left for Dubai on 11 February 2013, where Ajith filmed a boat sequence for the film, which was choreographed by Hollywood stuntman Lee Whittaker. After finishing the boat scene, he tweeted, "Finished amazing boat sequence here in Dubai! Ajith was absolutely amazing! Couldn't have done it without his skills!" Stills of Ajith Kumar riding a Ducati Diavel in Dubai also circulated in the Internet. In March 2013, Ajith, Arya and Nayantara shot a holi song featuring both Tamil and Hindi lyrics at a studio in Mumbai, which was choreographed by Dinesh. The crew will be shooting the last schedule in Jaisalmer in Rajasthan from 1 May onwards, after which the unit was reported to be moving to Orissa, where a song and a few scenes were to be shot. It was followed by filming in Madhya Pradesh, Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra. The climax scenes were filmed by mid-May in Kullu Manali in Himachal Pradesh. The schedules were finished in July 2013, following which patch work remained. On 20 August 2013, another schedule was started in Chennai. The entire filming was completed in early October 2013 with the last day shoot held in a Mumbai mall featuring Ajith and Arya.
Cinematographer Om Prakash stated that he wanted to give the visuals a "green tint because the colour 'green' is commonly associated with prosperity and knowledge". He also added that some scenes featuring Ajith were intendedly shot so that the audience would see both him and his reflection and that hand-held cameras were used to shoot those scenes from close "not because it would look fancy, but the script demanded such an approach". He described the speed boat stunt where Ajith Kumar performed a 180-degree turn at high speed as risky and "scary" as he filmed the entire scene seated at the front of the boat.
Post-production works on the film started by mid 2013, and were carried out simultanesouly with the shoot. Rekhs worked on the subtitles of the film. By September 2013, the actors were dubbing for their roles in Mumbai. In October 2013, Yuvan Shankar Raja was working on the re-recording, while Digital intermediate works were in the "final stages".
The film's theatrical trailer was released along with the music album on 19 September 2013. The video received a positive response and reached the 1 million hits mark on YouTube within two days.
The theatrical rights for the film in Coimbatore, Tirupur, Ooty and Erode areas were purchased by Cosmo Pictures' Siva for 69 million, while the rights for Madurai-Ramnad area were sold to Alagar for an undisclosed amount. Ayngaran International bought the rights of the NSC (North Arcot-South Arcot–Chengalpet) area from the producer. Director and distributor Rama Narayanan purchased the Chengalpet area. The Kerala theatrical rights of were sold for
14.5 million to Sree Kaleeshwary, while the Karnataka theatrical rights
of were purchased by Sri Lakshmi Swami Enterprise for over 30 million. The US distribution were acquired by GK Media, which planned to release the film in 78 locations in the USA.
Baradwaj Rangan of The Hindu wrote, "Arrambam is a feet-hands-face movie — the kind of hero-centric film made for fans. Vishnuvardhan manages a reasonable balance. Fans are likely to be delighted with a narrative that pumps up their hero’s strengths (coolness; good comebacks, including a terrific punch line about fingerprints) and downplays his failings (dramatics)".[151] M. Suganth of The Times of India rated it 3 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Arrambam is a very familiar tale of corruption, betrayal and revenge, served up with a dash of style. Vishnuvardhan has taken a leaf out of a real-life incident and with the help of his co-writers SuBa, has spun an action thriller that, for the most parts, keeps moving at a fast clip". The New Indian Express wrote, "Slick and stylish like their earlier venture, the film, despite its glitches, manages to keep one entertained for the most part. Ajith’s charismatic screen presence is the mainstay of the film". IANS wrote, "Arrambam is undoubtedly highly stylish, but otherwise it's just another cliched revenge drama. Arrambam is not bad but the problem with it is that it lacks creative touch" and noted the film for its similarities to the film Swordfish. But the reviewer praises Ajith Kumar's acting: "This is the third time in a row Ajith has played the anti-hero with elan. He is unarguably one of the more stylish actors in the industry and he has proved it time and again". Deccan Chronicle wrote, "The film will not disappoint the average viewer despite not living up to the hype and hoopla".
S. Saraswathi of Rediff rated it 3 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Aarambam is a stylish and fast-paced action thriller set in the backdrop of the 26/11 Mumbai serial bomb blasts, that is unfortunately let down by its uninspired and mediocre storyline". Bangalore Mirror wrote, "From the start to the end, Aarambam is an out-and-out Ajith film — a perfect Diwali gift for Thala's fans across the world. Aarambam is far from perfect, but it works mostly because of Ajith's mannerisms though it doesn't come anywhere near Mankatha or Billa". Eddie Harrison of The List rated it 2/5 and called it a "derivative but splashy and colourful action-fest that makes the most of a charismatic star-turn from Kumar. What’s missing is any real sensitivity to the material; Vishnuvardhan stages his set pieces with style, but the uneasy mixture of genre styles places Arrambam firmly in the file marked disposable entertainment".
The Telugu version Aata Arrambam received mixed reviews from critics. IndiaGlitz said, "Ajith has done a truly great job in the movie - more than a hero (or anti-hero, as he is cast), he has performed as the typical character that Subha and Vishnuvardhan have conceived. Carrying himself at ease in the contradicting roles he plays in both the halves of the film, Ajith proves his worth once again as an excellent actor." and added, "Nayanthara who comes around as his ally has added the right amount spice wherever required. The actress seems to have distinctly matured from her 'Billa' days, though. The romance that Arya and Taapsee share is cute, bubbly and keeps the movie going forward on a lighthearted note. Though Rana Dagubatti and Kishore are cast on brief roles, their characters are pivotal and support the crux of the story strongly." 123telugu said, "'Aata Arrambham' banks too much on Ajith's screen presence and the actor doesn't disappoint. He may not dance like a dream or look fit, but he makes up for all that with his daredevil stunts and screen presence. The second half in particular drags too much and the climax is quite disappointing. Aata Arrambham is not a bad film at all, but it could have been so much better and riveting." APHerald said, "Despite having a good storyline, the poor execution makes it uninteresting. If the screenplay would have been more gripping, we could have witnessed a promising thriller. On the whole, an uninteresting action- thriller that pushes its viewers to have a sigh of relief when the film gets over."
92.1 million on the opening day in Tamil Nadu, which was the best opening for an Ajith film. Sreedhar Pillai stated that it had earned around 87.5 million (nett) on the first day. According to Behindwoods, the film grossed 43.9 million at the Chennai box office alone over the first five days.
In the US, the film earned $330,615 (₹20.4 million) from 73 reported screens in its opening weekend. As of 9 November 2013, it has grossed $369,150 (₹23 million) and become the fifth highest grossing Tamil film and highest grossing Ajith Kumar film in the US. In the UK, the opening weekend gross was £135,213 (₹13.4 million) from 37 screens, inclusive of the preview shows of £34,830 previews on Wednesday evening. After the second weekend, the film had earned £176,282 at the UK box office overall. In Australia, the film earned an opening-weekend total of A$55,953 (₹3305,000) from 7 screens. In Malaysia, Arrambam opened at the second spot as it grossed $788,469 (around 85 million) in its opening weekend (31 October to 3 November), from 80 screens. After the second weekend, the total collection was $1,359,407.
After the opening weekend the film was said to have collected 300 million in Tamil Nadu and between 70 and 80 million in other states including Kerala, Karnataka and the Rest of India and, along with the overseas collections, had grossed more than 500 million in total. According to Oneindia.in, it has collected 916.3 million in the domestic market as of 13 November 2013. According to Deccan Chronicle, it had reached the 100-crore mark within just three weeks. On 29 November, the distributor of the film's Telugu version announced that Arrambam had earned over 135 crore (US$23 million) nett, becoming the highest grossing South Indian film of 2013.
Veeram (English: Valour) is a 2014 Tamil action directed by Siva and produced by Vijaya Productions. The film features Ajith Kumar in the lead role, while an ensemble supporting cast includes Tamannaah, Vidharth, Bala, Santhanam, Nassar, Pradeep Rawat and Abhinaya, amongst others. Pre-production
works had been ongoing since December 2011, with shooting starting in
April 2013. The film was released on 10 January 2014. Produced by Vijaya
Productions and distributed by Ayngaran International,upon release the
film received mostly positive reviews from critics. Telugu dubbed
version Veerudokkade released on March 21, 2014.
While travelling in train to Koppu's village, Koppu narrates her family background to Vinayak. Koppu's father Nallasivam (Nassar) is a respected man in the village who hates violence, while his son (Pawan) is exact opposite who kills people but when he is killed, Nallasivam refuse to bury his body and decided to make his village with peace and harmony. Few goons enter into train but Vinayagam bashes all the rowdies, Koppu gets shocked to see Vinayagam whom she thought as a non-violent person. Vinayagam and his brothers arrive at Koppu's village with clean shaven look, he says that he has changed and he would never harbor violence, he and his brothers are welcomed and respected by her family. Vinayagam is touched and impressed by their love, affection and hospitality. Vinayagam comes to know that a goon named Aadalarasu (Atul Kulkarni) wants to kill Nallasivam and his family, reason is revealed through flashback that Aadalarasu's father Aavudaiyapan (Avinash) is responsible for blast of matchstick factory. Nallasivam complains against Aavudaiyappan. Aavudaiyappan who is arrested, commits suicide by getting hit over lorry.
Aadalarasu swears revenge against Nallasivam. Vinayagam finishes all the goons and solves all their problems without the knowledge of Nallasivam and family. When Nallasivam's granddaughter finds sickle under Vinayagam's jeep, Nallasivam orders Vinayagam to go out of the town. Aadalarasu who escapes from death sentence arrives to kill Nallasivam but Vinayagam keeps him and his family in a safe place. Aadalarasu informs Vinayagam that he had kidnapped one of his brothers Kumaran, Vinayagam arrives at the nick of time and saves his brother but instead gets attacked by Aadalarasu. Nallasivam and his family who arrives at the place comes to know about risk taken by Vinayagam to save him from the mess. Brutally attacked Vinayagam rises steadily, kills Aadalarasu and his henchmen. Nallasivam who is impressed with Vinayagam's valour decided to give his hand to his daughter Koppu. The film ends with the marriage of Vinayagam and his brothers.
The film's soundtrack was composed by Devi Sri Prasad, scoring for an Ajith Kumar for the first time. The music rights were bagged by Junglee Music.
The album, consisting of 5 tracks, was scheduled to be released on 20
December 2013 but the tracks leaked on the Internet on 18 December 2013.
The music was officially launched on 20 December followed by airplay of
the songs on FM stations. Behindwoods gave the soundtrack a rating of 2.75 out of 5 and India Glitz gave 2.5.
All lyrics written by Viveka.
125 crore (US$21 million) in domestic and 22 crore (US$3.7 million) in overseas, adding up to 147 crore (US$25 million) worldwide.
11.60 crore (US$1.9 million) in opening day. On the second day it collected 12 crore (US$2.0 million) and third day 14.55 crore (US$2.4 million) at the box office with first weekend totally 38.15 crore (US$6.4 million). In first weekend oneindia declared it a 'Blockbuster' at the box office. In first week it collected 71.85 crore (US$12 million) at the box office. In Tamil Nadu alone it collected 50.59 crore (US$8.4 million) in first week. The film collected 125 crore (US$21 million) in end of its full run in domestic alone. The Telugu version of this film got overwhelming response in Andhra but actual figure is not known said by traders.
62.98 lakh (£64,000) in the first weekend.Veeram was reduced to 13 screens and had made 1.08 crore (£110,000). Veeram, running in three screens, made 1.20 crore (£120,000).
12 crore (US$2.0 million) and music rights for 2 crore (US$330,000).The film's Hindi remake rights is a record number got 20 crore (US$3.3 million).Total rights alone 34 crore (US$5.7 million) which is biggest ever for Ajith.
The Times of India gave 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, "The film is a template masala film – a superhuman hero, his cronies who will sing his praises all the time, a beautiful-looking heroine, a raging villain. It has no room for logic, moving from one hero-worshipping scene to the next and is aimed at our visceral tastes. The story is in service of its star and, it is unapologetic about it". Rediff gave 2.5 stars out of 5 and stated, "Veeram is a treat for Ajith fans". Sify gave 4 stars out of 5 stating it as a "Mass Entertainer" and wrote, "The film works mainly due to Ajith’s charisma and Siva’s script. It is a formula film where essential masala has been correctly mixed in the right proposition. On the whole, Veeram is an enjoyable fun ride". Baradwaj Rangan wrote, "A family with five brothers, another family with representatives from three generations, annan-thambi sentiment, amma sentiment, appa sentiment, and in the middle of all this, a big star giving his fans what they want – if Faazil and Vikraman collaborated on a 'mass' masala movie, it might end up looking like Siva’s Veeram. Veeram is about the hero. Everything else – the crude dramatics, the piles of clichés, the characters (especially the bad guys) who come and go as they please – is secondary". Bangalore Mirror gave 3.5 out of 5 and called it "a festival cracker for the fans of Thala".
OneIndia rated the film 3.5 out of 5 and said "Veeram is such an entertaining movie where audience will hardly find drawbacks. The entertainment quotient is very high and it could be enjoyed by all section of audience. Ajith has a winner in hand again". Indiaglitz gave 3.25 out of 5 and wrote, "Siruthai Siva comes up with a story that is not out of the box, however a racy screenplay and Thala’s immense presence and valor takes the ball out of the boundary". Behindwoods rated it 2.75 out of 5 and said "Ajith and Siva dish out a 'heady' commercial package for the actor’s fans". Deccan Herald wrote, "Tiresomely long, with second half, tad sagging, Veeram has Thala Ajith in fulsome flow with all fireworks. While Ajith’s fans may swoon and swear by his one-man demolition squad show that will give even hulk Arnold Schwarzenegger the blushes, for the rest though, it’s a matinee masala to stay away". IANS gave 2.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Veeram is a classic example, which elevates Ajith and leaves the rest of the ensemble cast behind. The film is dedicated to Ajith, who is as charismatic as ever in his role. However, he is unfortunately not complemented by a strong screenplay".
Sources from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajith Kumar
Contents
- 1 Cast
- 2 Production
- 3 Music
- 4 Release
- 5 References
Cast
- Ajith
- Sanghavi
- Nassar
- Thalaivasal Vijay
- Charle
Production
After the success of Thalaivasal, Selva began a love story featuring newcomers. The producers were unhappy with the work of the newcomers and they soon approached Ajith Kumar to play the lead role after singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam had recommended him, after seeing parts of Prema Pustagam. The original lead actor was later demoted to play Ajith Kumar's friend in the film. Similarly, the lead actress Sanghavi was just 16 when she began filming for the film. As the film went into post production, Ajith was bed-ridden due to a racing injury and remained in treatment for twenty months. Subsequently another actor Vikram had to dub scenes for Ajith.Music
The music composed by Bala Bharathi and lyrics written by Vairamuthu.Release
The film was profitable and the success was partly credited to the chart-topping soundtracks composed by Bala Bharathi. The film also gained media attention for its lead actor, Ajith Kumar, who was approached with several modelling assignments.Contents
- 1 Plot
- 2 Cast
- 3 Production
- 4 Release
- 5 Soundtrack
- 6 References
- 7 External links
Plot
Yamuna (Suvalakshmi), one of the two daughters of an orthodox father, comes to Madras for finishing her studies. Major Madhavan (Prakashraj) is the husband of Yamuna's elder sister Ganga (Rohini), who infatuates about Yamuna after seeing a photo in a letter sent by Yamuna. Meanwhile, Yamuna meets Jeeva (Ajithkumar), in a city bus who gives his ticket to her as she had not taken her own. Later one day on the advice of his friends, Jeeva decides to express his love to Yamuna by writing 1 4 3(the number of letters in “I love you") in a letter and giving it to her. But he witnesses a group beating a boy who did the same thing. So he crumples the letter and it is found by Yamuna who realizes his love. One day when they were walking together Jeeva tries to remove the dirt from Yamuna's eyes and he kisses her. Yamuna is angry with him. Jeeva senses it and gets wet in the rain and gets a cold. Hearing this Yamuna meets him. Jeeva expresses that she is the only medicine to him and he needs her. Yamuna promises that she will marry him. On Yamuna's birthday, Jeeva jumps into her house and presents her a puppy. One day, fearing that Yamuna's father might not marry him to Yamuna, he decides to marry her in a register office on the advice of his friends. But Yamuna refuses and Jeeva leaves angrily.Meanwhile Madhavan settles his father-in-law's debts and earns his trust. He also pays for connecting a landline to Yamuna's house and talks to her regularly. But his wife is unaware of this. One day Madhavan's wife finds it and starts to realize his true identity. Madhavan then expresses his love affair on Yamuna to his wife. This makes her so upset that she attempts to go and live with her father and Yamuna. Madhavan prisons her in home and one day he tells her that she can go to her father's house by flight and tricks her by putting a sleeping-pill in milk and makes her drink it. She falls unconscious. Madhavan then murders his wife by suffocating her to death with a polythene cover and tying it around her neck by his shoe-lace, and lies to everyone that she died from heart attack. He then makes Yamuna and her father stay with him in Delhi to look after his baby, but he has other plans.
Hearing this Jeeva comes to Delhi. One day he sees Yamuna who ignores him. Later he sees her carrying the puppy he presented and tells why she needs the puppy when she does not need him. Yamuna leaves the puppy in the middle of the road. Later that night Yamuna comes to take the puppy in the rain. Jeeva sees this and realizes that she really loves him. Couple of months later Yamuna's father (Poornam Vishwanathan) decides to get Yamuna married to Jeeva. This shocks Madhavan and he decides to stop the marriage between Jeeva and Yamuna. Yamuna's family meets Jeeva in a restaurant. While Jeeva was talking to Madhavan, a Singh dashes against him. And in the confusion Madhavan steals Jeeva's purse. Later when Jeeva senses his purse missing, he argues with the Singh. Later he suspects Madhavan and wants to check him. This angers Yamuna's father as he blindly believes Madhavan.
Later Madhavan arranges some men to pour liquor into Jeeva's mouth and lay him in the middle of the road. Madhavan makes Yamuna and her father believe that Jeeva is a drunkard. Madhavan later gives Jeeva's flight ticket and wants to send him to Madras. But Jeeva makes a fool of Madhavan by tearing the ticket and spends the day with Yamuna. In a rage, Madhavan makes his baby get wet in the rain and calls Yamuna to look for his baby. Meanwhile Jeeva complains to Captain Hariharan (Nizhalgal Ravi) who is a friend and higher officer to Madhavan, but he does not believe Jeeva. Later when celebrating Holi, Madhavan asks Jeeva the puppy he had presented to Yamuna. Jeeva gives it and Madhavan purposely throws it at a running car. The puppy dies and Madhavan makes everyone believe that Jeeva threw the puppy. An argument ensues between them and Madhavan tries to kill Jeeva with a rod but leaves him on behalf of Yamuna.
One day Hariharan finds the truth about Madhavan and questions him. An enraged Madhavan arranges men and kills Hariharan, faking it to be a car accident. Madhavan hides brown sugar in Jeeva's pillows and informs the police. Jeeva lands in Jail. One day while meeting Jeeva in jail, Madhavan tells him how he cruelly killed his own wife for getting Yamuna. Yamuna overhears this and informs her father. They plan to escape but Madhavan arrives and hits Yamuna's father with a lamp and holds her imprisoned in his house. Jeeva escapes from jail and arrives there. A fight ensues between Madhavan and Jeeva, in which Jeeva gains the upper hand. Yamuna and Jeeva take the baby to the hospital as it fainted. Yamuna's father locks the doors, opens the gas cylinder and lights a match stick in which they both die in the explosion. In the end, Jeeva is released from prison and is united with Yamuna and the baby.
Cast
- Ajith Kumar as Jeeva
- Suvalakshmi as Yamuna
- Prakashraj as Major Madhavan
- Rohini as Ganga
- Poornam Vishwanathan as father of Ganga and Yamuna
- Nizhalgal Ravi as Captain Hariharan
- Vadivelu as Jeeva's friend
- Pooja Batra in a special appearance
- Raju Sundaram in a special appearance
Production
The lead role was initially offered by Vasanth to Suriya, son of actor Sivakumar, to make his debut but he rejected the offer citing a lack of interest in an acting career. He was duly replaced by Ajith Kumar, in his first major lead role, after Vasanth and P. C. Sriram were impressed with Ajith's performance in Pavithra.Release
Upon release, the film won positive reviews from critics. The film went on to win three awards at the Tamil Nadu State Awards securing honours for the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Director for Vasanth, the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director for Deva and the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer for Hariharan.Soundtrack
The music composed by Deva. All Songs were chartbusters.| No. | Song | Singers | Lyrics | Length (m:ss) |
| 1 | Konja Naal Poru | Hariharan | Vaali | 05:12 |
| 2 | Meenamma Athikalayilum | P. Unni Krishnan, Anuradha Sriram | 05:32 | |
| 3 | Pulveli Pulveli | K. S. Chithra, P. Unni Krishnan | Vairamuthu | 06:13 |
| 4 | Shokkadikuthu Sona | Suresh Peters | 05:43 | |
| 5 | Thiloththama | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Swarnalatha | 05:47 |
The film was a major blockbuster and also won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil, the National Film Award for Best Direction as well as the National Film Award for Best Screenplay for Agathiyan. It garnered positive critical acclaim and completed a 240-day run at the box office. The film was dubbed into Telugu as Prema Lekha and to Kannada as Yaare neenu cheluve. Agathiyan also remade the movie in Hindi titled Sirf Tum (1999). The film was released as a novel in 2010 under the same name.
Contents
- 1 Plot
- 2 Cast
- 3 Production
- 4 Soundtrack
- 5 Remakes
- 6 Awards
- 7 References
- 8 External links
Plot
Kamali (Devayani) lives with her sister and brother-in-law in Ooty and is searching for a job. While in Madras, her purse is stolen and she fears she has lost her university certificates. Surya (Ajith Kumar) who works in Jaipur finds the purse and sends it back to her, and a love develops through letters and phone calls. They agree to love each other without meeting, and Surya eventually moves to Madras for work. However Kamali's brother-in-law is pressuring her to marry a suitable man and Surya's boss keeps trying to seduce him. Eventually, Kamali and Surya unite through a run of coincidences.Cast
- Ajith Kumar as Surya
- Devayani as Kamali
- Heera Rajgopal as Neha
- Raja as Jeeva
- Karan as Siva
- Manivannan as Kaliyaperumal
- Thalaivasal Vijay as Paneer
- Rajeev as Sekhar
- Pandu as Ramasamy
- Ramji in a special appearance
- 'O Podu' Rani in the song Vellarikka
Production
Agathiyan had asked Devayani to change her glamorous on screen image for the film, and Devayani duly agreed with the film becoming the start of several other similar roles for her.Soundtrack
The music composed by Deva.| No. | Song | Singers | Lyrics | Length (m:ss) |
| 1 | Kaalamellam Kadhal | P. Unnikrishnan, K. S. Chithra | Agathiyan | 5:05 |
| 2 | Kavalai Padathey | Deva | 4:26 | |
| 3 | Mottu Mottu Malaradha | Swarnalatha | 4:54 | |
| 4 | Nalam Nalamariya Aval 1 | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Anuradha Sriram | 4:48 | |
| 5 | Nalam Nalamariya Aval 2 | Krishnaraj, Anuradha Sriram | 4:49 | |
| 6 | Sivappu Lolakku | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | Ponniyin Selvan | 5:23 |
| 7 | Vellarikka | Deva, Krishnaraj | Agathiyan | 4:23 |
Remakes
| Year | Film | Language | Cast | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Yaare Neenu Cheluve | Kannada | V Ravichandran, Sangeetha | D. Rajendra Babu |
| 1999 | Sirf Tum | Hindi | Sanjay Kapoor, Priya Gill | Agathiyan |
Awards
- National Film Awards- 1996
- Best Direction: Agathiyan
- Best Screenplay: Agathiyan
- Tamil Nadu State Film Awards- 1996
- Best Director: Agathiyan
- Special Prize: Actress: Devayani
- Best Editor: Lachi Mohan
- Best Costume Designer: Maasanam
Contents
- 1 Plot
- 2 Cast
- 3 Production
- 4 Release
- 5 Awards
- 6 Remakes
- 7 Soundtrack
- 8 References
- 9 External links
Plot
In Hindu mythology, Vaali is the name of one of the monkey princes who has been blocked in a cave by his brother Sugreev by mistake and later marries his "widow" and the plot of the film too follows this legend. Deva (Ajith Kumar) and Shiva (Ajith) are the twins. Deva, the elder, is deaf and mute. But he is a genius, an expert at lip-reading and the head of a successful advertising company. Shiva loves and trusts his brother. Priya (Simran) wants to marry only someone who is an ex-smoker, an ex-drunkard and ditched by a girl but still pining for her. Learning this, Shiva invents an old romance between him and Sona (Jyothika) and finds his way into Priya's heart.Deva meanwhile chances upon Priya and becomes obsessed with attaining her. His obsession continues even after his younger brother gets married to the girl of his dreams and he devises various means of getting close to Priya and keeping Shiva and her separated. Some of the methods Deva uses to woo Priya are masochistic (wounding his hand by the running car engine to stop the couple’s first night) and psychotic (trying to kill his brother in so many ways).
Priya realises the not-so-honourable intentions Deva has towards her but Shiva refuses to believe her and has full faith in his brother. He even goes as far as to take Priya to a psychiatrist. To get away from it all, Shiva and Priya go on a long-delayed honeymoon. But Deva shows up there too. Shiva watches Deva kissing the photo of Priya and realises Priya was right all along. While Shiva is away, Priya has to take care of Deva. Deva beats Shiva mercilessly, packs the unconscious Shiva in a gunny bag and throws him in a lorry.
Deva disguises himself as Shiva and goes near Priya. Priya comes to know he is Deva and escapes from him before shooting him with her revolver. Deva falls in pool and when Shiva comes she narrates the whole incident to him. Suddenly, Deva comes back to life, but Shiva immediately kills him with the revolver. Deva's soul talks about his inability to express his feeling as he was mute. His grave with lots of flowers grown on it is shown.
Cast
- Ajith Kumar as Deva and Shiva
- Simran as Priya
- Jyothika as Sona
- Livingston
- Vivek as Vicky
- Pandu as Velu Nair
- Radha Bai as Deva and Shiva's Grandmother
- Sujitha as Maheshwari
- Indhu as Geetha
- Rajeev as Geetha's husband
- Devipriya as Deepa
Production
S. J. Suryaah had worked as an assistant director in Vasanth's Aasai which featured Ajith Kumar as well as working with him during the making of Ullaasam. Ajith asked Suryaah to prepare a good script and promised he would give him a chance to make his directorial debut. Subsequently the pair approached S. S. Chakravarthy, a producer, to make a film. Keerthi Reddy was announced to be the lead actress in the film in December 1997, though she was replaced by Simran before filming began. It had also been reported that Roja would play another role, although this proved to be untrue. Jyothika, sister of actress Nagma, made her debut in the film as an imaginary character, Sona, narrated by Ajith's character in which she won "Amudha Surabhi" Best Actress New Comer Award.About the making of the film, Ajith mentioned that Vaali "was very close to my heart and I gave it everything I had", revealing that he had initially received a lot of bad publicity and scepticism for doing a dual role too early in his career.
Release
The Deccan Herald described it as "definitely worth seeing" saying it "has something for all tastes — a pleasant love angle, some suspense, complex psychological nuances, good acting, pleasing songs" while praising Ajith's performance. The reviewer from Indolink.com labelled the film as "a classic in its own right", praising the performances of Ajith Kumar and Simran while describing Suryaah as "a new young director to the cine field who can make Tamil Cinema be proud once again". The New Indian Express labelled Simran's portrayal as "outstanding" while mentioning Surya does a "fairly good job and succeeds". The film became a commercial success and provided a breakthrough for both Ajith and Simran's career.Awards
Filmfare Awards South- Best Actor - Ajith Kumar - Won.
- Best Actress - Simran - Nominated.
- Best Actor - Ajith Kumar - Won.
- Best Actress - Simran - Won.
- Best Music Director - Deva - Won.
- Best Comedian - Vivek - Won.
Remakes
It was later dubbed into Telugu as Vaali and Hindi as Vaalee, as a result of the success of the Tamil version. The film was remade in Kannada as Vaalee with Sudeep playing lead role.Soundtrack
| Vaali | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Deva | ||||
| Released | April 18, 1999 | |||
| Recorded | Jay Jay Studios Chennai | |||
| Genre | Film soundtrack | |||
| Producer | Deva | |||
| Deva chronology | ||||
|
||||
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Gee Priya" | SP Balasubramanyam, Swarnalatha | 04:50 | |
| 2. | "Nilavai Konduva" | Unni Krishnan, Anuradha Sriram | 04:48 | |
| 3. | "Vaanil Kaayuthae" | Mano, Anuradha Sriram, Surya | 04:01 | |
| 4. | "April Maathathil" | Unni Krishnan, Harini | 04:04 | |
| 5. | "Sona Sona" | Hariharan, Ajith Kumar |
Contents
- 1 Plot
- 2 Cast
- 3 Production
- 4 Release
- 5 Soundtrack
- 6 References
- 7 External links
Plot
One of the twins is a bus conductor and the other is handicapped. The elder one, Shiva, overhears his parents' plot to kill his mildly retarded brother, Vishnu. He runs away to another city, with his adorable brother, and strives hard to look after Vishnu.As a result of an incident when 'dada' Sundara Moorthy, who runs a beggar trade beats Vishnu brutally, Vishnu becomes handicapped for life. Shiva leaves Vishnu in a home run by a social worker (Sujatha). During the day, Shiva works as a bus conductor, and at the same time, poses as the handicapped Vishnu: to play Robin Hood and steal from the rich and corrupt. A gang including Thangam (Meena), Ramesh Khanna and others assist him in these operations.
He is never suspected, and so, with the stolen money, he takes care of not only Vishnu but also 800 people in other institutions for the physically handicapped.
A college student Lavanya (Kiran Rathod) falls in love with Shiva, but Shiva later comes to know that she is the sister-in-law of the 'dada' who handicapped Vishnu. Matters worsen when Sundara Moorthy becomes the chairman of the institute for the physically handicapped. How Shiva deals with the situation forms the rest of the story. Meanwhile Thangam is in love with Shiva, though he does not know this. Later she gives up her love and lets Lavanya marry Shiva.
Cast
- Ajith Kumar as Shiva and Vishnu
- Meena as Thangam
- Kiran as Lavanya
- Sujatha
- Fefsi Vijayan as Sundaramoorthy
- Ramesh Khanna
- Karunas
- Vijayakumar
- Rekha
- R. Sundarrajan
- Nizhalgal Ravi
- Manobala
- Santhana Bharathi
- Pyramid Natarajan
- Bayilwan Ranganathan
- Vinu Chakravarthy
Production
The film saw the first collaboration of Ajith Kumar and K. S. Ravikumar, with the former revealing that he was initially reluctant to work with the director in fear of a misunderstanding. The producer, S. S. Chakravarthy, also worked with a prominent director for the first time in his career.Release
The film released alongside with vijay starrer bhagavathi The Hindu reviewer claimed that "if you don't rack your brains about the feasibility of the hero's game plans, you could enjoy watching "Villain"" and that "Ajit scores on both fronts". Another critic cited that it was "great slag-less screenplay and some stunning performances from Ajith make this film a treat for the senses" with Ajith's performance leading to his second Filmfare Award for Best Actor. The film was later remade in Telugu with the same title by Rajasekhar, while the original was also dubbed into Hindi.Soundtrack
The soundtrack features 7 songs composed by Vidyasagar and lyrics by Vairamuthu.| Villain | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album to Villain by Vidyasagar | |
| Released | 2002 |
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack |
| Language | Tamil |
| Producer | Vidyasagar |
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Pathinettu Vayathil " | Udit Narayan, Sadhana Sargam | 5:22 | |
| 2. | "Orae Manam" | Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam | 4:45 | |
| 3. | "Adicha Nethi Adi" | Karthik, Swarnalatha | 5:25 | |
| 4. | "Aadiyil Kaathadicha" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | 1:32 | |
| 5. | "Hello Hello" | Tippu, Sadhana Sargam | 5:04 | |
| 6. | "Thappu Thanda" | Shankar Mahadevan, Sujatha Mohan | 4:44 | |
| 7. | "Aadiyil Kaathadicha (Sad Version)" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | 1:41 |
Contents
- 1 Plot
- 2 Cast
- 3 Production
- 4 Release
- 5 Music
- 6 References
- 7 External links
Plot
Shivshankar (played by Ajith Kumar), a wheelchair user, has a son, Vishnu (also played by Ajith Kumar) who is playful, spoiled and irresponsible. To teach him a lesson, Shivshankar sends Vishnu to Thottapuram to help the poor. Vishnu doesn't want to go, but the owner of a local pizzeria convinces Vishnu and his friends that the village is one big brothel. In fact, Thottampuram is really a sacred village and the pizzeria owner hopes Vishnu and his friends will be beaten up. Visiting the village at the same time as Vishnu and his friends is the smart and pretty Divya (Asin Thottumkal) and her classmates who are there for their social activity course to improve hygiene in the village. Because of Vishnu's visit, the village head assigns Divya and friends to stay with poor families, reserving the large village building for the six rich guests. Vishnu and his five friends arrive, are greeted by the village and start to woo Divya and the girls, whom they mistake for Thottapuram's prostitutes. When Divya discovers their plan, she and her friends decide to teach Vishnu and his friends a lesson. They also want to ensure that Vishnu and his friends leave the large building so Divya and her friends can occupy it.At a large feast that evening, Divya and the other girls woo Vishnu and his friends before leading them to the bedrooms. Vishnu's friends are injected with a substance called "Monkey Blood", which makes them itch all over and they leave, screaming and scratching. Vishnu himself refuses to sleep with Divya, saying he has committed lots of small mistakes and doesn't want to make a big one by sleeping with her. He asks her to leave her profession and Divya lies to him, saying she can't, as she has to support a family that is crippled with various diseases. Vishnu, moved, leaves. Vishnu offers Divya money so she can start a new life, but Divya refuses once again, saying she doesn't need a new life, she has to restore her honour - so Vishnu agrees to marry her in the village temple. Divya doesn't believe him, but Vishnu says he will be there to marry her the next day.
Divya doesn't come, however, and Vishnu and his friends see her leaving on a bus bearing the name of the girls' college. Vishnu and his friends now know they have been tricked and the girls weren't really prostitutes. When Vishnu returns home, Shivshankar discovers that his son has fallen in love. With his influence, Vishnu and Divya get engaged. Shortly thereafter, Shivashankar is disappointed with Vishnu's behaviour and his attitude.Vishnu went to Divya's house after a party.Her father and brothers resisted him to talk to her in drunken state. This eventually led to a fight.Vishnu went to Divya's cousin's house to meet Divya and apologise for his behaviour the previous night but suddenly attempted to rape Divya's cousin.After several days of this misbehavior, Vishnu is sent to a therapist.
Here enters Jeeva (the third role played by Ajith Kumar), Vishnu's twin. Assuming Vishnu's identity, he had taken the money from the bank, gone to Divya's place after party and attempted to rape Divya's cousin. Jeeva tries to stab Shivshakar and but stabs Shivshankar's assistant instead. It is revealed that Jeeva hates Shivshankar for leaving Jeeva's mother (Kanika). At the same time, Divya manages to sneak into Vishnu's hospital and tells him that she thinks he's innocent. She leaves and shortly afterwards, Jeeva appears, smuggles Vishnu out of the hospital, dumps him somewhere, takes over his identity and goes to kill Shivshankar. The father notices that it's not his son and gets out of his wheelchair to defend himself. Vishnu arrives at the scene, surprised that his father is able to walk and demands an explanation.
Shivshankar tells him that he once was a dancer who, due to dancing, gained a reputation of being effeminate. His mother had arranged for Shivshankar to marry her friend's daughter, (Kanika). He agreed but the girl rejected Shivshankar for being too feminine, therefore insulting him in front of the wedding crowd. Unable to bear the embarrassment, Shivshankar's mother died on the spot. Shivshankar, enraged, raped the girl, a deed that resulted in a pregnancy. The doctor refused to give her an abortion and so Vishnu was born, because Vishnu's grandmother wanted the child. Shivshankar takes his child from the mother saying that this child would be the only hope and reason of his life. Shivshankar confesses to Vishnu that he is ignorant of Jeeva's existence and the reason for his resemblance to them.
Jeeva escapes and now threatens the wedding between Vishnu and Divya. Shivshankar tries to stop him. Finally, Jeeva's grandmother comes out of hospital, explains that Jeeva is also Shivshankar's son and Vishnu's twin and that Kanika went mad when Jeeva was about to get hit by a lorry. Jeeva realises what he has done. He wants Shivshankar to shoot him, but police misunderstand and think that Jeeva is pointing a gun at Shivshankar and the police try to shoot Jeeva. Shivshankar intervenes and is shot instead. Jeeva is taken into custody. Jeeva's mother does not accept food from anyone, until Vishnu comes dressed up as Jeeva and feeds her. It ends with stating that Shivshankar is their godfather.
Cast
- Ajith Kumar as Sivashankar, Vishnu and Jeeva
- Asin as Divya
- Kanika as Sivashankar's wife
- Rajesh
- Vijayan as Divya's father
- Mansoor Ali Khan as Divya's brother
- Ponnambalam as Divya's brother
- Ramesh Khanna as Ramesh
- Pandu as Ko Thandam
- Santhana Bharathi
- Manobala
- Suman Setty as Urundai
- Sujatha
- Rajalakshmi
- K. S. Ravikumar
- M. S. Baskar
- Shivshankar
- Chitti Babu
- Madhan Bob
Production
K. S. Ravikumar was forced to pull out of a project titled Jaggubhai which he had written and begun directing and consequently signed on Ajith Kumar, who had just opted out of A. R. Murugadoss's action film, Mirattal. The filming of Godfather began in November 2004, with Ravikumar initially announcing a release date of April 2005. Asin, Ajith's pair in Mirattal was added to the film while A. R. Rahman was signed on as music composer to the film to be produced by S. S. Chakravarthy. Early reports suggested that one of Ajith's roles in the film would be a eunuch or a transgender, but the role eventually turned out to be that of a classical dancer. Shooting progressed from November 2004 till the end of the year.In January 2005, it was announced that the film was put on hold due to financial problems, beginning a long delay in the production of the film. The film also faced problems, after the government had banned scenes involving smoking in films, with Godfather featuring several such scenes. Furthermore in mid-2005, Ajith Kumar had also fell out with the producer, who had made several films with him in the past and stated that the pair would never work together again. The indefinite delay had led to Ajith taking a forced sabbatical, with his market being at a low following the failure of his previous film Ji. Ravi Kumar tried to get in R. B. Choudary and his banner of Super Good Movies to finish the movie but to avail.
Chakravarthy avoided trouble by claiming he would finish the film by 15 June 2005 and signed a contract in March with the Tamil Nadu Producers Committee, who wanted to resolve the problem. The film restarted in April 2005, with a 10-day shoot in Ooty including a song, with Ravikumar revealing that further shots would be canned in Hyderabad and then in Canada and that the film will be ready for release by 22 July 2005. P. C. Sreeram opted out of the film after his dates clashed with his work in Kanda Naal Mudhal and was replaced by Priyan. Actress Meena who was supposed to do the father Ajith’s wife character has also opted out due to dates problems, Devayani was also considered for the role but she refused as she did not want to scold Ajith and after unfruitful discussion with Nadhiya, Kanika was signed. Problems arose in mid-2005, when Asin could not allot dates for the film due to her work in Ghajini, Majaa and Sivakasi. However by 15 June, thirty five days work was still required and Ajith was forced to leave the project to begin work on Bala's Naan Kadavul as per the signed contract. Chakravarthy later reported Ajith Kumar for the delays and before further problems occurred, L. Suresh of Ananda Pictures, a leading Chennai based distributor, intervened and solved the existing problems by providing an interest-free loan. Subsequently the film became trouble free but took more than a year to finish the remaining portions and only released in October 2006 as Ajith took priority in completing Paramasivan and Thirupathi. Meanwhile, the title Godfather was reverted to Varalaru (History) after the state government gave an order to grant entertainment tax exemption to moviees titled in Tamil.
Release
The satellite rights of the film were bagged by Raj TV. The film was given a "U/A" certificate by the Indian Censor Board. The film opened in October 2006 during the Diwali season alongside Silambarasan's Vallavan, S. P. Jananathan's E, Saran's Vattaram and Sarath Kumar's Thalaimagan, and emerged the biggest hit of the year. Varalaru opened in over 300 screens worldwide including 23 screens in Chennai district, crossed the 100-day mark in several screens and also went on to become Ajith Kumar's biggest hit until the release of his 2007 film, Billa. The critic from The Hindu gave a verdict that the film "scores in pace and performance!" and mentioned that "Ajith's skills as a performer have been appreciably honed and efficiently used" and that it is a "milestone in Ajit's cinema efforts, the film has the potential to propel its hero into a higher league in stardom", while describing Asin as "lustrous and sails through her role smoothly", while Kanika "gets more scope, which she makes good use of". Rediff.com also gave the film a positive review claiming that "Varalaaru is undoubtedly the only must-watch release this Diwali. Watch it for a display of all the elements of Ajith's versatility and range of emotions". The reviewer from Behindwoods praised the film saying "the narration and an implausible screenplay succeed in entertaining the masses", with the critic from Indiaglitz.com citing that "Varalaru may not make history. Yet, Ajith's work will certainly uplift to it being at least a local legend". The critic from Sify.com labelled the film as "average", criticising the time spent on the project and the director's handling. Ajith subsequently won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil for 2006 for his triple role performance.Ravi Teja announced he was going to remake the film in Telugu in 2007, but eventually did not do so. Further discussions by Pawan Kalyan to do the role in Telugu with Ravikumar as director also failed to materialise. In 2012, cinematographer Sethu Sriram opted to remake the film in Kannada under the original title, Godfather, featuring Upendra, Soundarya Jayamala and Catherine in the lead roles.
Music
| Varalaaru | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| Soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman | ||||
| Released | 2006 | |||
| Genre | Film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 43:15 | |||
| Label | Panchathan Record Inn and AM Studios | |||
| Producer | A. R. Rahman | |||
| A. R. Rahman chronology | ||||
|
||||
| No. | Song | Singers | Length (min:sec) |
| 1 | "Ilamai (Remix)" | Suresh Peters, Blaaze | 04:07 |
| 2 | "Kamma Karaiyil" | Naresh Iyer, Sowmya Raoh | 05:30 |
| 3 | "Katril" | S.P. Balasubramaniam, Sadhana Sargam, Reena Bhardwaj | 06:04 |
| 4 | "Innisai (Remix)" | Mahathi, Saindhavi, Naresh Iyer | 06:30 |
| 5 | "Ilamai" | Aslam, Pop Shalini & Thambi | 05:19 |
| 6 | "Thottapuram" | Kalpana, Sonu Kakkar, Neol James, Peer Mohamad, Ranjith | 05:30 |
| 7 | "Innisai" | Naresh Iyer, Mahathi | 03:41 |
| 8 | "Theeyil Vizhundha" | A.R.Rahman | 06:17 |
| 9 | "Theme music" | Instrumental | 4:53 |
The project commenced in April 2007 and was released and distributed worldwide by Ayngaran International on 14 December 2007. The film, upon release, emerged a high financial success, and was selected to be screened at the 61st Cannes Film Festival.
Contents
- 1 Plot
- 2 Cast
- 3 Production
- 4 Soundtrack
- 5 Reception
- 6 Prequel
- 7 References
- 8 External links
Plot
During a chase with the police Billa is severely wounded after an accident and dies in front of the DSP. The DSP then secretly holds a burial of Billa. Interpol officer Gokulnath (Rahman) is assigned to work with DSP Jayaprakash to capture elusive Billa as no-one knows of Billa's death. DSP Jayaprakash keeps the death of Billa as a secret even from his fellow officers, and tracks down a look-alike called Saravana Velu (Ajith Kumar), a lowly pick-pocket. He asks Velu to infiltrate Billa's gang by pretending to be Billa. In return he will make sure that the child Velu adopted, Karan, gets a proper education.The DSP trains Velu and sends him back to Billa's gang as a person who has lost his memory. Slowly Velu starts to learn about Billa's gang and even speaks to Jagdish, Billa's boss, on the phone. Velu provides a pen drive with the secret information of the crime network to the DSP, but he is about to be killed by Sasha (Nayantara) because her brother Rajesh as well as his fiancee Rhea (Rose Dawn) were killed by Billa. At this juncture, the DSP arrives and tells her that he is Velu and not Billa. Later before a party, Velu secretly provides information to the DSP about a meeting of Billa's network and C.J. (Namitha), Billa's girlfriend, overhears his conversation. She challenges Velu but in the fight, he accidentally kills her. A shootout occurs at the party and the DSP is secretly killed by Jagdish, leaving his gun behind. Velu finds the DSP's body and the gun, but is taken into the custody of the police team, now headed by Interpol Officer Gokulnath. He argues during interrogation that he is Velu and not Billa to Gokulnath. Velu mentions a piece of evidence – the pen drive which may prove his innocence but the pen drive is nowhere to be found.
Unable to prove his innocence, he escapes from a police van. He phones Gokulnath and ask him to meet at the Aero bridge. Here it is revealed that Gokulnath is none other than the Underworld Crime Don Jagdish(Rahman) and he is the one who killed Jayprakash. Officer Anil Menon apparently had the pen drive all along and strikes a deal with Velu to get hold of Jagdish. Meanwhile, Sasha and Karan have been kidnapped by Jagdish and wants the pen drive in return for it. Velu meets Ranjith and gives him a second pen drive with the same data, but corrupted. When Ranjith tries to kill Velu, a scuffle ensues making Ranjith fall from the top. In a final confrontation, Jagdish fights with Velu. Jagdish posing as Gokulnath asks the police to arrest Velu as Billa but gets shot by the squad of police and dies as the police have wired the entire conversation between Jagdish and Velu, thus proving his innocence. Velu finally hands over the original pen drive to Officer Menon as the film ends.
link title
Cast
- Ajith Kumar as David Billa and Saravana Velu
- Prabhu as DSP Jayaprakash
- Nayantara as Sasha
- Namitha as C. J.
- Rahman as Jagdish/Gokulnath
- Santhanam as Krishna
- Adithya as Anil Menon
- Vimalraj Ganesan as John
- Yog Japee as Ranjith
- Rajesh Manikka
- Avneesh Parekh as Karan
- T. Balasubramaniam as Rajesh
- Hazel Keech as Rhea, Rajesh’s fiancé
Production
Development
The entire production stage of the movie spanned about six months. Prior to Billa, Vishnuvardhan had directed three films, Kurumbu, Arinthum Ariyamalum and Pattiyal, two of which were successful. Billa, was started after a debacle surrounding his other venture, Sarvam, which was eventually postponed to make way for Billa.In an interview, Vishnuvardhan mentioned that he had "twice missed out on the chance to direct him [Ajith Kumar]. The third time when I got a chance to direct him, I made sure that I would not miss it. I was all ready to write a good script for him but he said, he wanted me to remake Billa", confirming it was Ajith Kumar's idea. The film was originally announced, provisionally after the release of the Bollywood film, Don: The Chase Begins Again – which was a remake of the yesteryear film with the same name from 1978. Also from the 1978 version of Don, a remake was made in 1980 into Tamil, called Billa. 2007's Billa drew inspirations from these three versions. Suresh Balaji, who had acted in the yesteryear version of Billa, acquired the rights to produce the film. The film became the second Tamil film to be remade from its yesteryear version after Naan Avanillai.
After the official announcement of the production company, the director and the cameraman, Vishnuvardhan and Nirav Shah began to select other members of the cast and the crew to be a part of the Billa team, Ajith Kumar could not assist in helping choose the other members. On 13 April 2007, the eve of Tamil New Year's Day, the launch of Billa took place at the AVM studios in Vadapalani, Chennai. Among the attendees were the stars of the old cast, Rajinikanth, Sripriya, Suresh Balaji as well as noted directors Mani Rathnam, Dharani, K. S. Ravikumar, and Saran. The confirmed cast until the date of the launch also were invited, among them being Ajith Kumar along with his wife, Shalini; Nayanthara, Namitha and Prabhu Ganesan.
Filming
Apart from the casting of Ajith Kumar in the dual lead role, previously played by Rajinikanth, the rest of the cast took nearly four months to finalise. The role essayed by Sripriya in the original, was given to Nayantara in early 2007, controversially after Bollywood actress, Isha Sherwani, who had been in contention to act in the last few movies of Ajith Kumar, was paid the advance. Vishnuvardhan reported that he was pleased with Nayanthara's role in, E and subsequently opted for her. The other lead female role in the film was initially written for Shriya Saran, but due to her contract with Sivaji: The Boss, she refused to accept the film. Despite other actreses such as Trisha Krishnan, Reema Sen, Asin Thottumkal and Bhanu being considered, the role was eventually given to Pooja Umashankar. However, she refused the role, citing that she was reluctant to appear in a bikini, as the role required. Subsequently, Namitha, another actress was signed up for the role.The remaining members of the cast were selected subsequently after the launch, which was held on 13 April 2007. Despite early reports of Prakash Raj playing the role enacted by Suresh Balaji of an inspector in the original, the role was eventually bagged by Prabhu Ganesan. The role of the comedian was tipped to go Vadivelu, after he received rave reviews for his comic chemistry in Chandramukhi with Rajinikanth, however, despite the reviews, Vishnuvardhan's regular pattern meant that the spotlight for a comedian will be limited. Santhanam replaced him and became a part of the project, as did another character artiste, Adithya also signed up to be one of the members of the police troupe, as did Malayalam actor, Rahman, who with Billa, made his comeback into Tamil cinema. The item number, danced by Helen in the original was originally given to Mumaith Khan, but was later changed to newcomer, Rose Dawn, for unknown reasons.
For his crew, Vishnuvardhan picked his preferred technicians; with Sujatha as the dialogue writer, Nirav Shah as the cinematographer, William Ong as the stunt master, Thotta Tharani as the art director, Pa. Vijay as the chief lyricist and A. Sreekar Prasad as the editor. Vishnuvardhan's orthodox music composer, Yuvan Shankar Raja was chosen, creating great expectations for the project, while Vishnuvardhan's wife, Anu, debuted as a costume designer. The film was entirely shot in Malaysia at locations including Langkawi, Kuala Lumpur overlooking the Petronas Towers and other parts.
Soundtrack
| Billa | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Yuvan Shankar Raja | ||||
| Released | 26 November 2007 | |||
| Recorded | 2007 | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 24:30 | |||
| Label | Aditya Music | |||
| Producer | Yuvan Shankar Raja | |||
| Yuvan Shankar Raja chronology | ||||
|
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The album received very positive reviews. Pavithra Srinivasan from Rediff noted that Billa's music "rocks" and gave it four out of five. The reviewer wrote: "Yuvan Shankar Raja has etched an intricate musical feast to compliment the tale – and quite a feast it's turned out to be, a la the original". She concluded The guitar-ridden theme song was the most appreciated song, with a reviewer from Indiaglitz.com writing that the track was a "masterly work from young Yuvan... [which]... takes us to a different world", while another reviewer from Behindwoods wrote that it was the "soul of the film" which "stands out as the highlight of the album, giving that eerie feel required of a film about a don" and an "interesting composition with arrangements that spell international quality".
| No. | Song | Singers | Length (m:ss) | Lyrics | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "My Name is Billa" | Naveen, Kay Kay | 03:54 | Pa. Vijay | Remix of the same-titled song from the original film, composed by M. S. Viswanathan and written by Kannadasan with new lyrics by Pa.Vijay |
| 2 | "Naan Meendum" | Deepika | 04:46 | Picturized on CJ trying to impress "Billa" | |
| 3 | "Sei Yedhavathu Sei" | Neha Bhasin, Preethi Balla | 04:50 | Picturized on Rhea seducing Billa, before attempting to arrest him | |
| 4 | "Seval Kodi" | Vijay Yesudas & Chorus | 04:53 | The introduction song for Velu, the Billa look-alike | |
| 5 | "Vethayala Pottendi" | Shankar Mahadevan | 04:23 | A Part-Remix of the same-titled song from the original film, composed by M. S. Viswanathan and written by Kannadasan. | |
| 6 | "Theme Music" | Instrumental | 01:44 | — |
Reception
Box office
The film was released in 200 plus screens in Tamil Nadu and 50 screens overseas. Made on a budget of15 crore and sold to Ayngaran International for 25 crore, Billa became the second highest grossing film of the year. In Chennai alone it collected 8.35 crore. The film completed a 100 day run at theaters and was declared a blockbuster. It is reported to have grossed more than 70 crore worldwide. In Kerala, it was supposed to have collected more than top Malayalam films of the year. Critical response
Billa opened to primarily positive critical response. Indiaglitz called it a "stylish adaption" and wrote: "The movie does impress in its stunningly impressive making with awesome cinematography and sleek editing. It outsmarts the original in these areas [...] Even the stunt scenes are far better than the original..." The reviewer further noted: "Vishnu[vardhan]'s presentation is stylish and sleek. But the crime thriller lacks credibility in some areas". Sify lauded the film, writing: Billa delivers the goods with its great star cast, a designer look, technical glitz, perfect chemistry making it an entertainment extravaganza". The reviewer claimed that it was the "first designer-look Kollywood film with classy action cuts" and a "technically chic, racy, engrossing entertainer with a Hollywood look", going on to call it "racy & rocking". The critic also heaped praise on the lead actor: "Ajith looks sensational and clearly he is at home, playing dual roles of Billa and Velu. He is suave, dashing, and debonair and has terrific screen presence which makes the film work big time. You just cannot think of any other actor in Tamil donning the role made memorable by Rajinikanth". Behindwoods rated the film 3.5 out of 5 and wrote: "...where Vishnu Vardhan scores is in his crystal clear vision. He doesn’t want to challenge the original nor change its content. All he wants to do is to repackage it stylishly for today’s trend with some present avant-garde styles in film making. The deliberate attempts by the director not to follow the super star’s style are palpable in every frame which has made Billa stand out tall and high". In regard of Ajith Kumar's presence, the reviewer said: "Ajith as the ruthless David Billa is a revelation. Stylish, menacing and electrifying, he seems to have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and has completely lived up to it. Rajinikanth can definitely be proud of his successor he has chosen for the tough job".Mythili Ramachandran of Nowrunning.com wrote: Billa [...] lives up to its hype and Ajith simply rocks", rating it 3 out of 5. Another reviewer from the same site, gave the same rating, citing: "Billa [...] is slick and stylish in keeping with the present modern world...View the movie from technical angle and it is undoubtedly in par with Hollywood movies. What a pulsating thriller it has turned out to be". In contrast, TSV Hari from Rediff wrote that the film "disappoints" and gave it 2.5 out of 5, further claiming: "Director Vishnuvardhan seems to have been in a dilemma as to whether to focus on Ajith or give the film well-etched characters. There are too many diversions in the form of female cleavages in the rain forests of Malaysia and garish sets".
Prequel
Main article: Billa II
In 2008, reports claimed that, following the film's commercial success, Soundarya Rajinikanth was planning to make a sequel, to be produced by Ocher Studios in association with Warner Bros.
However, the sequel did not materialise and the idea was dropped, with
Ajith Kumar, Vishnuvardhan and Soundarya getting busy with other
projects.In mid-2010, sources confirmed that Vishnuvardhan had finished penning the script for a prequel and that Ajith Kumar would reprise the titular character. The project became officially announced in late 2010, after Ajith Kumar signed up and first production poster were published to the media. Suresh Balaje, son of producer and actor K. Balaje, who produced the original Billa with Rajinikanth, and George Pius from Wide Angle Creations banner, were confirmed as the producer, who associated with Mumbai-based IN Entertainment Limited, a Hinduja group company. However, in a turn of events, Vishnuvardhan was replaced by Chakri Toleti, and a new script was written by Toleti and his assistants. The prequel was released at 13 July 2012.
The film was formally launched in August 2010, with its principal photography beginning on 25 October 2010. Filming was held for more than eight months and took place primarily across Chennai, the Dharavi slum in Mumbai and Bangkok, Thailand. Following speculations regarding the film's release, Sun Pictures acquired the theatrical rights and distributed the film via Raadhika Sarathkumar's Radaan Mediaworks. Mankatha released on 31 August 2011 worldwide to generally positive reviews and grossed the second biggest opening of all time after Endhiran at the time of release. The film was declared an "All-Time Blockbuster" at the end of its theaterical run. The film was also dubbed into Telugu as Gambler and released in Andhra Pradesh ten days later while it was a box-office hit in Kerala as well.
Contents
- 1 Plot
- 2 Cast
- 3 Production
- 4 Music
- 5 Release
- 6 Reception
- 7 Awards and nominations
- 8 Sequel
- 9 Remake
- 10 References
- 11 External links
Plot
Vinayak Mahadevan (Ajith Kumar), an assistant commissioner of Maharashtra Police, gets suspended for having saved a smuggler named Faizal (Aravind Akash) from encounter killing and helped him escape. He starts leading life in his own way. Meanwhile, a police officer commits suicide because of the leakage of his IPL gambling plans who is revealed to be Kamal Ekambaram (Subbu Panchu). A tough cop Prithvi (Arjun Sarja) takes charge to end betting scandal in IPL cricket in Mumbai. It is then revealed by Prithvi that Kamal faked his death in a secret mission to draw attention to the betting scandals and returns under the name Praveen Kumar. Arumuga Chettiar (Jayaprakash), an influential local illegal business dealer and the head of Faizal, owns "Golden Theatres" in Mumbai, which has been converted into a gambling den and forms the front for all his illegal businesses. Arumuga Chettiyar uses his links with dons in Mumbai and tries to route through his old theatre, a cash of over5 billion (US$84 million) to be used in betting. Vinayak is introduced to Arumuga Chettiyar through his girlfriend Sanjana (Trisha). Sanjana is in love with Vinayak, but Vinayak just pretends to love her.Sumanth (Vaibhav Reddy), a goon working for Arumuga Chettiyar, hatches a conspiracy to rob the money in the company of his friends – Ganesh (Ashwin Kakumanu), a local Sub-Inspector, Mahat (Mahat Raghavendra), who owns a bar in Mumbai and Mahat's friend Prem (Premji Amaren), an IIT graduate. Vinayak befriends the boys at Sumanth's marriage with Suchithra (Anjali). One late evening, Vinayak meets Prem, who becomes inebriated by him and reveals their heist plan. Vinayak starts spying on them and confronts them on the day of the planned heist, stepping in. The four, reluctantly take him in, promising him a fifth of the share. Vinayak, however, has other plans. He wants to kill his four accomplices and take the entire amount. He promises to help them and divide it between them. After looting the money they leave the money in an abandoned godown. Later, all of them celebrate the turn of events at Mahat's bar. But Sumanth is identified at the party by Faizal and is later caught by him. Sumanth is cornered by Chettiar, who orders Faizal to kill him for his treachery but is rescued in time by Ganesh and Vinayak, and the trio escape from the hide-out taking Chettiar as hostage. While driving back to the godown, Vinayak finds Sanjana on the way and in front of her, he brutally shoves Chettiar out of the vehicle. Sanjana engulfs in grief when she comes to know about Vinayak's true intentions.
Meanwhile, upon reaching the godown, they discover that Mahat and Prem had escaped with the cash and are accompanied by Sona (Lakshmi Rai). The three are then confronted by Faizal and Chettiar's men but manage to evade them and get on the run. Sumanth later turns against Vinayak when he comes to know that his wife had been kidnapped by Chettiar. After a brief scuffle, Sumanth runs into Prithvi who takes him to custody and rescues his wife on the condition that he turns approver and divulge everything. He is however killed when Prithvi's wife Sabitha Prithviraj (Andrea Jeremiah) is kidnapped and threatened by Vinayak.
Vinayak comes to know of the whereabouts of Mahat and Prem through Ganesh and along with him, starts pursuing them. Prithvi and the others also follow suit and all of them are holed up in a highway resort with the money. Sequence of events lead to the murders of the gang members one by one—Mahat is killed by Sona who betrays him, Prem is killed by Prithvi who he mistakenly assumes was about to kill him, and Sona is killed by Vinayak—with Ganesh and Vinayak remaining alive. A final fight ensues between Vinayak and Prithvi. The two actually prove to be equal. At the final moment of the fight, Kamal throws a gun to Prithvi who shoots Vinayak, and a huge explosion rocks the shack seemingly ending the fight.
After several days, the police gets information about Ganesh to be living in Thailand. Kamal (under the name of Praveen Kumar) arrives there, but instead comes across Vinayak. Kamal confronts him and calls up Prithvi to inform him of Vinayak's presence, but then it is then revealed that Prithviraj and Vinayak are actually best friends since their college days and took trainings together. They had come to know about that betting money and operated the plan together (including Vinayak's fake death). Ganesh had also been killed by Vinayak as a part of the plan. Prithvi informs Vinanyak that their money was safe somewhere abroad, and asks him to deal with Kamal. Vinayak then snatches Praveen's gun and points it at his forehead, saying "Game Over".
Cast
- Ajith Kumar as Vinayak Mahadevan
- Arjun Sarja as Prithviraj
- Trisha Krishnan as Sanjana Arumugam
- Vaibhav as Sumanth
- Mahat Raghavendra as Mahat
- Premji Amaren as Prem
- Ashwin Kakumanu as Ganesh
- Lakshmi Rai as Sona
- Jayaprakash as Arumuga Chettiyar
- Aravind Akash as Faizal
- Anjali as Suchitra Sumanth
- Andrea Jeremiah as Sabitha Prithviraj
- Subbu Panchu as Kamal Ekambaram/Praveen Kumar
- Vijay Vasanth in a cameo appearance
- Debi Dutta in a special appearance
- Kainaat Arora in a special appearance
- Rachel White in a special appearance
- Dipali Singh in a special appearance
Production
Development
Following the release of his film Aasal in February 2010, Ajith Kumar was signed by Dhayanidhi Alagiri's Cloud Nine Movies for a project touted to be directed by Gautham Menon. However, as Ajith Kumar participated in the 2010 season of the FIA Formula Two Championship, Gautham Menon, unwilling to wait, decided to shelve the film and opted to focus on another project, which prompted Venkat Prabhu, who was keen on making a multi-starrer film featuring top stars, to sign the actor in his next film, after the director saw moderate success with his previous film, Goa. Prabhu had written three scripts, out of which the actor chose Mankatha, in which he would portray a character "with grey shades". Venkat Prabhu later disclosed that Ajith Kumar was never considered for the role when he wrote the first draft of the script but that he kept his "usual gang of boys in mind" while creating the characters. Vaibhav Reddy suggested that a "big hero" should play the protagonist, with Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi and Sathyaraj being considered first for the role. Ajith Kumar had called Prabhu at that time and expressed interest in performing a role similar to The Joker character played by Heath Ledger in the 2008 English film The Dark Knight. With the protagonist role in Mankatha incidentally being such a character, Ajith immediately accepted the role, turning the film into a high-profile production. Prabhu further emphasised that the script had been altered due to Ajith's entry and he had incorporated "certain elements" that Ajith's fans would expect in a film.The film officially commenced on 2 August 2010 with the formal launch and a simple pooja held at the AVM Studios, Chennai, coinciding with Ajith Kumar's 18th anniversary of his entry into the film industry. The film's title, initially being Mangaatha, derived from a popular Indian traditional card game, underwent a minor change in its spelling, due to numerological reasons. During the pre-production stage, while Prabhu was still working on the scriptment, sources claimed the film to be on the lines of Steven Soderbergh's crime thriller Ocean Eleven (2001). The story was later reported to revolve around a Mafia gang gambling during the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket season. In June 2011, reports emerged that the film was a remake of the 2008 Hindi film Jannat that was based on match fixing. However, Dhayanidhi and Venkat Prabhu quickly denied the news and assured that Mankatha was original. Upon completion of filming, Prabhu named it "his favourite film so far" and "close to my heart".
Casting
The film was supposed to be a "multi-starrer", with several leading South Indian actors expected to appear in it, which is a rare occurrence and would be the first of its kind in the Tamil film industry. Telugu actor Nagarjuna was first approached to essay a powerful character as a CBI officer, being initially confirmed by the director during the launch of the film. He had also conveyed interest in remaking the film into Telugu and playing Ajith Kumar's role in return, but since he could not adjust his call sheet, he was forced to pull out, with Arjun replacing him in November 2010. In an interview from August 2010, Venkat Prabhu had affirmed that Mohan Babu's son, Manoj Manchu, Ganesh Venkatraman, Venkat Prabhu's younger brother, Premji Amaren, who had been part of all his brothers' films, and a newcomer Mahat Raghavendra, a childhood friend of producer Dhayanidhi Alagiri, were signed to portray Ajith Kumar's sidekicks in the film. However, Manoj Manchu couldn't accept the offer due to a shoulder injury and was eventually replaced by Vaibhav Reddy, appearing in the third consecutive Venkat Prabhu film, while in December 2010, sources revealed that another newcomer Ashwin Kakumanu, who previously was seen in Nadunisi Naaygal, was roped in for the fourth role, replacing Ganesh Venkatraman. Nandha later stated that he was offered the role as well, but had to reject it since he was busy shooting for Vellore Maavattam. Prasanna was also considered for the film only to reject due to busy schedules. Jai in 2013 revealed that he was initially roped in to play the police officer role but that Venkat Prabhu replaced him with Arjun after Ajith Kumar became part of the project.Prabhu termed the film as "male-oriented", attaching less importance and significance to the female characters in the film. Early reports suggested that Samantha Ruth Prabhu, and Anushka Shetty were initially approached for the lead female roles, while in July 2010, reports surfaced that Neetu Chandra, and Lakshmi Rai were supposedly signed for the roles. However, the following month Neetu Chandra opted out of the film, refusing the project due to unavailability of dates. Subsequently Trisha Krishnan was signed to portray Sanjana, Ajith Kumar's love interest, pairing with him for the third time, with Lakshmi Rai being confirmed later, who was signed on to play an important and "lengthy role". Venkat Prabhu revealed that changes in the script resulted in changes of the female characters' personalities, clarifiying that Trisha was not the replacement for Neetu Chandra and that the characters offered to both were different, while adding that Trisha's role was specifically written for her. Prabhu further stated that Lakshmi Rai was first chosen to play Ashwin's pair, which was dropped when the screenplay was altered, and that she was eventually offered the role of Sona, resolving that Rai was not given a choice to select between the roles of Sanjana and Sona, as the actress had claimed post the film's release. Earlier, reports had claimed that Sri Lankan model and actress Jacqueline Fernandez was also roped in for a guest role. In November 2010, Sneha was reported to be added to the cast to be paired opposite Arjun, however the role was later finalised with Andrea Jeremiah portraying that character. She was also expected to perform a song for the soundtrack album.
Other additions to the cast in the following months included Subbu Panchu, who rose to fame with his appearance in Boss Engira Bhaskaran and would essay a police officer character, Jayaprakash, enacting also a character with negative shades as the father of Trisha's character, and Anjali, playing Vaibhav's pair. Sources claimed that Venkat Prabhu himself would also enact a pivotal role in the film, while reports suggesting that Vijay would appear in a cameo role were dismissed by the producer, who clarified that Vijay Vasanth would appear in a pivotal role. Concerning the film crew, Venkat Prabhu renewed his previous associations with his cousin Yuvan Shankar Raja, for the background score and soundtrack of Mankatha, Sakthi Saravanan, who would handle the cinematography, and Praveen K. L., who along with N. B. Srikanth, would take care of the editing. Vasuki Bhaskar and Kalyan remained the costume designer and the main choreographer, respectively, with Shoby joining the latter for a couple of songs, while Selva was assigned as the stunt coordinator.
Filming
The film was launched on 2 August 2010 at AVM Studios in Vadapalani, Chennai in a simple manner, following which the film's shooting commenced with the principal photography. The first schedule of filming was supposed to begin by early September, but due to pre-production works and since the principal cast was not decided yet, the shooting got delayed further, finally commencing on 25 October in Chennai. Several days earlier, a test shoot was conducted with Premji Amaren, Mahat Raghavendra and Vaibhav Reddy taking part in it. Following shoots, involving Ajith Kumar, Trisha and Premji, along the Rajiv Gandhi Salai (OMR), and at Ajith's home, a duet song, picturized on Ajith Kumar and Trisha, featuring CGI special effects, was filmed in early November, in a Chennai studio nearby the East Coast Road. From 10 November onwards, the "introduction" song was shot for five days in Bangkok, Thailand, with Ajith Kumar, Lakshmi Rai and some foreigners participating.The film's second schedule was planned to begin on 6 December 2010 in a studio in Chennai, which was slightly delayed due to heavy rain, and started couple of days later. This led to speculation that the film had been shelved due to financial constraints, which was quickly denied by Venkat Prabhu. During the schedule, all important stunt sequences were canned at Binny Mills in Perambur, while simultaneously a grand set, resembling the Dharavi slum in Mumbai was erected in a Chennai studio. Ajith Kumar also performed one of the action choreographies with the use of a body mounted camera, weighing around 30 kg. In late December, the third song, a "high-spirited peppy number", was shot for five days, with Shobi choreographing the steps. An item number, titled "Machi, Open The Bottle", it featured actresses Debi Dutta and Kainaat Arora dancing to the song along with Ajith Kumar and the rest of the gang. The schedule was wrapped up by early February, with which approximately fifty per cent of the film was reportedly completed.
The remaining part of the film was supposedly to be shot during the third and last schedule to be held in Mumbai, which was to start in late February. However, sourced clarified that the subsequent schedule, too, would be held in Chennai only, with filming being carried on at the Padmanabha Theatre in North Chennai. In late March, the crew eventually moved to Mumbai, where the filming was held for nearly two weeks, mostly at the Dharavi slum. The climax portion was planned to be filmed at Madurai, which was considered as "apt" for the "action-oriented" sequence, but was eventually filmed in Chennai as well, while the remaining scenes were to be canned in Hyderabad. During the first week of June, Ajith had reportedly completed his portion, with his last day shoot being held in Hyderabad, while sources confirmed that filming was still being carried on later that month in Hyderabad. Shooting was further extended, with the crew leaving for Bangkok again in late June for a ten-day schedule to shoot the pending scenes, including a lengthy fight sequence and a song, involving Premji and Lakshmi Rai. Despite earlier announcement that Ajith had finished his portions, a "special scene" featuring Ajith in a different look was filmed on one day during the first week of July. By 10 June 2011, the crew returned to Chennai and announced the completion of the entire filming.
Mankatha's post-production works commenced by mid-June 2011, and were carried on for over one month. Earlier, an animation sequence lasting about 4 minutes was being created by specialised technicians, while CGI special effects were included in a song and action scenes, which was cited as the reason for the delay. By early August, all actors but Ajith Kumar had finished dubbing for their characters, including Trisha who on Venkat Prabhu insistence spoke dubbing for herself in the film, which became only the third film to feature her original voice. Rekhs, who had previously subtitled films including Enthiran and Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, subtitled Mankatha during the first week of August, while Yuvan Shankar Raja worked on the re-recording, being assisted by Premji.
Marketing
Even before beginning the principal photography, a short teaser trailer was shot on the day of the launch itself, since it coincided with Aadi Perukku and was considered an auspicious day. The teaser was screened during the intermission of Naan Mahaan Alla, another Cloud Nine Movies distribution that released on 20 August 2010. During Diwali 2010, the first official posters of Mankatha were published in newspapers. A teaser featuring the song "Vilaiyaadu Mankatha" was released on Ajith Kumar's birthday, on 1 May 2011 on YouTube, after plans of releasing the film or the soundtrack on that day had failed. As the teaser garnered high response, the song was released as a single track on 20 May 2011, creating positive media response.Music
Main article: Mankatha (soundtrack)
The film score and soundtrack of Mankatha were composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, becoming his fourth collaboration with Venkat Prabhu and Ajith Kumar as well. The soundtrack, consists of eight tracks, including one Theme music track and one club mix, with lyrics penned by Vaali, and Gangai Amaran and renowned poet Subramanya Bharathi's grandson, Niranjan Bharathi. As earlier done in Saroja and Goa, a promotional track too was planned, which however did not materialise in last minute. Prior to the official soundtrack launch, a single track, "Vilaiyaadu Mankatha", was released in mid-May 2011. The music rights were bagged by Sony Music who had reportedly offered 10 million. The soundtrack album, following several postponements, was released on 10 August 2011 at Radio Mirchi's Chennai station, while two days later the team arranged a press meet, showcasing two songs and the trailer of the film. The album was reported to have achieved record breaking sales.
The songs received mixed response, with their placements in the film
being criticizied, while the film's score was widely appreciated.Release
The satellite rights of the film were bagged by Sun TV. The film was given a "U/A" certificate by the Indian Censor Board and passed without any cuts, while few words were bleeped. One week later, the British Board of Film Classification issued a 15 certificate with an advice that it "contains strong threat and violence". During the late production stage, reports indicated that Mankatha faced "political pressure" following the change in government after the 2011 Tamil Nadu legislative assembly election, with sources claiming that the film did not find any buyers in Tamil Nadu, since it was produced by the grandson of DMK president M. Karunanidhi. Cloud Nine Movies began negotiations with other production houses to sell the domestical theatrical rights, however talks with UTV Motion Pictures and Gemini Film Circuit resulted in failure. On 22 August 2011, Gnanavelraja confirmed that his production house Studio Green, had purchased the Indian domestic theatrical and the television rights of the film at an undisclosed record amount.However in a turn of events, Studio Green cancelled the deal the very next day due to "various reasons" which Gnanavel Raja did not want to elaborate, in spite of posters in newspapers featuring Studio Green's logo. Times of India reported that Azhagiri bought back the rights, since Gnanavel Raja had planned to sell the satellite rights to Jaya TV, a channel run by the opposition party, AIADMK. On 24 August, Azhagiri announced that Kalanidhi Maran's Sun Pictures had bought the theatrical and satellite rights of the film and would distribute it along with Cloud Nine Movies. Udhayanidhi Stalin was said to have negotiated the deal and united the production houses to release the film jointly. Mankatha thus became the first Ajith Kumar film under Sun Pictures banner as well as their first release after the assembly election. Actress Raadhika Sarathkumar's Radaan Mediaworks distributed the film to Tamil Nadu theatres.
Dhayanidhi Azhagiri announced that the film would be a worldwide release with subtitles in English, simultaneously opening across Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Canada and many other parts of Middle East and Europe. Noted Telugu producer Bellamkonda Suresh acquired the film's dubbing rights by late August 2011 and released a dubbed Telugu version titled Gambler on 9 September 2011 across 225 screens, enabling the biggest opening for a dubbed version of a Tamil film. The film became scheduled for a release on 1 September 2011 in order to cash in on the Vinayaka Chaturthi-Ramadan weekend, before Ayngaran International eventually finalised 31 August 2011 as the release date in overseas theatres few days later. In the United States, the film was released at 34 theatres.
Reception
Critical reception
Mankatha received generally positive reviews, with critics lauding Ajith Kumar's performance. IndiaGlitz wrote: "In 'Mankatha', Ajith pulls it off with his impeccable style and excellent performance, which is aptly supported by a racy script and brilliant execution by director Venkat Prabhu and his team" and termed the film as "Attagasam of a Villain". Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu called it a "gutsy" and "engaging game of cat and mouse that springs no surprises", adding that Venkat Prabhu had "laid out a filling spread this time". Anupama Subramanian of the Deccan Chronicle rated it 3 out of 5 as well, claiming that Ajith "sparkles in his 50th film". Behindwoods rated the film 3 out of 5, saying "Ajith is unarguably the pièce de résistance of Mankatha and it is his uninhibited performance that captivates the audience. For him, it is a superb knock on the field well laid out by Venkat Prabhu. He simply sizzles in his action shots and his cute expressions in dance sequences are a revelation." but pointed out that, "the number of gun battles and their lengths may tire you a bit and the vital heist which should have been extremely powerful lacks the fizz." and gave the verdict, "Ajith's 'Golden' gamble with Venkat that has paid off !" N Venkateswaran of The Times of India rated the film 4 out of 5, saying "Ajith is the soul of the movie and the others have nothing much to do, with the exception of Arjun." and called it "a good watch, especially because of Ajith's baddie act." S. Viswanath of Deccan Herald said, "Mankatha is strictly for Ajith fans, who has a wholesome blast, puffing, bulldozing his way and bedding belles by the dozen like there is no tomorrow." Kanchana Devi of TruthDive said, "Mankatha is truly an absolute entertainer for the masses. On the whole, ‘Mankatha’ has some slow moments during first half, but as the story proceeds during second half, it has gripping moments with an unexpected climax." Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, saying "If Mankatha works even just a bit, it's because of Ajith, whose charisma shines through. Watch it only for him. The rest really don't matter." Sifys critic highlighted that Ajith "steals the thunder and plays the emotionless bad man, to perfection", further adding that he looked "smashing and his scorching screen presence is unmatchable", while the reviewer criticised the script as being "dull", and concluded " For die-hard fans of Ajith who don't have a problem with an unforgivable 2 Hours 40 minutes running time and juvenile comedy, this might be a treat. For others though, it's strictly average entertainment." Rohit Ramachandran of nowrunning.com rated Mankatha 2.5/5 stating that "Mankatha doesn't stand on independent merit. It rests on the fanboy's identity crisis." Film critic Sudhish Kamath rated the film 6.5 out of 10, saying "The greatest disservice to an actor with potential is to worship a bad film. Stop defending the Aasals, aas***l*s." Akhila Krishnamurthy of Outlook said, "The thing about testosterone is it can either excite or frustrate. There is no in-between. Tamil superstar Ajith’s much-anticipated 50th film is a very “male film”, no doubt. There’s a heist, a few chases, gunfights, cusswords, three good-looking women and a salt-and-pepper-haired protagonist, who is naughty at forty. Only, none of it excites."Box Office
Mankatha released in 950 screens worldwide and the film had a solo opening in Tamil Nadu on 31 August. It was said to have collected28 Crore from 700 screens during the opening five-day weekend, and around 360 million in its first week. The film became the biggest grosser of the year as well as that of Ajith's career, while also garnering the second-highest opening after Enthiran (2010). In Chennai city alone, the film earned 27.2 million
in the first weekend from 19 screens. The multiplexes gave it the
maximum number of shows including morning shows in all screens. At the Mayajaal multiplex, Mankatha was screened in all 14 screens on the first day, resulting in 70 shows per day, all being sold out, while Sathyam Cinemas reported a net of 3.4 million from two screens for the five-day weekend. The film grossed 65 million in 19 days in Chennai. The Telugu version Gambler, which released in 225 screens. In Kerala, the film was released in the original language in Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad
districts on 31 August while a dubbed version released all over the
state on 9 September, opening at first rank, outclassing other Malayalam
releases. The film bought for 60 lakh in Kerala was expected to get distributor share of 14 million. The Telugu version got high opening compared to other mainstream films It was successful at the Bangalore box office. The film opened at second rank in Malaysia, grossing $803,666 in its first weekend, with a per screen average of $19,602 (highest per screen average) claiming the second-highest opening weekend for a Tamil film. After four weeks, the film grossed
60 million in Malaysia. In the United Kingdom, the film grossed $179,054 from 16 screens, opening at No.1 spot and No.4 in the all-time chart Overall the film grossed $1,104,911 in Malaysia in six weeks, and $268,533 in UK at the end of the third week. Sun Pictures the distributor declared that Mankatha grossed 800 million in the first month. Sify termed the film as a blockbuster as well as the year's biggest commercial success. The film completed a 50-day run at the box office and was ranked as the fourth biggest grosser in Tamil film history. Brand merchandise
related to the film were launched for sale after the 50th day. Items
included sun glasses, T-shirts, hand cuffs and lockets, all on a limited
edition basis. Google Zeitgeist
Google Zeitgeist 2011, a compilation of the year's most frequent search queries, placed Mankatha at 7th rank, becoming the only Tamil film to secure a place in the list.Awards and nominations
- Chennai Times Awards
- Best Actor – Ajith Kumar
- Best Youth Film – Dayanidhi Azhagiri
- Best Newcomer Male – Ashwin Kakumanu
- Best Negative Role Female – Lakshmi Rai
- 59th Filmfare Awards South
- Best Best Tamil Film – Dayanidhi Azhagiri (Nominated)
- Best Tamil Director – Venkat Prabhu (Nominated)
- Best Tamil Actor – Ajith Kumar (Nominated)
- Best Tamil Supporting Actress – Lakshmi Rai (Nominated)
- Edison Awards (India)
- Best Debut Actor – Mahat Raghavendra
- Best Comedian – Premji Amaren
- International Tamil Film Awards (ITFA)
- Best Movie – Dayanidhi Azhagiri
- Best Director – Venkat Prabhu
- Best Supporting Actor – Premji Amaren
- Best Cinematographer – Sakthi Saravanan
- Best Female Playback Singer – Suchitra for "Vaada Bin Lada"
- Mirchi Music Awards South
- Best Upcoming Lyricist – Niranjan Bharathi for "Nee Naan"
- Technical Sound Engineer – Kumaraguru Paran for "Vilaiyaadu Mankatha"
- 1st SIIMA Awards
- Best Tamil Actor – Ajith Kumar (Nominated)
- Best Actor in a Negative Role – Ajith Kumar (Nominated)
- Best Male Playback Singer – S. P. B. Charan for "Nee Naan" (Nominated)
- 6th Vijay Awards
- Best Villain – Ajith Kumar
- Favorite Hero – Ajith Kumar
- Favorite Director – Venkat Prabhu
- Favourite Film – Mankatha (Nominated)
- Favourite Heroine – Trisha Krishnan (Nominated)
- Favourite Song – Yuvan Shankar Raja for "Vilaiyaadu Mankatha" (Nominated)
Sequel
Shortly after the film's release and its high commercial success, Venkat Prabhu confirmed the possibility of a sequel, provided that Ajith Kumar accepted. Sources also reported that Prabhu planned to use the initial script that he had penned before Ajith Kumar became part of the film. In November 2013, Dhayanidhi said, "That people are still talking about Mankatha 2 shows the grand victory that Mankatha achieved when it released. People can't forget such a movie and I want to make sure that 'Brand Mankatha' stays on in people's minds. The sequel might happen in future but we haven't started any discussions in this regard. Good news is that Venkat Prabhu has already readied the plot for the sequel. To me, Ajith signifies 'Mass' in Tamil Nadu".Remake
A Hindi remake of the film has been confirmed by Gnanavel Raja of Studio Green. The cast and crew are yet to be finalised.Following pre-production works for six months and the official announcement of the project in May 2012, filming commenced in June 2012 and was held for the next 15 months. The majority of filming took place in Mumbai, where the story unfolds, while other shooting locations include Chennai, Bangalore, Dubai, Hyderabad, Mahabaleshwar, Jaisalmer, Leh and Ladakhs. The film was not titled until it entered post-production and was mostly referred to as Thala 53 or Valai, a supposed working title. Arrambam released on 31 October 2013, coinciding with the festival of Diwali and received mostly positive reviews from both critics and audience; going on to become a blockbuster.
Contents
- 1 Plot
- 2 Cast
- 3 Production
- 4 Music
- 5 Marketing
- 6 Release
- 7 References
- 8 External links
Plot
![[icon]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} |
This section requires expansion. (November 2013) |
Later, Ashok uncovers himself as a former member of an Anti-Terrorist Squad and reveals about the scam. The rest of the story is about how he takes revenge on the Home Minister Mahadev Rane (Mahesh Manjrekar) and his associate (Atul Kulkarni) who are involved in the scam.
Cast
- Ajith Kumar as Ashok Kumar/A.K.
- Arya as Arjun
- Nayantara as Maya
- Taapsee Pannu as Anitha
- Mahesh Manjrekar as Mahadev Rane
- Atul Kulkarni as JCP Milind Virekar
- Kishore as Prakash
- Suman Ranganathan as Ramya Radhakrishnan
- Krishna as Mango
- Akshara Gowda as Deeksha Rane
- Murli Sharma as Durani
- Aadukalam Naren as Sriram Raghavan
- Rana Daggubati as ACP Sanjay (Guest appearance)
Production
Development
In September 2011, producer A. M. Rathnam stated that he would produce Ajith Kumar's next film after Billa II, which was touted to begin by December 2011. Vishnuvardhan, whom Ajith Kumar had worked with in Billa, was the front-runner to direct the film, although certain media sections also suggested that Rathnam may recruit director Shankar to make a sequel to his 1996 vigilante film Indian. The claims were refuted by a source close to Ajith Kumar. In January 2012, Rathnam informed that he had signed Ajith Kumar and director Vishnuvardhan for his next film, while the director himself confirmed later that he was "undoubtedly directing Ajith’s next flick". A press release published by A. M. Rathnam in May 2012 officially announced the project and listed the cast and crew members. According to the press release, the film would be produced by A. Raghuram on behalf of Sri Satya Sai Movies, while Rathnam would supervise it.Subsequently speculation arose that Vishnuvardhan may remake his own 2011 Telugu action thriller Panjaa, or the Bollywood action flick Race, but the director clarified that he would not remake either film. Writer-duo Subha joined the team and worked on the script and dialogues. According to a "close source from the production house", a remake of Race was planned initially, as there was not much time to write a fresh script, but after Subha's entry into the team, the idea was scrapped and work on an original script began, with the writers telling that they took "nearly three months to come out with the sketch". In an early interview during the scripting phase, Vishnuvardhan opened up about the film that he was planning to work "on a drama, more on family action drama". Upon completion of the film, he made clear that the film was not a gangster film, and labelled it as an "action drama", further adding that it was a "fictional story based on a real incident". Vishnuvardhan also said that work on the story began only after he was signed on to direct a film with Ajith Kumar. Ajith Kumar continued the "salt and pepper look" from Mankatha, as he would play a "mature guy", and underwent supervised weight-training, working out at the gym for six hours a day. The actor later disclosed that he played a "mean guy ... a politically incorrect character" while adding that the film would have a "strong social message". Vishuvardhan opened up that Ajith would play an officer in the cyber crime department of the country. Closer to the film's release, the director revealed that Ajith would have "two faces in the film".
The film was started without a title and remained untitled for over 15 months, during which it was widely referred to as Thala 53 in the media, denoting Ajith Kumar's 53rd film. A teaser trailer released in May 2013 on YouTube did not feature a title either. The makers had tossed with the idea of naming the film Thala, Ajith Kumar's nickname, which was refused by the actor, while Vishnuvardhan also requested fans to suggest a suitable title. Several false titles including Surangani, and Paravai went around in the media, and in January 2013 "A source in the know" stated that the title was Valai, after one of the writers, Suresh, had tweeted that the title begins with a 'V'. Although not officially confirmed, the film was henceforth referred to as Valai by the media. At Anna University’s Gateway 2013 Short Film Festival by the Department of Media Sciences in April 2013, Vishnuvardhan revealed that the film was not titled Valai, adding that two titles were under consideration. On 24 July 2013, Arrambam was unveiled as the film's official title. The dubbed Telugu version was titled Aata Arambham.
Casting
Vishnuvardhan told that he was looking for an actress who could speak Tamil properly to be cast for the lead female role, with Anushka Shetty and Amala Paul being among the considered candidates. Kajal Aggarwal was also reportedly approached for the lead heroine. Although he wanted a "fresh pairing for Ajith", the director eventually selected Nayantara, who had earlier worked with both Ajith Kumar and Vishnuvardhan in Billa. Several media sections carried reports that Vishnuvardhan's brother Kreshna would be signed for a parallel role in the film, but the role went to Arya, who had been part of four Vishnuvardhan directorials. Several sources claimed that Arya may play an antagonistic role, which Vishnuvardhan did not comment on but he informed that Arya's role in the film was that of a hacker.Richa Gangopadhyay was supposed to play the second female lead, but was replaced with Taapsee Pannu, who stated that she played a journalist, a "very lively character, who is always on the go". It was then reported that Arvind Swamy and Prithviraj Sukumaran would play pivotal roles, and that Telugu actors Akkineni Nagarjuna, Ravi Teja and Jagapathi Babu would have cameo appearances in the film; however none of the actors had any roles in the film. By late May, Hindi actor Mahesh Manjrekar was finalised for the role of a villain in the film, stating that he would be shooting for it from August onwards. The next month, Suman Ranganathan was cast for the role of Ramya, a "hard-nosed reporter", making a comeback to Tamil cinema after 17 years. Telugu actor Rana Daggubati was signed to do a "special appearance" in the film, and took part in the shooting in Mumbai; he completed his part in June 2013. It was reported that the 2008 Mumbai attacks would be part of the storyline, which would feature Rana's portion. Kishore joined the cast in July 2012 to enact an Anti-terrorist squad member, claimed to be a prominent role in the film. Akshara Gowda stated that she was also part of the film, while Prashant Nair informed that he had a small role in Valai.
Vishnuvardhan's norm composer Yuvan Shankar Raja was recruited to compose the film score. Stephen Richter who was one of the stunt coordinators in Ajith Kumar's Billa II was hired to choreograph stunts in this film, too. Besides Richter, Lee Whittaker, who has worked in Hollywood films, and Kecha designed several stunts sequences. Sunil Babu was initially called in as the art director but opted out later, with Ilaiyaraja taking his place. Vishnuvardhan's wife Anu Vardhan, who had worked on all of her husband's film, was in charge of costume designing in this film as well. Nirav Shah was approached to work as the cinematographer, but as he was busy with other commitments, P. S. Vinod, who had filmed the director's previous film Panjaa, was recruited. Vinod was later replaced by Om Prakash.
Filming
Principal photography of the film was to begin on Chennai on 31 May 2012, but started with a slight delay on 2 June 2012 with portions involving Nayantara and Arya, while Ajith Kumar joined them a day later. The filming was expected to proceed until the end of the month in Mumbai, but was later cancelled due to monsoon and the location was shifted to Bangalore. and later in Hyderabad. On 7 September, during the second schedule, Taapsee Pannu joined the crew and began shooting her portions. For a fight scene, which was shot between 8 pm and 8 am the next day, Ajith spent several hours hanging upside down. During the next schedule that started on 2 November 2012, filming was held in Mumbai and its suburban locations. While shooting an action sequence, Ajith Kumar injured his leg while jumping from one car to another, suffering an ligament tear. Despite his injuries, Ajith Kumar continued shooting. Vishnuvardhan later revealed that it was Arya who drove the car when Ajith hurted his legs during the stunt scene. In late December a short shooting schedule was held in Chennai, during which a fight sequence featuring Ajith and Arya was shot.The team returned to Mumbai a third time for a 15-day schedule on 1 January 2013, with scenes involving Arya, Nayantara and Taapsee being filmed in the Bandra area of Mumbai in the first week and Ajith Kumar's part in the latter part of the schedule. The crew left for Dubai on 11 February 2013, where Ajith filmed a boat sequence for the film, which was choreographed by Hollywood stuntman Lee Whittaker. After finishing the boat scene, he tweeted, "Finished amazing boat sequence here in Dubai! Ajith was absolutely amazing! Couldn't have done it without his skills!" Stills of Ajith Kumar riding a Ducati Diavel in Dubai also circulated in the Internet. In March 2013, Ajith, Arya and Nayantara shot a holi song featuring both Tamil and Hindi lyrics at a studio in Mumbai, which was choreographed by Dinesh. The crew will be shooting the last schedule in Jaisalmer in Rajasthan from 1 May onwards, after which the unit was reported to be moving to Orissa, where a song and a few scenes were to be shot. It was followed by filming in Madhya Pradesh, Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra. The climax scenes were filmed by mid-May in Kullu Manali in Himachal Pradesh. The schedules were finished in July 2013, following which patch work remained. On 20 August 2013, another schedule was started in Chennai. The entire filming was completed in early October 2013 with the last day shoot held in a Mumbai mall featuring Ajith and Arya.
Cinematographer Om Prakash stated that he wanted to give the visuals a "green tint because the colour 'green' is commonly associated with prosperity and knowledge". He also added that some scenes featuring Ajith were intendedly shot so that the audience would see both him and his reflection and that hand-held cameras were used to shoot those scenes from close "not because it would look fancy, but the script demanded such an approach". He described the speed boat stunt where Ajith Kumar performed a 180-degree turn at high speed as risky and "scary" as he filmed the entire scene seated at the front of the boat.
Post-production works on the film started by mid 2013, and were carried out simultanesouly with the shoot. Rekhs worked on the subtitles of the film. By September 2013, the actors were dubbing for their roles in Mumbai. In October 2013, Yuvan Shankar Raja was working on the re-recording, while Digital intermediate works were in the "final stages".
Music
Main article: Arrambam (soundtrack)
Yuvan Shankar Raja was signed on to compose the film's soundtrack and score, continuing his association with Vishnuvardhan and Ajith Kumar. The soundtrack album consists of five tracks; notably a theme music track was not included, which was composed only later during the re-recording. Pa. Vijay penned the lyrics for all songs. It was released directly to stores on 19 September 2013 and opened at number one on iTunes India after its release at midnight, which, according to Sify, "no Tamil album has done before". It also received positive reviews from critics. Marketing
On 1 May 2013, coinciding with Ajith Kumar's birthday, a 42-second teaser trailer was uploaded on YouTube, which indicated that the film was untitled. The teaser crossed 1 million hits within 2 days' time. Making-of clips of the film were telecast on Jaya TV on 15 August 2013, during which the official logo design of Arrambam was also revealed.The film's theatrical trailer was released along with the music album on 19 September 2013. The video received a positive response and reached the 1 million hits mark on YouTube within two days.
Release
The satellite rights of the film were bagged by Jaya TV. In early September 2013, producer A. M. Ratnam officially announced that the film would release for the Diwali festival. It was advanced by two days as the makers wanted the film to release on a Thursday. On 18 October 2013 the film was given a "U" (Universal) certificate by the Indian Censor Board. The British Board of Film Classification issued an uncut 15 certificate with an advice that it "contains strong threat and violence". At the request of the distributor, cuts of five minutes length were made, obtaining a 12A certificate for the cut version.The theatrical rights for the film in Coimbatore, Tirupur, Ooty and Erode areas were purchased by Cosmo Pictures' Siva for
69 million, while the rights for Madurai-Ramnad area were sold to Alagar for an undisclosed amount. Ayngaran International bought the rights of the NSC (North Arcot-South Arcot–Chengalpet) area from the producer. Director and distributor Rama Narayanan purchased the Chengalpet area. The Kerala theatrical rights of were sold for
14.5 million to Sree Kaleeshwary, while the Karnataka theatrical rights
of were purchased by Sri Lakshmi Swami Enterprise for over 30 million. The US distribution were acquired by GK Media, which planned to release the film in 78 locations in the USA. Controversies
By mid-October 2013, a petition was filed in the Madras High Court by B. Rajeswari alleging that that Arrambam producer A. M. Rathnam had not returned money borrowed from the financier and remanding the film's release to be stalled until the dues were met. Rathnam however clarified that the film was not produced by him but by A Raghuram's Sri Sathya Sai Movies. A day prior to the planned release, film producer K. Kannan filed a suit in the City Civil Court seeking to restrain the film from releasing as he had already commenced the production of a film with a similar title, Ini Dhan Arambam that had been registered with Film and Television Producers Guild of South of India.Reception
Arrambam opened to mostly positive reviews from critics. Behindwoods stated, "Director Vishnuvardhan, writer duo Subha and editor Sreekar Prasad have to be commended for managing to keep the audiences hooked to their seats for a majority of the movie with very few drag moments. With a running time of more than two and a half hours, the screenplay is taut and crisp enough to keep the crowd arrested." Sify said, "'Arrambam' lives up to the expectations and is a satisfying thrill ride for its variety in providing no-holds barred entertainment. Ajith' terrific screen presence and powerful dialogue delivery, smart writing, charismatic cast and action which is fast-paced are smartly packaged by director Vishnuvardhan." About the performances, the critic said, "Ajith himself gives a low-key, well-nuanced performance as Ashok, the conscience of this film; Arya is superb as the happy-go-lucky Arjun and his comedy scene in college with Nayan is a rocker." Indiaglitz commented, "Simple, elegant and class but richly crafted to keep you tuned to the screen - 'Arrambam' is an interesting story in a gripping screenplay." Talking about the technical aspects, the website says, "Om Prakash has canned every frame with passion. Cohesion and continuity is edgy and distinctly better only as the film progresses. Srikar Prasad has however done a commendable job in putting the pieces of action together in thorough entertainment. Background score adds volume to the story, supporting it substantially well."Baradwaj Rangan of The Hindu wrote, "Arrambam is a feet-hands-face movie — the kind of hero-centric film made for fans. Vishnuvardhan manages a reasonable balance. Fans are likely to be delighted with a narrative that pumps up their hero’s strengths (coolness; good comebacks, including a terrific punch line about fingerprints) and downplays his failings (dramatics)".[151] M. Suganth of The Times of India rated it 3 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Arrambam is a very familiar tale of corruption, betrayal and revenge, served up with a dash of style. Vishnuvardhan has taken a leaf out of a real-life incident and with the help of his co-writers SuBa, has spun an action thriller that, for the most parts, keeps moving at a fast clip". The New Indian Express wrote, "Slick and stylish like their earlier venture, the film, despite its glitches, manages to keep one entertained for the most part. Ajith’s charismatic screen presence is the mainstay of the film". IANS wrote, "Arrambam is undoubtedly highly stylish, but otherwise it's just another cliched revenge drama. Arrambam is not bad but the problem with it is that it lacks creative touch" and noted the film for its similarities to the film Swordfish. But the reviewer praises Ajith Kumar's acting: "This is the third time in a row Ajith has played the anti-hero with elan. He is unarguably one of the more stylish actors in the industry and he has proved it time and again". Deccan Chronicle wrote, "The film will not disappoint the average viewer despite not living up to the hype and hoopla".
S. Saraswathi of Rediff rated it 3 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Aarambam is a stylish and fast-paced action thriller set in the backdrop of the 26/11 Mumbai serial bomb blasts, that is unfortunately let down by its uninspired and mediocre storyline". Bangalore Mirror wrote, "From the start to the end, Aarambam is an out-and-out Ajith film — a perfect Diwali gift for Thala's fans across the world. Aarambam is far from perfect, but it works mostly because of Ajith's mannerisms though it doesn't come anywhere near Mankatha or Billa". Eddie Harrison of The List rated it 2/5 and called it a "derivative but splashy and colourful action-fest that makes the most of a charismatic star-turn from Kumar. What’s missing is any real sensitivity to the material; Vishnuvardhan stages his set pieces with style, but the uneasy mixture of genre styles places Arrambam firmly in the file marked disposable entertainment".
The Telugu version Aata Arrambam received mixed reviews from critics. IndiaGlitz said, "Ajith has done a truly great job in the movie - more than a hero (or anti-hero, as he is cast), he has performed as the typical character that Subha and Vishnuvardhan have conceived. Carrying himself at ease in the contradicting roles he plays in both the halves of the film, Ajith proves his worth once again as an excellent actor." and added, "Nayanthara who comes around as his ally has added the right amount spice wherever required. The actress seems to have distinctly matured from her 'Billa' days, though. The romance that Arya and Taapsee share is cute, bubbly and keeps the movie going forward on a lighthearted note. Though Rana Dagubatti and Kishore are cast on brief roles, their characters are pivotal and support the crux of the story strongly." 123telugu said, "'Aata Arrambham' banks too much on Ajith's screen presence and the actor doesn't disappoint. He may not dance like a dream or look fit, but he makes up for all that with his daredevil stunts and screen presence. The second half in particular drags too much and the climax is quite disappointing. Aata Arrambham is not a bad film at all, but it could have been so much better and riveting." APHerald said, "Despite having a good storyline, the poor execution makes it uninteresting. If the screenplay would have been more gripping, we could have witnessed a promising thriller. On the whole, an uninteresting action- thriller that pushes its viewers to have a sigh of relief when the film gets over."
Box office
According to trade analyst Trinath, Arrambam approximately collected 92.1 million on the opening day in Tamil Nadu, which was the best opening for an Ajith film. Sreedhar Pillai stated that it had earned around 87.5 million (nett) on the first day. According to Behindwoods, the film grossed 43.9 million at the Chennai box office alone over the first five days. In the US, the film earned $330,615 (₹20.4 million) from 73 reported screens in its opening weekend. As of 9 November 2013, it has grossed $369,150 (₹23 million) and become the fifth highest grossing Tamil film and highest grossing Ajith Kumar film in the US. In the UK, the opening weekend gross was £135,213 (₹13.4 million) from 37 screens, inclusive of the preview shows of £34,830 previews on Wednesday evening. After the second weekend, the film had earned £176,282 at the UK box office overall. In Australia, the film earned an opening-weekend total of A$55,953 (₹3305,000) from 7 screens. In Malaysia, Arrambam opened at the second spot as it grossed $788,469 (around
85 million) in its opening weekend (31 October to 3 November), from 80 screens. After the second weekend, the total collection was $1,359,407. After the opening weekend the film was said to have collected
300 million in Tamil Nadu and between 70 and 80 million in other states including Kerala, Karnataka and the Rest of India and, along with the overseas collections, had grossed more than 500 million in total. According to Oneindia.in, it has collected 916.3 million in the domestic market as of 13 November 2013. According to Deccan Chronicle, it had reached the 100-crore mark within just three weeks. On 29 November, the distributor of the film's Telugu version announced that Arrambam had earned over 135 crore (US$23 million) nett, becoming the highest grossing South Indian film of 2013. Contents
- 1 Plot
- 2 Cast
- 3 Production
- 4 Soundtrack
- 5 Marketing
- 6 Release
- 7 References
- 8 External links
Plot
Vinayagam (Ajith) is a brave person living in a village called Oddanchatram, who lives with his four brothers Murugan (Bala), Shanmugam (Vidharth), Kumaran (Suhail) and Senthil (Munish). The elder brother loves the younger ones to the core, and sacrifices his happiness for their good. They are often caught in fights and they are proud of it. Advocate Bail Perumal (Santhanam), who bails them out whenever legal issues arise because of their brawls. Vinayagam hates the idea of marriage as he feels that his wife might create disharmony among brothers. Though the four younger brothers say that they don’t want to either fall in love or get married, when Vinayagam is not around, they all have their secret lovers. Now, in order to get the green light for their love stories, they learn through his brother's childhood friend Collector Subbu (Ramesh Kanna) that Vinayakam, in school, was in love with a girl named Koperundevi (fondly called Kopu) and his brothers hatch a plan to find her and reintroduce her to Vinayakam, so he can fall for her all over again. But she’s married now and has kids. So the brothers conspire to do the most logical thing, which is to find another woman named Koperundevi (fondly called Kopu), because, you see, Vinayakam was not in love with that girl so much as her name, and when he meets another (completely random) girl with that name, he is sure to lose his heart to her, just because she bears that name. Though initially reluctant later Vinayakam himself falls in love with her. He clashes with a goon called Vanangamudi (Pradeep Rawat) to take care of market in the village. Vanangamudi tries to kill Vinayagam's brothers while Vinayagam kidnaps Vanangamudi's son (Amit Kumar Tiwari) after clashing, Vinayagam orders Vanangamudi to leave this village.While travelling in train to Koppu's village, Koppu narrates her family background to Vinayak. Koppu's father Nallasivam (Nassar) is a respected man in the village who hates violence, while his son (Pawan) is exact opposite who kills people but when he is killed, Nallasivam refuse to bury his body and decided to make his village with peace and harmony. Few goons enter into train but Vinayagam bashes all the rowdies, Koppu gets shocked to see Vinayagam whom she thought as a non-violent person. Vinayagam and his brothers arrive at Koppu's village with clean shaven look, he says that he has changed and he would never harbor violence, he and his brothers are welcomed and respected by her family. Vinayagam is touched and impressed by their love, affection and hospitality. Vinayagam comes to know that a goon named Aadalarasu (Atul Kulkarni) wants to kill Nallasivam and his family, reason is revealed through flashback that Aadalarasu's father Aavudaiyapan (Avinash) is responsible for blast of matchstick factory. Nallasivam complains against Aavudaiyappan. Aavudaiyappan who is arrested, commits suicide by getting hit over lorry.
Aadalarasu swears revenge against Nallasivam. Vinayagam finishes all the goons and solves all their problems without the knowledge of Nallasivam and family. When Nallasivam's granddaughter finds sickle under Vinayagam's jeep, Nallasivam orders Vinayagam to go out of the town. Aadalarasu who escapes from death sentence arrives to kill Nallasivam but Vinayagam keeps him and his family in a safe place. Aadalarasu informs Vinayagam that he had kidnapped one of his brothers Kumaran, Vinayagam arrives at the nick of time and saves his brother but instead gets attacked by Aadalarasu. Nallasivam and his family who arrives at the place comes to know about risk taken by Vinayagam to save him from the mess. Brutally attacked Vinayagam rises steadily, kills Aadalarasu and his henchmen. Nallasivam who is impressed with Vinayagam's valour decided to give his hand to his daughter Koppu. The film ends with the marriage of Vinayagam and his brothers.
Cast
- Ajith Kumar as Vinayagam
- Tamannaah as Kopperundevi
- Vidharth as Shanmugam
- Bala as Murugan
- Munish as Senthil
- Suhail Chandhok as Kumaran
- Santhanam as Bail Perumal
- Nassar as Nallasivam
- Thambi Ramaiya as Savarimuthu
- Appukutty as Mayilvaganam
- Ramesh Khanna as District Collector Subbu
- Ilavarasu as Azhagappan
- Atul Kulkarni as Aadalarasu
- Pradeep Rawat as Vanangamudi
- Avinash as Aavudaiyappan
- Mayilsamy as Marikolunthu
- Shanmugarajan
- Amit Kumar Tiwari as Vanangamudi's son
- Abhinaya as Poongothai
- Manochitra as Anita
- Suza Kumar as Senbagam
- Vidyullekha Raman as Alamelu
- Rohini Hattangadi as Kopperundevi
- Devadarshini as District Collector Subbu's wife
- Sumithra
- Kalairani
- Stunt Silva as Henchman
- Crane Manohar as College Peon
- Paravai Muniyamma
- Pawan as Nallasivam's son
- Periyardasan as Bhai
- R. N. R. Manohar as Maanikkam
- Paruthi Veeran Sujatha as Nallasivam's younger sister
Production
Development
The potential collaboration between Vijaya Productions and Ajith Kumar was reported in November 2011, with speculation suggesting that Venkata Ramana Reddy wanted to commemorate his late father B. Nagi Reddy's 100th year since birth with a film project. Siva, who had made his debut in Tamil films with the 2011 film Siruthai, was noted as a potential candidate to direct the film, while Anushka Shetty was initially reported to play the female lead role. Subsequently, in early December 2011, Ajith signed on to play the lead role in the venture, with a poster released confirming Siva's participation, noting that Vetri and Yuvan Shankar Raja would be cinematographer and music composer, respectively. Devi Sri Prasad later replaced Yuvan, while Kasi Vishwanathan signed as editor, and Bharathan and Boopathy Raja as story writers. Production for the film was put on hold until Ajith completed Billa 2 (2012) and a significant portion of Arrambam (2013). The film was widely publicized for a 2014 release coinciding with Thai Pongal.Casting
Alongside Ajith, it was noted that four young actors would appear as his brothers in the venture. Vidharth, who rose to fame with his role in Mynaa, was signed on for the film after discussions with Prasanna was unsuccessful. Suhail Chandhok, brother of former Formula One racer Karun Chandhok, was signed on for a role after Ajith was impressed with a short film that Suhail had featured in. Munish, who appeared in Naanga, and Bala, director Siva's brother, were also selected to play Ajith's brothers. Santhanam, who featured in a pivotal role in Siva's previous film, was also chosen to play a supporting role in the film. Tamannaah was chosen to play Ajith's pair in the film, marking her comeback to Tamil films after a three-year sabbatical. Vishakha Singh was approached to play Vidharth's pair in the film but her refusal subsequently meant the producers opted for Manochitra, who was previously seen in Aval Peyar Thamizharasi (2010), while Abhinaya signed for another lead role. Vidyullekha Raman signed to be Santhanam's pair for a third film. Jayaprakash, Jayaram and Rajeev Govinda Pillai were also initially reported to be a part of the cast, though a later press release did not confirm their participation. Kannada actor Avinash agreed to play a character "who, due to poverty, has become vengeful and is willing to do anything wrong for his own benefit".Filming
A press note was released on 4 April 2013 announcing the start of the filming of the project, whilst also clarifying the cast and crew. The first schedule for the film began the next day in Hyderabad and went on for two weeks and more. The film was initially rumoured to be titled as Vetri Kondaan or Vinayagam Brothers before finally confirming Veeram, quashing all rumours. The shoot was completed on 2 November 2013.Soundtrack
| Veeram | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Soundtrack album to Veeram by Devi Sri Prasad | ||||
| Released | 20 December 2013 | |||
| Recorded | 2013 | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 19:33 | |||
| Language | Tamil | |||
| Label | Junglee Music | |||
| Producer | Devi Sri Prasad | |||
| Devi Sri Prasad chronology | ||||
|
||||
All lyrics written by Viveka.
| Tracklist | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Nallavannu Solvaanga" | Devi Sri Prasad | 4:36 | |||||||
| 2. | "Ival Dhaana" | Sagar, Shreya Ghoshal | 4:14 | |||||||
| 3. | "Thangamae Thangamae" | Adnan Sami, Priyadarshini | 4:06 | |||||||
| 4. | "Jing Chikka Jing Chikka" | Subash, Magizhini Manimaaran | 4:30 | |||||||
| 5. | "Veeram" | Anand, Koushik, Deepak, Jagadish | 2:48 | |||||||
|
Total length:
|
19:33 | |||||||||
Marketing
A first-look teaser was released on 7 November 2013. The video showed goons running with weapons in their hands to Ajith, who is shown in with a blood scar on his face. The second teaser was released on 5 December 2013 with a dialogue "Enna Naan Solrathu". Veeram's trailer was released by Sun TV as a New Year special at 10 am.Release
The satellite rights of the film were bagged by Sun TV. The film was given a "U" certificate by the Indian Censor Board. Across Tamil Nadu, Veeram will be distributed by various parties: in Chennai City by Sri Thenandal Films, in NSC area by Sri Thenandal Films, in T.T (Trichy and Thanjavur) by Green Screens, in M.R (Madurai, Ramanadhapuram) are by Gopuram Films and in T.K (Thirunelveli, Kanyakumari) are by Sri Mookambiga Films. Vendhar Movies will release the film in Coimbatore and surroundings through Vel Films and in Salem and surroundings through G Film.Box office
The film collected125 crore (US$21 million) in domestic and 22 crore (US$3.7 million) in overseas, adding up to 147 crore (US$25 million) worldwide.- India
11.60 crore (US$1.9 million) in opening day. On the second day it collected 12 crore (US$2.0 million) and third day 14.55 crore (US$2.4 million) at the box office with first weekend totally 38.15 crore (US$6.4 million). In first weekend oneindia declared it a 'Blockbuster' at the box office. In first week it collected 71.85 crore (US$12 million) at the box office. In Tamil Nadu alone it collected 50.59 crore (US$8.4 million) in first week. The film collected 125 crore (US$21 million) in end of its full run in domestic alone. The Telugu version of this film got overwhelming response in Andhra but actual figure is not known said by traders. - Overseas
62.98 lakh (£64,000) in the first weekend.Veeram was reduced to 13 screens and had made 1.08 crore (£110,000). Veeram, running in three screens, made 1.20 crore (£120,000). Rights
The film bought satellite rights for12 crore (US$2.0 million) and music rights for 2 crore (US$330,000).The film's Hindi remake rights is a record number got 20 crore (US$3.3 million).Total rights alone 34 crore (US$5.7 million) which is biggest ever for Ajith. Critical reception
The film received positive reviews from critics.The Times of India gave 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, "The film is a template masala film – a superhuman hero, his cronies who will sing his praises all the time, a beautiful-looking heroine, a raging villain. It has no room for logic, moving from one hero-worshipping scene to the next and is aimed at our visceral tastes. The story is in service of its star and, it is unapologetic about it". Rediff gave 2.5 stars out of 5 and stated, "Veeram is a treat for Ajith fans". Sify gave 4 stars out of 5 stating it as a "Mass Entertainer" and wrote, "The film works mainly due to Ajith’s charisma and Siva’s script. It is a formula film where essential masala has been correctly mixed in the right proposition. On the whole, Veeram is an enjoyable fun ride". Baradwaj Rangan wrote, "A family with five brothers, another family with representatives from three generations, annan-thambi sentiment, amma sentiment, appa sentiment, and in the middle of all this, a big star giving his fans what they want – if Faazil and Vikraman collaborated on a 'mass' masala movie, it might end up looking like Siva’s Veeram. Veeram is about the hero. Everything else – the crude dramatics, the piles of clichés, the characters (especially the bad guys) who come and go as they please – is secondary". Bangalore Mirror gave 3.5 out of 5 and called it "a festival cracker for the fans of Thala".
OneIndia rated the film 3.5 out of 5 and said "Veeram is such an entertaining movie where audience will hardly find drawbacks. The entertainment quotient is very high and it could be enjoyed by all section of audience. Ajith has a winner in hand again". Indiaglitz gave 3.25 out of 5 and wrote, "Siruthai Siva comes up with a story that is not out of the box, however a racy screenplay and Thala’s immense presence and valor takes the ball out of the boundary". Behindwoods rated it 2.75 out of 5 and said "Ajith and Siva dish out a 'heady' commercial package for the actor’s fans". Deccan Herald wrote, "Tiresomely long, with second half, tad sagging, Veeram has Thala Ajith in fulsome flow with all fireworks. While Ajith’s fans may swoon and swear by his one-man demolition squad show that will give even hulk Arnold Schwarzenegger the blushes, for the rest though, it’s a matinee masala to stay away". IANS gave 2.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Veeram is a classic example, which elevates Ajith and leaves the rest of the ensemble cast behind. The film is dedicated to Ajith, who is as charismatic as ever in his role. However, he is unfortunately not complemented by a strong screenplay".
Sources from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajith Kumar
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