''Arrambam'' () is a 2013 Indian
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
-language
action thriller film
Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
directed by
Vishnuvardhan. Produced by A. Raghuram and co-written by
Subha, the film stars
Ajith Kumar,
Arya
Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...
,
Nayanthara and
Taapsee Pannu
Taapsee Pannu (born 1 August 1987) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films. She is the recipient of three Filmfare Awards.
After a brief modelling career, Pannu ventured into acting with the Telugu film ' ...
, with
Kishore,
Rana Daggubati,
Akshara Gowda in supporting roles. While the score and
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...
of the film were composed by
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja or Abdul Haliq (born 31 August 1979) is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer and singer-songwriter. He mainly scores music for Tamil films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use of Wes ...
, the cinematography was handled by
Om Prakash
Om Prakash (born Om Prakash Chibber 19 December 1919 – 21 February 1998) was an Indian film actor. He was born in Jammu as Om Prakash Chibber and went on to become a well-known character actor of Bollywood. His most well-known movies are Na ...
and editing by
A. Sreekar Prasad.
Following a six-month long pre-production and the official announcement of the project in May 2012, filming commenced in June 2012 and continued for the next 15 months. Majority of the filming happened in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
. Other locations included
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
,
Bangalore
Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...
,
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
,
Hyderabad
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...
,
Mahabaleshwar
Mahabaleshwar () is a small town and a municipal council in Satara district, Maharashtra, India. It is a place of pilgrimage for Hindus because Krishna river has its origin here. The British colonial rulers developed the town as a hill station ...
,
Jaisalmer
Jaisalmer , nicknamed "The Golden city", is a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan, located west of the state capital Jaipur. The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone and is crowned by the ancient Jaisalmer Fort. This fort contains a ...
,
Leh
Leh () ( lbj, ) is the joint capital and largest city of Ladakh, a union territory of India. Leh, located in the Leh district, was also the historical capital of the Kingdom of Ladakh, the seat of which was in the Leh Palace, the former res ...
and
Ladakh
Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu ...
. The film was not titled until it entered post-production and was mostly referred to as ''Thala 53'' or ''Valai'', a supposed
working title
A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...
. The film was released on 31 October 2013.
Plot
Ashok Kumar "A.K" fixes bombs in three places and informs the cops about them. Before the cops arrive, the bombs are set off. Ashok, along with his lady love Maya, threatens her old college mate
hacker
A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...
Arjun, who is forced to hack one system after another. Ashok threatens Sriram Raghavan by trying to kill his child so that he can extract the truth about black money, where he murders Sriram. Arjun, who is irritated by the things happening around him, complains about Ashok's misdeeds to
Inspector Prakash. When Ashok gets closer to achieving his goals, Arjun gives him away to the cops, and both are arrested. Arjun is later released after his true identity is revealed.
Later, Maya, who had escaped from the scene, tracks Arjun and his girlfriend Anitha and tells them about Ashok's original motive. Ashok was actually a former member of the
Anti-Terrorist Squad who was on a mission to expose a scam regarding faulty
bulletproof jacket
A bulletproof vest, also known as a ballistic vest or a bullet-resistant vest, is an item of body armor that helps absorb the impact and reduce or stop penetration to the torso from firearm-fired projectiles and fragmentation from explosions. Th ...
s that were provided to security forces, which resulted in many death of his best friend and colleague
ACP Sanjay. It turned out that
Home Minister
The Minister of Home Affairs (or simply, the Home Minister, short-form HM) is the head of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most officers in the Union Cabinet, the chief responsibility of the Home Minist ...
Mahadev Rane and his associates
JCP Milind Virekar and Ramya Radhakrishnan were the people involved in the scam. Ramya killed Sanjay's pregnant wife and her parents by poisoning, while Maya, who was also poisoned, and Mango, who was placed on a railway track, survived the attack.
After learning about this, Arjun feels guilty and decides to help them. Ashok and Arjun arrive at
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
to meet Mahadev's daughter Deeksha, where Arjun enters a bank in the guise of a
service engineer and opens an account so that Ashok can transfer all of Mahadev's money into his account. Maya kills Ramya by pushing her off a building. Deeksha later finds out about their plan but is later threatened at gunpoint by Ashok. Ashok, Arjun, and Maya later arrive in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
but come to know that Mahadev has kidnapped Anitha. Ashok tactfully kidnaps Deeksha and Durrani in
Kashmir. Mahadev arrives at Kashmir with Anitha. Here, Durrani and Deeksha get killed, while Anitha is saved.
Ashok kidnaps Mahadev and ties him to various bombs, where he questions his corrupt activities. Prakash arrives and calls Ashok to defuse the bombs. Ashok advises Prakash to think from the point of view of a common man instead of a policeman to think whether it is right on his part to save a corrupt person. Prakash changes his mind and asks the other policemen to leave him. Mahadev is killed in the blast. Arjun and Anitha get married, while Ashok transfers all of Mahadev's illegal money to Reserve Bank without revealing his appearance. Arjun and Anitha later get kidnapped in
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
during their
honeymoon trip, only to know that Ashok has brought them for another mission.
Cast
*
Ajith Kumar as Ashok Kumar IPS (AK)
*
Arya
Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...
as Arjun
*
Nayanthara as Maya
[''Arrambam'' (DVD): opening credits from 1.24 to 1.44]
*
Taapsee Pannu
Taapsee Pannu (born 1 August 1987) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films. She is the recipient of three Filmfare Awards.
After a brief modelling career, Pannu ventured into acting with the Telugu film ' ...
as Anitha
*
Mahesh Manjrekar
Mahesh Vaman Manjrekar (Marathi pronunciation: əɦeːʃ maːɲd͡zɾekəɾ born 16 August 1958) is an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer who works primarily in Hindi films, alongside Marathi, Telugu and Bhojpuri films. H ...
as Mahadev Rane
*
Atul Kulkarni
Atul Kulkarni (born 10 September 1965) is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter who works in Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, English, Odia and Telugu language films. Kulkarni won the National Award for the Best Supporting A ...
as
JCP Milind Virekar
*
Suman Ranganathan
Suman Ranganath is an Indian model and actress. She has starred in Kannada, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi films.
Personal life
Suman Ranganath was born in Tumakuru, Karnataka.
She was married to Bunty Walia, an Indian film pr ...
as Ramya Radhakrishnan
*
Kishore as Inspector Prakash
*
Krishna
Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...
as Mango
*
Akshara Gowda as Deeksha Rane
*
Murli Sharma Murli may refer to:
* Murli, Bihar
* Murli (instrument)
* MuRli, Togolese-Irish rapper
{{disambiguation ...
as Durrani
*
Aadukalam Naren
Narayanan (better known as Aadukalam Naren) is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil and few Telugu films, mainly in supporting roles. He made his début in 1997 film ''Raman Abdullah'' but he got noticed for his role in the 2011 film, ''Aa ...
as Sriram Raghavan
[''Arrambam'' (DVD): closing credits from 2.32.58 to 2.33.03]
* Bhawana Aneja as Nandhini
*
Karthik as Imran
* Mona Kakade as Prakash's wife
*
Rana Daggubati as
ACP Sanjay (guest appearance)
*
Savi Sidhu as Durrani's comrade (uncredited)
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 had worked with in ''
Billa Billa may refer to:
Films
*Billa (1980 film), ''Billa'' (1980 film), 1980 Indian Tamil film
*Billa (2002 film), ''Billa'' (2002 film), 2002 Pakistani Punjabi film
*Billa (2007 film), ''Billa'' (2007 film), 2007 Indian Tamil film, remake of ''Bil ...
'', was the front-runner to direct the film, although certain media sections also suggested that Rathnam may recruit director
Shankar Shankar may refer to:
People
* Shankar (name), including a list of people with the name
* Sankar (writer) (Mani Shankar Mukherjee), Bengali writer
* L. Shankar, Indian violinist
*S. Shankar, Indian film director commonly credited as Shankar
* San ...
to make a sequel to his 1996 vigilante film ''
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
''. The claims were refuted by a source close to Ajith . In January 2012, Rathnam informed that he had signed Ajith 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
A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...
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
''Panjaa'' () is a 2011 Indian Telugu-language action film directed by Vishnuvardhan and produced by Arka Media Works and Sanghamitra Art Productions. The film stars Pawan Kalyan, Sarah-Jane Dias, Anjali Lavania, Jackie Shroff, Adivi Sesh ...
'', or the Bollywood action flick ''
Race
Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to:
* Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species
* Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
'', 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. Ajith continued the "salt and pepper look" from ''
Mankatha
''Mankatha'' () is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language action crime film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu. It stars Ajith Kumar in his 50th film, along with an ensemble cast including Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Lakshmi Rai, Anjali, Andrea ...
'', 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's 53rd film. A teaser trailer released in May 2013 on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
did not feature a title either.
The makers had tossed with the idea of naming the film ''Thala'', Ajith'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
Amala Paul (born 26 October 1991) is an Indian actress who mainly appears in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. She made her acting debut by appearing in a supporting role in the Malayalam-language film ''Neelathamara'', and she later became no ...
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
Nayanthara, who had earlier worked with both Ajith and Vishnuvardhan in ''
Billa Billa may refer to:
Films
*Billa (1980 film), ''Billa'' (1980 film), 1980 Indian Tamil film
*Billa (2002 film), ''Billa'' (2002 film), 2002 Pakistani Punjabi film
*Billa (2007 film), ''Billa'' (2007 film), 2007 Indian Tamil film, remake of ''Bil ...
''. Several media sections carried reports that Vishnuvardhan's brother
Kreshna
Krishna Kulasekaran (born 14 February 1978) credited as Krishna is an Indian actor who mainly appears in Tamil cinema.
He is the younger brother of Tamil film director Vishnuvardhan.
Early life
Krishna's father is film producer K.K.Sekar (Pa ...
would be signed for a parallel role in the film,
but the role went to
Arya
Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...
, 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
A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...
.
Richa Gangopadhyay
Richa Gangopadhyay Langella ( Gangopadhyay ; born 20 March 1986) is an Indian-born American former actress and model who predominantly appeared in Telugu language films. She resides at Portland, Oregon.
She was cast along with the prominent ...
was supposed to play the second female lead, but was replaced with
Taapsee Pannu
Taapsee Pannu (born 1 August 1987) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films. She is the recipient of three Filmfare Awards.
After a brief modelling career, Pannu ventured into acting with the Telugu film ' ...
, who stated that she played a journalist, a "very lively character, who is always on the go". It was then reported that
Arvind Swamy
Arvind Swamy (born 18 June 1970) is an Indian actor, model, entrepreneur and television presenter known for his work in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam films. He was introduced as an actor by Mani Ratnam with the blockbuster ...
and
Prithviraj Sukumaran
Prithviraj Sukumaran (born 16 October 1982) is an Indian actor, director, producer and playback singer primarily working in Malayalam cinema. He has also done Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. He acted in more than 100 films in a variety of ...
would play pivotal roles, and that Telugu actors
Nagarjuna
Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of ...
,
Ravi Teja
Bhupatiraju Ravi Shankar Raju (born 26 January 1968), known professionally as Ravi Teja, is an Indian film actor and producer who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. He is known for his roles in action comedy films. He is one of the highes ...
and
Jagapathi Babu
Veeramachaneni Jagapathi Rao Chowdary (born 12 February 1962), professionally known as Jagapathi Babu (), is an Indian actor known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has also appeared in a few Tamil, , Kannada and Malayalam films. ...
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
Mahesh Vaman Manjrekar (Marathi pronunciation: əɦeːʃ maːɲd͡zɾekəɾ born 16 August 1958) is an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer who works primarily in Hindi films, alongside Marathi, Telugu and Bhojpuri films. H ...
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
Suman Ranganath is an Indian model and actress. She has starred in Kannada, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi films.
Personal life
Suman Ranganath was born in Tumakuru, Karnataka.
She was married to Bunty Walia, an Indian film pr ...
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 coordinator
A stunt coordinator, usually an experienced stunt performer, is hired by a TV, film or theatre director or production company for stunt casting. Their job is to arrange the casting (stunt players and stunt doubles) and performance of stunts for a ...
s in Ajith'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
Nirav Shah (born 16 November 1974) is an Indian cinematographer. He has worked on a number of major box office hits in Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam since his debut with the 2004 Hindi film '' Paisa Vasool''.
Career
After having worked as an ...
was approached to work as the cinematographer,
but as he was busy with other commitments,
P. S. Vinod
P. S. Vinod is Indian cinematographer who works in Telugu cinema, Telugu, Bollywood, Hindi and Tamil cinema, Tamil films. He debuted as an independent cinematographer with the 2000 Tamil film ''Rhythm (2000 film), Rhythm'' and then went to work ...
, who filmed Vishnuvardhan's previous film, ''
Panjaa
''Panjaa'' () is a 2011 Indian Telugu-language action film directed by Vishnuvardhan and produced by Arka Media Works and Sanghamitra Art Productions. The film stars Pawan Kalyan, Sarah-Jane Dias, Anjali Lavania, Jackie Shroff, Adivi Sesh ...
'', was recruited. Vinod was later replaced by
Om Prakash
Om Prakash (born Om Prakash Chibber 19 December 1919 – 21 February 1998) was an Indian film actor. He was born in Jammu as Om Prakash Chibber and went on to become a well-known character actor of Bollywood. His most well-known movies are Na ...
.
Filming
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
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
Nayanthara and
Arya
Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...
, while Ajith joined them a day later. The filming was expected to proceed until the end of the month in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
, but was later cancelled due to monsoon and the location was shifted to
Bangalore
Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...
. and later in
Hyderabad
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...
. On 7 September, during the second schedule,
Taapsee Pannu
Taapsee Pannu (born 1 August 1987) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films. She is the recipient of three Filmfare Awards.
After a brief modelling career, Pannu ventured into acting with the Telugu film ' ...
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
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
and its suburban locations. While shooting an action sequence, Ajith injured his leg while jumping from one car to another, suffering a
ligament tear.
Despite his injuries, Ajith 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, Nayanthara and Taapsee being filmed in the
Bandra area of Mumbai in the first week and Ajith's part in the latter part of the schedule. The crew left for
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
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 riding a
Ducati Diavel in Dubai also circulated in the Internet. In March 2013, Ajith, Arya and Nayanthara shot a
holi
Holi (), also known as the Festival of Colours, the Festival of Spring, and the Festival of Love,The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...". is an ancient Hindu religious festival ...
song featuring both Tamil and
Hindi
Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
lyrics at a studio in Mumbai, which was choreographed by
Dinesh
Dinesh (Devanagari: ') is a common Hindu male given name. The Sanskrit word ' is a compound of ' 'day' and ' 'lord', meaning 'day-lord', an epithet of the Sun. Notable people with the name include:
* Dinesh, Indian film actor
* Dinesh Baboo, Ind ...
. The crew will be shooting the last schedule in
Jaisalmer
Jaisalmer , nicknamed "The Golden city", is a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan, located west of the state capital Jaipur. The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone and is crowned by the ancient Jaisalmer Fort. This fort contains a ...
in
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...
from 1 May onwards, after which the unit was reported to be moving to
Orissa
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...
, where a song and a few scenes were to be shot. It was followed by filming in
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
,
Mahabaleshwar
Mahabaleshwar () is a small town and a municipal council in Satara district, Maharashtra, India. It is a place of pilgrimage for Hindus because Krishna river has its origin here. The British colonial rulers developed the town as a hill station ...
,
Maharashtra. The climax scenes were filmed by mid-May in
Kullu
Kullu is a municipal council town that serves as the administrative headquarters of the Kullu district of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is located on the banks of the Beas River in the Kullu Valley about north of the airport at Bh ...
Manali in
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...
. 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 camera
Hand-held camera or hand-held shooting is a filmmaking and video production technique in which a camera is held in the camera operator's hands as opposed to being mounted on a tripod or other base. Hand-held cameras are used because they are conve ...
s 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 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 simultaneously with the shoot. Rekhs worked on the subtitles of the film. By September 2013, the actors were
dubbing
Dubbing (re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and video production, often in concert with sound design, in which additional or supplementary recordings are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production sou ...
for their roles in Mumbai. In October 2013, Yuvan Shankar Raja was working on the
re-recording, while
Digital intermediate
Digital intermediate (typically abbreviated DI) is a motion picture finishing process which classically involves digitizing a motion picture and manipulating the color and other image characteristics.
Definition and overview
A digital intermediat ...
works were in the "final stages".
Music
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
Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...
track was not included, which was composed only later during the re-recording.
Pa. Vijay
Pa. Vijay is an Indian actor, poet, writer, director, producer and film lyricist for Tamil cinema. He won the National Film Award for Best Lyrics in India for his song '' Ovvoru Pookalume'' in Cheran's ''Autograph'' (2004).
Career
Vijay is a na ...
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
Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...
, "no Tamil album has done before". It also received positive reviews from critics.
Release
The satellite rights of the film were sold to
Jaya TV
Jaya TV HD is a Tamil language satellite television channel based in Chennai, India. Jaya TV HD is also broadcast to the expatriate Tamil community via various media partnerships. Hemant Sahai of HSA had Jaya TV HD as his first client. 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
Central Board of Film Certification
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...
, the first Ajith film since ''
Kireedam'' (2007) to do so. The
British Board of Film Classification
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...
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
Ayngaran International is a film distribution and production company, based in the United Kingdom. Historically, Tamil films from India have been distributed to overseas theaters and for home media consumption by Ayngaran. The chairman of the ...
bought the rights of the NSC (North Arcot-South Arcot–Chengalpet) area from the producer. Director and distributor
Rama Narayanan
Rama Narayanan (3 April 1949 – 22 June 2014) was an Indian film director and producer. In the 1980s, he was known as a director who specialized in shooting commercial films in which animals played vital roles, while in the 1990s, several of h ...
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 ''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 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
Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...
'' 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
Baradwaj Rangan is an Indian film critic, writer, and formerly the deputy editor of ''The Hindu''. He later became a senior editor of Film Companion. Rangan won the National Film Award for Best Film Critic in 2006. Before joining ''The Hindu' ...
of ''
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
'' 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)". M. Suganth of ''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...
'' 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
''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naid ...
'' 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
Indo-Asian News Service or IANS is a private Indian news agency. It was founded in 1986 by Indian American publisher Gopal Raju as the "India Abroad News Service" and later renamed. Their main offices are located in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The ser ...
wrote, "''Arrambam'' is undoubtedly highly stylish, but otherwise it's just another clichéd 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'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
''Deccan Chronicle'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded by Rajagopal Mudaliar in the 1930s & currently owned by Samagrah Commercial Pvt Limited. It is published in Hyderabad, Telangana, by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited ...
'' wrote, "The film will not disappoint the average viewer despite not living up to the hype and hoopla".
S. Saraswathi of ''
Rediff
Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City.
, it had more than 300 e ...
'' rated it 3 stars out of 5 and wrote, "''Arrambam'' 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'' collected approximately 92.1 million nett on the opening day in Tamil Nadu, which was the best opening for an Ajith film. According to ''Behindwoods'', the film grossed 43.9 million at the Chennai box office alone over the first week.
In the US, the film earned US$330,615 (2.04 crore) from 73 reported screens in its opening weekend.
As of 9 November 2013, it has grossed $369,150, approximately 2.3 crore and became the fifth highest grossing Tamil film and highest grossing Ajith 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 (33 lakh) 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.
Malaysia Box Office, 7–10 November 2013
. Boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved on 13 April 2014.
Awards and nominations
References
External links
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{{2008 Mumbai attacks
2013 films
2013 action thriller films
Films shot in Mumbai
Films shot in Rajasthan
Films shot in Andhra Pradesh
Films shot in Jammu and Kashmir
Films shot in Dubai
Films directed by Vishnuvardhan (director)
Films scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja
2010s Tamil-language films
Films set in Dubai
Films about terrorism in India
Indian films about revenge
Films set in Mumbai
Films about corruption in India
Indian action thriller films
Indian buddy films
2010s buddy films
Malware in fiction
Fictional portrayals of the Maharashtra Police
2010s buddy cop films
Films based on the 2008 Mumbai attacks
Films about organised crime in India
Films set in Jordan
Indian pregnancy films
Films set in Jammu and Kashmir
Action films based on actual events
Films with screenplays by Subha
Techno-thriller films