''Aval Varuvala'' () is a 1998 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

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Raj Kapoor Raj Kapoor (pronunciation: �aːd͡ʒ kəpuːɾ born Shrishti Nath Kapoor; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered one of th ...

. It is the Tamil remake of the 1997 Telugu movie '' Pelli''. The film stars Ajith Kumar and

Simran Simran (Gurmukhi: ਸਿਮਰਨ; hi, सिमरण, सिमरन ; from Sanskrit: , ''smaraṇa'', 'to remember, reminisce, recollect'), in spirituality, is a Sanskrit word referring to the continuous remembrance of the finest aspect of ...

, with Sujatha,

Babloo Prithiveeraj Babloo Prithiveeraj (born 29 November 1965) is an Indian actor, who has appeared in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada language films. Career Prithveeraj made his acting debut as a child artiste and featured in films including '' Naan Vazhavaippen'' ( ...

Goundamani Subramaniyan Karuppaiya (born 25 May 1939), known by his stage name Goundamani, is an Indian actor and comedian who works in Tamil cinema. He is known for his comic duo partnership in Tamil films with fellow actor Senthil. The pair dominated t ...

and Senthil in other significant roles. It released on 15 May 1998 to positive reviews and became a commercial success.

Plot

Jeeva lives with his grandmother Lakshmi in Madurai and says that he would marry the girl that he likes at first sight. He goes to Chennai after getting a job as a bank manager there. In a shopping mall, he gets a glimpse of Divya and falls in love with her. He identifies her scooter model and goes on a mission in search of her to end up in a colony surrounded by comedians - Dhandabani, Michael Jackson, Major Ramachandran, Savithri, and James Thomson. The colony people mistakenly think that Jeeva is trying to steal the scooter, and therefore, he lied that he was looking for a house to rent. Then, he agrees to stay in the colony after confirming that Divya and her mother Janaki are residing in the colony. From there on, Jeeva tries to impress Divya. The comedians find out that Jeeva is trying to approach Divya and agree to help him. They ask Janaki's opinion about Divya's marriage. However, Divya refused the offer, saying that she is not interested in getting married. A lonely, sad, pathetic-looking Janaki seemed to hide something. The gang gives a few ideas to persuade Divya, but they all failed. Eventually, tired of foolish ideas, Jeeva tells Janaki that he wants to marry her daughter. Impressed by Jeeva's good manner, Janaki advised Divya to accept him. Truthful to the expectations, Divya revealed that Janaki is actually her mother-in-law. Knowing that Jeeva loves her, Divya insults him so that he would give up, but he did not. Every time Jeeva did well to her, it reminds her of her ex-husband Prithvi's cruelty, and she started to compare them both. In a dramatic flashback, Prithvi is killed (so we think) by Divya when he encourages his friends to sexually abuse her. Believing that the bad time is behind them, Janaki and Divya start a new life in a new town as a mother-daughter team. Divya falls in love with Jeeva with the comedians' help. However, Janaki did not allow Divya to tell Jeeva about her past. The whole colony was cheered by the news, and they arranged an engagement. Prithvi returns for their betrothal to reclaim his possession. He blackmails Divya to sleep with him on one night before her marriage and asks Jeeva to sanction him a loan of Rs. 25 lakhs; otherwise, he will reveal the truth to everyone. Somehow, Jeeva knows the truth and claimed to be proud to become Divya's husband. This distracts Prithvi, who then decides to stop the marriage. Wanting to stop Prithvi from doing so, Janaki poisons him and also herself for the sake of a peaceful life for her daughter-in-law.

Cast

* Ajith Kumar as Jeeva *

as Divya, Prithvi's wife * Sujatha as Janaki *

as Prithvi *

as Dhandapaani * Senthil as Michael Jackson *

Vennira Aadai Moorthy Vennira Aadai Moorthy (born 25 July 1936) is an Indian actor and comedian in Tamil cinema. He has starred in many Tamil films and television serials as a comedian and also played supporting roles. He is a lawyer by education, and holds a B.L. ...

as Major Ramachandran *

Kovai Sarala Kovai Sarala is an Indian actress and comedian, who prominently plays supporting roles in Tamil and Telugu films. She has won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Comedian three times, for her performances in '' Sathi Leelavathi'' (1995), '' ...

as Savithri *

Dhamu Dhamu is a retired Indian actor and comedian who mainly acts in Tamil films. He is known for his role as Otteri Nari in ''Ghilli'' (2004). He was a part of Gaana Galata Group, a popular touring and acting comedy troupe. Since then, he has appe ...

as James Thomson * Jayalalita as Ammukutty * Kavitha as Roobini *

Idichapuli Selvaraj Idichapuli Selvaraj ( – 30 January 2012) was a veteran Tamil comedy actor. He acted in more than five hundred films. He acted along with lot of actors. He also worked as an assistant director for the M. G. Ramachandran films like ''Idhayakkani ...

as Nathan *Radhabhai as Lakshmi, Jeeva's grandmother *Master Manikandan as Oosi Babu *Japan Kumar (special appearance in "Sikki Mukki") * Redin Kingsley as Dancer (Uncredited)

Production

The film progressed after another Tamil film based on the same premise was shelved. The shelved ''Unnai Vida Maatten'' by MG Pictures starring Sathyaraj, Abbas, and Rambha, had also been a take on ''

Sleeping with the Enemy ''Sleeping with the Enemy'' is a 1991 American psychological thriller film directed by Joseph Ruben and starring Julia Roberts, Patrick Bergin and Kevin Anderson. The film is based on Nancy Price's 1987 novel of the same name. Roberts play ...

'' (1991).

Release

The film released on 15 May 1998. Indolink.com gave the film a positive review citing that "Simran shows she can act too. She is almost getting the correct lip-sync for Tamil dialogues" and "Sujatha is as usual, ready to break into tears at anytime", while "Ajith has very little to do in this female oriented movie". The reviewer added that Prithviraj as the sadist "does a good job, though it looks outrageous." The producers later worked on a film titled ''Enna Vilai Azhage'' in 2000 with

Prashanth Prashanth Thiagarajan (born 6 April 1973), known professionally as Prashanth, is an Indian actor and businessman, known for his works predominantly in Tamil cinema. Besides Tamil films, he has also appeared in few Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam ...

and Amisha Patel. Despite completing most of the shoot, the makers' financial troubles meant that the project did not release.

Soundtrack

The film soundtrack features score and 6 songs composed by S. A. Rajkumar who retained the tunes from the original Telugu film which he had composed, with lyrics by

Palani Bharathi Palani Bharathi is an Indian writer and lyricist who works in Tamil cinema. Early life Palani Bharathi was born in Karaikudi to Sami Palaniappan, a poet, and Kamala. He has a brother and four sisters. Palaniappan was an assistant of orator/w ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1998 films Films set in Chennai 1990s Tamil-language films Indian romantic drama films Films directed by Raj Kapoor (Tamil film director) Tamil remakes of Telugu films