''Dhool'' () is a 2003 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

masala film Masala films of Indian cinema mix multiple genres into one work. Masala films emerged in the 1970s and are still created as of the 2020s. Typically these films freely mix action, comedy, romance, and drama or melodrama. They also tend to be ...

written and directed by

Dharani Dharanis ( IAST: ), also known as ''Parittas'', are Buddhist chants, mnemonic codes, incantations, or recitations, usually the mantras consisting of Sanskrit or Pali phrases. Believed to be protective and with powers to generate merit for the B ...

. The film stars Vikram,

Jyothika Jyothika Saravanan (; born 18 October 1978) is an Indian actress, model and film producer who predominantly appears in Tamil films.

and

Reema Sen Reema Sen (born 29 October 1981) is an Indian actress and model who primarily appeared in Bengali theatre films, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi films. Early life and education Sen was born in Kolkata on 29 October 1981. She completed high school fro ...

Vivek Vivek (or Bibek/Bivek in some regions) (विवेक in Devanagari script) is a masculine given name that is popular in South Asia, particularly in India and Nepal. It is of Sanskrit origin and means "wisdom" and/or "conscience". Vivek may refe ...

Sayaji Shinde Sayaji Shinde (Marathi pronunciation: əjaːd͡ʒiː ʃin̪d̪eː born 13 January 1959) is an Indian actor who has acted in Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Bhojpuri films and several Marathi Plays. Sayaj ...

Telangana Shakuntala Telangana Shakuntala (27 March 1951 – 14 June 2014) was an Indian actress who worked in the Telugu cinema. She was known chiefly for playing comedy and villainous characters in Tollywood. Her performances in movies like ''Osey Ramulamma'', ' ...

, and

Pasupathy Pasupathy (born 5 September 1967) is an Indian actor. He appeared in critically acclaimed roles in many noted films in Tamil cinema, playing supporting, antagonistic, comedic as well as protagonistic roles. His performance in '' E'' (2006) ear ...

, among others, play important roles. Produced by

A. M. Rathnam A. M. Rathnam is an Indian film producer, lyricist, screenwriter, and director known for his works in Telugu and Tamil cinema. Under the gamut of Sri Surya Movies Entertainment, Hyderabad, a movie production house owned by him, he has produced ...

at a cost of 7 crore, the film had music composed by Vidyasagar and released on 10 January 2003. It received positive reviews and was a commercial

blockbuster Blockbuster or Block Buster may refer to: *Blockbuster (entertainment) a term coined for an extremely successful movie, from which most other uses are derived. Corporations * Blockbuster (retailer), a defunct video and game rental chain ** Bl ...

at the box office. ''Dhool'' was remade in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

as ''

Veede ''Veede'' ( ''Him'') is a 2003 Indian Telugu-language action film directed by Ravi Raja Pinisetty. This film stars Ravi Teja, Arti Agarwal, Reema Sen, and Sayaji Shinde. The film is a remake of Tamil movie ''Dhool'' (2003). Sayaji Shinde, Reema ...

'' (2003), with

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 highest- ...

in the lead role and directed by Ravi Raja Pinnisetty. The Sinhala remake of the film was titled ''

Ranja ''Ranja'' ( si, රන්ජා) is a 2014 Sri Lankan Sinhala action thriller film directed by Sudesh Wasantha Peiris and produced by Sunil T. Fernando for Sunil T. Films. It was distributed as the sequel of Ranjan Ramanayake's film '' One Shot ...

'' (2014) and starred

Ranjan Ramanayake Sadda Vidda Rajapakse Palanga Pathira Ambakumarage Ranjan Leo Sylvester Alphonsu (born 11 March 1963) (රන්ජන් රාමනායක), popularly known as Ranjan Ramanayake, is a former Sri Lankan politician, actor, film director, si ...

Plot

Arumugam lives in a village and is a kindhearted man. There is a chemical factory in the village which releases toxic wastes into the river, and the villagers decide to give a petition to Minister Kaalaipandi requesting him to close the factory. Arumugam and his childhood rival Eswari, along with her grandmother Mundakanni, leave to

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 ...

to meet Kaalaipandi, who has won from the village's constituency. All three reach Chennai and stay with Narayanan aka Narain, who also belongs to the same village but is settled in Chennai. Swapna, a fashion model, also lives near Narain's home, and she is attracted towards Arumugam, whereas Narain loves her. Arumugam meets Kaalaipandi amidst a heavy crowd and conveys the problems faced by their villagers due to water pollution. Kaalaipandi assures he will take swift action. Meanwhile, Sornam and her brother Aadhi are local goons involved in many illegal activities with Kaalaipandi supporting them incognito. One day, Eswari accidentally collides with Aadhi, following which he tries to hit her, but she is saved by Arumugam. In the ensuing scuffle, Arumugam fractures Aadhi's hands. Now, Sornaka and Aadhi set an eye on Arumugam and decide to trouble him. They, along with Kaalaipandi's help, kidnap Arumugam and injure him badly. Kaalaipandi also informs that he will never take any action against the chemical factory in his village. Narain, Swapna, and Eswari rescue and treat Arumugam. Arumugam discloses the true image of Kaalaipandi and the culprits behind him to Eswari and Narain. Arumugam decides to take revenge on Kaalaipandi and tarnish his image among the public. Arumugam uses Kaalaipandi's memo pad and forges a letter praising an adult movie and requesting it to be published in a daily newspaper. The newspaper editor believes it and publishes it the next day. This brings agitation among political parties, and people demand resignation from Kaalaipandi. Meanwhile, Sornaka decides to kidnap Eswari and kill Arumugam, but instead, Arumugam thrashes Sornaka's men and saves Eswari. Sornaka, while trying to escape, gets hit by a lorry and dies. Kaalaipandi decides to bring back his lost image by staging a fast until death event, which will bring sympathy among citizens. Arumugam mixes his village's dirty water into the drink served to break the fast. When he discloses it on the media, fearing his position, Kaalaipandi attempts to kill the CM in hospital. Arumugam is arrested on a false case. When Kaalaipandi once again tries his luck to kill the CM, Arumugam uses his skills and gets Kaalaipandi killed on the hands of policemen (who were aiming for Arumugam). Arumugam returns to his village with Eswari and Mundakanni, while the CM, having escaped the attempts on his life; exposes Kaalaipaandi. It is also shown that both Arumugam and Eswari had developed a romantic interest in each other. The film ends with the whole village celebrating Arumugam's victory.

Cast

* Vikram as Arumugam *

Jyothika Jyothika Saravanan (; born 18 October 1978) is an Indian actress, model and film producer who predominantly appears in Tamil films.

as Eswari (Voice Dubbed By Savitha Reddy) *

as Swapna (Voice Dubbed By Renuka Kathir) *

as Narayanasamy (Narain) *

Prem Sundar Prem may refer to: People Given name * Prem (film director) (born 1978), film director and actor in Kannada films * Prem Bahadur Kansakar (1918–1991), Nepalese politician and activist * Prem Bahadur Singh, Nepalese politician * Prem Bhatia ...

as Sullan *

as Minister Kaalaipandi *

as Sornam *

as Aadhi * Manoj K. Jayan as Sub-Inspector Karunakaran *

Mayilsamy Mayilsamy (born October 2, 1965) is an Indian actor and comedian who prominently plays supporting roles. Appearing in many Tamil films, he is also a regular guest judge on '' Asathapovathu Yaaru'' on Sun TV in Chennai. Career He is a popular ...

as Kunchacko, Narain's Friend (at times foil) *

Paravai Muniyamma Paravai Muniyamma (25 June 1937 – 29 March 2020) was an Indian folk singer and actress. She got the adjective Paravai as she was born in a village called Paravai in Madurai. She featured in many Tamil films mostly in supporting roles and ...

as Mundakanni Eswari *

Kalairani Kalairani Indian actress who has worked in many Tamil films and as a performer with the Koothu-P-Pattarai theatre group. Filmography Serials * ''Panchavan Kaadu'' (2014) (Tamil) * ''Unarchigal'' (2014) (Tamil) * '' Nandini'' (2018) (Tami ...

as Arumugam's mother *

Bosskey Bosskey is an Indian actor, Radio Jockey, Cricketer, Television anchor,Chitti Babu as Hari,Minister's PA (secretly supports Arumugam) *Chaplin Balu as Narain's Labour *Kottachi as Narain's labour * Karnaa Radha *

Shakeela C. Shakeela, known mononymously as Shakeela, is an Indian actress and politician who has predominantly acted in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu language films. She is a member of Indian National Congress. Shakeela debuted in the film ''Playgirls'' ...

as herself *

Koena Mitra Koena Mitra (born 7 January 1984) is an Indian actress and model who appears in Bollywood films. She is mostly known for her item numbers and for her appearance as Julie in the movie ''Apna Sapna Money Money''. Early life Mitra was born in Ko ...

in a special appearance (Koduva Meesai item song)

Production

Dharani first approached Vijay for the lead role in this film. He opted this movie because he said that he had just done a mass movie. Next he was looking for a love story subject. So then Dharani approached Vikram after making some corrections in the story. After the success of their 2001 collaboration ''

Dhill ''Dhill'' () is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Dharani. The film stars Vikram and Laila, while Ashish Vidyarthi, Nassar and Vivek play supporting roles. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by Vidyasagar, wh ...

'', Dharani and Vikram announced in February 2002 that they were to come together again for a project titled ''Dhool''. Jyothika got the chance to play opposite Vikram for the first time. The film's song, "Aasai Aasai", was partially shot in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, and plans had been earlier made to shoot song sequences in London, though the team later opted against doing so. A huge set of a temple, a church, some houses and a shopping area, was erected at the Indian Express Office premises.

Soundtrack

The Music of the film was composed by Vidyasagar. The soundtrack was well received by the audience and critics alike, especially "Aasai Aasai" and "Koduvaa Meesai" were popular. A part of the song "Karimizhi Kuruviye" from the 2002 Malayalam film

Meesa Madhavan ''Meesha Madhavan'' () is a 2002 Indian Malayalam-language action comedy film directed by Lal Jose and written by Ranjan Pramod. The film stars Dileep in the title role, while Kavya Madhavan, Indrajith Sukumaran, Jagathy Sreekumar and Cochin Ha ...

was reused in "Aasai Aasai", which was later reused as "Rafta Rafta" with a slight change in tune in the 2004 Hindi film Hulchul, another film where the music was composed by Vidyasagar. The music of "Ithanundu Muthathile" and "Koduva Meesai" were used for two songs in ''

Naaga ''Naaga'' is a 2003 Indian Telugu-language political action film starring N. T. Rama Rao Jr., Sadaf, Jennifer Kotwal and Raghuvaran in main roles. The film is directed by D.K Suresh. The film was released on 10 January 2003. The film's ...

'', another film that Vidyasagar composed the music for.

Critical reception

Upon release in January 2003, the film was financially successful, despite opening alongside other prominent ventures such as the

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali l ...

Madhavan Madhavan may refer to: People * James Madhavan (died 1973), Fijian politician * Kavya Madhavan (born 1985), Indian actress * Mahesh Madhavan (born 1963/64), Indian businessman, CEO of Bacardi * N. S. Madhavan (born 1948), Indian writer * O. Madha ...

starrer ''

Anbe Sivam ''Anbe Sivam'' () is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language comedy drama film directed by Sundar C. and produced by K. Muralitharan, V. Swaminathan and G. Venugopal under the banner of Lakshmi Movie Makers. The film was written by Kamal Haasan, and Ma ...

'' and Vijay's '' Vaseegara''.

Rediff.com 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 ...

review praised Vikram's enactment citing that "Vikram is at his peak" and that "he seems as much at home with comedy as with action, in romance as in emotional sequences", while the critic from ''The Hindu'' also praised his performance. The film became a blockbuster and Vikram's fifth success in two and a half years with Vikram being dubbed as "the matinee idol of our times" by a leading Indian newspaper. The film was nominated in six different categories at the

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...

2003 with A. M. Rathnam, Dharani and Vidyasagar being considered for the Best Film, Best Director and Best Music Director categories respectively. Furthermore, Jyothika was listed amongst the Best Actress nominees, while

Reemma Sen Reema Sen (born 29 October 1981) is an Indian actress and model who primarily appeared in Bengali theatre films, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi films. Early life and education Sen was born in Kolkata on 29 October 1981. She completed high school fro ...

and

were also shortlisted for the Best Supporting Actress and Best Comedian awards. However the film did not win any awards with '' Pithamagan'' sweeping most of the categories that year, although Vivek did win for his role in ''

Saamy ''Saamy'' ( God) is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language action masala film written and directed by Hari. The film was presented by K. Balachander and produced by Pushpa Kandasamy under banner Kavithalayaa Productions. The film stars Vikram and Trisha ...

''. The film successfully ran for 25 weeks.

Remakes

''Dhool'' was remade and released in Telugu in October 2003 by Ravi Raja Pinnisetty as ''

'', with

and

Arthi Agarwal Aarthi Agarwal (March 5, 1984 – June 6, 2015) was an Americans, American actress of who primarily worked in Telugu cinema. Early life and career Agarwal was born on March 5, 1984, in New Jersey to Gujarati people, Gujarati parents. Her you ...

taking up the lead roles, while

retained her role. Shakuntala who acted as Swarnakka portrayed

's role in Telugu remake. The Sinhala remake of the film released in Sri Lanka in 2014 starred

as ''

''. The Bengali remake of the film released in 2006 starred Jeet,

Koel Mallick Koel Mallick (born Rukmini Mallick on 28 April 1982) is an Indian actress who appears in Bengali films. She is the daughter of actor Ranjit Mallick and Deepa Mallick. She made her film debut in ''Nater Guru'' (2003). Early life and education ...

as '' Ghatak''. A Hindi version of the film was also planned by Guddu Dhanoa in 2004 with

Sunny Deol Ajay Singh Deol (born 19 October 1956), better known by his stage name Sunny Deol, is an Indian actor, film director, producer, politician and current Member of Parliament from Gurdaspur (Lok Sabha constituency) of Punjab, India. As an actor, ...

and

Gracy Singh Gracy Singh (born 20 July 1980) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi films. She is best known for her role in the films ''Lagaan'' and ''Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.'' ''Singh'' is also a trained Bharatnatyam and Odissi dancer. Career Bor ...

starring, but the film failed to take off.

Awards

Nominations *

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

Jyothika Jyothika Saravanan (; born 18 October 1978) is an Indian actress, model and film producer who predominantly appears in Tamil films.

* Best Actor - Vikram * Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress – Tamil -

Filmfare Award for Best Comedian – Tamil The Filmfare Best Comedien Award – Tamil was given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Tamil (Kollywood) films between 2002 and 2005.. The award was introduced and first given at the 50th South Filmfare ...

References

External links

* {{Dharani (director) 2003 films 2000s masala films Tamil films remade in other languages 2000s Tamil-language films Films scored by Vidyasagar Films directed by Dharani Indian action drama films 2000s action drama films Films shot in Kollam