''Vaaimai'' () is a 2016 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

courtroom drama A legal drama is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in which a system of justice play ...

film written and directed by A. Senthil Kumar. Inspired by the script of

Reginald Rose Reginald Rose (December 10, 1920 – April 19, 2002) was an American screenwriter. He wrote about controversial social and political issues. His realistic approach was particularly influential in the anthology programs of the 1950s. Rose w ...

's ''

Twelve Angry Men ''Twelve Angry Men'' is an American courtroom drama written by Reginald Rose concerning the jury of a homicide trial. It was broadcast initially as a television play in 1954. The following year it was adapted for the stage. It was adapted for a 1 ...

'' (1954), the film stars

Shanthnu Bhagyaraj Shanthanu Bhagyaraj (born 24 August 1986) is an Indian actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil language films. The son of actors K. Bhagyaraj and Poornima Bhagyaraj, Shanthanu appeared as a child artist in his father's '' Vettiya Madichu K ...

and Muktha Bhanu amongst an ensemble cast.

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 ...

Thyagarajan Thiagarajan Sivanandam (born 21 June 1946) is an Indian actor, director and producer in Tamil cinema. Beside Tamil, he has also acted in several Malayalam and Kannada films and a few Telugu films. He is the father of Tamil actor Prashanth and t ...

Ramki Ramakrishnan, better known by his stage name Ramki, is an Indian actor best known for his work in Tamil and Telugu films. He made his debut in ''Chinna Poove Mella Pesu'' (1987). He was a lead actor from 1987 to 2004. He was known for his per ...

Urvashi Urvashi ( sa, उर्वशी, Urvaśī}) is the most prominent apsara (celestial nymph) in Hindu mythology, considered to be the most beautiful of all the apsaras, and an expert dancer. She is mentioned in both ''Vedic'' and ''Puranic'' s ...

, Manoj K. Bharathi, Prithvi Pandiarajan and

Poornima Bhagyaraj Poornima Bhagyaraj (née Jayaram) is an Indian actress in Malayalam and Tamil films. She has also done a few Hindi and Telugu films. She is best known for her leading roles from 1980 to 1985. She married director K. Bhagyaraj, who directed one ...

are also part of the cast. Though production had begun in 2013, the film released following a production delay on 8 September 2016, garnering negative reviews.

Cast

Shanthanu Bhagyaraj Shanthanu Bhagyaraj (born 24 August 1986) is an Indian actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil language films. The son of actors K. Bhagyaraj and Poornima Bhagyaraj, Shanthanu appeared as a child artist in his father's '' Vettiya Madichu Ka ...

as Sidharthan * Muktha Bhanu as Jhanavi *

as Thirumaaran IPS *

Thiagarajan Thiagarajan Sivanandam (born 21 June 1946) is an Indian actor, director and producer in Tamil cinema. Beside Tamil, he has also acted in several Malayalam and Kannada films and a few Telugu films. He is the father of Tamil actor Prashanth and t ...

as Dheenadayalan *

as Dr. Benny Quick *

Manoj Bharathiraja Manoj K. Bharathi (born 11 September 1976 as Manoj Bharathiraja) is an Indian actor. He is most noted as the son of director Bharathiraja. Manoj made his acting debut with ''Taj Mahal'' in 1999. He has been the part of few Tamil movies like ''S ...

as Manibharathi *

as Narayani *

as Devakiammal * Prithvi Pandiarajan as Velan *

Namo Narayana Namo Narayana is an Indian actor who has worked in Tamil films. He made a breakthrough as an actor with his performances in ''Naadodigal'' (2009) and ''Komban'' (2015). Career Narayana was a software engineer before he chose to star in a suppor ...

as Namo Narayanan * Rose Venkatesan as Rose IAS * Venkat Suba as Gopikrishna * Ankitha Mohapatra as Chinmayi *

K. Bhagyaraj Krishnasaamy Bhagyaraj (born 7 January 1953) is an Indian director, actor, screenwriter, music director, producer and politician active mainly in Tamil films. He has also written and directed Hindi and Telugu films and TV serials. As an actor, ...

in a cameo appearance

Production

Senthil Kumar chose to make his debut with ''Vaaimai'' after his other project, ''Thirudan'' featuring

Vijay Antony Vijay Antony (born 24 July 1975) is an Indian music composer, playback singer, actor, film editor, lyricist, audio engineer, and filmmaker working predominantly in Tamil cinema. He made his debut as music composer in 2005. He is the first India ...

, ran into production troubles during 2012. Inspired by

's ''

'' (1954), Senthil Kumar signed on

to play the lead role in the film. The film began its shoot in February 2013, with a bevy of retired actors making their comebacks.

and Manoj K. Bharathi all signed on to work on the film, several years after their previous films had released. The film was subsequently shot in places like Delhi, Rishikesh, Haridwar and Kollimalai. After a three-year production delay, the film was readied for release in September 2016 with

Vijay Sethupathi Vijaya Gurunatha Sethupathi (born 16 January 1978), known professionally as Vijay Sethupathi, is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Tamil films. He is a recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award. Fo ...

working as a narrator in the film.

Release

The film opened after a long production delay in September 2016 to negative reviews. The critic from ''

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 ...

'' called it "a forgettable re-interpretation of an all-time classic" and gave the film a very negative review. A critic from Sify.com wrote "It's very difficult to tolerate when someone adapt a classic film like Twelve Angry Men with a plodding screenplay, over the top dialogues and dramatic performances! Well, if you are a fan of Twelve Angry Men, better never ever try to watch ''Vaaimai''!", concluding "watch the film at your own risk". The reviewer from ''

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 ...

'' noted "in fact, this film is — unconvincing, with writing that makes no sense and execution that is laughable".

Soundtrack

Debutant Auggath has composed the music of this movie. The song "Kanpadum Un Mugham" is the second

song that

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

playback singer

Alka Yagnik Alka, AlkA or ALKA may refer to: People * Alka Ajith (born c. 1997), Indian multilingual playback singer * Alka Amin (active from 2011), Indian television actress * Alka Balram Kshatriya, Indian politician, Member of the Parliament of India repr ...

has ever sung after "Idhu Enna Mayam" from

Oram Po ''Oram Po'' () is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language black comedy film starring Arya and Pooja, while Lal and John Vijay play supporting roles. The film, written and directed by the debutant husband-wife duo, Pushkar–Gayathri, was produced by V. Pa ...

References

External links

* {{Twelve Angry Men 2016 films 2010s Tamil-language films 2010s legal drama films Indian drama films Indian courtroom films Films about capital punishment Films about murder Films about assassinations Juries in fiction Films shot in Delhi Indian legal films Indian remakes of American films Twelve Angry Men 2016 directorial debut films 2016 drama films