''Valla Desam'' () is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language

action 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 ...

written and directed by N. T. Nantha. The film stars

Anu Hasan Anu Haasan (born Anuradha Chandrahaasan on 16 July 1970) is an Indian actress and TV anchor. She made her film debut in the critically acclaimed '' Indira'' (1995) and has since appeared in many Tamil films, playing minor roles. She hosted the c ...

, with

Nassar Nassar ( ar, نصار, lit=helper, protector, supporter, victory-maker), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer ...

, Amit, David Yuvarajan and Akarshana portraying supporting characters. The film began production in early 2012 and had a theatrical release after several delays on 22 September 2017.

Cast

as Anu *

* Bala Singh * V. I. S. Jayapalan * Amit Tiwari *David Yuvarajan as David *Akarshana as Anjali *Andrei Lenart as Andrei Blok *Rory Locke as Alex Dela *Kumud Pant as CID Officer

Production

first announced the project during an interview to

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 ...

in May 2012, stating she had signed on to appear in a film titled ''Kanavughal Aayiram'' to be directed by London-based film maker Nantha Thurai. The film began shoot in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

during late 2012 under the title of ''Aayiram Kanavugal'' and was also developed under its literal English translation ''1000 Dreams'', before undergoing a name change in late 2014 after a period of little progress. In July 2015, actor Silambarasan recorded his voice for a song in the film, which has music composed by his cousin, Muthukumarasamy who is also the son of veteran composer late

L. Vaidyanathan Lakshminarayana Vaidyanathan ( ta, லக்ஷ்மிநாராயண வைத்தியநாதன்; kn, ಎಲ್.ವೈದ್ಯನಾಥನ್; 9 April 1942 – 19 May 2007) was an acclaimed musicologist, music director and compo ...

. The film's soundtrack album and trailer was released at an event in Chennai in August 2015 by actor

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 ...

and director Bharathiraja. Following two years of inactivity, the team prepared the film for a theatrical release in September 2017.

Soundtrack

The film's music was composed by L. V. Muthukumarasamy and R. K. Sundar, while the audio rights of the film were acquired by Junglee Music. The album was released on 3 August 2015 and featured five songs.

Release

The film was released across Tamil Nadu on 22 September 2017 during the most crowded release date of the year at the Chennai box office. The film drew largely negative reviews, with a critic from Sify.com writing that the film has "bad writing and amateurish making" and "ends up as a tedious watch mainly due to the bland writing". The critic added the film has "the potential for an edge of the seat action thriller but sadly the problem is that it literally offers nothing new and execution is below average". A critic from the

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 problems of ''Valla Desam'' start early and despite having a lot of the elements required for a successful spy thriller in place, the dialogues and the characterization fall flat, and because of this, none of the personal tragedy and dangers tends to strike you as imminent. Likewise, a 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 "''Valla Desam'' aspires to be a tense spy thriller, but falls short in both the writing and making." Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion wrote "It’s a great idea to bring the Vijayashanti brand of action-heroine back to the Tamil screen, but you have to make us invest in her as a person first. Anu’s family scenes are painfully perfunctory."https://www.filmcompanion.in/valladesam-movie-review/

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 4981012 2017 films 2010s Tamil-language films Indian spy action films Indian action thriller films Films set in London Films shot in London 2010s spy action films 2017 action thriller films