''Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu'' () is a 2006 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
neo-noir
Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates literally to English as "black film", indicating ...
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 ...
written and directed by
Gautham Vasudev Menon
Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu cinema, Telugu and Hindi cinema, Hindi films th ...
. The film stars
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 ...
,
Jyothika
Jyothika Saravanan (; born 18 October 1978) is an Indian actress, model and film producer who predominantly appears in Tamil films. , and
Kamalinee Mukherjee
Kamalinee Mukherjee is an Indian actress. She has predominantly appeared in Telugu films as well as Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Bengali and Kannada language films.
After graduating with a degree in English literature, she completed a workshop on t ...
in prominent roles, while
Prakash Raj,
Daniel Balaji, and
Salim Baig
Salim Baig is an Indian actor who has appeared in Telugu and Tamil language films. He is best known for his collaborations with director Gautham Vasudev Menon, having notably appeared as the antagonist in the police dramas ''Gharshana'' (2004) ...
played supporting roles. It revolves around a police officer who tries to track down two serial killers.
The music was composed by
Harris Jayaraj
Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Telugu and two films in Hindi.
He has been honoured with K ...
with cinematography being handled by
Ravi Varman
S. Ravi Varman (born 9 May 1972) is an Indian cinematographer, filmmaker, producer and writer. He has predominantly worked in films of Indian languages such as Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi. Known for his realistic and poetic framing sense, Rav ...
and editing done by
Anthony
Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the '' Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, ...
. The film is also one of the first Indian films to be made using
Super 35. ''Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu'' was released on 25 August 2006 to positive reviews and became a
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. Kamal Haasan won the
Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor
The Tamil State Film Awards for Best Actor is given by the state government as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil (Kollywood) films.
List of winners
{, class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
, -
! colspan="5" , Li ...
. Jyothika was nominated for the
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 ...
category at the
Filmfare Awards
The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...
.
Plot
Rani, the daughter of former high rank
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 ...
police officer Superintendent Arokiya Raj IPS, tells her father over the phone that she will be back home in
Madurai
Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...
in three hours. As Rani leaves the
telephone booth
A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a tiny structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience; usually the user steps into the booth and closes the booth ...
, she is approached by someone she knows, and she does not come home. The following morning, Arokiya Raj finds Rani's finger hanging at his door. Arokiya Raj calls
DCP Raghavan IPS, his ex-colleague and old friend from
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 help in the investigation of Rani's disappearance. Raghavan finds Rani's body within 12 hours, buried in the outskirts of
Madurai
Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...
. The
coroner's report states that the killer bisected Rani's body with a
scalpel
A scalpel, lancet, or bistoury is a small and extremely sharp bladed instrument used for surgery, anatomical dissection, podiatry and various arts and crafts (either called a hobby knife or an X-acto knife.). Scalpels may be single-use dispos ...
, proving that the murderer has a strong medical background. Without any solid clues, the case is left open. Six months following the trauma of losing their only daughter, Arokiya Raj and his wife Chithra move to New York City, to get away from the pain of losing Rani, and it was Rani's wish was to do her
MS, there.
Three months later, Raghavan learns that both Arokiya Raj and Chithra have been brutally murdered in New York. Collaborating with the
NYPD
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
, Raghavan leaves for New York to represent the
Indian police (IPS). On the flight, he reminisces about his late wife Kayalvizhi, who was abducted by a local gang in an attempt to get to him and fell to her death, so he killed the gang leader, who escaped captivity, as revenge. Once in New York, Raghavan begins his investigation with NYPD detective, Anderson. Raghavan stays at a hotel in downtown New York, where he constantly keeps his superiors in Chennai updated on the investigation. At the hotel, he meets his neighbour Aradhana, an
NRI
NRI or Nri may refer to :
* Kingdom of Nri, an Igbo kingdom that flourished between the 10th century and early 20th century
* National Radio Institute, a now defunct post-secondary vocational correspondence school
* National Resources Inventory
* N ...
. He immediately notices that she is going through a rough patch in her life and one night, worried about her safety, breaks into her room, only to find her attempting suicide, by
asphyxiation
Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that ca ...
. He saves her life and the two strike a friendship. Aradhana reveals that her violent husband, Arun, is filing for divorce, after cheating on her.
Meanwhile, Raghavan and Anderson find a connection between Rani's murder in Madurai and a two-year-old unsolved disappearance of an
Indian American girl, Chandana, whose finger was also possibly found hanging in her boyfriend, Hitesh's, car. Raghavan's instinct leads them to Chandana's body in a restricted area in the suburbs, found along with three other American women, murdered in a similar manner. After narrowing down their suspects using flight records, their suspicion falls onto two Indian doctors who studied in Brooklyn Medical University: Amudhan Sukumaran and Ilamaaran Aanandhan, who are secretly involved in the killings. They murder their former professor, Veronica, along with two NYPD officers in the same area, where Raghavan set them on surveillance, and leave the bodies there. Raghavan and Anderson visit Amudhan and Ilamaaran's apartment to question them, only to find it unoccupied. Raghavan and Anderson break into the apartment and find pictures of the victims and the murder weapons, thus cracking their case. Before they can call for backup, Ilamaaran arrives, unannouncedand, and shoots Anderson in the head, with a gun.
Enraged, Raghavan hits him till he becomes unconscious. Right afterwards, Raghavan gets stabbed by Amudhan, with a scalpel. To buy time, Raghavan asks Amudhan why such intelligent young men, like them, would succumb to such psychopathic and heinous acts. Amudhan explains that they had developed a habit of killing from their childhood itself, starting with pushing a classmate from a train, at the age of 13, to murdering their school teacher, at the age of 17. He says that he and Amudhan stopped this activity once they joined
MBBS, at Rani's college. He claims that he managed to keep his violent urges under control for three years, but when he saw Rani, he tried to assault and kill her, after she provoked him. Illamaran calmed him down and two days later, Arokiyaraj assaulted the duo, outside a theatre. He and Ilamaaran were locked up in the local station for the rest of the night, but
Inspector Kumar, neglected to interrogate them and tortured them heavily, even setting them up with a
eunuch
A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function.
The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millenni ...
, who inadvertently assaulted them. Albeit thirsty for revenge, both of them left for New York to pursue their higher studies in surgery and went on to abduct and kill local young women, who looked down on them or were disrespectful to them.
On their trip to India, they met and killed Rani and returned to the States. Once they found out that Arokiya Raj and his wife had moved to New York, they studied their residence and killed them too. Thinking that Raghavan will be dead in minutes due to his lung injuries, they set their apartment on fire and take the next flight to
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
, to escape the NYPD. Raghavan makes it out alive by jumping out the window and is hospitalised with severe injuries. Aradhana takes care of him, and their bond grows stronger. Four weeks later, Raghavan and Aradhana return to Chennai together. During their flight, Aradhana explains that she has a daughter who is living with her parents in Chennai, and upon realisation, she feels guilty for being selfish and wanting to commit suicide. She states that she will be taking her daughter and mother back to New York in two weeks, to start her job. As they wait in line for customs, Raghavan proposes to Aradhana, but she refuses, saying that she is not ready for another relationship, having just finalised her divorce, and wishes to focus on being a good mother to her daughter.
Amudhan and Ilamaran, evade the Mumbai police at
the airport and finally reach Chennai, leaving a trail of bodies in their path. Raghavan issues a state-wide hunt for them. The dean of their medical college also revokes their degrees, thus beginning their violent rampage. After seeing Aradhana with Raghavan, Amudhan kidnaps her, while Ilamaaran tries to get into Raghavan's house to kill him. When the cops arrive, Ilamaaran attempts to flee, but is caught by Raghavan, after a long road chase. Raghavan comes to realise that Amudhan and Ilamaaran are in an intimate relationship. Trying to negotiate Ilamaaran's freedom for Aradhana's, Raghavan agrees to meet with Amudhan; on the other hand, Amudhan decides to outright bury Aradhana alive, after realising their hypocrisy. The final altercation results in Raghavan killing both Amudhan and Ilamaaran and rescuing Aradhana. A few months later, Raghavan and Aradhana get married, in presence of their friends and family.
Cast
*
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 ...
as DCP Raghavan IPS.
*
Jyothika
Jyothika Saravanan (; born 18 October 1978) is an Indian actress, model and film producer who predominantly appears in Tamil films. as Aradhana (Voiceover by
Rohini)
*
Kamalinee Mukherjee
Kamalinee Mukherjee is an Indian actress. She has predominantly appeared in Telugu films as well as Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Bengali and Kannada language films.
After graduating with a degree in English literature, she completed a workshop on t ...
as Kayalvizhi (Voiceover by
Andrea Jeremiah
Andrea Maria Jeremiah is an Indian actress, playback singer, and a musician, who works predominantly in Tamil and Malayalam language films. She made her acting debut in Tamil film ''Pachaikili Muthucharam'' (2007), and Malayalam debut with '' A ...
)
*
Lev Gorn
Lev Gorn (russian: Лев Горенс; born 1971 in Stavropol) is a Russian-born American stage, film, and television actor. He is best known for his role as KGB officer Arkady Ivanovich Zotov in ''The Americans''. Later, he had a recurring rol ...
as Anderson
*
Prakash Raj as SP Arokiya Raj IPS
*
Rajashree as Chithra
*
Bidushi Dash Barde
Bidushi Dash Barde ( 1989 – October 2012) was an Indian actress and model based in Mumbai. She was second runner-up in the 2006 "Miss Chennai" beauty pageant. She had appeared in a few Tamil films, including the 2006 crime-thriller ''Vettaiya ...
as Rani
*
Daniel Balaji as Amudhan Sukumaran
*
Salim Baig
Salim Baig is an Indian actor who has appeared in Telugu and Tamil language films. He is best known for his collaborations with director Gautham Vasudev Menon, having notably appeared as the antagonist in the police dramas ''Gharshana'' (2004) ...
as Ilamaaran Aanandhan (Voiceover by
Gautham Vasudev Menon
Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu cinema, Telugu and Hindi cinema, Hindi films th ...
)
*
Yog Japee
Yog Japee is an Indian actor who has appeared in character roles. He made his breakthrough playing the supporting role of Ranjith in '' Billa'' (2007), before playing a role of a police officer in ''Soodhu Kavvum'' (2013) and a negative role in ...
as Arun
*
Ahuti Prasad as
Commissioner
A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something).
In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...
of
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 ...
*
Janaki Sabesh
Janaki Sabesh is an Indian media professional, actor, model, storyteller, author of children's book, theatre and voiceover artist. Throughout her film career, she has played the "screen mother" to several leading actors, appearing predominantly ...
as Aradhana's mother
*
Ganesh
Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu ...
as Dharma
*
Mumaith Khan
Mumaith Khan (born 1 September 1985) is an Indian actress and model. She has appeared in numerous item numbers in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Bengali and Odia language films.
Early life
Khan was born on 1 September 1985. She was born and ...
(
item number
In Indian cinema, an item number or item song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films (Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, and ...
in Neruppae Sikki Mukki Song)
* Sunny Veer Singh (item number in Neruppae Sikki Mukki Song)
* Zabyn Khan (
item number
In Indian cinema, an item number or item song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films (Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, and ...
in Neruppae Sikki Mukki Song)
*
Stun Siva as "Royapuram" Mani (special appearance)
*
Rajeevan
Rajeevan is an art director in Indian films. He is a graduate of Loyola College, Chennai.
Career
Rajeevan began doing art direction for ad films and television serials, before being given the opportunity to work in a feature film for the firs ...
as Hitesh (special appearance)
*
Gautham Vasudev Menon
Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu cinema, Telugu and Hindi cinema, Hindi films th ...
in a special appearance in the song "Manjal Veyil"
* Dr.Kantharaj as a himself in a special appearance
*
Rajendran
A. Rajendran,(born 1 June 1957) credited as Motta Rajendran or ''Naan Kadavul'' Rajendran, is an Indian stunt double and actor working mainly in Tamil cinema. He debuted in 2003 with the Tamil film '' Pithamagan'' and has worked as a stunt doub ...
as a henchman in "Karka Karka"
* Vettai Muthukumar as a rogue in "Karka Karka" (Uncredited)
Production
In 2005,
Gautham Vasudev Menon
Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu cinema, Telugu and Hindi cinema, Hindi films th ...
planned to make a film in
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
(which eventually became ''Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu'') and approached
Mohanlal
Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically app ...
after finishing the script, but nothing materialised.
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 ...
had agreed to make a film for producer Kaja Mohideen of Roja Combines, and the pair discussed signing Menon to be the director after they were impressed with his work in ''
Kaakha Kaakha
''Kaakha Kaakha'' (), titled ''The Police'' in the UK, is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. It stars Suriya and Jyothika, with Jeevan playing the antagonist. The film featured mus ...
'' (2003). Initially, Haasan narrated the script of ''
Dasavathaaram
''Dasavathaaram'' () is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language science fiction action film directed by K. S. Ravikumar. It stars Kamal Haasan, who also wrote the script, in ten distinct roles. Asin appears in two roles and Mallika Sherawat plays a subs ...
'' (2008) to Menon and asked him to direct it, but the latter rejected it. Later, Menon discussed the script of ''
Pachaikili Muthucharam
''Pachaikili Muthucharam'' () is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. It is based on the 2005 British-American thriller film '' Derailed''. The film stars Sarathkumar and Jyothika, while Andrea J ...
'' (2007) with Haasan, and the actor asked him to develop it into a script within forty days. However, he later had second thoughts and asked Menon for a different script to collaborate on. Menon was keen to make a trilogy of police films, much like
Ram Gopal Varma
Penmetsa Ram Gopal Varma (born 7 April 1962), often referred to by his initials RGV, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in Telugu cinema in addition to Hindi, Kannada language films, and television.**
*
...
's
gangster trilogy
''Gangster'' is an Indian Hindi and Telugu-language crime thriller film series written, directed and produced by Ram Gopal Varma. It is based on the Indian mafia organization D-Company, known to be run by Dawood Ibrahim. The first film came in 1 ...
, and subsequently planned ''Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu'' as the second in the series after ''Kaakha Kaakha''. The film narrated another episode from a police officer's life, that of an Indian police officer who moves to America to investigate the case of psychotic serial killers before returning to pursue the chase in India.
As per Menon's usual method for picking a title, he asked his associates for suggestions, which included the title of ''Thadayaara Thaaka'', which was later used for
another film. An early working title for the film was ''Sippai''.
The film began production in August 2005 in Chennai, with
Ravi Varman
S. Ravi Varman (born 9 May 1972) is an Indian cinematographer, filmmaker, producer and writer. He has predominantly worked in films of Indian languages such as Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi. Known for his realistic and poetic framing sense, Rav ...
signed as the cinematographer. Towards the start of the shoot, producer Kaja Mohideen ran into financial troubles and subsequently attempted suicide. As a result, Haasan wanted to quit the project but Menon convinced him to stay on as they had taken advance payments.
Ravichandran Ravichandran is an Indian name. Notable people with the name include:
* Ravichandran (Tamil actor) (1942–2011)
* Ravichandran (Tamil film director) (born 1971)
* N. Ravichandran (professor) (1955), professor at IIM Ahmedabad
* N. Ravichandran, ...
of Oscar Films stepped in and spent on the film, before also suddenly withdrawing from the project within fifteen days. In order not to waste dates, Menon personally funded a schedule in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
featuring Haasan and Jyothika and spent . Menon revealed that unlike Haasan's other films, the actor did not want to take control of the script or production. Angered by the delays of the film, he kept to himself and made minimal suggestions barring to change some dialogues on location.
The film however had gone through changes from the original script, with less emphasis on the antagonists than Menon had hoped, and he also revealed that scenes for songs were forced and shot without him.
For the American schedule,
Manickam Narayanan took over as a producer and made the film on a "first-copy" basis. Subsequently, fifty per cent of the film was shot in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, where shooting lasted for a month. Menon had planned to shoot more scenes in the city, including a car chase sequence, but the change of producer delayed the schedule and cold weather elongated the team's stay and increased costs.
Actresses
Rohini and
Andrea Jeremiah
Andrea Maria Jeremiah is an Indian actress, playback singer, and a musician, who works predominantly in Tamil and Malayalam language films. She made her acting debut in Tamil film ''Pachaikili Muthucharam'' (2007), and Malayalam debut with '' A ...
dubbed for the voices of female leads Jyothika and Kamalinee Mukherjee respectively. Ganesh Janardhanan, who later became popularly known as
VTV Ganesh
Ganesh Janardhanan, also known by his stage name VTV Ganesh is an Indian actor, comedian and film producer. He is best known for his hoarse voice, and his appearances in films featuring Silambarasan. He had made his debut in Tamil movie ''Red'' ...
, portrayed the role of the kidnapper of Mukherjee's character at Haasan's request after the original actor failed to turn up for the shoot. Menon worked on the post-production of the film in May 2006, while he was simultaneously filming ''Pachaikili Muthucharam''.
Themes and influences
Like in ''Kaakha Kaakha'', Menon wanted the script to feature sequences where that the police officer's personal life gets involved and affected in the course of the investigation.
Music
The soundtrack of the film consists of five songs composed by
Harris Jayaraj
Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Telugu and two films in Hindi.
He has been honoured with K ...
, collaborating with Menon and Haasan for the fourth and first time respectively. The song "Manjal Veyil" marks
Krish's singing debut. The film remains Jayaraj's only collaboration with Haasan.
''Behindwoods'' wrote a positive review, stating: "The album has not let down expectations. It is the usual mix by Harris. However, Bombay Jeyashree's contribution and the beautiful lyrics by poetess
Thamarai
Thamarai (born 10 November 1975) is a noted Tamil poet and lyricist. She is a prominent figure in the Tamil literary world. She made her debut in the Tamil film industry through the 1998 film Iniyavale, which was directed by Seeman and music ...
are the greatest assets to the album. Harris once again proves his mastery in orchestration and the audio will surely be a hit like ''
Minnale
''Minnale'' () is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language romance film directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. The story was written by Menon and Vipul D. Shah, starring Madhavan, Abbas, Reema Sen (in her Tamil debut), Vivek and Nagesh. The film tells the ...
'' or ''
Kaakha Kaakha
''Kaakha Kaakha'' (), titled ''The Police'' in the UK, is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. It stars Suriya and Jyothika, with Jeevan playing the antagonist. The film featured mus ...
''."
Release
Critical response
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' ...
summarised it in his review: "The story of a police investigation is detailed in a smart, grown-up movie that gets most things right." He praised the film for "giving us a sense of a day in the life of a cop as if an invisible crew followed him around as he went about his job." He lavished heavy praise on Gautham Menon for the mature handling of the relationship between the lead pair, saying, "Gautham continues to dream up for Jyotika parts that no one's imagined her in before, and she contributes to the kind of mature romantic angle we've rarely seen before. It's not just about boy meeting girl and falling in love; it's about a boy with baggage meeting girl with bigger baggage and tentatively exploring the practicality of a new relationship after their respective old ones have faded away."
''Behindwoods'' said, "It is definitely a triumph of sorts for Gautham and Manickam Narayanan, who have gone through innumerable hitches in getting the movie released. Enjoy!!" ''
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 ...
'' gave it 3.5/5, saying "In his best performance in recent times, Kamal portrays the character with believable honesty and charm."
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 ...
stated that "what gives you goose flesh is the finely calibrated performance of Kamal as DCP Raghavan. You just
an'ttake your eyes off him as he laces his portrayal with dignity, grace and dry wit."
Box office
''Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu'' emerged the biggest
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 ...
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 ...
of the year grossing a total of 500 million worldwide.
Accolades
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The aw ...
*
Best 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 ...
*
Best Cinematographer –
Ravi Varman
S. Ravi Varman (born 9 May 1972) is an Indian cinematographer, filmmaker, producer and writer. He has predominantly worked in films of Indian languages such as Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi. Known for his realistic and poetic framing sense, Rav ...
Film Fans Association Award
* Best 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 ...
* Best Director –
Gautham Vasudev Menon
Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu cinema, Telugu and Hindi cinema, Hindi films th ...
* Best Music Director –
Harris Jayaraj
Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Telugu and two films in Hindi.
He has been honoured with K ...
* Best Playback Singer –
Unni Menon
Unni Menon (born 2 December 1955) is an Indian film playback singer. He has recorded over 4000 songs in many Indian languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.S.S.KavutaA melodious journey The Hindu. Retrieved 29 November 2008 In ...
* Best Cinematographer –
Ravi Varman
S. Ravi Varman (born 9 May 1972) is an Indian cinematographer, filmmaker, producer and writer. He has predominantly worked in films of Indian languages such as Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi. Known for his realistic and poetic framing sense, Rav ...
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 ...
*
Best 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 ...
(Nominated)
*
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. (Nominated)
*
Best Music Director –
Harris Jayaraj
Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Telugu and two films in Hindi.
He has been honoured with K ...
(Nominated)
Sequel
At the audio launch of ''
Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu'', Kamal Haasan asserted the possibility of a sequel to ''Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu''.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
2000s police procedural films
2000s Tamil-language films
2006 films
2006 LGBT-related films
Fictional portrayals of the Tamil Nadu Police
Films about rape in India
Films directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon
Films scored by Harris Jayaraj
Films set in Chennai
Films set in Goa
Films set in Kerala
Films set in Mumbai
Films set in Washington, D.C.
Films shot in Goa
Films shot in New Jersey
Films shot in New York (state)
Films shot in Tirunelveli
Indian action thriller films
Indian detective films
Indian films set in New York City
Indian LGBT-related films
Indian nonlinear narrative films
Indian serial killer films
Foreign films set in the United States