''Villu'' () is a 2009 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, nati ...
-language
action comedy
Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre.
Film
The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of actio ...
film written by AC Mugil and directed by
Prabhu Deva
Prabhu Deva (born 3 April 1973) is an Indian dance choreographer, film director, producer and actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada language films. In a career spanning 32 years, he has performed and designed a ...
. The film stars
Vijay in a dual role while
Nayanthara
Diana Mariam Kurian, known professionally as
Nayanthara, is an Indian actress and film producer who is known for her work in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. She was in the ''Forbes India'' "Celebrity 100" 2018 list, with her total annual ...
,
Ranjitha
Ranjitha (born Sri Valli) is an Indian actress. She has acted in a number of Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films.
Career
In 1991, Ranjita, did her first Telugu film, under the screen name Madhu Bala ''Kadapa Reddemma''. It was written by ...
,
Prakash Raj
Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam-language films, he is the recipient of several ...
, and
Vadivelu
Kumaravadivel Natarajan (born 12 September 1960), known professionally as Vadivelu, is an Indian actor, comedian and playback singer, having acted in supporting and lead roles in Tamil cinema. He gained widespread acclaim in Kollywood in the 2 ...
play other prominent roles.
Manoj K. Jayan
Manoj Kadampoothramadom Jayan also known as Manoj K.Jayan is an Indian actor of Malayalam and Tamil films. He has also done a few Telugu and Kannada films and has also acted in a Bollywood film. Manoj has won three Kerala State Film Award for Se ...
,
Devaraj
Devaraj (born 20 September 1953) is an Indian actor and theatre actor who works in Indian film industry. He has largely featured in Kannada films performing various roles as a lead character, supporting character and villainous character. He ha ...
,
Adithya
Surya (; sa, सूर्य, ) is the sun as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchayatana puja and a me ...
,
Anandaraj
Anandaraj (born May 15, 1959) is an Indian actor. He has acted in villain roles in several Tamil films and has appeared in over a two hundred films in different languages including Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi.
Career
Anandaraj was bor ...
,
Sriman
Sriman () is an epithet of the Hindu deity Vishnu. It refers to the deity being the possessor of Sri, both referring to his consort Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, as well as the material and non material aspects of fortune.
Literature
Sri ...
and
Geetha play supporting roles whilst Prabhu Deva,
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 ...
, Zabyn Khan, and
Khushbu
Khushbu Sundar (born Nakhat Khan; 29 September 1970) is an Indian actress, politician, film producer and television presenter. She is known for her works predominantly in Tamil, besides Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada films. She is a rec ...
appear in
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 Be ...
s. The film is produced and distributed by
Ayngaran International
Ayngaran International is a film distribution and production company, based in the United Kingdom. Historically, Tamil films from India have been distributed to overseas theaters and for home media consumption by Ayngaran. The chairman of the ...
and composed by
Devi Sri Prasad
Devi Sri Prasad (; born 2 August 1979) is an Indian film composer, lyricist, singer-songwriter and performer. Popularly known by his initials DSP, he is best known for his work in Telugu-language films, and has also worked in a few Tamil films ...
. Cinematography was done 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 ...
, while editing was handled by
Kola Bhaskar
Kola Bhaskar (died 4 November 2020) was an Indian film editor.
Personal life
His son Balakrishna Kola made his acting debut with Maalai Naerathu Mayakkam (2016).
Death
He died on November 4, 2020
Notable filmography As producer
* '' Maalai ...
. The film received negative reviews from critics and became an average at the box-office.
The film was released on 12 January 2009. The film acquired #221 spot in 2009 at the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
box office. ''Villu'' settled to a domestic profit of 50 lakhs.
The story revolves around an assassin who infiltrates and destroys a criminal gang to avenge his father's death. The film's title Villu (bow) indicates a man Pugazh, who avenges for his father (arrow) fired at his enemies to destroy them. The satellite rights of the film was owned by Kalaignar TV.
''
Rediff
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 ...
'' pointed out that, Vadivelu and Vijay were applauded for their style of
slap-stick
Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...
comedy in the film.
Media outlets reported that, the film ''Villu'' became an average domestic venture as Vijay and Vadivelu comic-timing was the only saving grace of the film.
Plot
Pugazh is an
IITian and
Oxford alumnus with a
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in
chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...
. With the help of his relative Inspector Joseph, he succeeds in tracking down a wanted criminal named Raaka and trapping him to Joseph. The scene then shifts to a village, where Pugazh is attending the wedding of a
Tahsildar
In India and Pakistan, a Tehsildar or Mamlatdar is a tax officer accompanied by revenue inspectors. They are in charge of obtaining taxes from a tehsil with regard to land revenue. A tehsildar is also known as an executive magistrate of the relev ...
's daughter. He meets Janavi, a friend of the bride, and instantly falls in love with her. After persistent wooing, he succeeds in winning her heart.
Janavi takes Pugazh to
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
(Germany) to introduce him to her father J. D., a wealthy businessman and covert arms smuggler. During his stay in Bern, he encounters J. D.'s gang, consisting of Shaan, a hotel pimp named Max, and another henchman. After initial confrontations with the three of them, he starts eliminating them one after another, and then J. D. becomes his remaining target. Janavi soon finds out that Pugazh is plotting to kill her father and warns Pugazh's mother about her son. On the contrary, Pugazh's mother not only knows and supports what Pugazh is doing, she also reveals that she is not his real "mother" and tells her why Pugazh is after her father.
Pugazh's father was Major Saravanan, a patriotic
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...
officer. During a
peacekeeping
Peacekeeping comprises activities intended to create conditions that favour lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed warfare.
Within the United N ...
mission, he noticed J. D., Shaan, Raaka, and their two henchmen, who were then army officers working in his team, accepting money from terrorists in exchange for allowing them to carry out their activities. When he confronted them, they killed him and fabricated a story claiming that since he accepted money from terrorists to help them, they killed him considering the safety of the other soldiers and themselves. He was stripped posthumously of his titles, honours, and badges. During his funeral, his family, consisting of his widow and a young Pugazh, were humiliated as the military withdrew his honors. the villagers banished them from their village. The villagers also barred Pugazh from performing his father's last rites and threw the dead body into a sand pit, where it got lost in sand storm. The villagers also brandish the forehead of Pugazh's mother with the title "wife of a traitor". She sends her son away with Shaan's estranged wife (the adopted "mother") as she did not want him to grow up carrying the stigma of being the son of a disgraced army officer.
In the present day, J. D. takes Pugazh to India to retrieve a
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
containing J. D.'s secret information, which Pugazh had earlier received from Shaan and given to Joseph. Pugazh soon finds out that Raaka has escaped. Pugazh manages to flee from J. D.'s and Raaka's clutches, and after a thrilling chase, he reaches an abandoned
temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
outside his village where he reunites with his mother, who had been living there since being banished from the village. J. D., Raaka, and their henchmen arrive there. They kill Joseph and injure Pugazh. Pugazh kills Raaka and fights with J. D., weakening him. With all of the villagers assembled around the abandoned temple, Pugazh forces J. D. to reveal the truth about his father to them. After his confession, Pugazh kills him in revenge for his father's death. With the truth about Saravanan finally revealed, the army reinstates his titles, honours, and badges and also returns his army badge and uniform to his widow.
Cast
Production
Development
Prabhu Deva
Prabhu Deva (born 3 April 1973) is an Indian dance choreographer, film director, producer and actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada language films. In a career spanning 32 years, he has performed and designed a ...
along with announcing his venture in Bollywood titled ''
Wanted Dead and Alive'', which was the remake of ''
Pokkiri
''Pokkiri'' () is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Prabhu Deva. It is the Tamil remake of the 2006 Telugu film ''Pokiri'' starring Mahesh Babu. The film stars Vijay and Asin with Prakash Raj, Nassar, Mukesh Tiwari, Vadivelu ...
'', he launched his next Tamil venture in December 2007.
Ayngaran International
Ayngaran International is a film distribution and production company, based in the United Kingdom. Historically, Tamil films from India have been distributed to overseas theaters and for home media consumption by Ayngaran. The chairman of the ...
was to produce the film as well. The film was initially titled as ''Pugazh''.
Prabhu Deva later announced the titled to be ''Singam''. However, a copyright issue was brought up concerning the title ''Singam'', which was already announced as the
title for a film by director
Hari
Hari ( sa, हरि) is among the primary epithets of the Hindu preserver deity Vishnu, meaning 'the one who takes away' (sins). It refers to the one who removes darkness and illusion, the one who removes all obstacles to spiritual progress ...
. Prabhu Deva then changed the titled to ''Vill'', meaning "bow" in Tamil, a more formal spelling of ''Villu''. The team later found out that
S. J. Suryah
S. Justin Selvaraj, known by his stage name S. J. Suryah is an Indian film director, screenwriter, actor, composer, producer and music director who has worked predominately in Tamil film industry. He sought to become an actor but started out d ...
was to use the title ''Vill'' for a
Telugu film
Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, Hy ...
. Suryah, with the negotiation of Vijay, later changed his film's title.
The title ''Villu'' subsequently became the film's official name.
Casting and filming
Actress Ranjitha was selected to play Vijay's mother.
Director
Prabhu Deva
Prabhu Deva (born 3 April 1973) is an Indian dance choreographer, film director, producer and actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada language films. In a career spanning 32 years, he has performed and designed a ...
started shooting for ''Villu'' with the team's first location being
Palani
Palani ( or ''Palni'' as in British records, is a town and a taluk headquarters in Dindigul district of the western part of Tamil Nadu state in India. It is located about south-east of Coimbatore and north-west of Madurai, from Kodaikanal ...
,
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
.
The team's second location was set to be in
Karaikudi
Karaikudi is a Greater municipality in Sivaganga district, Sivagangai district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 21st largest urban agglomeration of Tamil Nadu based on 2011 census data. It is part of t ...
. Prabhu Deva had reportedly planned two song sequences to be shot in European countries. Another song sequence was shot in
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
. Later, reports claimed that the film's script and story would deal with a majority of the film taking place in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. Prabhu Deva had reportedly planned two song sequences to be shot in European countries. In an interview with Prabhu Deva, a month prior to the film's release, Prabhu Deva stated the film will be a "Tamil version of a James Bond film." It was reported that Prakash Raj was missing from shooting when the crew was shooting the climax.
The story was already made as a movie in Tamil during 1989 titled Thaai Naadu starring Sathyaraj in dual roles. Then this film was remade in Dhallywood as Jamin Nai by Syed Harun starring Shabnur, Shakti Kapoor & Miju Ahmed in lead roles in 2000 and Tamil as Villu By Prabhu Deva starring Vijay & Nayanthara in lead roles in 2009. Bobby Deol Starrer Soldier in 1998 has a similar story line.
Devi Sri Prasad
Devi Sri Prasad (; born 2 August 1979) is an Indian film composer, lyricist, singer-songwriter and performer. Popularly known by his initials DSP, he is best known for his work in Telugu-language films, and has also worked in a few Tamil films ...
, Kola Bhaskar and
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 ...
were confirmed the film's
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
, editor, and cinematographer respectively while FEFSI Vijayan was chosen as the stunt coordinator.
Vijay was
Prabhu Deva
Prabhu Deva (born 3 April 1973) is an Indian dance choreographer, film director, producer and actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada language films. In a career spanning 32 years, he has performed and designed a ...
's initial choice for the lead role. Prabhu Deva trusted the actor, due to their widely known friendship, after their success with ''Pokkiri'' the previous year. However, several critics and media had dubious thoughts on the choice of Vijay as the lead role actor for the film. Some websites wondered if ''Villu'' would promote his career, or give him another average response, like his previous films ''
Azhagiya Tamil Magan
''Azhagiya Tamil Magan'' ( Adorable Tamil son) is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language psychological action thriller film written and directed by Bharathan, written by S. K. Jeeva and produced by Swargachitra Appachan. The film stars actor Vijay in ...
'' and ''
Kuruvi
''Kuruvi'' () is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language superhero comedy film written and directed by Dharani. Produced by Udhayanidhi Stalin, the film stars Vijay in the titular role with Trisha and Suman in other prominent roles. Vivek, Ashish Vidya ...
'', which proved to be average grossers at the box-office due to their weak storyline and screenplay.
Nayantara
Diana Mariam Kurian, known professionally as
Nayanthara, is an Indian actress and film producer who is known for her work in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. She was in the ''Forbes India'' "Celebrity 100" 2018 list, with her total annual ...
was confirmed the film's lead actress upon the film's launch.
Vadivelu
Kumaravadivel Natarajan (born 12 September 1960), known professionally as Vadivelu, is an Indian actor, comedian and playback singer, having acted in supporting and lead roles in Tamil cinema. He gained widespread acclaim in Kollywood in the 2 ...
was also confirmed for a supporting role.
Earlier reports claimed that
Biju Menon
Biju Menon (born 9 September 1970) is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Malayalam films, and also has a few Tamil cinema, Tamil and Telugu cinema, Telugu film credits. He made his debut in the 1994 Malayalam film ''Puthran''. In a car ...
or
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
were to be given a supporting role, but later the role went to
Manoj K. Jayan
Manoj Kadampoothramadom Jayan also known as Manoj K.Jayan is an Indian actor of Malayalam and Tamil films. He has also done a few Telugu and Kannada films and has also acted in a Bollywood film. Manoj has won three Kerala State Film Award for Se ...
.
Vaiyapuri
Vaiyapuri (born 23 October 1968 as Ramakrishnan) is an Indian actor who has worked in Tamil-language films. He rose to fame by appearing in supporting roles in the late 1990s and early 2000s, often portraying supporting comedic characters. His ...
,
Khushbu
Khushbu Sundar (born Nakhat Khan; 29 September 1970) is an Indian actress, politician, film producer and television presenter. She is known for her works predominantly in Tamil, besides Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada films. She is a rec ...
, and
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), '' ...
were also said to be given roles in the film. However, Khushbu was later confirmed an item number appearance while Sarala was to sing a song in the film.
Music
The soundtrack for this film was composed by
Devi Sri Prasad
Devi Sri Prasad (; born 2 August 1979) is an Indian film composer, lyricist, singer-songwriter and performer. Popularly known by his initials DSP, he is best known for his work in Telugu-language films, and has also worked in a few Tamil films ...
. Three of the songs, "Jalsa Jalsa", "Dheemthanakka Thillana", and "Daddy Mummy" had their beats reused from three Telugu songs DSP had previously composed: the eponymous song from ''
Jalsa
''Jalsa'' () is a 2008 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film written and directed by Trivikram Srinivas and produced by Allu Aravind, under the Geetha Arts banner starring Pawan Kalyan, Ileana, Parvati Melton, Kamalinee Mukerji, Mukesh R ...
'' ,"Om Namaste Bolo" from ''
Ready
Ready may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Ready'', a 2002 British short starring Imelda Staunton
* Ready (2008 film), ''Ready'' (2008 film), a Telugu film
* Ready (2011 film), ''Ready'' (2011 film), a Hindi remake of the Telugu film
* Ready ( ...
,'' and "Akalesthey" from ''
Shankar Dada Zindabad
''Shankar Dada Zindabad'' () is a 2007 Indian Telugu-language comedy drama film directed by Prabhu Deva. Starring Chiranjeevi and Karishma Kotak, the film is a remake of the 2006 Hindi film ''Lage Raho Munnabhai'' and a sequel to '' Shankar Dada ...
'' respectively.
Release
The satellite rights of the film were sold to
Kalaignar TV
Kalaignar is an Indian general entertainment satellite television channel based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The channel was launched on 15 September 2007 as Kalaignar in respect of former Chief minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi. Malaysia ...
. ''Villu'' had a limited Blu-ray DVD release in
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
.
Reception
This film was released on 12 January 2009, on the same day as Prabhu Deva and Vijay's 2007 film ''
Pokkiri
''Pokkiri'' () is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Prabhu Deva. It is the Tamil remake of the 2006 Telugu film ''Pokiri'' starring Mahesh Babu. The film stars Vijay and Asin with Prakash Raj, Nassar, Mukesh Tiwari, Vadivelu ...
''. It received negative reviews from fans and critics. Behindwoods.com gave 1.5 on 5 and said "With tacky production values, shabby cinematography and amateurish direction Villu comes across as a more than two-hour long." while another website stated "On the whole, Vijay's Villu is an action-packed mass masala film for his ardent fans but with loose ends." ''
Rediff
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 ...
'' reviewed the film "Leave your brains behind and prepare to enjoy the adventures of a Tamil James Bond." and rated 2.5/5. ''
Ananda Vikatan
''Ananda Vikatan'' is a Tamil-language weekly magazine published from Chennai, India.
History and profile
''Ananda Vikatan'' was started by Late Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926 as a monthly publication. The issue for December 1927 wa ...
'' rated the film 37 out of 100.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villu (Film)
2009 films
2009 action films
Indian action films
2000s masala films
Films directed by Prabhu Deva
Tamil remakes of Hindi films
2000s Tamil-language films
Films scored by Devi Sri Prasad
Indian films about revenge
Films shot in Bangkok
Indian Army in films
Films shot in Switzerland
Indian films with live action and animation
Films about military personnel
Films set in Tiruchirappalli
Films shot in Palani
Films shot in Karaikudi