''Yaakkai'' ( en, Body, italic=yes) is a 2017 Indian Tamil romantic

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by Kuzhandhai Velappan, starring

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

and

Swathi Reddy Swathi Reddy (born 19 April 1987) is an Indian actress and television presenter who predominantly works in Telugu films, along with Tamil and Malayalam films. Her nickname ''Colours Swathi'' comes from her stint in the Telugu television show ' ...

in the leading roles. Featuring music composed by

Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja or Abdul Haliq (born 31 August 1979) is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer and singer-songwriter. He mainly scores music for Tamil films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use of Wes ...

, the film was released on 3 March 2017.

Cast

as Kathir *

as Kavitha * Prakash Raj as Sagayam *

Radha Ravi Madras Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan Ravi (born 29 July 1952) is an Indian actor and politician who played supporting roles throughout his career. He is the son of actor M. R. Radha and the uncle of Vasu Vikram and half-brother of Raadhika. He is a ...

as Krishnamurthy *

Guru Somasundaram Guru Somasundaram is an Indian actor who is Mainly working in Tamil and Malayalam movies. He made his debut in ''Aaranya Kaandam'' (2011) winning critical acclaim for his role, before also appearing in the Tamil action film ''Pandiya Naadu'' (2 ...

as Sriram * M. S. Bhaskar as Kathir's father *

G. Marimuthu G. Marimuthu is an Indian film director and actor, who has worked in the Tamil film industry. After making his debut as a director with '' Kannum Kannum'' (2008), he has gone on to make other ventures including '' Pulivaal'' (2014) and feature ...

as Kavitha's father * Mayilsamy as Barfly * Singampuli as Muniyappan (Police) *Aathma Patrick as Melvin * Hari Krishnan as Noor

Production

In November 2013, Kuzhandhai Velappan and

Kreshna Krishna Kulasekaran (born 14 February 1978) credited as Krishna is an Indian actor who mainly appears in Tamil cinema. He is the younger brother of Tamil film director Vishnuvardhan. Early life Krishna's father is film producer K.K.Sekar (Pa ...

announced that they would make a film titled ''Idhayam'', and that the latter had purchased the title rights from the makers of the 1991 film of the same name. The film underwent a title change from ''Idhayam'' to ''Yaakkai'' in November 2014, after the team had shot for six days and had cast Prakash Raj as a police officer and

as the heroine. The film was later put on hold until the completion of the lead pair's other ongoing project, ''

Yatchan ''Yatchan'' () is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film co written, co-produced and directed by Vishnuvardhan. The film was produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur under UTV Motion Pictures. The film features Arya, Kreshna, Swati Reddy, and ...

'' (2015). The film then progressed throughout 2016, with

joining the cast to portray an antagonist in the film. Shoots were predominantly held in college campuses across Chennai, while scenes were also shot in Coimbatore, Ooty and Kothagiri. The film entered its post-production stages in July 2016, with Kreshna dubbing for his portions in a single day.

Soundtrack

Two songs from the film were released as promotional singles, prior to the release of the film's album. "Nee" sung by

was released to coincide with Valentine's Day in 2016, while another song titled "Solli Tholaiyen Ma" sung by Dhanush was released during July 2016.

Critical reception

*''Sify'' wrote "Throughout the film, the director takes the audiences for granted with amateurish writing and execution. Except for the visuals and Yuvan’s score nothing really works. To conclude, this is nothing but clumsy writing and execution." *''New Indian Express'' wrote "Of about 127 minutes of viewing time, 'Yaakkai' is a monotonous journey, unexciting and uninteresting." *''Behindwoods'' wrote "Kulandai Velappan’s writing is good and his idea to make a romantic crime thriller involving medical scam is commendable, as it is a road, not-much-taken. On the downside, the narration could have been much more effective and straightforward, which would have helped the film's engagement." *Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion wrote "It comes and goes, and the only interesting aspect of the film, it turns out, is a trick built around the timeline of the narrative. But like everything else, it’s not pulled off well."https://www.filmcompanion.in/yaakkai-movie-review-baradwaj-rangan/

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=6594854 Films scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja 2010s Tamil-language films Indian crime thriller films Medical-themed films Films shot in Chennai Films shot in Ooty Films shot in Coimbatore 2017 crime thriller films Romantic crime films