Villain (2002 film)
Villain is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language action masala film written and directed by K. S. Ravikumar and produced by S. S. Chakravarthy. The film stars Ajith Kumar in a dual role, alongside Meena and Kiran. Sujatha, FEFSI Vijayan, Karunas and Ramesh Khanna appear in other significant roles, while Vidyasagar composed the score and soundtrack for the film. Villain was dubbed into Hindi as Jeet: The Mission of Success. Ajith's performance in the film won him his second Filmfare Award for Best Actor.It was remade in Telugu as the same name .
| Villain | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | K. S. Ravikumar |
| Produced by | S. S. Chakravarthy |
| Screenplay by | K. S. Ravikumar |
| Story by | Yugi Sethu |
| Starring | Ajith Kumar Meena Kiran |
| Music by | Vidyasagar |
| Cinematography | Ashok S. Moorthy |
| Edited by | K. Thanigachalam |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | NIC Arts |
Release date |
|
Running time | 164 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Plot
Shiva and Vishnu (both played by Ajith Kumar) are identical twins. Shiva, the elder one, is a bus conductor, while Vishnu, the younger one, has a mild intellectual disability. Shiva overhears his parents' plot to kill Vishnu. He runs away to another city with Vishnu and strives hard to look after him. A 'dada' Sundaramoorthy (FEFSI Vijayan), who runs a beggar trade, beats Vishnu brutally, and Vishnu becomes handicapped for life. Shiva leaves Vishnu in a home run by a social worker Lalitha (Sujatha). During the day, Shiva works as a bus conductor, and at the same time, poses as Vishnu: to play Robin Hood and steal from the rich and corrupt. A gang including Thangam (Meena), Mani(Ramesh Khanna), and others assist him in these operations. He is never suspected, and so, with the stolen money, he takes care of not only Vishnu, but also 800 people in other institutions for the physically handicapped. A college student Lavanya (Kiran Rathod) falls in love with Shiva, but he later comes to know she is Sundaramoorthy's sister-in-law. Matters worsen when Sundaramoorthy becomes the chairman of the institute for the physically disabled. How Shiva deals with the situation forms the rest of the story. Meanwhile, Thangam is in love with Shiva, though he does not know this. Later she gives up her love and lets Lavanya marry Shiva. At last, Shiva marries Lavanya and Thangam marries Vishnu.
Cast
- Ajith Kumar as Shiva and Vishnu (dual role)
- Meena as Thangam
- Kiran as Lavanya
- Sujatha as Lalitha Subramaniam
- FEFSI Vijayan as Sundaramoorthy
- Ramesh Khanna as Shiva's friend
- Karunas as Nochikuppam Dampudi
- Vijayakumar as ACP
- Nizhalgal Ravi as Shiva and Vishnu's father
- Pyramid Natarajan as Minister
- Manobala as Pyramid Natarajan's brother-in-law
- Rekha as Rajalakshmi
- Santhana Bharathi as Father Karunakaran
- Crane Manohar as Shiva's friend
- Vasu Vikram as Shiva's friend
- Pandu as a police officer
- Bayilvan Ranganathan as a police officer
- Madhan Bob as Sundaramoorthy's assistant
- Vinu Chakravarthy as Minister
- Priyanka as Lavanya's friend
- R. S. Shivaji as Pyramid Natarajan's House Security
- R. Sundarrajan
- Besant Ravi
- Kanal Kannan in a special appearance as a henchman
- K. S. Ravikumar in a special appearance as himself
Production
The film saw the first collaboration of Ajith and K. S. Ravikumar, with the former revealing that he was initially reluctant to work with the director in fear of a misunderstanding. Kiran was signed the film after the success of Gemini.[1][2] The shooting of the film was completed in 39 days.[3]
Soundtrack
| Villain | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album to Villain by Vidyasagar | ||||
| Released | 19 September 2002 | |||
| Recorded | 2002 | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 28:32 | |||
| Language | Tamil | |||
| Label | Star Music | |||
| Producer | Vidyasagar | |||
| Vidyasagar chronology | ||||
| ||||
The soundtrack features 7 songs composed by Vidyasagar and lyrics written by Vairamuthu.
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Pathinettu Vayathil" | Udit Narayan, Sadhana Sargam | 5:22 |
| 2. | "Orae Manam" | Hariharan, Nithyasree Mahadevan | 4:45 |
| 3. | "Adicha Nethi Adi" | Karthik, Swarnalatha | 5:25 |
| 4. | "Aadiyil Kaathadicha" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | 1:32 |
| 5. | "Hello Hello" | Sadhana Sargam, Anuradha Sriram, Tippu, Clinton Cerejo | 5:04 |
| 6. | "Thappu Thanda" | Shankar Mahadevan, Sujatha Mohan | 4:44 |
| 7. | "Aadiyil Kaathadicha (Sad Version)" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | 1:41 |
| Total length: | 28:31 | ||
Release
The film released in Diwali alongside with Vijay starrer Bagavathi. The Hindu reviewer claimed that "if you don't rack your brains about the feasibility of the hero's game plans, you could enjoy watching "Villain"" and that "Ajit scores on both fronts".[4] Another critic cited that it was "great slag-less screenplay and some stunning performances from Ajith make this film a treat for the senses".[5] Ajith's performance earned him his second Filmfare Award for Best Actor.[6][7] The film was later remade in Telugu with the same title by Ravikumar with Rajasekhar, while the original was also dubbed into Hindi. The film became the highest grossing Tamil film of the year. The satellite rights of the film were bagged by Sun TV.
References
- Movies: No big Tamil film release this Diwali. rediff.com (2 November 2002). Retrieved on 2015-07-26.
- Adding glamour to Deepavali. The Hindu (1 November 2002). Retrieved on 2015-07-26.
- "The Hindu : Giving hits, his speciality". The Hindu. 30 October 2002. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
- Villain. The Hindu (15 November 2002). Retrieved on 2015-07-26.
- BizHat.com – Villain Review. Ajith, Meena, Kiran, Nasser, Ramesh Khanna, Vijay Kuma. Movies.bizhat.com. Retrieved on 26 July 2015.
- Ajit, Simran bag Filmfare awards – Times Of India. Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com (17 May 2003). Retrieved on 2015-07-26.
- 10 years ago. Cinematoday3.itgo.com. Retrieved on 26 July 2015.