Villu (film)

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Villu

Villu-2.jpg

Theatrical release poster

Directed by Prabhu Deva

Produced by K. Karunamoorthy

C. Arunpandian

Written by AC Mugil

Rebel Ravi

(dialogue)

Screenplay by Prabhu Deva

Story by AC Mugil

Rebel Ravi

StarringVijay

Nayanthara

Ranjitha

Prakash Raj

Vadivelu

Music by Devi Sri Prasad

Cinematography Ravi Varman

Edited by Kola Bhaskar

Production

company

Ayngaran International

Distributed by Ayngaran International

Release date

12 February 2009

Running time 145 minutes

CountryIndia

Language Tamil

Budget ₹30 crore

Box office est.₹18.5 crore

Villu (transl. The bow) is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language offbeat action comedy film written and
directed by Prabhu Deva. The film stars Vijay in a dual role as father (army major) and son (assassin)
while Nayanthara, Ranjitha, Prakash Raj, and Vadivelu play other prominent roles. Manoj K. Jayan,
Devaraj, Adithya, Anandaraj, Sriman and Geetha play supporting roles whilst Prabhu Deva, Mumaith
Khan, Zabyn Khan, and Kushboo Sundar appear in item numbers. The film is produced and
distributed by Ayngaran International and composed by Devi Sri Prasad. Cinematography was done
by Ravi Varman, while editing was handled by Kola Bhaskar.

The film was released on 12 January 2009 with a production cost of ₹30 crore, Villu has collected
around ₹10 crore at the overseas box office, with overseas distributor profit around ₹6 crore.[1][2]
The film acquired #221 spot in 2009 at the United Kingdom box office.[3] Villu settled to domestic
collections around ₹40 crore, with domestic distributor profit of only ₹50 lakhs.[4] The story revolves
around an assassin who infiltrates and destroys a criminal gang to avenge his father's death. The film
was also dubbed into Hindi as Ek Aur Jaanbaz Khiladi. The film's title Villu (bow) indicates a man
Pugazh, who avenges for his father (arrow) fired at his enemies to destroy them.

Following its mediocre performance,[4] the Tamil satellite rights were sold to Kalaignar TV for ₹15
crore, and Hindi satellite rights to Sony Max for ₹5 crore, reaping profits for the producer.[5]

Rediff pointed out that, Vadivelu and Vijay were applauded by the audience for their new style of
slap-stick comedy in the film.[6] It was inspired from Charlie Chaplin comedies.

Contents

1 Plot

2 Cast

3 Production

4 Soundtrack

5 Release

6 Reception

7 References

8 External links
Plot

Pugazh is an IITian and Oxford alumnus with a masters degree in chemical engineering. With the
help of his relative Inspector Joseph, he succeeds in tracking down a wanted criminal named Raaka
and killing him. The scene then shifts to a village, where Pugazh is attending the wedding of a
Tahsildar'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 Bern to introduce him to her father J. D., a wealthy businessman and 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 officer. During a peacekeeping
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 by J. D. and the
villagers and were banished from their village. The villagers also barred Pugazh from performing his
father's last rites and threw the dead body into a ditch. Pugazh's mother 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 containing J. D.'s secret
information, which Pugazh had earlier received from Shaan and given to Joseph. Pugazh soon finds
out that Raaka is not dead and has kidnapped Joseph. Pugazh manages to flee from J. D.'s and
Raaka's clutches, and after a thrilling chase, he reaches an abandoned temple 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 Saravanan to them. After his confession, Pugazh
kills him. 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

Vijay as Pugazh (Villu) and Major Saravanan (dual role)

Nayanthara as Janavi, J. D.'s daughter

Ranjitha as Major Saravanan's wife/Pugazh's mother

Prakash Raj as J. D., the one who killed Saravanan

Vadivelu as Maadaswamy {Maada}, the audiographer

Manoj K. Jayan as Inspector Joseph, Saravanan's relative

Devaraj as Shaan, who was involved in Saravanan's murder

Adithya as Rakka

Anandaraj as J. D.'s and Shaan's henchman

Sriman as Max/Gandy

Geetha as Shaan's wife/Pugazh's foster mother

Vaiyapuri as Pugazh's friend

Raj Kapoor as Village Head

Dhamu as VJ

Aarthi as Janavi's friend

Jyothi as Jyothi, Janavi's friend

Pandu as Jyothi's father

T. P. Gajendran as Marriage Guest

Kumarimuthu

Mumaith Khan (special appearance in the song "Daddy Mummy")

Zabyn Khan (special appearance in the song "Daddy Mummy")

Kushboo Sundar (special appearance in the song "Rama Rama")

FEFSI Vijayan (special appearance in the song "Jalsa")

Ashok Raja (special appearance in the song "Rama Rama")

Ravi Varman (special appearance in the song "Rama Rama")

A. C. Mugil (special appearance in the song "Rama Rama")

Sunil Babu (special appearance in the song "Rama Rama")

Prabhu Deva (special appearance in the song "Rama Rama")

Production

Villu crew shooting at Pollachi

Prabhu Deva along with announcing his venture in Bollywood titled Wanted Dead and Alive, which
was the remake of Pokkiri, he launched his next Tamil venture in December 2007. Ayngaran
International was to produce the film as well. The film was initially titled as Pugazh.[7] 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.[8] 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 was to use the title Vill for a Telugu film. Suryah, with the
negotiation of Vijay, later changed his film's title.[9] The title Villu subsequently became the film's
official name.[10]

Actress Ranjitha was selected to play Vijay's mother.[11] Director Prabhu Deva started shooting for
Villu with the team's first location being Palani, Tamil Nadu.[9] The team's second location was set to
be in Karaikudi. Prabhu Deva had reportedly planned two song sequences to be shot in European
countries.[12] Another song sequence was shot in Bangkok, Thailand. Later, reports claimed that the
film's script and story would deal with a majority of the film taking place in Italy. Prabhu Deva had
reportedly planned two song sequences to be shot in European countries.[13] 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."[14] It was reported that Prakash Raj was missing from shooting when the
crew was shooting the climax.[15]

Devi Sri Prasad, Kola Bhaskar and Ravi Varman were confirmed the film's composer, editor, and
cinematographer respectively while FEFSI Vijayan was chosen as the stunt coordinator.[9]

Vijay was Prabhu Deva'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 lukewarm box-office
response, like his previous films Azhagiya Tamil Magan and Kuruvi, which proved to be average
grossers at the box-office due to their weak storyline and screenplay.[16] Nayantara was confirmed
the film's lead actress upon the film's launch.[7] Vadivelu was also confirmed for a supporting role.
[7] Earlier reports claimed that Biju Menon or Napoleon were to be given a supporting role, but later
the role went to Manoj K. Jayan. Vaiyapuri, Kushboo Sundar, and Kovai Sarala were also said to be
given roles in the film. However, Sundar was later confirmed an item number appearance while
Sarala was to sing a song in the film.

Soundtrack

Villu

Soundtrack album by Devi Sri Prasad

Released 14 December 2008

Recorded 2007-2008

Genre Feature film soundtrack

Label Ayngaran Music

An Ak Audio

Think Music

Devi Sri Prasad chronology

King

(2008) Villu

(2008) Arya 2

(2009)

The soundtrack for this film was composed by Devi Sri Prasad. 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 ,"Om Namaste Bolo" from Ready,
and "Akalesthey" from Shankar Dada Zindabad respectively.

No. Title Lyrics Singer(s) Length

1. "Hey Rama Rama" (introduction song, pictured Vijay and Kushboo, Prabhu Deva)Kabilan
Amal Raj, Kovai Sarala 04:43

2. "Jalsa Jalsa" (pictured Vijay and Nayantara) Rohini Baba Sehgal, Rita, Devi Sri Prasad
04:20

3. "Are You Crazy" (pictured Vijay and Nayantara) Prabhu Deva, Akila, RaviDivya 00:46

4. "Daddy Mummy" (item song, pictured Vijay, Mumaith Khan and Zabyn Khan)
Mamta Mohandas, Naveen Madhav 04:20

5. "Dheemthanakka Thillana" (pictured Vijay and Nayantara) Snehan Devi Sri Prasad,
Divya 04:09

6. "Jalsa Jalsa" (Remix) Rohini Devi Sri Prasad, Baba Sehgal, Rita 04:00

7. "Nee Kobapattaal" (pictured Vijay and Nayantara) P. Vijay Sagar 04:21

8. "Vaada Maappilley" (pictured Vijay, Nayantara and Vadivelu) Kabilan Tippu, Rita,
Vadivelu, Savitha Reddy 03:34

Release

The satellite rights of the film were sold to Kalaignar TV.[17]

Reception

This film was released on 12 January 2009, on the same day as Prabhu Deva and Vijay's 2007 film
Pokkiri. It received mainly negative reviews. 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 reviewed the film "Leave your
brains behind and prepare to enjoy the adventures of a Tamil James Bond." and rated 2.5/5.[18][19]
[20]

References

"Villu (2009)". www.boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 15 May 2019.

"Chennai Box Office - sify.com (1970)". archive.is. 19 December 2017. Archived from the original on
19 December 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2018.

"2009 United Kingdom Yearly Box Office Results". www.boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 15 May 2019.

"BOX OFFICE TOP 20 TAMIL MOVIES OF 2009 - Behindwoods.com - Tamil Movie Slide Shows -
Aadhavan | Naadodigal | Eeram | Ninaithale Inikkum | Unnaipol Oruvan | Sarvam | Ayan".
www.behindwoods.com. Retrieved 15 May 2019.

https://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movies/slideshow/know-who-owns-the-satellite-rights-of-
vijay-films-since-2000/villu-kalaignar-tv.html

Srinivasan, Pavithra. "Review: Villu". Rediff.

"Name games and Vijay rules". Indiaglitz. 6 June 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2013.

"Vijay and Prabhu Deva together again". Indiaglitz. 4 June 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2013.

"Name games and Vijay rules". IndiaGlitz. 6 June 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2011.

"Vijay and Prabhu Deva together again". IndiaGlitz. 4 June 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2011.

"A 'new old' heroine for Vijay". Behindwoods. 19 November 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2013.

"Vijay's Italian rendezvous". IndiaGlitz. 28 June 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2011.

"Vijay's Italian rendezvous". Indiaglitz. 26 June 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2013.

"'Villu' takes Diwali break". IndiaGlitz. 25 October 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2011.

"Prakash Raj missing, Villu climax halts". Behindwoods. 20 November 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2013.

"Is Vijay aiming right with 'Villu'?". Indiaglitz. 21 June 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2013.

"Villu Movie on Kalaignar TV". The Times of India. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015.

"Review: Villu". Rediff. 12 January 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2013.

Villu Indiaglitz Review. Indiaglitz.com (12 January 2009). Retrieved on 25 October 2015.

https://archive.is/20171219123953/http://www.sify.com/movies/boxoffice.php?id=pluppHedibbbf

External links

Official website

Villu at IMDb

vte

Prabhu Deva
Director

Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana (2005)Pournami (2006)Pokkiri (2007)Shankar Dada Zindabad

(2007)Villu (2009)Wanted (2009)Engeyum Kadhal (2011)Vedi (2011)Rowdy Rathore (2012)Ramaiya
Vastavaiya (2013)R... Rajkumar (2013)Action Jackson (2014)Singh Is Bliing (2015)Dabangg 3
(2019)Radhe (2021)

Producer

Devi (2016)Bogan (2017)Sometimes (2018)Vinodhan (2018)

Categories: 2009 filmsTamil-language films2009 action filmsIndian action filmsMasala filmsIndian

filmsFilms directed by Prabhu DevaTamil remakes of Hindi filmsFilms featuring an item number2000s
Tamil-language filmsFilms scored by Devi Sri PrasadIndian films about revengeForeign films shot in
ThailandFilms shot in BangkokIndian Army in filmsForeign films shot in SwitzerlandIndian films with
live action and animationFilms about military personnelFilms set in TiruchirappalliFilms shot in
PalaniFilms shot in Karaikudi

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Tamil is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is the official
language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and an official language of the two sovereign nations,
Singapore and Sri Lanka. In India, it is also the official language of the Union Territory of Puducherry.
Tamil is spoken by significant minorities in the four other South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka,
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is
also spoken by the Tamil diaspora found in many countries, including Malaysia, South Africa, United
Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia and Mauritius. Tamil is also natively spoken by Sri Lankan
Moors.