Vaali (film)

Vaali
Directed by	S. J. Surya
Produced by	S. S. Chakravarthy
Written by	S. J. Surya
Starring	Ajith Kumar Simran Jyothika
Music by	Deva
Cinematography	Jeeva M. S. Prabhu (Additional Cinematography)
Edited by	B. Lenin V. T. Vijayan
Release dates	30 April 1999
Running time	158 minutes[1]
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Vaali is a 1999 Tamil erotic thriller film written and directed by S. J. Suryah making his directorial debut and was produced by S. S. Chakravarthy under production company Nic Arts. The film stars Ajith Kumar (in dual roles), Simran (as lead actress), Jyothika (in her cinematic debut), Vivek, Pandu and Livingston portraying supporting roles. It tells the story of Deva and Shiva, two look-alike siblings with Deva being deaf and dumb. When Shiva marries his sweetheart Priya, Deva becomes obsessed and has a lust towards Priya.

Surya who was assisting Vasanth in Aasai (1995) was approached by Ajith that he will do a film under his direction if he has a good script. Simran was selected as the lead actress after attempts to sign Keeerthi Reddy and Roja has failed. The soundtrack was composed by Deva and lyrics were written by Vairamuthu with songs like "Oh Sona" and "April Madhathil" being popular. The cinematography was handled by Jeeva while the editing was done by duo B. Lenin and V. T. Vijayan.

The film was released on 30 April 1999 to positive reviews from critics with Ajith's portrayal as deaf and dumb brother and Simran's performance being widely praised. The film became a commercial success at box-office and became one of the successful films in the career of Ajith Kumar and established S. J. Suryah as a director.

Plot

Deva and Shiva (both played by Ajith Kumar) are the twins. Deva, the elder, is deaf and mute. But he is a genius, an expert at lip-reading and the head of a successful advertising company. Shiva loves and trusts his brother. Priya (Simran) wants to marry only someone who is an ex-smoker, an ex-drunkard and ditched by a girl but still pining for her. Learning this, Shiva invents an old romance between him and Sona (Jyothika) and finds his way into Priya's heart.

Deva meanwhile chances upon Priya and lusts for her. His obsession continues even after his younger brother gets married to the girl of his dreams and he devises various means of getting close to Priya and keeping Shiva and her separated. Some of the methods Deva uses to woo Priya are masochistic (wounding his hand by the running car engine to stop the couple’s first night) and psychotic (trying to kill his brother in so many ways).

Priya realises the not-so-honourable intentions Deva has towards her but Shiva refuses to believe her and has full faith in his brother. He even goes as far as to take Priya to a psychiatrist. To get away from it all, Shiva and Priya go on a long-delayed honeymoon. But Deva shows up there too. Shiva watches Deva kissing the photo of Priya and realises Priya was right all along. While Shiva is away, Priya has to take care of Deva. Deva beats Shiva mercilessly, packs the unconscious Shiva in a gunny bag and throws him in a lorry.

Deva disguises himself as Shiva and tries to seduce Priya. Priya comes to know he is Deva and escapes from him before shooting him with her revolver. Deva falls in pool and when Shiva comes she narrates the whole incident to him. Suddenly, Deva comes back to life, but Shiva immediately kills him with the revolver. Deva's soul talks about his inability to express his feeling as he was mute. His grave with lots of flowers grown on it is shown.

Cast

• Ajith Kumar as Deva and Shiva
• Simran as Priya
• Jyothika as Sona
• Vivek as Vicky
• Livingston
• Pandu as Velu Nair
• Radha Bai as Deva and Shiva's Grandmother
• Sujitha as Maheshwari
• Indhu as Geetha
• Rajeev as Geetha's husband
• Devipriya as Deepa

Production

S. J. Suryaah had worked as an assistant director in Vasanth's Aasai which featured Ajith Kumar as well as working with him during the making of Ullaasam. Ajith asked Suryaah to prepare a good script and promised he would give him a chance to make his directorial debut. Subsequently the pair approached S. S. Chakravarthy, a producer, to make a film.^[2] Keerthi Reddy was announced to be the lead actress in the film in December 1997, though she was replaced by Simran before filming began.^[3] It had also been reported that Roja would play another role, although this proved to be untrue.^[4] Jyothika, sister of actress Nagma, made her debut in the film as an imaginary character, Sona, narrated by Ajith's character in which she won "Amudha Surabhi" Best Actress New Comer Award.^[5]

About the making of the film, Ajith mentioned that Vaali "was very close to my heart and I gave it everything I had", revealing that he had initially received a lot of bad publicity and scepticism for doing a dual role too early in his career.^[6]

Release

Vaali received A certificate from Central Board of Film Certification. The Deccan Herald described it as "definitely worth seeing" saying it "has something for all tastes — a pleasant love angle, some suspense, complex psychological nuances, good acting, pleasing songs" while praising Ajith's performance.^[7] The reviewer from Indolink.com labelled the film as "a classic in its own right", praising the performances of Ajith Kumar and Simran while describing Suryaah as "a new young director to the cine field who can make Tamil Cinema be proud once again".^[8] The New Indian Express labelled Simran's portrayal as "outstanding" while mentioning Surya does a "fairly good job and succeeds".^[9] the film ran 215 days The film became a commercial success and provided a breakthrough for both Ajith and Simran's career.^[10][11] Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan dated 16 May 1999 appreciated the film by giving 45 marks and mentioned "Director SJ Suryah established his stamp of film-making in his very first film by taking up a straight line story with an engaging screenplay and realistic dialogues. Ajith has done a fantastic job in dual role and Simran also proved that she can act".^[12]

The film was later dubbed into Telugu as Vaali. The film was remade in Kannada withsame name by S. Mahendar starring Sudeep in the lead role.

Awards

Filmfare Awards South

• Best Actor – Ajith Kumar – Won.
• Best Female Debut – Jyothika – Won.

Cinema Express Awards^[13]

• Best Actor – Ajith Kumar – Won.
• Best Actress – Simran – Won.
• Best Music Director – Deva – Won.
• Best Comedian – Vivek – Won.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Deva and lyrics were written by Vairamuthu.^[12] The song "Sona Sona" is based on "Susanna" by VOF de Kunst, and "Where Do I Begin?", the theme to Love Story composed by Francis Lai.^[14] G. Dhananjayan in his book Best of Tamil Cinema noted that the film's super hit songs helped in its success.^[12]

References

External links

• Vaali at the Internet Movie Database

Bibliography

• Dhananjayan, G. (2011). The Best of Tamil Cinema, 1931 to 2010: 1977–2010. Galatta Media. ISBN 978-81-921043-0-0.