Ayngaran International’s Villu, is releasing in nearly 432 screens worldwide on Monday, January 12. It is a very wide release with 155 of them in overseas markets, the highest ever for a Tamil film. In Kerala, a Vijay fortress it is releasing in nearly 70 screens like a big Mohanlal or Mammootty film! The film releasing two days before the festival day is going to take a gargantuan opening.
Prabhu Deva directed Villu, Vijay’s next action adventure movie, his costliest (rumoured to be around Rs 30 crore!) till date, is releasing for Pongal on January 12.
A lot is riding on the film, produced by Ayngaran International, for the Tamil film industry and Vijay.Kollywood, after last year’s flop show by the biggies, is in need of a super hit to revive the trade at a time when the world has been hit hard by recession. The lacklustre performances of Vijay’s last two releases at the box-office mean that the actor badly needs a hit. The Tamil film trade still swears by him and Villu is the only Pongal release for which the exhibitors are willing to shell out a MG (Minimum Guarantee) amount.
Villu Trailor
Villu is an action cum comedy suspense movie directed by Prabhu Deva starring “Ilaya Thalapathi” Vijay, Nayanthara and Vadivelu.One fine day a young man wakes up finding a note that instructs him to travel abroad on a mission. A mission of vengeance! A mission to commit murder! He travels to the predestined destination and yes he does execute the targets taking them one by one astutely without a clue to quench his vengeance and bitterness. To make his mission more complicated he is swept off by the sweet poison of love. Well Of course this guy has got a soft corner too. But there is a catch in his unexpected romance where he must choose whether to be Tom or Jerry. Who is this powerful daredevil? Why does he commit these brutal murders? Who or what are the driving force behind his cruel killings? Watch the truth unravel in January 2009 only on silver screen.This is Prabhu Deva's second film with Ilaiyathalapathy Vijay, after the highly successful Pokkiri released in 2007. The film shoot began rolling on June 6, 2008. The film stars Nayantara as the heroine of Vijay for the first time in her career. The film is slated to release on January 2009. It is considered that half of this film will be shot in Italy and other half shot in India. This movie is expected to take tamil cinema in to great heights with Vijay's usual kuthu songs.
ARTISTS DETAILS
Hero: Vijay
Heroine: Nayanthara
Villian: Prakashraj
Character Artist: Sriman, Adithya, Napolean, Vadivelu, Geetha K.S
TECHNICIANS DETAILS
Director: Prabu Deva
Music Director: Devi Sri Prasad
Cameraman: Ravi Varma
Art Director: Sunil Babu
Stunts: S.Vijayan
Dialogue: Ravi Kumar
Lyrics Writer: Kabilan
VILLU REVIEW
If you're looking to chill out this Pongal, try Villu. It is the mother of all masalas. Ranging through a wide field of comedy, action, songs, exotic locations and heavy sentiments, the film will appeal to a cross spectrum of audiences.
What works in its favour is the star cast, packaging and look of the film.
It is the most stylish Vijay film ever made.Villu is technically slick and moves at a rapid pace. The director, however, is less concerned with the film's plot and the pre-climax portion lacks punch as the story goes limp.
As Vijay himself has said in an interview, the story has "nothing new in it and is as old as the hills". The basic storyline is inspired by Abbas Mustan's Soldier. It is the 1970s and 80s favourite theme in commercial cinema: A son seeking revenge for the brutal and treacherous murder of his father by a group of villains.
Pugal (Vijay) is a happy-go-lucky man who is on a mission. He works hand-in-glove for a cop, Joseph (Manoj K Jayan), who is on the lookout for an international gang led by the dreaded JD (Prakash Raj) who deals with drugs and ammunition.
Pugal goes to a village and meets Jhanvi (Nayanthara), daughter of JD, and falls in love with her. He smartly uses her as a tool to reach across to JD and his gang (Devaraj, Anand Raj, Sriman, Aditya) in Munich. He eliminates them one by one using tact and cunningness. The rest of the film is how he brings JD back to India and takes revenge for the murder of his dad, a patriotic army man.
The comedy in the first half and six songs packaged beautifully are the biggest calling cards of the film. And what really gets Villu zip zap zooming are the completely whacky Vijay, Vadivel and Nayanthara. For their zany shenanigans alone, the film is worth watching.
There are eye-rollingly stupid moments, which are pure slapstick comedy, in the film. Some of them like Vadivel's steam bath, Vijay's electric kiss to Nayanthara, the scene where Vijay and Nayanthara try to save Vadivel who falls into a well and Vadivel's chimpanzee joke are howlarious!
Prabhu Deva and his team of choreographers have provided picture-perfect peppy songs, lavishly picturised in exotic locations with superb camera movements. The pick of the lot are Nee Kobapattal Naanum, picturised on three Vijay's and Nayan in Switzerland. The Jalsa Jalsa number in Phuket and the Daddy Mummy... song -- shot on a set with Vijay, Mumait Khan and her sister -- are rocking.
Technically, the film is slick with top-class camera work by Ravi Varman and extraordinary DI (Digital Imagery) by Bobby Grant. The colour correction has given the film sheen and style. Pollachi and Phuket have never looked so exotic and colourful. Sunil's (of Hindi Ghajini fame) artwork looks authentic and stunning. Kola Bhaskar's editing is crisp and helps the film to be racy. Fefsi Vijayan's action scenes are superbly choreographed.
The Vijay-Nayanthara jodi scorches the screen and they have great chemistry. Vijay looks sensational and is an absolute delight to watch. He is magical and clearly at home playing Pugal. He is a one-man entertainment troupe. Nayanthara is earnest, sincere and fits the role to a T. She has never been photographed so well and looks ravishingly beautiful. Be it her costumes, make-up or hair, she has taken utmost care to look her best. And she does succeed.
Vadivel's misadventures are a scream, and add to the slapstick madness. Prakash Raj is apt as the villain. Prabhu Deva's signature style is stamped across every frame. He has crafted another mass entertainer where the narrative is fast and furious, though it is not in the same league as his earlier Pokkiri. On the whole, the film is a rip-roaring rocker.
Verdict: Go for it!
Box Office
UK
VILLU [Tamil film] has debuted at No. 21 position. In its opening weekend, the film has collected £ 39,665 [approx. Rs. 27.27 lacs] on 13 screens, with the per screen average working out to £ 3,051.
TW LW Movie Studio Weekend Gross Change Theaters Change / Avg. Gross-to-Date Week Production
Country
Country
18 N Villu Ayngaran $149,262 - 13 - $11,482 $149,262 1 UnknownChennai:
No. Weeks Completed: 1 No. Shows in Chennai over this weekend: 219 Average Theatre Occupancy over this weekend: 90 % Collection over this weekend in Chennai: Rs. 43,05,914 Total collections in Chennai: Rs. 1.01 Crore
No. Weeks Completed: 1 No. Shows in Chennai over this weekend: 219 Average Theatre Occupancy over this weekend: 90 % Collection over this weekend in Chennai: Rs. 43,05,914 Total collections in Chennai: Rs. 1.01 Crore
