Thirumalai
Thirumalai | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Ramana |
Written by | K. Balachander |
Produced by | K. Balachander Pushpa Kandaswamy |
Starring | Vijay Jyothika |
Cinematography | R. Rathnavelu |
Edited by | Suresh Urs |
Music by | Vidyasagar |
Distributed by | Kavithalayaa Productions |
Release date |
|
Running time | 167 minutes |
Country | India |
Language | Tamil |
Budget | ₹4 crore |
Box office | ₹50 crore[1] |
Thirumalai is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language masala film written and directed by Ramana. The film stars Vijay and Jyothika in the lead roles, with Manoj K. Jayan, Avinash (in his Tamil debut), Vivek, Raghuvaran, Kausalya and Karunas in supporting roles. Produced by Kavithalayaa Productions banner, filming began in October 2002 and was planned for a January 2003 release coinciding with the Thai Pongal festival, along with Vijay's other romantic comedy film Vaseegara. Eventually, the delays due to the replacement of some actors and actresses caused the movie to release in late 2003, coinciding with Diwali.
Thirumalai released on 24 October 2003 and was declared as a blockbuster at the box office alongside positive reviews from critics, despite facing a delayed release[2] It ran successfully more than 100 days in theatres.[3] The film became a turning point in Vijay's career as he transitioned himself into a leading action hero from a romantic hero in his career.[4]
The film was remade in Telugu as Gowri with Sumanth and Charmme Kaur in 2004.[5] It was also remade in Bengali in 2007 as Kotha Dao Sathi Hobe starring Shakib Khan and Apu Biswas.[6]
Synopsis
Thirumalai is a rough-looking kind-hearted young man who works as a mechanic in Chennai. He has 3 close friends with whom he often plays carrom. Thirumalai have developed close relations with his neighbors – Selvam and Nagalakshmi, who are couples. He considers Nagalakshmi as his sister. Thirumalai develops feelings for Shwetha after meeting her on New Year's Day. At first, Shwetha doesn't want to associate with him and swears to her father that she doesn't even know about him.
Thirumalai tries out many ways to win Shwetha's heart. One day one of his friend elope with his lover from her wedding. Thirumalai went with them at the wedding venue and become successful in winning heart of the girl's father and her fiancee, letting the girl marry his friend. Shwetha soon recropriates his feelings after understanding his good nature. However, Shwetha's father, Ashok, who is the owner of six TV channels, gets unhappy with their relationship due to status issues and assigns a gangster named Arasu to finish Thirumalai.
He kidnaps Thirumalai's friends and neighbors and threatens him. Later Arasu release all of them. Arasu eventually understands Thirumalai is a good person and decides to become a good person which didn't please his assistant Dass. Dass turns Arasu's men against him to beat him and Thirumalai up. Thirumalai eventually fixes the issue and reunites with Shwetha making Ashok understand the way of life.
Cast
- Vijay as Thirumalai
- Jyothika as Swetha
- Manoj K. Jayan as Arasu
- Avinash as Ashok, Swetha's father
- Vivek as Palanisamy
- Raghuvaran as Selvam, Thirumalai's neighbour
- Kausalya as Nagalakshmi, Selvam's wife
- Karunas as Gopi
- Five Star Krishna as Krishna
- T. P. Gajendran as Gopal, Gopi's father
- Shanthi Williams as Anju Mahendran's mother
- Ajay Rathnam as Traffic Police Officer
- Lavanya as Uma
- Bonda Mani as Fake Astrologer
- Anju Mahendran as Thirumalai's friend
- Pasi Sathya as Paravatham, Palani's grandmother
- Cell Murugan as a devotee from Tirupati
- Annadurai Kannadasan as S. Raja (Company Owner)
- Kalairani as Gopi's mother
- Nizhalgal Ravi as Dass, Arasu's assistant
- Vijay Krishnaraj as Rathnavel, Uma's father
- Sakthi Kumar
- Kovai Senthil
- Master Udayaraj as Suma, Thirumalai's friend
- R. Sundaramoorthy as Arasu's victim
- Nellai Siva as Thirumalai's friend
- Raghava Lawrence in a special appearance in the song "Thaamthakka Dheemthakka"
- Kiran Rathod as Jakkamma in a special appearance in the song "Vaadiyamma Jakkamma"
- Ashok Raja in a special appearance in the song "Vaadiyamma Jakkamma"
Production
The filming began in October 2002, when Vijay was simultaneously shooting for his previous masala flicks such as Vaseegara (2003) and Pudhiya Geethai (2003). Directing the film was debutant Ramana who had apprenticed with director R. K. Selvamani. The shooting finally ended in April 2003. On 20th of April 2003, Vijay stated that he had started dubbing for his portions of the film. Vijay also sported a new look, which he maintained and varied for his subsequent films until Puli (2015). It was actually director Ramana, who suggested Vijay that he maintain a new look in the film, with his mustache trimmed and growing a beard. Vijay was initially hesitant to do so, but upon seeing the screen test, he was impressed with his new getup.
Namrata Shirodkar was chosen initially to play the female lead. But the director was not satisfied with her onscreen presence and she was replaced by Jyothika.[7][8] This was her second film with Vijay after Kushi (2000).
Since the film's protagonist portrays a mechanic residing in Pudhupettai area, a set resembling Pudhupettai with a mechanic shop in it was erected at Mohan Studios at a cost of about {{INR}} 50 lakh within 40 days.[9][10] Designed by art director Kathir, shooting took place there for 30 days. The film's shooting occurred in Chennai, Nellore and Vishakhapatnam, while the songs were filmed overseas.[11]
Music
Thirumalai | ||||
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Soundtrack album by Vidyasagar | ||||
Released | 22 June 2003 | |||
Recorded | 2002–2003 | |||
Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
Label | New Music Hit Musics Classic Audio Ayngaran Music | |||
Producer | Vidyasagar | |||
Vidyasagar chronology | ||||
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Music was composed by Vidyasagar.[12] The audio's album consisting of five songs, was released on 22nd June 2003, which marked Vijay's 29th birthday. It was the third collaboration of Vijay and Vidyasagar, preceded by Coimbatore Maapillai (1995) and Nilaave Vaa (1998).[13] The audio was also well received among the audience and marked a series of collaborations across the 2000s between Vijay and Vidyasagar with Ghilli (2004), Madhurey (2004), Aathi (2006), Kuruvi (2008) and Kaavalan (2011).
Song | Singers | Lyrics | Picturization |
---|---|---|---|
"Thaamthakka Dheemthakka" | Tippu, Karthik | Na. Muthukumar | Vijay, Raghavendra Lawrence |
"Vaadiyamma Jakkamma" | Udit Narayan | Kabilan | Vijay, Kiran Rathod |
"Neeyaa Pesiyadhu" | Shankar Mahadevan | Yugabharathi | Vijay, Jyothika |
"Azhagooril Poothvale" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Sujatha Mohan | Arivumathi | Vijay, Jyothika |
"Dhimsu Katta" | Tippu, Srilekha Parthasarathy | Pa. Vijay | Vijay, Jyothika |
Release
The film was released on 24 October 2003 worldwide, on the occasion of Diwali, and was commercially successful. The film released alongside Pithamagan and Anjaneya.
Reception
Ananda Vikatan rated the film 39 out of 100.[14] Nowrunning gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and stated "Yet another poor-boy rich-girl romance with parental opposition and mafia interference".[15] Chennai Online wrote "There's nothing fresh here that we haven't seen in an earlier Vijay film. The Vijay-Jyotika pair, after their successful combination in Kushi, was expected to re-create the same magic on screen. But it doesn't happen".[16] Thiraipadam wrote "Thirumalai sees director Ramana working within two big limitations. He has an age-old poor boy-rich girl love story in hand and has to contend with Vijay's mass image. Considering these restrictions, he has done a commendable job. By fashioning the hero's character a little differently and designing a fast screenplay that contains several stock situations but resolves them differently, he overcomes those negatives to deliver an entertaining feature".[17] Behindwoods wrote " Things were never going easy for Vijay until Thirumalai happened and resurrected his image as a mass hero that he’s become today. The film was a well executed commercial potboiler which showcased Vijay excelling at all aspects of his role."[18]
References
- ^ "Vijay's Thirumalai made on a budget of 4 crore collected 39 crore at the box office". Cineulagam (in Tamil). 3 April 2022. Archived from the original on 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
- ^ "Thirumalai (2003) | Thirumalai Tamil Movie Cast & Crew, Release Date, Review, Photos, Videos". FilmiBeat. Archived from the original on 13 January 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
- ^ "Thirumalai (2003)". IMDb. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
- ^ "16. Thirumalai (2003) | Top 20 Best Films of Vijay". behindwoods.com. Archived from the original on 12 January 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
- ^ "Gowri Review". Full Hyderabad. Archived from the original on 29 December 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
- ^ "Kotha Dao Sathi Hobe – Shakib Khan, Apu Bishwas". airtelscreen.com. Archived from the original on 31 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ^ "Thirumalai Unseen Stills ~ Namrata shirodkar As heroine. | Facebook". Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2019 – via Facebook.[non-primary source needed]
- ^ "Jyothika Replaces Ms Shirodkar - Sify.com". Sify. Archived from the original on 29 November 2003. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ "Vijay works like a man possessed!". Cinesouth. 27 June 2003. Archived from the original on 10 April 2004. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
- ^ "புதுப்பேட்டை பிரம்மா". Kalki (in Tamil). 16 November 2003. p. 17. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
- ^ "Thirumalai". 22 December 2003. Archived from the original on 22 December 2003.
- ^ "Thirumalai Songs Download, Thirumalai Tamil MP3 Songs, Raaga.com Tamil Songs". raaga.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ "Thirumalai (2002) – Vidyasagar". Archived from the original on 29 June 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020 – via mio.to.
- ^ சார்லஸ், தேவன் (22 June 2021). "பீஸ்ட் : 'நாளைய தீர்ப்பு' டு 'மாஸ்டர்'... விஜய்க்கு விகடனின் மார்க்கும், விமர்சனமும் என்ன? #Beast". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
- ^ "Thirumalai review". Now running. Archived from the original on 24 December 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
- ^ "Thirumalai". 30 November 2003. Archived from the original on 30 November 2003.
- ^ "Thirumalai – Tamil Movie Review". thiraipadam.com. Archived from the original on 21 November 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ "TOP 20 BEST FILMS OF VIJAY". Behindwoods. Archived from the original on 15 May 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
External links
- Thirumalai at IMDb
- v
- t
- e
- K. Balachander
- Rajam Balachander
- Pushpa Kandaswamy
- Pyramid Natarajan
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- Vaaname Ellai (1992)
- Jaathi Malli (1993)
- Duet (1994)
- Kalki (1996)
- Paarthale Paravasam (2001)
- Pudhiavan (1984)
- Poovilangu (1984)
- Vanna Kanavugal (1987)
- Siva (1989)
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- Manal Kayiru (1983)
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- Thirumathi Oru Vegumathi (1986)
- Penmani Aval Kanmani (1988)
- Varavu Nalla Uravu (1990)
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