Vellaikaara Durai

Vellakkaara Durai
Directed by	Ezhil
Produced by	G. N. Anbu Chezhiyan
Written by	Ezhil
Starring	Vikram Prabhu Soori Sri Divya John Vijay
Music by	D. Imman
Cinematography	Sooraj Nallusami
Edited by	Kishore Te.
Production company	Gopuram films
Distributed by	Olympia Movies
Release date	25 December 2014 (2014-12-25)[1]
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	₹5 crore (US$700,000)
Box office	₹16.5 crore (US$2.3 million)

Vellakkaara Durai (lit. Durai, the white) is a 2014 Indian Tamil comedy film directed by Ezhil. The film features Vikram Prabhu, Soori, Sri Divya and John Vijay in the lead roles. The film commenced shoot from May 2014. The film opened to mixed reviews from critics, but it was a box office hit.

Plot

'Police' Pandi (Soori) is the owner of a real estate agency, in which he borrows 15 lakhs from 'Vatti' Varadhan, a local rowdy and don to start his business. Murugan (Vikram Prabhu) is 'Police' Pandi's assistant and he gives the media an advertisement in which he persuades people to buy land from "his" company making many people persuaded from it. A billionaire wants to buy all the land and when he is about the to sign the papers, they find out that the land is actually a graveyard causing the billionaire to not buy the land any more. When they are in the bar drinking alcohol, a call comes on 'Police' Pandi's phone. Murugan answers it, thinking it was the broker, who sold them the land, but it was actually 'Vatti' Varadhan. Murugan talks to 'Vatti' Varadhan in foul language and when he ends the call, 'Police' Pandi tells them that it was actually 'Vatti' Varadhan. He moves to another table and asks a man there for some more wine. The whole group befriend the guy, who is unable to speak.

The next morning, they find themselves in 'Vatti' Varadhan's house, where it is just like jail. There are many people, who work there, because they couldn't give back the money they borrowed. They all end up working there, except for Murugan who saved 'Vatti' Varadhan, when a few men tried to kill him, causing him to become his supervisor,\. One day, a worker in there gets to go home revealing to the others that 'Chinnamma' lets some people go. When Murugan enquires about her to 'Police' Pandi, he tells him that she is 'Vatti' Varadhan's sister. Murugan then goes to her room and threatens her to let them go as well. But when he sees Yamuna/ 'Chinnamma' (Sri Divya), Murugan immediately falls for her. Murugan then starts wooing her, but Yamuna still doesn't accept him.

One day, Vatti arranges for his engagement and Murugan and Pandi start arranging everything. When the Iyar Swamji asks them to bring the bride, Murugan gets shocked seeing Yamuna as the bride. When'Police' Pandi asks 'Vatti' Varadhan's servants why they brought 'Vatti' Varadhan's sister, they revealed that she isn't his sister and is the woman 'Vatti' Varadhan has been waiting to marry. Murugan drinks wine after hearing this, but he then sees Yamuna escaping. They get on a lorry and Yamuna reveals to him why she escaped.

Yamuna's mother died, when she was five years old and only her father, Manickam looked after her. Manickam takes care of the people's problems, considers them as his own, and helps them. He promises the men, that he will give 'Vatti' Varadhan the money that they borrowed and helps them. One day, Manickam dies and no one helps Yamuna to give 'Vatti' Varadhan the money that Manickam promised to give. 'Vatti' Varadhan gives her an idea by saying that if she marries him, she won't need to give the money. So, Yamuna reluctantly agrees. Murugan then asks if she needs any help, but Yamuna refuses and they separate. Somehow, 'Vatti' Varadhan finds them and he hits Murugan unconscious. He forcefully takes Yamuna with him and arranges their marriage. But the man, who is unable to speak, later revealed to actually be a terrorist, dies and their marriage stops. Yamuna sees Murugan again, hugs him, asking him to kill 'Vatti' Varadhan, and stop the marriage. Murugan agrees and he plans to kill him. But, everything does not go according to the plan, when some terrorists kidnap 'Vatti' Varadhan. Finally, Yamuna and Murugan are united together by quarreling.

Cast

Production

Ezhil and Vikram Prabhu agreed terms to begin a film project in November 2013 for producer Anbu, adding that the shoot would start in early 2014. The shoot of the film began in April 2014 in Thanjavur with Vikram reportedly playing a singer, while Sri Divya, Soori, John Vijay and M. S. Bhaskar were added to the cast.^[2] The film was titled as Vellaikaara Durai in June 2014.^[3]

Soundtrack

Music was composed by D. Imman, collaborating with Ezhil for the third time after Manam Kothi Paravai and Desingu Raja. The soundtrack contains 4 songs. 3 songs were written by Yugabharathi and 1 song were written by Vairamuthu. The album was released on 9 December 2014 at Suryan FM Radio station and received mixed reviews. Behindwoods rated the album 2.5/5 stating "Vellaikaara Durai is a neat album where Imman plays it very safe.".^[4] Sify rated the album 2.5/5 stating "Imman has a forgettable outing"^[5]

Release

The satellite rights of the film were sold to Zee Thamizh.

Critical reception

The Hindu wrote, "The film takes a story template and incorporates into it one ridiculous joke after another...To be fair, the film only tries to deliver on what it promises — a laugh riot with all the masala elements to satisfy the B and C centres", with the critic concluding that "Vellaikaara Durai could be the secret pleasure you would never admit to have enjoyed".^[6] Sify wrote, "The problem with Vellaikara Durai is that the actors try too hard to be funny but the writing does not offer anything new", going on to call it an "average comedy entertainer which might appeal to audience who never expect logic but only mindless comedies".^[7]

Box office

The film was a box office hit collecting 16.5 crores against the budget of 5 crores worldwide.

References

External links

• Vellaikaara Durai on IMDb