Alai (film)

Aathi (Silambarasan) and Meera (Trisha) fall in love after the usual playful tiffs. On a visit to a friend's village for his marriage, the two of them help the friend stand up against his father and wed his sweetheart instead of the girl his father had fixed up his marriage with. With all these things, Aathi's father (Raghuvaran) arranges a marriage for him. After a big confusion, Aathi and Meera are together.

Prior to release, the film made headlines when Silambarasan revealed that he was to undergo an image makeover for the film and move away from his "mass image" after appearing in such roles in Kadhal Azhivathillai and Dum.[1]

The film received generally poor reviews with a critic noting "with a wafer thin storyline the director attempts to stretch ones patience with so called humour and Trisha roaming in skimpy dresses. Post release the movie became popular only because of the song called "En Ragasiya Kanavugal".[2]

"Soon after the failure of Alai, it was reported that the lead pair would come together for a project title Malai produced by P L Thenappan, but the project never took off.[3] After a sabbatical following this film, Vikram Kumar returned in 2009 with the successful horror film Yavarum Nalam. Silambarasan and Trisha later came together eventually for the critically acclaimed Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (2010) by Gautham Menon, which became a commercial success.[4]

Another reviewer from The Hindu noted that "the youthful exploits of Silambarasan, the glamour of Trisha and the winsome music of Vidyasagar fail to do the trick, for the simple reason that the film lacks a taut screenplay with well-knit episodes.".[5] Simbu has to get over his Rajini fixation and try to do something original like acting for instance. The film became a financial failure at the box office.[6]

There are six songs composed by Vidyasagar.[7] Soundtrack received positive reviews.[8] Solakattu Bommai is a re-used tune from Vidyasagar's Malayalam song "Chinga Masam" in Meeshamadhavan.