Ghilli

This article is about the 2004 Tamil film. For the 2009 Kannada film, see Gilli (film).
Ghilli

Film poster
Directed by Dharani
Produced by A. M. Rathnam
Written by Bharathan (dialogues)
Screenplay by Dharani
Story by Gunasekhar
Starring
Music by Vidyasagar
Cinematography Gopinath
Edited by V. T. Vijayan
Production
company
Release dates
  • 17 April 2004 (2004-04-17)
Running time
 168 minutes
Country India
Language Tamil

Ghilli (English: Risk taker) is a 2004 Indian Tamil action film directed by Dharani and produced by A. M. Rathnam under the production company Sri Surya Movies. The film features Trisha and Vijay in lead roles with Ashish Vidyarthi, Dhamu, Prakash Raj, Mayilsamy and Janaki Sabesh playing supporting roles. The film is a remake of Telugu film Okkadu (2003).

The soundtrack album and background score were composed by Vidyasagar. Cinematography was handled by Gopinath and editing was done by V. T. Vijayan. Dialogues for the film were written by Bharathan. The plot revolves around an aspiring Kabaddi player who saves a girl from a murderous factionalist leader who wants to marry her. It was released on 17 April 2004.

Plot

Velu alias Ghilli (Vijay), is a state-level kabaddi player who is the son of Chennai's Assistant Commissioner of Police Sivasubramanian (Ashish Vidyarthi). Sivasubramanian is not fond of his son, constantly chiding him for his lack of interest in studies and his love for kabaddi. In contrast, his mother (Janaki Sabesh) dotes on him and his younger sister Bhuvana (Nancy Jennifer), a sharp and inquisitive schoolgirl, constantly get Velu into trouble with his father, but nevertheless adores him.

Meanwhile in Madurai, there is a ruthless factionalist leader Muthupandi (Prakash Raj), who is obsessed with Dhanalakshmi (Trisha) and would do anything to marry her. Muthupandi kills Dhanalakshmi's elder brother as he rejects his offer to marry her. Then Dhanalakshmi’s younger brother is also killed by Muthupandi when he tries to avenge his brother's murder. Dhanalakshmi’s father (Vinod Raj) is a meek person who gets horrified by Muthupandi’s acts and asks Dhanalakshmi to leave Madurai and lead a peaceful life at her uncle’s place in the United States by giving her the necessary certificates and money. Muthupandi catches her when she starts fleeing because by coincidence she gets into one of the lorries owned by him. At this juncture, Velu, who is in Madurai to play in a kabaddi tournament, rescues Dhanalakshmi and takes her to Chennai.

Velu takes Dhanalakshmi to his house and hides her in his room, unknown to his family. With the help of his friends, he arranges passport, visa and flight tickets for Dhanalakshmi so that she can go to the USA. Meanwhile, Muthupandi and his father (Tanikella Bharani), who is the Home Minister, ask Sivasubramanian to search for Dhanalakshmi and the apparent kidnapper. When Sivasubramanian discovers that it is his own son who did the "crime", Velu and Dhanalakshmi run away and hide in the lighthouse. Dhanalakshmi has by now fallen in love with Velu, and has been accepted by Velu's mother and sister. So she is reluctant to go to the USA. Velu however, is adamant on sending her to the USA and he, along with his friends, get her to the airport in time for her flight before their kabaddi match against Punjab in the final of the National League. Sivasubramanian, enraged that his son is a wanted criminal and yet is playing in a kabaddi match, goes to the stadium to arrest Velu. By now, Velu too has fallen in love with Dhanalakshmi and begins to miss her, only to spot her in the stadium during the match. Velu's lack of focus in the game is replaced by his best on seeing Dhanalakshmi, winning Tamil Nadu the championship. After winning the championship, Velu is arrested by his father, but is then stopped by Muthupandi, who wants to fight Velu, having been incited by Dhanalakshmi to do so to prove his worth. Velu defeats Muthupandi and embraces Dhanalakshmi, but when Muthupandi regains consciousness and tries to kill Velu, he accidentally falls on a floodlight and dies.

Cast

Production

Vijay expressed interest in starring in a Tamil remake of the Telugu action film Okkadu and prompted producer A. M. Rathnam to purchase the remake rights of the film. Dharani was finalized as the director, whose previous film Dhool under Rathnam's production had been a financial success. Dharani's regular crew members including cinematographer Gopinath and music director Vidyasagar joined the film, while Rocky Rajesh and Raju Sundaram were chosen to choreograph the stunts and dances, respectively.

Simran was roped to play the female lead opposite Vijay, but due to her wedding arrangements Trisha Krishnan was replaced to play the female lead, while Prakash Raj was signed on to reprise the villain's character from the original. Dhamu and Prabhu Deva's brother, Nagendra Prasad were recruited to essay supporting roles. Ashish Vidyarthi, Janaki Sabesh and Baby Jennifer were selected to portray Vijay's parents and sister, respectively. Playback singer T. K. Kala made her acting debut with this film.[3] Vimal who went on to act in films like Pasanga (2009) and Kalavani (2010) appeared in a small role as one of Vijay's teammates and also worked as "unofficial" assistant director.[4]

Filming began in mid-2003, after Vijay had completed his action flick Thirumalai; the film was completed by early 2004. Filming took place in Chennai surrounding the coastal areas like Mylapore and Besant Nagar. The film's introduction fight scene and a song were shot in a costly set in Prasad studios.[5] A lighthouse set was also erected. Other action and chasing sequences were canned near the Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai. The climax scene was shot in a crowd of one hundred thousand people on a Vinayagar Chaturthi occasion.[6]

Soundtrack

Ghilli
Soundtrack album by Vidyasagar
Genre Feature film soundtrack
Label Five Star Audio
Producer Vidyasagar
Vidyasagar chronology
Madhurey
(2004)		 Ghilli
(2004)		 Sullan
(2004)

The soundtrack features 6 songs composed by Vidyasagar.The lyrics were penned by Yugabharathi, Pa. Vijay, Na. Muthukumar, Kabilan and Maran. The soundtrack became a sensation on release. The song Appadi Podu in particular enjoyed high popularity upon release, all over South India and became a huge chartbuster. The song was later reused by Chakri as "Adaragottu" in the Telugu movie Krishna (2008).[7] The song was also adapted as Hum Na Tode in the Hindi movie Boss starring Akshay Kumar.[8] Following the internet phenomenon of "Why This Kolaveri Di" in 2011, "Appadi Podu" was featured alongside "Oh Podu", "Nakka Mukka" and "Ringa Ringa" in a small collection of south Indian songs that are considered a "national rage" in India.[9][10]

Track list
No. TitleSinger(s) Length
1. "Kabadi"  Maran, Jayamoorty 01:44
2. "Arjunaru Villu"  Sukhwinder Singh 04:27
3. "Sha La La"  Sunidhi Chauhan 04:30
4. "Appadi Podu"  KK, Anuradha Sriram 05:53
5. "Soora Thenga"  Tippu 04:03
6. "Kokkarakko"  Udit Narayan, Sujatha Mohan 05:00

Release

Ghilli was due for release on 9 April but later got postponed for a week and opened in over 150 theaters on 16 April. Though the reason for the postponement was not given out, rumors were that producer A M Rathnam's creditors put pressure on him to settle his accounts before release. Since Vijay's previous venture Udhaya did not not fare well at the box office.[6]

Reception

Sify appreciated the film for its fast moving screenplay and said as a racy entertainer giving a rating of 3.5/5 stars.[11] Nowrunning.com stated that "Gilli, story wise, is neither fresh popcorn nor spicy samosa found in theaters but the screenplay and overall treatment is as fresh and appetizing as full meals after a long day and gave an overall rating of 3/5 stars.[12] The Hindu stated that "Vijay, the hero whom the masses today identify with, and Prakash Raj, the inimitable villain in tow, this remake of the Telugu flick, "Okkadu," comes a clear winner".[13] Indiaglitz called the film that Gilli is an out and out entertainer and commented that "Vijay and Trisha on track with another blockbuster".[14] Rediff stated that, "Don't miss 'Ghilli'.[15]

Box office

In Chennai city alone, the film grossed ₹1.06 crore which was a new record.[16] The film released all over the State met with unprecedented response.[17] Ghilli has done a business worth ₹1.75 crore to ₹1.90 crore in Coimbatore. It reached the 100-day mark on July 25 and collected an ₹18 crore distributor's share[18] in the domestic box office, and became alltime highest grosser in tamilnadu beating padayappa, though it fell far below to padayappa and muthalvan in total collection. [19]

Accolades

Remakes & character map

Okkadu (2003)
(Telugu) 		Ghilli (2004)
(Tamil) 		Ajay (2006)
(Kannada) 		Jor (2008)
(Bengali) 		Tevar (2015)
(Hindi)
Ajay
(Mahesh Babu) 		Saravanavelu
(Vijay) 		Ajay
(Puneeth Rajkumar) 		Surja
(Jeetendra Madnani) 		Pintoo Shukla
(Arjun Kapoor)
Swapna Reddy
(Bhumika Chawla) 		Dhanalakshmi
(Trisha Krishnan) 		Paddu
(Anuradha Mehta) 		Sumi
(Barsha Priyadarshini) 		Radhika Mishra
(Sonakshi Sinha)
Obul Reddy
(Prakash Raj) 		Muthupandi
(Prakash Raj)
(Prakash Raj) 		Indrajit
(Subrat Dutta) 		Gajendar Singh
(Manoj Bajpai)
Ajay's father
(Mukesh Rishi) 		Sivasubramanian
(Ashish Vidyarthi) 		Surja's father
(Deepankar De) 		S. P. Shukla
(Raj Babbar)

Legacy

The film established Prakash Raj as a villain and the dialogue Chellam became popular.[21] The scene where Vijay threatens to hurt Trisha when Prakash Raj, who allows him to pass through unopposed was included in the list "Top 20 Mass Scenes" by Behindwoods.[22] The scene was parodied by Shah Rukh Khan in Chennai Express (2013). Behindwoods rated Ghilli as "2004's summer blockbuster of the decade (from 2003 to 2013)".[23]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ghilli (DVD): opening credits from 1.05 to 1.25
  2. 1 2 3 4 Ghilli (DVD): closing credits from 157.25 to 157.30
  3. ↑ grill mill. The Hindu (21 November 2010). Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  4. ↑ Rustic Art: The Actor Vimal Interview. Silverscreen.in. 10 February 2015.
  5. ↑ "Action-packed family drama". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 19 March 2004. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  6. 1 2 "An All time Blockbuster -Ghilli". Sify. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  7. ↑ Articles – CineGoer.com Copy Cat Crown (Part 8). CineGoer.com (31 January 2008). Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  8. ↑ "Music Review: Boss soundtrack is a winner". Rediff. 14 September 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  9. ↑ M Suganth (24 November 2011). "Why south songs are a national rage...". The Times of India. TNN. Archived from the original on 28 June 2014.
  10. ↑ M Suganth (25 November 2011). "Very, Very Kolaveri!". The Times of India. p. 23. Archived from the original on 28 June 2014.
  11. ↑ Movie Review:Gilli. sify.com
  12. ↑ Indian Movies, showitmes, reviews, videos. nowrunning.com
  13. ↑ "Ghilli". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 23 April 2004.
  14. ↑ Gilli Tamil Movie Review – cinema preview stills gallery trailer video clips showtimes. Indiaglitz.com. 25 April 2004.
  15. ↑ Guru Subramaniam (23 April 2004) Don't miss 'Gilli'. You will enjoy it! rediff.com
  16. ↑ "The Summer winner is Ghilli". Hindu. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  17. ↑ "Ghillis record break". indiaglitz.com. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  18. ↑ http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/fr/2004/12/31/stories/2004123101620100.htm
  19. ↑ http://www.indiaglitz.com/ghillis-record-break-tamil-news-9966.html
  20. 1 2 "Filmfare Awards for South India". Idlebrain. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  21. ↑ "'I am elated'". The Hindu. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  22. ↑ "7. Ghilli – Top 20 Mass Scenes". behindwoods.com. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  23. ↑ "2004 – Ghilli – The Summer Blockbusters of the Past Decade!". behindwoods.com. Retrieved 16 September 2015.

External links

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