Jilla

Jilla

Theatrical poster
Directed by R. T. Neason
Produced by R. B. Choudary
Written by R. T. Neason
Starring Mohanlal
Vijay
Kajal Aggarwal
Mahat Raghavendra
Niveda Thomas
Soori
Sampath Raj
Music by D. Imman
Cinematography Ganesh Rajavelu
Priyan[1]
(Additional Cinematography)
Edited by Don Max
Production
company
Distributed by Maxlab Entertainments
Ayngaran International
Release dates
  • 9 January 2014 (2014-01-09)

(France, Singapore and Canada)

  • 10 January 2014 (2014-01-10)

(Worldwide)

Running time
 182 minutes[2][3]
Country India
Language Tamil
Budget ₹50 crore (US$7.4 million)[4]
Box office ₹85 crore (US$13 million)[5]

Jilla (English: District) is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language crime-drama film written and directed by R. T. Neason.[6] It stars Mohanlal, Vijay and Kajal Aggarwal in lead roles as well as Soori, Mahat Raghavendra and Sampath Raj in supporting roles.[7] The film, produced by R. B. Choudary, features soundtrack composed by D. Imman with Ganesh Rajavelu and Don Max handling cinematography and editing respectively.

The story revolves around Sakthi, the adopted son of a local crime boss. Sakthi is forced to join the police force, despite his hatred of the police. A horrific incident changes his perspective, and he decides to take the police job seriously, in addition to reforming his father.

The film released on 10 January 2014 and received positive reviews from critics.[8][9] Jilla completed a 100-day theatrical run on 19 April 2014.[10][11] As of 5 February. 2014, the film had earned ₹85 crore at the box office.[5]

Plot

Sakthi (Vijay) is the adopted son of a Madurai-based don Sivan (Mohanlal) and is also his right-hand man, bodyguard and driver. He hates the police due to a police officer killing his father, who was Sivan's driver, in his childhood. His hatred is such that he hates the khaki colour (which is worn by policemen in India), constantly teases his friend Gopal (Soori), who is a sub-inspector, and even loses romantic interest on a woman named Shanthi (Kajal Aggarwal) after he finds out that she is a police inspector. However, when Sivan is insulted by the new Police Commissioner of Madurai (Pradeep Rawat), he forces Sakthi to become an IPS officer to save his crime syndicate and prove the Commissioner's words wrong (A policeman can think like a criminal, but a criminal can never think like a policeman). Reluctantly taking charge as Assistant Commissioner of Police of Madurai city, Sakthi gives free rein to Sivan and his henchmen, who wreak havoc over Madurai, until one of their activities inadvertently causes a gas leak which destroys a school and some nearby buildings, killing several people, including women and children. This incident, along with the assault of a woman (Meenal), whose husband was killed in the gas leak, by Sivan's henchmen when she had come to the police station to lodge a complaint against Sivan, causes Sakthi to take up the path of an honest and upright police officer. Sakthi's new persona is not liked by Sivan and after a heated argument between the two, he disowns Sakthi. A cat-and-mouse game then begins between Sivan and Sakthi, with Sivan, his henchmen and his family determined to humiliate Sakthi at every opportunity, while Sakthi, assisted by Shanthi and Gopal, tries to rid Madurai of Sivan's influence. Sakthi is soon promoted to Deputy Commissioner of Police for his efforts.

Later, Sakthi finds out that Sivan's other adopted son, a minister Aadhi Kesavan (Sampath Raj) is plotting to kill Sivan in revenge for Sivan killing his police officer father (the same police officer who killed Sakthi's father) in his childhood. Since Sakthi had inadvertently thwarted his earlier plans to kill Sivan, he also plans to get Sakthi killed at the hands of Sivan by killing Sivan's son Vignesh (Mahat Raghavendra) and putting the blame on Sakthi for Vignesh's death. Unfortunately for Aadhi, Sivan sees through his plan and reconciles with Sakthi, both of whom team up to kill Aadhi.

In the end, Sakthi reluctantly arrests a reformed Sivan for his misdeeds, on Sivan's request.

Cast

Principal characters
Secondary characters
Special Appearances

Production and distribution

Casting

Upon the completion of Velayudham (2011), Vijay announced his next project to be with R. T. Neason, who had worked in Velayudham as an assistant to director Jayam Raja. The project however commenced only two years later, after Vijay completed three other films.[12][13] Neason described Jilla as a "Madurai-based movie" and also revealed that right from 2009, he had this story line about two powerful characters and their emotional interaction,[14] making it his second directorial after Muruga (2007).[15] Vijay who had several collaborations with R. B. Choudary decided to produce the film.[16] Vairamuthu was chosen to pen the lyrics for a song in Jilla,[17] who would be writing a song for a Vijay-starrer after 12 years.[18] Mohanlal liked the script and accepted the film.[12][13][19] Master Raju Sundaram will be choreographing the dance sequences in the film.[20]

Nisha Agarwal was rumored to be performing in the film, but she denied these rumors on Twitter, stating that she had not been approached for a film role.[21] Kajal Aggarwal and Poornima Bhagyaraj were also slated to perform in the film. Gautam Kurup was signed up as the second antagonist.[22] Niveda Thomas said that she would be playing the daughter of Mohanlal's character and sister of Vijay's character.[23] Due to clash of dates, cinematographer Natarajan Subramaniam was replaced by R. Ganesh.[24] During a photoshoot with the main cast, Nesan announced that filming would take place in Madurai, Chennai and Andhra Pradesh, while songs would be filmed overseas.[25]

Filming

The opening ceremony for the film was held on 11 March 2013[15] at R. B. Choudary's Chennai office.[26][27] The first schedule of film shooting took off on 13 May in Madurai and Karaikudi with Mohanlal and Poornima Bhagyaraj. Vijay was reported to join by the end of the month, but this didn't materialise.[28] For the next schedule the film crew shifted to a Chennai-based studio where large sets resembling the city of Madurai were built up for the film. In September 2013, it was reported that Vijay and Kajal Aggarwal would be playing police officers in the film.[29]

The fourth schedule of the film was supposed to start on 14 August. However, the shooting got cancelled due to heavy rain.[30] In October it was reported that 80% of the film had been completed with only the song sequences remaining.[31]

Home media

The satellite rights of the film were purchased by Sun TV for a record price of ₹16 crore (US$2.4 million).[32][33]

Soundtrack

Main article: Jilla (soundtrack)

Critical reception

Jilla received positive reviews from critics.[8][9] Sify stated that the film is a "Mass Masala Entertainer" and wrote, "Jilla is masala entertainment and a full course meal that leaves you with a smile on your face", calling it "a perfect outing with your family this festival season and rated 4/5".[34] The Times of India gave 3.5 stars out of 5 and stated "As far as commercial films are concerned, Jilla is definitely assured filmmaking", while adding, "the main issue with Jilla is that it is overlong. Neason, probably in an effort to make it a wholesome entertainer, keeps packing in scenes oblivious to the running time.[35]

Indiaglitz gave 3.25/5 and stated that the film is racy and pure family entertainer and movie entertains all audience".[36][37] Behindwoods gave 3.75 out of 5 and stated, "The charismatic screen presence of Vijay and Mohanlal,enjoyable musical tracks and comedy scenes and power packed action sequences marks Jilla that satisfies audience.[38] Bangalore Mirror gave 3.5 out of 5 and called it "a perfect festival film that has all the trappings of a blockbuster"[39]

International Business Times gave 4/5 and stated Vijay's and Mohanlal's performances makes the movie entertaining to the audience.[36] Gautaman Bhaskaran of Hindustan Times gave the film 3/5 stars and stated,"Vijay and Mohanlal captivating style and powerful performance makes the movie a solid family entertainer".[40] S Saraswathi of Rediff gave 3.5/5 and wrote,"Vijay and Mohanlal easily keep the audience entertained with their powerful performances, both equally confident and secure in their own ability, undoubtedly making the film a solid commercial entertainer for the masses."[41]

Box office

India

Jilla's opening netted around ₹10 million (US$150,000) in Tamil Nadu alone.[42] IB Times stated it opened well in Kerala too.[43] It grossed around ₹25 million (US$370,000) wordwide on its opening day and ₹70 million (US$1.0 million) worldwide in its extended five-day weekend.[44][45] In Chennai city alone, the film netted ₹3.24 million (US$48,000)in the first week with an average theater occupancy of 97% and stood first for the weekend.[46] The second week had an occupancy of 85-90% in the city and netted around ₹3.60 million (US$53,000)[47]

The film still stood at the number ten position in Chennai by the third week resulting in a total collection of ₹5.98 million (US$89,000) [48] Jilla grossed around ₹5 million (US$74,000) by the fourth week in Kerela.[49] After 8 weeks at the Chennai box office, the film netted around ₹5.8 million (US$86,000)[50]

Overseas

Jilla released at 44 screens in UK.[51] The film collected ₹1.54 crore (US$230,000) [52] Jilla has grossed £4,815 from five screens in its third weekend at the UK box office. It had a collection of £243,029 (₹2.54 crore (US$380,000)) in 17 days. In Australia. The film has grossed a total of A$43,899 ₹24.06 lakh (US$36,000) in 17 days at the Australian box office.[53] Jilla opened at Number 2 in Malaysian Box Office and was released in 69 screens. Jilla has made ₹24.06 lakh (US$36,000) from 36 screens in the first weekend.[54]

Dropped plans of Telugu remake

In a meeting with his fans' association at Srikakulam in January 2014, Chiranjeevi announced that he wants V. V. Vinayak to direct the remake of Jilla (2014) starring himself and his son Ram Charan after the 2014 Indian general elections. It was supposed to be Chiranjeevi's 150th film as an actor.[55] Chiranjeevi opted to choose a script that would reflect the sentiments of Telugu people and walked out from the remake.[56] Charan felt uncomfortable to reprise a role where he has to oppose his father and being dissatisfied with the story, he dropped the remake's proposal.[57]

In late March 2014, R. T. Neason, the director of the original, wanted to direct the Telugu remake bankrolled by Super Good Films. Neason wanted Nandamuri Balakrishna and N. T. Rama Rao Jr. to reprise the roles played by Mohanlal and Vijay in the original respectively.[58] It's possibility was doubtful because of the strained relationship between Balakrishna and Rama Rao Jr. in the past few years.[59] After the release of Gopala Gopala (2015), its co-producer Sharat Marar acquired the remake rights of Jilla and approached Daggubati Venkatesh and Ravi Teja with the proposal of its remake to be directed by Veeru Potla.[60]

In the past, Potla approached both Venkatesh and Ravi Teja with a storyline in July 2014 which upon their consent was developed into a script,[61] which remained in scripting stage according to Ravi Teja as of late September 2014.[62] Kona Venkat was reported to pen the remake's screenplay.[57] Ravi Teja evinced interest to be a part of the remake and the film's production was expected to begin in April 2015.[63] However, there were reports stating that Jilla would be dubbed into Telugu with a duration of 140 minutes including a separate track shot on Brahmanandam.[64] Also, Rama Rao Jr.'s elder brother Nandamuri Kalyan Ram planned to remake Jilla in Telugu with Balakrishna after arranging a special screening for the latter.[65]

The Telugu dubbed version was confirmed in mid April 2015. Tamatam Kumar Reddy and Prasad Sannidhi of Sri Obuleswara Productions acquired the Telugu dubbing rights while R. B. Chowdary was announced to present the film. Surekha Vani and L. B. Sriram were confirmed to be a part of the separate track shot on Vijay and Brahmanandam. Shashank Vennelakanti penned the dialogues for the Telugu dubbed version.[66] After considering many other titles, Jilla was retained for the Telugu dubbed version.[67]

See also

List of highest-grossing Tamil films

References

  1. ↑ "Crew of Jilla shoots song sequences in Japan". Indiaglitz. 6 November 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  2. ↑ "Central Board of Film Certificate scan copy of Jilla". Central Board of Film Certificate.
  3. ↑ Jilla movie joins100 crore club box office collections worldwide | News. Metromasti.com. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  4. ↑ "First Day Box Office Collections of 'Jilla' and 'Veeram'". Deccan Chronicle. 15 January 2014.
  5. 1 2 'Jilla' Box Office Collection: Vijay-Mohanlal Starrer Wins BO Battle. M.ibtimes.co.in (5 February 2014). Retrieved on 2015-05-31.
  6. ↑ "It's challenging to work with Mohanlal,Vijay, in 'Jilla', says Nesan". IBN Live. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  7. ↑ "Mohanlal-Vijay team up for Tamil film 'Jilla' to be directed by Nesan". IBN Live. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  8. 1 2 'Jilla' Review Roundup: Vijay, Mohanlal Hold Film with Impressive Performances – International Business Times. International Business Times. (11 January 2014). Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  9. 1 2 Anjaan To Beat Ajith's Veeram, Vijay's Jilla Records At Box Office. Filmibeat (11 August 2014). Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  10. ↑ "Siva and Sakthi do it together!". Behindwoods. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  11. ↑ Box-office – Vijay at No.1 and Ajith at No.3. Behindwoods.com (11 November 2014). Retrieved on 2015-05-31.
  12. 1 2 "Mohanlal plays a Godfather in upcoming Tamil film 'Jilla'". IBN Live. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  13. 1 2 "Mohanlal as Godfather in Jilla". KeralaOnlineNews. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  14. ↑ Power play. The Hindu (8 January 2014). Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  15. 1 2 "Vijay's Jilla gets rolling". New Indian Express. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  16. ↑ "Vijay next film with R.B.Choudary?". indiaglitz. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  17. ↑ "Kaviperarasu Vairamuthu will be penning a song for Vijays Jilla". behindwoods. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  18. ↑ "Imman ropes in Vairamuthu for Vijay". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  19. ↑ Mohanlal first, Vijay next in Jilla! – Times Of India. The Times of India. (26 December 2013). Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  20. ↑ "Vairamuthu and Raju Sundaram for Jilla". indiaglitz. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  21. ↑ "Nisha Agarwal not part of Jilla". The Times of India. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  22. ↑ New baddie in tinsel town. The Hindu (6 April 2013). Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  23. ↑ "Niveda Thomas in Mohanlal-Vijay's 'Jilla'". The Times of India. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  24. ↑ "Jilla undergoes a major change". The Times of India. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  25. ↑ "Vijay-Kajal Aggarwal join Jilla photoshoot". OneIndia. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  26. ↑ "Vijay's Jilla launched". One India. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  27. ↑ "'Jilla' pooja". indiaglitz. 9 March 2013.
  28. ↑ "A late entry from Vijay". Behindwoods. 10 May 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  29. ↑ Both Vijay and Kajal play cops in Jilla – Times Of India. The Times of India. (7 September 2013). Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  30. ↑ "Jilla shooting cancelled". iFlickz. 14 August 2013.
  31. ↑ Vijay's Jilla is 80% complete and song sequences remain. Behindwoods.com (15 October 2013). Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  32. ↑ Kanchana Devi (6 February 2014) Jilla is the biggest winner, box office collection report reveals. truthdive.com
  33. ↑ Sun TV acquires satellite rights of Veeram and Jilla – Tamil Movie News. Indiaglitz.com (14 November 2013). Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  34. ↑ Movie Review : Jilla. Sify.com. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  35. ↑ Jilla movie review. The Times of India. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  36. 1 2 "'Jilla' Review Roundup: Vijay, Mohanlal Hold Film with Impressive Performances". International Business Times. 11 January 2014.
  37. ↑ Jilla Tamil Movie Review – cinema preview stills gallery trailer video clips showtimes. Indiaglitz.com (10 January 2014). Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  38. ↑ Jilla (aka) Jilla review. Behindwoods.com (10 January 2014). Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  39. ↑ Movie review: Jilla. Bangalore Mirror (10 January 2014). Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  40. ↑ Movie review: Watch Jilla for Mohanlal's performance, Vijay's charisma. Hindustan Times (11 January 2014).
  41. ↑ Jilla is a commercial entertainer. Rediff (11 January 2014).
  42. ↑ "First Day Box Office Collections of 'Jilla' and 'Veeram'". Deccan Chronicle.
  43. ↑ "Box Office Collection: Ajith's 'Veeram', Vijay's 'Jilla' 4-Week Worldwide Figures". International Business Times. 10 February 2014.
  44. ↑ "`Jilla` and `Veeram` make merry at BO". Sify.
  45. ↑ "Box Office Collection: 'Jilla', 'Veeram' Beat Surya's 'Singam 2' 1st Week Record". International Business Times.
  46. ↑ "Jilla box office collection". behindwoods.com.
  47. ↑ "Jilla box office collection". behindwoods.com.
  48. ↑ "Jilla box office collection". behindwoods.com.
  49. ↑ "100 days of Jilla". behindwoods.com.
  50. ↑ "Jilla box office collection". behindwoods.com.
  51. ↑ "Box Office Collection: 'Veeram', 'Jilla' Fare Well in Overseas Markets; Surpass 'Dhoom 3' Figures in Malaysia". International Business Times. 29 November −0001.
  52. ↑ "Box Office Collections of Vijay’s 'Jilla' and Ajith’s 'Veeram'". Deccan Chronicle. 16 January 2014
  53. ↑ "Box Office: Vijay's 'Jilla', Ajith's 'Veeram' 17-Day Collections in Overseas Markets". International Business Times. 29 January 2014.
  54. ↑ "Jilla Box Office & Other Collections: Vijay's Flick Reaches 100 Crore Mark". www.filmibeat.com. 17 January 2014
  55. ↑ "Chiru missing the arc lights?". Deccan Chronicle. 13 January 2014. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  56. ↑ S. S., Kamal (18 March 2014). "Jilla remake in Telugu soon". Bangalore Mirror. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  57. 1 2 "Venkatesh, Ravi Teja in Jilla remake". Bangalore Mirror. 4 March 2015. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  58. ↑ "Who gets to be Shiva and Shakthi in Round 2?". Behindwoods. 25 March 2014. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  59. ↑ "Neason wants Balakrishna and NTR in 'Jilla' remake". IndiaGlitz. 25 March 2014. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  60. ↑ IANS (5 March 2015). "Venkatesh, Ravi Teja in Jilla remake". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  61. ↑ A. S., Sashidhar (18 July 2014). "Venkatesh - Ravi Teja multi-starrer on the cards". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  62. ↑ A. S., Sashidhar (29 September 2014). "I'm actually a little shy: Ravi Teja". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  63. ↑ IANS (6 March 2015). "Telugu remake of 'Jilla' set to roll". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  64. ↑ "Jilla returns ... this summer". Behindwoods. 4 March 2015. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  65. ↑ Prakash, B. V. S. (6 March 2015). "Balakrishna, Kalyanram to remake Jilla?". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  66. ↑ "No Jilla remake in Telugu". IndiaGlitz. 14 April 2015. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  67. ↑ "Vijay's Jilla releasing in Telugu with the same title". IndiaGlitz. 28 April 2015. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.

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