Villu

 

Villu  is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Prabhu Deva. The film stars Vijay in a dual role as father and son while Nayanthara, Ranjitha, Prakash Raj, and Vadivelu play other prominent roles. Manoj K. Jayan, Devaraj, Adithya, Anandaraj, Sriman and Geetha play supporting roles whilst Prabhu Deva, Mumaith Khan, Zabyn Khan, and Kushboo Sundar appear in item numbers. The film is produced and distributed by Ayngaran International and composed by Devi Sri Prasad. Cinematography was done by Ravi Varman, while editing was handled by Kola Bhaskar. It is the remake of Hit Hindi Movie Soldier, starring Bobby Deol.

The film was released on 12 January 2009 and has collected around 20 crores at the overseas box office. The film acquired #221 spot in 2009 at the United Kingdom box office. The film settled to Domestic collections around ₹40 crores, with overall domestic profit of only ₹50 lakhs. The story revolves around an assassin who infiltrates and destroys a criminal gang to avenge his father's death. The film was also dubbed into Hindi as Ek Aur Jaanbaz Khiladi.

Rediff pointed out that, Vadivelu and Vijay were applauded by the audience for their new style of slap-stick comedy in the film. It was inspired from Charlie Chaplin comedies.

 

Plot

Pugazh is an IITian and Oxford alumnus with a masters degree in chemical engineering. With the help of his relative Inspector Joseph, he succeeds in tracking down a wanted criminal named Raaka and killing him. The scene then shifts to a village, where Pugazh is attending the wedding of a Tahsildar's daughter. He meets Janavi, a friend of the bride, and instantly falls in love with her. After persistent wooing, he succeeds in winning her heart.

Janavi takes Pugazh to Bern to introduce him to her father J. D., a wealthy businessman and arms smuggler. During his stay in Bern, he encounters J. D.'s gang, consisting of Shaan, a hotel pimp named Max, and another henchman. After initial confrontations with the three of them, he starts eliminating them one after another, and then J. D. becomes his remaining target. Janavi soon finds out that Pugazh is plotting to kill her father and warns Pugazh's mother about her son. On the contrary, Pugazh's mother not only knows and supports what Pugazh is doing, she also reveals that she is not his real "mother" and tells her why Pugazh is after her father.

Pugazh's father was Major Saravanan, a patriotic Indian Army officer. During a peacekeeping mission, he noticed J. D., Shaan, Raaka, and their two henchmen, who were then army officers working in his team, accepting money from terrorists in exchange for allowing them to carry out their activities. When he confronted them, they killed him and fabricated a story claiming that since he accepted money from terrorists to help them, they killed him considering the safety of the other soldiers and themselves. He was stripped posthumously of his titles, honours, and badges. During his funeral, his family, consisting of his widow and a young Pugazh, were humiliated by J. D. and the villagers and were banished from their village. The villagers also barred Pugazh from performing his father's last rites and threw the dead body into a ditch. Pugazh's mother sends her son away with Shaan's estranged wife (the adopted "mother") as she did not want him to grow up carrying the stigma of being the son of a disgraced army officer.

In the present day, J. D. takes Pugazh to India to retrieve a Blu-ray containing J. D.'s secret information, which Pugazh had earlier received from Shaan and given to Joseph. Pugazh soon finds out that Raaka is not dead and has kidnapped Joseph. Pugazh manages to flee from J. D.'s and Raaka's clutches, and after a thrilling chase, he reaches an abandoned temple outside his village where he reunites with his mother, who had been living there since being banished from the village. J. D., Raaka, and their henchmen arrive there. They kill Joseph and injure Pugazh. Pugazh kills Raaka and fights with J. D., weakening him. With all of the villagers assembled around the abandoned temple, Pugazh forces J. D. to reveal the truth about Saravanan to them. After his confession, Pugazh kills him. With the truth about Saravanan finally revealed, the army reinstates his titles, honours, and badges and also returns his army badge and uniform to his widow.

 

Cast

·         Vijay as Pugazh and Major Saravanan (dual role)

·         Nayanthara as Janavi, J. D.'s daughter

·         Ranjitha as Major Saravanan's wife/Pugazh's mother

·         Prakash Raj as J. D., the one who killed Saravanan

·         Vadivelu as Maadaswamy {Maada}, the audiographer

·         Manoj K. Jayan as Inspector Joseph, Saravanan's relative

·         Devaraj as Shaan, who was involved in Saravanan's murder

·         Adithya as Rakka

·         Anandaraj as J. D.'s and Shaan's henchman

·         Sriman as Max/Gandy

·         Geetha as Shaan's wife/Pugazh's foster mother

·         Vaiyapuri as Pugazh's friend

·         Raj Kapoor as Village Head

·         Dhamu as VJ

·         Aarthi as Janavi's friend

·         Jyothi as Jyothi, Janavi's friend

·         Pandu as Jyothi's father

·         T. P. Gajendran as Marriage Guest

·         Kumarimuthu

·         Mumaith Khan (special appearance in the song "Daddy Mummy")

·         Zabyn Khan (special appearance in the song "Daddy Mummy")

·         Kushboo Sundar (special appearance in the song "Rama Rama")

·         FEFSI Vijayan (special appearance in the song "Jalsa")

·         Ashok Raja (special appearance in the song "Rama Rama")

·         Ravi Varman (special appearance in the song "Rama Rama")

·         A. C. Mugil (special appearance in the song "Rama Rama")

·         Sunil Babu (special appearance in the song "Rama Rama")

·         Prabhu Deva (special appearance in the song "Rama Rama")