Vaali
Encyclopedia
Vaali is a 1999 Tamil
thriller film written and directed by S. J. Suryah. The film stars Ajith Kumar
in a dual role with Simran appearing in another leading role. The supporting cast of the film include Jyothika in her debut venture, Livingston
and Vivek
. The film's music is composed by the music director, Deva
while Jeeva
was in charge of the cinematography. The film released on 1 May 1999 and went to become a commercial success as well as becoming critically acclaimed.
Deva meanwhile chances upon Priya and becomes obsessed with attaining her. His obsession continues even after his younger brother gets married to the girl of his dreams and he devises various means of getting close to Priya and keeping Shiva and her separated. Some of the methods Deva uses to woo Priya are masochistic (wounding his hand by the running car engine to stop the couple’s first night) and psychotic(trying to kill his brother in so many ways).
Priya realises the not-so-honorable intentions Deva has towards her but Shiva refuses to believe her and has full faith in his brother. He even goes as far as to take Priya to a psychiatrist. To get away from it all, Shiva and Priya go on a long-delayed honeymoon. But Deva shows up there too Shiva watches Deva kissing the photo of Priya and realises Priya was right regarding his brother.Then while Shiva is on a urgent business trip Priya had to take care of Deva . So after Deva knowing this beats Shiva mercilessly. Shiva gets unconscious and Deva packs him in gunny and throws him in a lorry.
Deva disguises himself as Shiva and goes near Priya on not responding Priya comes to know he is Deva not Shiva, however Priya escapes from the chasings of Deva and finally shoots him with her revolver. Deva falls in pool and when Shiva comes she narrates the whole incident to him. Suddenly, Deva comes back to life, but Shiva immediately kills him with the very own revolver and finally Deva dies. Deva's soul talks about his feelings because he is dumb he couldn't express his feelings. His grave yard with lots of flowers grown on it is shown and with that scene the movie comes to an end.
had worked as an assistant director in Vasanth
's Aasai
which featured Ajith Kumar
as well as working with him during the making of Ullaasam. Ajith asked Suryaah to prepare a good script and promised he would give him a chance to make his directorial debut. Subsequently the pair approached S. S. Chakravarthy, a producer, to make a film. Keerthi Reddy
was announced to be the lead actress in the film in December 1997, though she was replaced by Simran before filming began. Jyothika, sister of actress Nagma
, made her debut in the film as an imaginary character, Sona, narrated by Ajith's character.
About the making of the film, Ajith mentioned that Vaali "was very close to my heart and I gave it everything I had", revealing that he had initially received a lot of bad publicity and scepticism for doing a dual role too early in his career.
described it as "definitely worth seeing" saying it "has something for all tastes — a pleasant love angle, some suspense, complex psychological nuances, good acting, pleasing songs" while praising Ajith's performance. The reviewer from Indolink.com labelled the film as "a classic in its own right", praising the performances of Ajith Kumar and Simran while describing Suryaah as "a new young director to the cine field who can make Tamil Cinema be proud once again". The New Indian Express
labelled Simran's portrayal as "outstanding" while mentioning Suryah does a "fairly good job and succeeds".
It was later dubbed into Telugu as Vaali and Hindi as Vaalee, as a result of the success of the Tamil version. The film became a large commercial success and became a breakthrough film in Ajith Kumar's career and established him amongst the leading actors of Tamil films. Ajith Kumar
's performance in the film saw him the Best Actor Award from Filmfare
as well as the Cinema Express Award for Best Actor
. Simran also won the Cinema Express Award
for Best Actress as did Vivek for Best Comedian, while music director Deva picked up the award in his category.
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
thriller film written and directed by S. J. Suryah. The film stars Ajith Kumar
Ajith Kumar
Ajith Kumar is an Indian film actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He began his career as a supporting actor in a Telugu film before gaining critical recognition in the Tamil thriller Aasai . A succession of high-grossing films followed where Ajith was usually depicted as a romantic hero, with...
in a dual role with Simran appearing in another leading role. The supporting cast of the film include Jyothika in her debut venture, Livingston
Livingston (actor)
Livingston is a Tamil film actor who usually plays in supporting roles. He is credited in his earlier films by the stage name Ranjan. His first starring role was in Poonthotta Kavalkaran . He started out playing villains and graduated to playing lead roles with Sundara Purushan in 1997...
and Vivek
Vivek (actor)
Vivekananthan is an Indian film actor and comedian. He has won four Filmfare Best Comedian Awards for his performances in Run, Saamy, Perazhagan and Sivaji, respectively. In April 2009, Vivek received the Padma Shri award by the Government of India for his contribution to the arts. He was...
. The film's music is composed by the music director, Deva
Deva (music director)
Deva is an Indian film composer and singer. He has composed songs and provided background music for Tamil films in a career spanning about 20 years. Many know his gaana songs, written mostly using Madras Tamil. He is known as the "Father of Gaana Genre" in the Tamil film industry.Deva has composed...
while Jeeva
Jeeva (director)
Jeeva was a popular cinematographer and film director in Tamil cinema.-Career:The four completed films he directed, namely 12B, Run , Ullam Ketkumae and Unnale Unnale, have become blockbusters. He died after suffering acute cardiac arrest in Russia on 25 June at the age of 43...
was in charge of the cinematography. The film released on 1 May 1999 and went to become a commercial success as well as becoming critically acclaimed.
Plot
In Hindu mythology, Vaali is the name of one of the monkey princes who has been blocked in a cave by his brother Sugreev by mistake and later marries his "widow" and the plot of the film too follows this legend. Deva (Ajith) and Shiva (Ajith) are the twins. Deva, the elder, is deaf and mute. But he is a genius, an expert at lip-reading and the head of a successful advertising company. Shiva loves and trusts his brother. Priya (Simran) wants to marry only someone who is an ex-smoker, an ex-drunkard and ditched by a girl but still pining for her. Learning this, Shiva invents an old romance between him and Sona (Jyothika) and finds his way into Priya's heart.Deva meanwhile chances upon Priya and becomes obsessed with attaining her. His obsession continues even after his younger brother gets married to the girl of his dreams and he devises various means of getting close to Priya and keeping Shiva and her separated. Some of the methods Deva uses to woo Priya are masochistic (wounding his hand by the running car engine to stop the couple’s first night) and psychotic(trying to kill his brother in so many ways).
Priya realises the not-so-honorable intentions Deva has towards her but Shiva refuses to believe her and has full faith in his brother. He even goes as far as to take Priya to a psychiatrist. To get away from it all, Shiva and Priya go on a long-delayed honeymoon. But Deva shows up there too Shiva watches Deva kissing the photo of Priya and realises Priya was right regarding his brother.Then while Shiva is on a urgent business trip Priya had to take care of Deva . So after Deva knowing this beats Shiva mercilessly. Shiva gets unconscious and Deva packs him in gunny and throws him in a lorry.
Deva disguises himself as Shiva and goes near Priya on not responding Priya comes to know he is Deva not Shiva, however Priya escapes from the chasings of Deva and finally shoots him with her revolver. Deva falls in pool and when Shiva comes she narrates the whole incident to him. Suddenly, Deva comes back to life, but Shiva immediately kills him with the very own revolver and finally Deva dies. Deva's soul talks about his feelings because he is dumb he couldn't express his feelings. His grave yard with lots of flowers grown on it is shown and with that scene the movie comes to an end.
Cast
- Ajith KumarAjith KumarAjith Kumar is an Indian film actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He began his career as a supporting actor in a Telugu film before gaining critical recognition in the Tamil thriller Aasai . A succession of high-grossing films followed where Ajith was usually depicted as a romantic hero, with...
as Deva & Shiva - Simran as Priya
- Jyothika as Sona
- LivingstonLivingston (actor)Livingston is a Tamil film actor who usually plays in supporting roles. He is credited in his earlier films by the stage name Ranjan. His first starring role was in Poonthotta Kavalkaran . He started out playing villains and graduated to playing lead roles with Sundara Purushan in 1997...
- VivekVivek (actor)Vivekananthan is an Indian film actor and comedian. He has won four Filmfare Best Comedian Awards for his performances in Run, Saamy, Perazhagan and Sivaji, respectively. In April 2009, Vivek received the Padma Shri award by the Government of India for his contribution to the arts. He was...
as Vicky
Production
S. J. SuryaahS. J. Suryaah
S. Justin Selvaraj is an Indian film director, writer, actor, and producer in Kollywood, the Tamil film industry. His screen name is S. J. Surya.- Film career :...
had worked as an assistant director in Vasanth
Vasanth
Vasanth is an Indian film director and screenwriter, working in the Tamil film industry. Following a stint as journalist and after assisting K. Balachander, he made his directorial debut with Keladi Kanmani in 1990, which along with the trendsetting Aasai and Rhythm , are considered his finest...
's Aasai
Aasai
Aasai is a 1995 Tamil film directed by Vasanth and produced by Mani Ratnam The film featured Ajith Kumar and Suvalakshmi, making her debut, in the leading roles with Prakash Raj in a pivotal role. The film has camera work by Jeeva and a popular soundtrack by Deva...
which featured Ajith Kumar
Ajith Kumar
Ajith Kumar is an Indian film actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He began his career as a supporting actor in a Telugu film before gaining critical recognition in the Tamil thriller Aasai . A succession of high-grossing films followed where Ajith was usually depicted as a romantic hero, with...
as well as working with him during the making of Ullaasam. Ajith asked Suryaah to prepare a good script and promised he would give him a chance to make his directorial debut. Subsequently the pair approached S. S. Chakravarthy, a producer, to make a film. Keerthi Reddy
Keerthi Reddy
Keerthi Reddy is an Indian actress. She also acted in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada movies.-Early life:Reddy was born to interior designer and mother a dress designer. Her grandfather is Ganga Reddy, Member of Parliament from Dichpally in Andhra Pradesh...
was announced to be the lead actress in the film in December 1997, though she was replaced by Simran before filming began. Jyothika, sister of actress Nagma
Nagma
Nandita Morarji better known as Nagma . At her peak in the 1990s, The Hindu stated that she "dominated Telugu and Tamil cinema" with her movies Killer, Gharana Mogudu, Kadhalan, Baashha and many others...
, made her debut in the film as an imaginary character, Sona, narrated by Ajith's character.
About the making of the film, Ajith mentioned that Vaali "was very close to my heart and I gave it everything I had", revealing that he had initially received a lot of bad publicity and scepticism for doing a dual role too early in his career.
Release
The Deccan HeraldDeccan Herald
The Deccan Herald is a leading English-language daily newspaper distributed in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is published by the Printers Private Limited and has a number of editions in Bangalore, Hubli, Mysore, Mangalore and Gulbarga....
described it as "definitely worth seeing" saying it "has something for all tastes — a pleasant love angle, some suspense, complex psychological nuances, good acting, pleasing songs" while praising Ajith's performance. The reviewer from Indolink.com labelled the film as "a classic in its own right", praising the performances of Ajith Kumar and Simran while describing Suryaah as "a new young director to the cine field who can make Tamil Cinema be proud once again". The New Indian Express
The New Indian Express
The New Indian Express is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as the Indian Express, under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naidu. In 1991, following the death of the then owner Ramnath Goenka, the Goenka...
labelled Simran's portrayal as "outstanding" while mentioning Suryah does a "fairly good job and succeeds".
It was later dubbed into Telugu as Vaali and Hindi as Vaalee, as a result of the success of the Tamil version. The film became a large commercial success and became a breakthrough film in Ajith Kumar's career and established him amongst the leading actors of Tamil films. Ajith Kumar
Ajith Kumar
Ajith Kumar is an Indian film actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He began his career as a supporting actor in a Telugu film before gaining critical recognition in the Tamil thriller Aasai . A succession of high-grossing films followed where Ajith was usually depicted as a romantic hero, with...
's performance in the film saw him the Best Actor Award from Filmfare
Filmfare
Filmfare is an English-language tabloid-sized magazine about Indian cinema. Published by The Times Group, India's largest media services conglomerate, in Mumbai , it highlights the doings of the Bollywood film scene...
as well as the Cinema Express Award for Best Actor
Cinema Express Award for Best Actor – Tamil
The Cinema Express Best Actor Award is given as a part of its annual Cinema Express Awards for Tamil films.-Winners:...
. Simran also won the Cinema Express Award
Cinema Express Award for Best Actress – Tamil
The Cinema Express Best Film Award is given as a part of its annual Cinema Express Awards for Tamil films.-Winners:...
for Best Actress as did Vivek for Best Comedian, while music director Deva picked up the award in his category.