Dhool
Dhool (transl. Fantastic) is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language masala film written and directed by Dharani. The film stars Vikram, Jyothika and Reema Sen. Vivek, Sayaji Shinde, Telangana Shakuntala, and Pasupathy, among others, play important roles. Produced by A. M. Rathnam at a cost of ₹7 crore,[1] the film was released on 10 January 2003. It received positive reviews and was a commercial success. Dhool was remade in Telugu as Veede (2003), and in Sinhala as Ranja (2014).
| Dhool | |
|---|---|
Poster | |
| Directed by | Dharani |
| Written by | Dharani Bharathan (dialogue) |
| Story by | Dharani |
| Produced by | A. M. Rathnam |
| Starring | Vikram Jyothika Reema Sen |
| Cinematography | S. Gopinath |
| Edited by | V. T. Vijayan |
| Music by | Vidyasagar |
Production company | Sri Surya Movies |
Release date |
|
Running time | 172 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
| Budget | ₹7 crore[1] |
| Box office | est. ₹12–13 crore[1] |
Plot
Arumugam lives in a village and is a kindhearted man. There is a chemical factory in the village which releases toxic wastes into the river, and the villagers decide to give a petition to Minister Kaalaipandi requesting him to close the factory. Arumugam and his childhood rival Eswari, along with her grandmother Mundakanni, leave to Chennai to meet Kaalaipandi, who has won from the village's constituency. All three reach Chennai and stay with Narayanan aka Narain, who also belongs to the same village but is settled in Chennai. Swapna, a fashion model, also lives near Narain's home, and she is attracted towards Arumugam, whereas Narain loves her. Arumugam meets Kaalaipandi amidst a heavy crowd and conveys the problems faced by their villagers due to water pollution. Kaalaipandi assures he will take swift action.
Meanwhile, Sornam and her brother Aadhi are local goons involved in many illegal activities with Kaalaipandi supporting them incognito. One day, Eswari accidentally collides with Aadhi, following which he tries to hit her, but she is saved by Arumugam. In the ensuing scuffle, Arumugam fractures Aadhi's hands. Now, Sornaka and Aadhi set an eye on Arumugam and decide to trouble him. They, along with Kaalaipandi's help, kidnap Arumugam and injure him badly. Kaalaipandi also informs that he will never take any action against the chemical factory in his village. Narain, Swapna, and Eswari rescue and treat Arumugam. Arumugam discloses the true image of Kaalaipandi and the culprits behind him to Eswari and Narain.
Arumugam decides to take revenge on Kaalaipandi and tarnish his image among the public. Arumugam uses Kaalaipandi's memo pad and forges a letter praising an adult movie and requesting it to be published in a daily newspaper. The newspaper editor believes it and publishes it the next day. This brings agitation among political parties, and people demand resignation from Kaalaipandi. Meanwhile, Sornaka decides to kidnap Eswari and kill Arumugam, but instead, Arumugam thrashes Sornaka's men and saves Eswari. Sornaka, while trying to escape, gets hit by a lorry and dies.
Kaalaipandi decides to bring back his lost image by staging a fast until death event, which will bring sympathy among citizens. Arumugam mixes his village's dirty water into the drink served to break the fast. When he discloses it on the media, fearing his position, Kaalaipandi attempts to kill the CM in hospital. Arumugam is arrested on a false case. When Kaalaipandi once again tries his luck to kill the CM, Arumugam uses his skills and gets Kaalaipandi killed on the hands of policemen (who were aiming for Arumugam). Arumugam returns to his village with Eswari and Mundakanni, while the CM, having escaped the attempts on his life; exposes Kaalaipaandi. It is also shown that both Arumugam and Eswari had developed a romantic interest in each other. The film ends with the whole village celebrating Arumugam's victory.
Cast
- Vikram as Arumugam
- Jyothika as Eswari (Voice Dubbed By Savitha Reddy)
- Reema Sen as Swapna (Voice Dubbed By Renuka Kathir)
- Vivek as Narayanasamy (Narain)
- Prem Sundar as Sullan
- Sayaji Shinde as Minister Kaalaipandi
- Telangana Shakuntala as Sornam
- Pasupathy as Aadhi
- Manoj K. Jayan as Sub-Inspector Karunakaran
- Mayilsamy as Kunchacko, Narain's Friend (at times foil)
- Paravai Muniyamma as Mundakanni Eswari
- Kalairani as Arumugam's mother
- Bosskey as Nakkeeran Magazine editor
- Chitti Babu as Hari,Minister's PA (secretly supports Arumugam)
- Chaplin Balu as Narain's Labour
- Kottachi as Narain's labour
- Karnaa Radha
- Shakeela as herself
- Koena Mitra in a special appearance (Koduva Meesai item song)
Production
After the success of their 2001 collaboration Dhill, Dharani and Vikram announced in February 2002 that they were to come together again for a project titled Dhool.[2][3] The lead role had originally been offered to Vijay, who declined.[4] The song "Aasai Aasai" was partially shot in Denmark, and plans had been earlier made to shoot song sequences in London, though the team later opted against doing so.[5] A huge set of a temple, a church, some houses and a shopping area, was erected at the Indian Express office premises.[6]
Soundtrack
The music was composed by Vidyasagar.[citation needed] A part of the song "Karimizhi Kuruviye" from the 2002 Malayalam film Meesa Madhavan was reused in "Aasai Aasai", which was later reused as "Rafta Rafta" with a slight change in tune in the 2004 Hindi film Hulchul, another film where the music was composed by Vidyasagar. The music of "Ithanundu Muthathile" and "Koduva Meesai" were used for two songs in Naaga, another film that Vidyasagar composed the music for.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ithanundu Muthathile" | Pa. Vijay | Udit Narayan, Sowmya Raoh, Premgi Amaren | 4:28 |
| 2. | "Madurai Veeran" | Arivumathi | Paravai Muniyamma | 3:21 |
| 3. | "Koduvaa Meesai" | Na. Muthukumar | Manikka Vinayagam, Vidhu Prabhakar | 4:45 |
| 4. | "Aasai Aasai" | Kabilan | Shankar Mahadevan, Sujatha Mohan | 5:21 |
| 5. | "Inthadi" | Pa. Vijay | Tippu, Kalyan, Rafi | 4:03 |
| 6. | "Kundu Kundu" | Arivumathi | KK, Sunidhi Chauhan, Pop Shalini | 4:55 |
| Total length: | 26:53 | |||
Release and reception
Upon release in January 2003, the film was financially successful, despite opening alongside other prominent ventures such as the Kamal Haasan-Madhavan starrer Anbe Sivam and Vijay's Vaseegara.[7] Aarkhay of Rediff.com review praised Vikram's enactment citing that "Vikram is at his peak" and that "he seems as much at home with comedy as with action, in romance as in emotional sequences".[8] Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu said, "Vikram's brain-brawn combo does help sustain the tempo. It's only that there's nothing new that "Dhool" offers. But as long as the till keeps ringing, little else matters, you suppose".[9] The film became a major success and cemented Vikram's status as a matinée idol in Tamil Nadu.[10]
Remakes
Dhool was remade in Telugu as Veede (2003), with Reemma Sen reprising her role,[11] in Bengali as Ghatak (2006),[citation needed] and in Sinhala as Ranja (2014).[12][better source needed] A Hindi remake was planned by Guddu Dhanoa in 2004 with Sunny Deol and Gracy Singh starring, but the film failed to take off.[13][14]
References
- ^ a b c Pillai, Sreedhar (29 December 2003). . The Hindu. Archived from the original on 6 May 2004. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
- ^ Tulika (29 April 2002). "Dharani-Vikram for another film". Rediff.com. from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
- ^ . The Hindu. 1 February 2002. Archived from the original on 13 July 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
- ^ "Vijay regrets missing out ..." Behindwoods. 9 November 2012. from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
- ^ . The Hindu. 9 August 2002. Archived from the original on 8 September 2003. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
- ^ "Dhool". cinematoday3.itgo.com. from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
- ^ . The Hindu. 22 January 2003. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
- ^ Aarkhay (23 January 2003). "Vikram turns up trumps with Dhool". Rediff.com. from the original on 3 February 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
- ^ Rangarajan, Malathi (24 January 2003). . The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 July 2003. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
- ^ . The Hindu. 6 November 2011. Archived from the original on 15 January 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
- ^ Kumar, G. Manjula (2 November 2003). "Watchable remake". The Hindu. from the original on 23 January 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
- ^ . sandeshaya.org. Archived from the original on 31 July 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
- ^ . Sify. 21 April 2004. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
- ^ . Sify. 11 August 2004. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
External links
- Dhool at IMDb