Vallinam (transl. Hardness) is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language sports film written and directed by Arivazhagan and produced by Aascar Ravichandran.[1] The film stars Nakul and newcomer Mrudhula Basker, while Atul Kulkarni, Siddharth Jonnalagadda, Anaswara Kumar, Amzath Khan, and Jagan play supporting roles. The music was composed by S. Thaman with cinematography by K. M. Bhaskaran and editing by V. J. Sabu Joseph. The flm released on 28 February 2014. V. J. Sabu Joseph received the National Film Award for Best Editing at the 61st National Film Awards ceremony.
| Vallinam | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Tamil | வல்லினம் |
| Directed by | Arivazhagan |
| Written by | Arivazhagan |
| Produced by | V. Ravichandran |
| Starring | Nakul Mrudhula Basker Siddhu Jonnalagadda Atul Kulkarni |
| Cinematography | K. M. Bhaskaran |
| Edited by | V. J. Sabu Joseph |
| Music by | S. Thaman |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Aascar Film Pvt. Ltd |
Release date |
|
Running time | 146 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
| Budget | ₹60 million |
| Box office | ₹125 million |
Plot
editKrishna (Nakul) and Shiva (Krishna) are childhood friends studying in the same college and prominent basketball players preparing for a national-level basketball tournament. Following the events of the college, Shiva dies from a heart attack because he was hit by a basketball shot by Krishna. This makes Krishna end his college career. He then joins a new college where a basketball game is teased by a cricket team there. The story lines up when Krishna takes on basketball again and wins the national-level tournament.
Cast
edit- Nakul as Krishna
- Mrudhula Basker as Meera
- Atul Kulkarni as Coach
- Siddharth Jonnalagadda as Vamsi
- Anaswara Kumar as Anu
- Amzath Khan as Guna
- Jagan as Jagan
- Jayaprakash as Krishnamurthy
- Santhana Bharathi as Puzhaldasan
- Saravana Prakash as Balaji
- Y. Gee. Mahendra as Venkatachalam
- Anupama Kumar
- Chandru
- Mathivanan Rajendran
- Mippu as Train passenger
- Sampath Ram
- Kreshna as Shiva (Cameo)
- Aadhi as Basketball coach (Cameo)
- RJ Balaji as Show host (Cameo)
Production
editThe film was earlier titled as Acham Thavir and planned with Arulnithi in the lead role, who later opted out.[2][3] This film revolves around a basketball player and Nakul underwent special training to "ensure that he lived the role rather than act".[4][5]
Telugu actress Bindu Madhavi was initially signed to portray the lead female character.[6] However, reports in November 2011 confirmed that she was dropped from the project since the director and the crew were not impressed with her performance.[7] She was subsequently replaced film by a newcomer Mrudhula,[8] while other reports during production claimed that Nakul had been replaced by Jai, although this proved untrue.[8][9] Latest addition Marathi actor Atul Kulkarni is playing a crucial role in this film.[10][11] Siddharth Jonnalagadda was selected to play another villain after Arivazhagan spotted him on one of the Life Before Wedding (2011) posters while scouting locations with Praveen Sattaru in Hyderabad.[12][13]
During production, the makers of the film ran into crowd trouble with students attempting to get autographs from Nakul when he was preparing for the shoot, they were subsequently prevented in doing so from the crew of the film prompting a student protest.[14] The team worked for 72 hours without break for a particular scene which was shot near the Chengalpet railway station.[15]
Soundtrack
editThe soundtrack was composed by S. Thaman collaborating with Arivazhagan for second time. Kamal Haasan was said to be approached to sing a song in the film which proved false.[16]
| Vallinam | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released |
| |||
| Recorded | 2014 | |||
| Genre | Soundtrack | |||
| Length | 19:12 | |||
| Language | Tamil | |||
| Label | Sony Music India | |||
| Producer | S. Thaman | |||
| S. Thaman chronology | ||||
| ||||
All lyrics are written by Viveka, except where noted [17]
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Maaman Machaan" | Silambarasan, S. Thaman, Mukesh Mohamed | 4:52 |
| 2. | "Uyiril Uyiril" | Haricharan | 4:49 |
| 3. | "Nakula" (Parvathi) | Nakul, Andrea Jeremiah | 3:15 |
| 4. | "Uyiril Uyiril (Reprise)" | S. Thaman | 2:34 |
| 5. | "Vallinam" (Vaali) | Palakkad Sreeram, Rahul Nambiar, Naveen Madhav, Ranjith | 3:42 |
| Total length: | 19:12 | ||
Release
editAlthough completed way before in early 2013, the film's theatrical release was delayed due to unknown reasons. It finally released on 28 February 2014. Baradwaj Rangan wrote in The Hindu, "Arivazhagan isn’t a lazy filmmaker, and at a time when most Tamil films have begun to look like flatly lit television serials, without the slightest interest in framing and staging, this quality cannot be underestimated".[18]
Awards
editReferences
edit- ^ "Nakul returns". The New Indian Express. 25 May 2011. Archived from the original on 8 March 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ "Nakul replaces Arulnidhi in Arivazhagan film". Kolly Talk. 10 May 2011. Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ "Nakul thrilled about Vallinam". IndiaGlitz. 22 June 2011. Archived from the original on 24 June 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ "Eeram Director's Next Vallinam". Behindwoods.com. 24 June 2011. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ "My film will focus on basketball: Arivazhagan". The Times of India. 21 January 2011. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ "Nakul thrilled about 'Vallinam'". IndiaGlitz. 22 June 2011. Archived from the original on 24 June 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
- ^ "Bindu is out of Vallinam!". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012.
- ^ a b "Eeram director returns". NDTV. 8 December 2011. Archived from the original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
- ^ "வல்லினத்தில் ஜெய்?". IndiaGlitz. 19 November 2011. Archived from the original on 21 November 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
- ^ "Atul Kulkarni in 'Vallinam'". IndiaGlitz. Archived from the original on 12 May 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
- ^ "Dhanush And Madhavan's Villain Is Back". Behindwoods. 10 May 2012. Archived from the original on 12 May 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
- ^ "Sidhu Jonnalagadda, Atul Kulkarni in 'Vallinam'". Nowrunning.com. 21 May 2012. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
- ^ "Siddhu Jonnalagadda Interview With Baradwaj Rangan | Conversations | Tillu Square". April 2024 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "Nakul draws students' ire". The Times of India. 8 July 2011. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ "Nakul shoots non-stop for 72 hours". IndiaGlitz. 19 October 2011. Archived from the original on 20 October 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
- ^ "Kamal Haasan To Croon For Vallinam". Behindwoods. 25 June 2012. Archived from the original on 27 June 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
- ^ "Vallinam Lyrics Details". Song2Lyrics. 10 March 2014. Archived from the original on 11 March 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
- ^ Rangan, Baradwaj (1 March 2014). "Vallinam: Ball is well". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.