Veyil

Plot

The story is told through the protagonist Murugesan (Pasupathy) who recalls his childhood in Virudhunagar town. His father is a butcher who works hard to bring up his four children — two boys and two girls, and has a happy family.

Murugesan dotes on his younger brother Kathir and his weakness, like any other adolescent is love for movies (especially MGR films) that are screened in a local theatre. But one day life changes for him when his father catches him red-handed from the theatre after he bunks school. The child is severely punished. He runs away from home taking money and jewels.

Along the way Murugesan gets sidetracked from his intended destination of Chennai by an MGR Movie poster. He's shown watching several MGR shows, buying a change of clothes and eating a hearty meal with his ill-gotten money. After spending the night at local temple, he wakes up to find his money and other possessions missing. Murugesan is then taken under the wings of a theatre projectionist in a nearby town and slowly the theatre becomes his home. As an adult, he falls in love with Thangam (Priyanka), a beautiful girl who lives opposite the theatre but their love story does not have a happy ending, and ends in Thangam's suicide because her father and his relatives beat up Murugesan and hang him, trying to kill him, because they don't like him. At that moment Thangam shows up, with a knife, and threatens to kill herself if they don't release Murugesan, as they don't release him, she cuts her throat, and dies. Murugesan is heartbroken, and released at that moment after Thangam’s death and begins to drink a lot. Sometime later the theatre is demolished, the owner citing loss of business.

He decides to return home after 20 years. The rest of the film is all about Murugesan’s mental turmoil, as he is caught between the deep love showered by his younger brother Kathir (Bharath) who runs a successful advertising agency and his guilt of not being a responsible son or elder brother. There is a parallel love story between Meenakshi (Bhavana), an innocent girl and Kathir. Then there is Pandi (Sriya Reddy) who is Murugesan's childhood sweetheart.The rest of the story is about what happens to Murugesan and Kathir.

Cast

Soundtrack

Soundtrack was composed by debutant G. V. Prakashkumar, nephew of A. R. Rahman and lyrics for all songs were written by Na. Muthukumar. All the songs including "Veyilodu Vilayadi" and "Urugudhe" were well received.

Trivia

Festivals

Awards

Critical reception

Rediff wrote "Director Vasantha Balan has deftly handled the script, making it his own. By maintaining an energetic pace throughout, he ensures the story doesn't become monotonous or conventional, despite the somewhat predictable plot. His characters are distinctly human with myriad personality flaws, so that the audience can identify with them". Behindwoods wrote "Veyil is an emotional epic. A must watch for all especially parents." Indiaglitz wrote "Vasanthabalan's success also lies in smartly setting the mood for his method. The story is part told in the place the story unspools. The ambience gets across the story as much as the characters do." Sify wrote "Once again Shankar has introduced Vasantha Balan a director who understands the nuances of making a realistic film with well-etched out characters and strong screenplay."