Villain (2002 film)

Plot

There are two twins in the movie: Shiva and Vishnu (both played by Ajith Kumar). Shiva, the elder one, is a bus conductor, while Vishnu, the mindly retarded one, is handicapped. Shiva overhears his parents' plot to kill Vishnu. He runs away to another city with Vishnu, and strives hard to look after him.

As a result of an incident when 'dada' Sundaramoorthy (FEFSI Vijayan), who runs a beggar trade, beats Vishnu brutally, so Vishnu becomes handicapped for life. Shiva leaves Vishnu in a home Run by a social worker (Sujatha). During the day, Shiva works as a bus conductor, and at the same time, poses as the handicapped Vishnu: to play Robin Hood and steal from the rich and corrupt. A gang including Thangam (Meena), Ramesh Khanna, and others assist him in these operations. He is never suspected, and so, with the stolen money, he takes care of not only Vishnu, but also 800 people in other institutions for the physically handicapped.

A college student Lavanya (Kiran Rathod) falls in love with Shiva, but Shiva later comes to know that she is the sister-in-law of Sundaramoorthy, the 'dada' who handicapped Vishnu. Matters worsen when Sundaramoorthy becomes the chairman of the institute for the physically handicapped. How Shiva deals with the situation forms the rest of the story. Meanwhile, Thangam is in love with Shiva, though he does not know this. Later she gives up her love and lets Lavanya marry Shiva. At last, Shiva marries Lavanya and Thangam marries Vishnu.

Cast

Production

The film saw the first collaboration of Ajith Kumar and K. S. Ravikumar, with the former revealing that he was initially reluctant to work with the director in fear of a misunderstanding. Jyothika was announced as leading lady but she rejected the offer as she was not willing to act in the role which was offered to her, because she felt that her role is just for glamour, than her contemperory Meena's character. Kiran was signed the film after the success of gemini. The Producer, Ajith kumar, also worked with a prominent director for the first time in his career. The shoot of the film was completed in 39 days.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features 7 songs composed by Vidyasagar and lyrics by Vairamuthu.

Release

The film released alongside with Vijay starrer Bagavathi The Hindu reviewer claimed that "if you don't rack your brains about the feasibility of the hero's game plans, you could enjoy watching "Villain"" and that "Ajit scores on both fronts". Another critic cited that it was "great slag-less screenplay and some stunning performances from Ajith make this film a treat for the senses". Ajith's performance earned him second Filmfare Award for Best Actor. The film was later remade in Telugu with the same title by Rajasekhar, while the original was also dubbed into Hindi.The film became highest grossing Tamil film of the year