Ullaasam

Ullaasam
Poster
Directed by	J.D. & Jerry
Written by	Balakumaran (Dialogues)
Screenplay by	J.D. & Jerry
Story by	J.D. & Jerry
Produced by	Amitabh Bachchan
Starring	Ajith Kumar Vikram Maheswari Raghuvaran S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
Cinematography	Jeeva
Edited by	B. Lenin V. T. Vijayan
Music by	Karthik Raja
Production company	Amitabh Bachchan Corporation
Release date	23 May 1997 (1997-05-23)
Running time	136 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Ullaasam (English: Joy) is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language action romance film directed and co-written by the duo J. D. and Jerry and produced by Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan. The film featured Ajith Kumar, Vikram and Maheswari in the lead roles with Raghuvaran, S.P.Balasubrahmanyam and Srividya in other pivotal roles. Featuring music by Karthik Raja, the film was released on 23 May 1997.^[1]

Plot[]

The plot revolves around two fathers and their sons. JK (Raghuvaran), Dev's (Vikram) father, is a smuggler who lives in a house near by Thangaiah (S. P. Balasubrahmanyam), father of Guru (Ajith Kumar). In his childhood days, Guru got attracted by JK's activities and follows his footsteps. While Thangaiah tries to convince his son, it is all in vain. He got vexed and started to raise Dev (JK's son), as a good man. In their college days, Dev becomes a singer. With the lover boy image, he is really popular among the ladies in the college. While Guru studying in the same college becomes a dancer and turns out to be a local dada, who helps JK in his business. Both Guru and Dev fall in love with the same girl Megha (Maheswari) who is in love with Guru.

Thangaiah comes to know about Dev's love for her and begs Guru to leave his love for Dev, since he won't be able to lead a peaceful life in the shape he is. Despite Guru having thoughts of leaving Megha. Dev steps aside knowing that Megha in love with Guru. As Dev hides his feelings for Megha. He wishes the both of them by saying, that the love they have for each other will prevail. The film ends with Guru's choosing to stay with the dark world and with Megha, by his side.

Cast[]

Production[]

The film became Amitabh Bachchan's first Tamil language film production under his banner, Amitabh Bachchan Corporation and as a result, he chose to select several leading actors for the project. Ajith Kumar signed on after the success of Kadhal Kottai (1996), whilst Maheswari, the cousin of actress Sridevi, was signed after enjoying success in Telugu films. The makers initially tried to cast Arun Vijay in a parallel lead role, but his reluctance to work on dual hero films meant that Vikram was signed. Moreover, the film boasted of a strong supporting cast of Raghuvaran, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and Srividya, whilst Jeeva as cinematographer and Raju Sundaram as choreographer were also amongst the most prolific options in the Tamil film industry at their respective occupations. The director duo were signed on after Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited had been a part of the marketing team in some of the serial episodes they had directed. Abdullah, actress Khushbu's brother, and Roshini, actress Nagma's sister, were also reported to be a part of the initial cast but eventually did not feature.^[2]

Leading Tamil actor Kamal Haasan sung a song, "Muthe Muthamma" for the film under the composition of Karthik Raja.^[3] The film was briefly delayed due to the FEFSI production strikes of 1997.^[4] Furthermore, during production Ajith suffered due to the dancing and fighting involved which caused problems for his back, leading to a further round of corrective surgery.^[5]

Soundtrack[]

The film's soundtrack was composed by Karthik Raja with actor Kamal Haasan also singing a song in the album. The lyrics were written by Gangai Amaran, Arivumathi, Pazhani Bharathi, Paarthi Bhaskar and Arun Mozhi (Rap). .^[6]

Release[]

The film opened to predominantly positive reviews with a critic labelling “The movie is a perfect celebration for youth”,The film became a success venture at the box office, and Post-release, Vikram acknowledged the film for expanding his female fan base as a result of the soft-personality of his character.^[7] The movie gave youth-centric feel and Received Good response among audience.

Legacy[]

In October 2019, J.D. & Jerry expressed an interest in remaking the film with Vikram Prabhu in Ajith's role and Dulquer Salmaan in Vikram's role, with Pattukkottai Prabakar also working on an early draft for the new version.^[8]

References[]