Alai (film)

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Alai
DVD cover
Directed byVikram Kumar
Written byVikram Kumar
Produced byG. V. Prasad
Starring
CinematographyS. Murthy
Edited byA. Sreekar Prasad
Music byVidyasagar
Production
company
Damini Enterprise
Release date
  • 10 September 2003 (2003-09-10)
Running time
158 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Alai (transl. Wave) is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film directed by Vikram Kumar. The film stars Silambarasan and Trisha, while Raghuvaran, Saranya, and Vivek played supporting roles. The film was produced by G. V. Prasad and the score and soundtrack were composed by Vidyasagar.

Alai was released on 10 September 2003.[1] It received mixed to negative reviews and became a commercial failure.

Plot[edit]

Aathi and Meera are college students who first meet in a bar and fight for a silly reason. Aathi with his friends go to his friend's village and there he sees Meera who is also there with her friends. The groups went to a village festival where Aathi falls for Meera after seeing her in a traditional attire. There some goons harass Meera with reflecting light on Meera who is wearing a sari. Aathi saw this and beats up the goons. Meera immediately falls for aathi. Aathi learns that his friend who is getting married in 3 days was actually in love with someone else and that his marriage was his father’s alliance with a wealthy family to pay off his debt through dowry. Meera discover that her best friend is in love with a guy. On that night Meera’s friend brought her to th guys house where Meera mistaken Aathi as Her friends’ lover and Aathi mistaken Meera as his bestfriend Lover. This was all cleared the next day when they introduces Meera and Aathi as their bestfriend which enlighten both of them. Tehy planned to elope and registered their marriage which Aathi and Meera helped. Then Aathi and Meera return to their houses where they realise they love each other. And much to their surprise their houses are beside each other. Then Aathi tries to tell Meera about his love but she doesn't care. And it is shown that Meera also loves him and then there comes a song called En Ragasiya Kanavugal. And then Aathi goes to Meera's house and sees her talking to her friend about him. Then again a song comes where again Aathi and Meera just romance each other. And then Aathi's father arranges him marriage with a businessman's daughter because of his debt. And then Aathi and Meera separate and Aathi tries to calm Meera who is crying which is heard by his to be fiancé and she tells that she is not interested in this marriage. After that, Aathi ties the nuptial thread around Meera's neck on the wedding stage with everyone's blessings and Meera happily accepts it.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

Prior to release, the film made headlines when Silambarasan revealed that he was to undergo an image makeover for the film and move away from his "mass" image after appearing in such roles in Kadhal Azhivathillai and Dum.[2] Two songs were shot in Switzerland.[3]

Soundtrack[edit]

There are six songs composed by Vidyasagar.[4] Soundtrack received a positive review from Sajahan Waheed of New Straits Times saying Vidyasagar "is surely at his best in this six-song soundtrack [..]".[5] "Solakattu Bommai" is loosely inspired from Vidyasagar's Malayalam song "Chinga Masam" in Meesa Madhavan.[citation needed]

Song Title Singers Lyrics
"Alai Adikuthu" Shankar Mahadevan Kabilan
"En Ragasiya Kanavukal" Karthik, Srivarthini Thamarai
"Nee Oru Desam" Sujatha Mohan, KK Yugabharathi
"Paiya Paiya" Mathangi, Tippu Arivumathi
"Solakattu Bommai" Devan, Pop Shalini Pa. Vijay
"Thinga Kizhamaiyaana" Timmy, Karthik Pa. Vijay

Reception[edit]

Sify wrote, "There is no redeeming factor as even the music of Vidyasagar is not placed well and stands out most of the time". The reviewer criticised Silambarasan for imitating Rajinikanth in many scenes and felt Trisha was wasted, but appreciated Vivek's comedy, concluding, "All in all Alai is an insufferable dud".[6] BizHat noted, "with a wafer thin storyline the director attempts to stretch ones patience with so called humour and Trisha roaming in skimpy dresses".[7] Mokkarasu of Kalki called Vivek's comedy the only relief and felt the old plot did not have any newness in presentation and the dramatic climax without any major twists reminds of 1960s films. He concluded saying director's formula of four songs, four fights, little bit of comedy is outdated and advised him to better concentrate on script hereafter.[8] S. R. Ashok Kumar from The Hindu noted that "the youthful exploits of Silambarasan, the glamour of Trisha and the winsome music of Vidyasagar fail to do the trick, for the simple reason that the film lacks a taut screenplay with well-knit episodes".[9]

The film became a box office failure.[10] Soon after the failure of Alai, it was reported that the lead pair would come together for a project title Malai produced by P. L. Thenappan, but the project never took off.[11] Silambarasan and Trisha came together eventually for Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (2010) by Gautham Vasudev Menon, which became a commercial success.[12]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Alai /அலை". Screen 4 Screen. Archived from the original on 7 February 2024. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  2. ^ Pillai, Sreedhar (2 June 2003). "Brand equity". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 30 July 2003. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  3. ^ "சினிமா பித்தானேன்!". Kalki (in Tamil). 20 July 2003. pp. 56–57. Archived from the original on 7 February 2024. Retrieved 7 February 2024 – via Internet Archive.
  4. ^ "Alai (2003)". Raaga.com. Archived from the original on 28 May 2009. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
  5. ^ Waheed, Sajahan (16 October 2003). "Vintage Vidyasagar". New Straits Times. pp. Entertainment 3. Retrieved 2 February 2024 – via Google News Archive.
  6. ^ "Alai". Sify. 11 September 2003. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  7. ^ "Alai". BizHat.com. Archived from the original on 12 September 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  8. ^ மொக்கராசு (12 October 2003). "அலை". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 55. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024 – via Internet Archive.
  9. ^ Kumar, S. R. Ashok (26 September 2003). "Alai". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 5 December 2003. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  10. ^ Jeshi, K. (9 December 2004). "Manmadhan comes calling". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 January 2005. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  11. ^ "After Alai, it is Malai". IndiaGlitz. 18 December 2004. Archived from the original on 3 August 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  12. ^ Rangarajan, Malathi (4 March 2010). "Taste of candyfloss". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 February 2024. Retrieved 4 February 2024.

External links[edit]

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