Ghilli

M. Rathnam">Sri Suriya Movies. The film stars Vijay in the titular role, alongside Trisha, Prakash Raj, Ashish Vidyarthi, Dhamu, Mayilsamy, Janaki Sabesh, Nancy Jennifer, Nagendra Prasad, Ponnambalam, and Pandu. It is a remake of Telugu-language film Okkadu. In the film, a Kabaddi player goes to Madurai to participate in a match, but instead rescues a woman from a gang leader who is obsessed with her.

Ghilli
Theatrical re-release poster
Directed by	Dharani
Screenplay by	Dharani
Dialogues by	Bharathan
Story by	Gunasekhar
Based on	Okkadu
Produced by	A. M. Rathnam
Starring	Vijay Trisha Prakash Raj
Cinematography	S. Gopinath K. V. Anand (1 Song)
Edited by	B. Lenin V. T. Vijayan
Music by	Vidyasagar
Production company	Sri Surya Movies
Release dates	17 April 2004 (2004-04-17) 20 April 2024 (2024-04-20) (re-release)
Running time	166 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	₹8 crore
Box office	₹50 crore ₹20 crore (re-release)

The soundtrack album and score were composed by Vidyasagar, while cinematography was handled by Gopinath and editing by V. T. Vijayan and B. Lenin. The dialogues for the film were written by Bharathan. The film was released on 16 April 2004 to positive reviews from critics. The film ran for more than 200 days at the box office and emerged as the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2004. Ghilli is considered to be one of the best films in Vijay's career. A re-mastered version in 4K was re-released worldwide in theatres on 20 April 2024 and received huge response among the audience.

Saravanavelu "Velu", a state-level Kabaddi player living in Chennai with his family, is constantly rebuked by his father, DCP Sivasubramaniam for neglecting his studies and favouring Kabaddi, while his mother Janaki dotes on him. Velu's younger sister Bhuvana, a sharp and inquisitive schoolgirl, constantly gets Velu into trouble with their father, but she adores him. One day, Velu is sent to his relative's wedding in Trichy, but he secretly skips the wedding to play a Kabaddi match in Madurai.

Muthupandi, a ruthless gang leader in Madurai, desires to marry a girl named Dhanalakshmi and kills Dhanalakshmi's older brother as he rejects Muthupandi's offer to marry her. Dhanalakshmi's second brother is also killed by Muthupandi when attempting to avenge his brother's murder. Dhanalakshmi's father gets terrified by Muthupandi's acts and asks Dhanalakshmi to leave Madurai and lead a peaceful life with her uncle in the US, giving her money and her university certificates. While attempting to escape, Muthupandi catches Dhanalakshmi. However, Velu rescues Dhanalakshmi by thrashing Muthupandi and taking her to Chennai. Velu takes Dhanalakshmi to his house and hides her in his room without his family's knowledge.

Meanwhile, Muthupandi and his father Home Minister Rajapandi asks Sivasubramaniam to search for Dhanalakshmi and the apparent kidnapper. Velu soon arranges a passport and flight tickets for Dhanalakshmi, who begins to fall for Velu. When Sivasubramaniam discovers that Velu is the apparent kidnapper, Velu and Dhanalakshmi escape from Sivasubramaniam and hide in the lighthouse. Velu, along with his friends, reaches the airport in time for Dhanalakshmi's flight before their Kabaddi match against Punjab in the final match of the National League. Sivasubramaniam is enraged that Velu is playing in the Kabaddi match despite being a wanted criminal, where he goes to the stadium to arrest Velu, but decides to arrest him after the Kabaddi match upon Bhuvana's request.

Velu realises that he has fallen in love with Dhanalakshmi and begins to miss her, only to spot her in the stadium during the match. Velu's lack of focus in the game is quickly replaced by his best upon seeing Dhanalakshmi, which ultimately helps his team win the championship. Later, Velu is arrested by his father, but is then stopped by Muthupandi, who wants to fight Velu after having been incited by Dhanalakshmi to prove his worth. Velu defeats Muthupandi and embraces Dhanalakshmi. Muthupandi regains consciousness and tries to kill Velu, but a floodlight, broken during the fight, accidentally hits Muthupandi and electrocutes him to death.

 

 

Vikram (top) was cast as the main lead but was subsequently replaced by Vijay (bottom).

Development and casting

Vikram was the first choice for the film; due to other commitments, he was replaced by Vijay. Dharani was finalised as the director, whose previous film Dhool under A.M. Rathnam's production had been a financial success. Dharani's regular crew members including cinematographer Gopinath and music director Vidyasagar joined the film, while Rocky Rajesh and Raju Sundaram were chosen to choreograph the stunts and dances, respectively, for which Sundaram was awarded Filmfare Award for Best Dance Choreographer – South later. Jyothika was supposed to do the female lead role which was later replaced by actress Trisha, while Prakash Raj was signed on to reprise the villain's character from the original. Dhamu and Prabhu Deva's brother, Nagendra Prasad, were recruited to essay supporting roles. Actor Thiagarajan's refusal meant that Ashish Vidyarthi was cast as Vijay's father in the film, while Janaki Sabesh and Baby Jennifer were selected to portray Vijay's mother and sister, respectively. Playback singer T. K. Kala made her acting debut with this film. Vimal who went on to act in films like Pasanga (2009) and Kalavani (2010) appeared in a small role as one of Vijay's teammates and also worked as "unofficial" assistant director.

Filming

Filming began in April 2003, after Vijay finished shooting for his previous action masala films such as Thirumalai (2003) and Udhaya (2004), and was finally completed by August 2003. Shooting took place mainly in and around Chennai, surrounding the areas like Mylapore and Besant Nagar and also at the cities of Rayagada in Odisha and Araku Valley, Simhachalam and Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The film's introduction fight scene and a song were shot at a costly set in Prasad studios. While cinematography was primarily handled by Gopinath, one song was filmed by K. V. Anand. A lighthouse set was also erected. The interval chasing sequences were canned near the Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai and at Manapparai in Trichy district. The climax scene was shot in a crowd of one hundred thousand people in the 2003 Vinayagar Chaturthi occasion.

Vidyasagar was signed to compose the soundtrack album and background score for Ghilli; it marks his fourth collaboration with both Dharani and Vijay, with the former on Ethirum Puthirum, Dhill and Dhool, and working with the latter on Coimbatore Mappillai (1995), Nilaave Vaa (1998) and Thirumalai (2003). The soundtrack features six songs. The lyrics were penned by Yugabharathi, Pa. Vijay, Na. Muthukumar, Kabilan and Maran. The audio was launched at Nungambakkam’s School for the Deaf and Blind on March 2004.

The song Appadi Podu was later reused by Chakri as "Adaragottu" in the Telugu film Krishna (2008). The song was also adapted by P. A. Deepak, a music producer, as Hum Na Tode in the 2013 Hindi movie Boss. The song is sung by Vishal Dadlani. Following the internet phenomenon of "Why This Kolaveri Di" in 2011, "Appadi Podu" was featured alongside "Oh Podu", "Nakka Mukka" and "Ringa Ringa" in a small collection of South Indian songs that are considered a "national rage" in India. The "Kabaddi" theme music from the soundtrack album was remixed by Anirudh Ravichander, for Master (2021).

Ghilli was released on 17 April 2004, delayed from 9 April. Though the reason for the postponement was not given out, rumours were that Rathnam's creditors put pressure on him to settle his accounts before release. The film was re-released worldwide on 20 April 2024, after 20 years of its original release.

Critical reception

Ghilli opened to favourable reviews from critics.

Sify gave 5/5 stars and wrote "the good old formula is back with Gilli. A one-man-army combats an eccentric villain against all odds as he tries to save a helpless girl from his clutches. Dharani has done it for the third time by churning out this hit-and-run yarn that keeps you engaged and entertained for 160 minutes. IANS gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Gilli, story wise, is neither fresh popcorn nor spicy samosa found in theatres but the screenplay and overall treatment is as fresh and appetising as full meals after a long day." The Hindu wrote "Vijay, the hero whom the masses today identify with, and Prakash Raj, the inimitable villain in tow, this remake of the Telugu flick, "Okkadu," comes a clear winner". IndiaGlitz described the film as "an out and out entertainer".

Rediff wrote "Gilli portrays Vijay as a comic hero who battles his villains logically while his physical powers are exaggerated dramatically. Having said that, Gilli offers nothing less than sheer entertainment and an edgy thriller for the Tamil film industry, which is deprived of such films. Ananda Vikatan rated the film 45 out of 100 and wrote "With a little bit of Kabaddi, with a little bit of love, its an perfect action masala [..] The film is full of speed like a raging Sivakasi rocket". Visual Dasan of Kalki gave a negative review, saying as the entire film revolves around a chase and melee between the villain and the hero till the very last scene, Ghilli is the epitome of back-scratching exaggeration for die-hard fans.

Box office

Ghilli collected ₹50 crore (equivalent to ₹177 crore or US$22 million in 2023) in Tamil Nadu in its initial run and ₹3.5 crore (equivalent to ₹12 crore or US$1.6 million in 2023) overseas, it was the highest grossing Tamil film of the year. The film collected ₹2.05 crore in the Coimbatore territory, which was at the time only behind Padayappa.

Accolades

• Filmfare Award for Best Villain – Tamil – Prakash Raj
• Filmfare Award for Best Dance Choreographer – South – Raju Sundaram

The popularity of Prakash Raj's role as Muthupandi led to several parodies incorporating the character and the endearing name "Chellam" (the way Muthupandi addresses Dhanalakshmi) became popular to sarcastically address an enemy.

The scene in which Velu briefly uses Dhanalakshmi as a hostage when surrounded by Muthupandi and his men to manipulate them into surrendering their weapons was included in the list "Top 20 Mass Scenes" by Behindwoods. That scene was parodied by Vijay himself in Master (2021). The success of the film led the cast and crew to again collaborate with another similar action film titled Kuruvi (2008).

In Vijay's 2021 film Master, a Kabaddi scene uses music montage invoking Ghilli, while the other song from the film, "Arjunaru Villu" was used in Naai Sekar (2022).