''Ayan'' () is a 2009 Indian
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, na ...
-language
action
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
crime thriller film
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...
co-written and directed by
K. V. Anand
Karimanal Venkatesan Anand (30 October 1966 30 April 2021) was an Indian cinematographer, film director and photojournalist, worked mainly in the Tamil film industry. After a short period as a journalist, he became a cinematographer in the earl ...
. The film, starring
Suriya
Saravanan Sivakumar (born 23 July 1975), known by his stage name Suriya, is an Indian actor, producer, television presenter and a philanthropist. He primarily works in Tamil cinema where he is one of the highest paid actors. He received numerou ...
,
Prabhu
''Prabhu'' means master or the Prince in Sanskrit and many of the Indian languages; it is a name sometimes applied to God. The term is also used by devotees of the Hindu God Lord Krishna/ Vishnu as a title and form of address. It is also appen ...
,
Tamannaah
Tamanna Bhatia (born 21 December 1989), known professionally as Tamannaah, is an Indian actress who appears primarily in Telugu and Tamil films, along with a few Hindi films. In 2005, she made her acting debut at the age of 15 in the Hindi fi ...
,
Akashdeep Saighal
Akashdeep Saigal is an Indian television actor known for his portrayal of ''Ansh Virani'' and ''Eklavya Virani'' in ''Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'' as well as participating in ''Bigg Boss 5''.
Personal life
Saigal's father and older brothe ...
,
Jagan, and
Karunas
Karunas (born 21 February 1970 as Karunanidhi Sethu) is an Indian actor, politician and comedian in the Tamil film industry. Appearing mostly in supporting roles, he has also played lead roles in films including '' Dindigul Sarathy'' (2008) ...
, was produced by
M. Saravanan,
M. S. Guhan
M. S. Guhan is an Indian film producer. He has been involved in hits such as '' Sivaji: The Boss'', ''Thirupathi'', ''Minsara Kanavu'', ''Leader (2010 film)'', and recently Ayan. He is the son of noted producer M. Saravanan, who owns the AVM St ...
, Aruna Guhan and Aparna Guhan and distributed by
Sun Pictures. The film score and soundtrack was composed by
Harris Jayaraj
Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Telugu and two films in Hindi.
He has been honoured with ...
, edited by
Anthony Gonsalvez, the film was filmed by
M. S. Prabhu.
The film was launched in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...
, while filming also took place in various locations out of India, including Namibia, Malaysia,
Zanzibar and South Africa. It released on 3 April 2009 worldwide to positive reviews. ''Ayan'' was declared as the solo
blockbuster of 2009 in
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood ...
,
collecting about worldwide.
The film was also successful in
Kerala.
Plot
Deva is a post-graduate Computer Science student in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...
, who works with Dass by
smuggling
Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.
There are various ...
pre-release
unlicensed movies on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
and other small contrabands mainly through the air. Deva's widowed mother Kaveri does not appreciate his choice of career. Their former business associate Nemichand Seth's son Kamalesh tries to foil their Diwali film
piracy operations, as a means of taking over that smuggling deal for himself through police-backed channels. After the raid on their hideout orchestrated by Kamalesh, Dass is offered a deal by the inspector that one of his men should take the blame for the crimes. Deva attempts to do so, but another man, Chitti Babu, who had no affiliation with the gang, takes the blame.
Later, Chitti joins Dass's group and befriends Deva, and Deva completes his education. Chitti and Deva run a variety of smuggling jobs for Dass for months, often on international routes. Chitti learns of all the means and modes of operations. Meanwhile. Deva meets Chitti's younger sister Yamuna inadvertently, and they soon fall in love. On Deva's birthday, he and Chitti smuggle out gold bars worth $150 million from a tanked ship in
Chennai port
Chennai Port, formerly known as Madras Port, is the second largest container port of India, behind Mumbai's Nhava Sheva. The port is the largest one in the Bay of Bengal. It is the third-oldest port among the 13 major ports of India with offic ...
. When Dass learns of Deva's birthday, he gives him the day off to enjoy, while the others will trade the gold. Deva is called for a temple worship by his mother where trouble ensues when he learns that, in the midst of a major smuggling operation, the customs authorities have been tipped off to the hideout, but the others have narrowly escaped with the goods. He finds out that Chitti has been working for Kamalesh all this while.
Chitti goes on to work as a drug mule for Kamalesh, ingesting heroin capsules and transporting them to
Malaysia. He meets Deva on the flight. While disembarking, Chitti falls ill and Deva fends off Kamalesh's gang to help Chitti even though they were estranged. Chitti confesses that although he worked for Kamalesh, his friendship with Deva was genuine. In a tragic turn of events, Chitti is kidnapped by Kamalesh's gang before Deva can save him, and they cut him up to recover the drugs. Deva fends off the thugs and tries to save Chitti. In his final moments, Chitti requests Deva to burn him so that his family never learn of his death. Deva burns Chitti, along with the drugs and returns to India with Chitti's belongings, but Kamalesh tips off the authorities about Chitti's death, and Yamuna herself files a case against Deva.
However, Yamuna finds Chitti's phone, in which Chitti had recorded the circumstances of his death. Deva is let off, and Yamuna reunites with him. Deva plans to stay away from the smuggling business for a while, but Kamalesh has his people plant drugs at the airport and blames it on Deva where he tips off the
customs officer
A customs officer is a law enforcement agent who enforces customs laws, on behalf of a government.
Canada
Canadian customs officers are members of the Canada Border Services Agency. It was created in 2003 and preceded by the Canada Customs and ...
Parthiban. Deva, in turn informs Parthiban about the drug mules working for Kamalesh in exchange for his freedom. Deva works with Parthiban to monitor Kamalesh's calls with his clients, busting many illegal consignments. Kamalesh eventually discovers the bug and tries to eliminate Deva and Parthiban. However, they both escape and secure a massive cocaine shipment from Kamalesh. Despite this, they trace the shipment to Kamalesh's accountant, who agrees to become a witness.
Kamalesh has the accountant killed before the court hearing and is let off for lack of evidence. Kamalesh tries to kill Deva and his mother, but they have a narrow escape. He then plans a hit on Dass and Deva to take control of their diamond smuggling operation. Dass saves Deva but is killed in the process. Deva heads to
Congo where he kills Kamalesh and retrieves the diamonds. When he returns to India, Parthiban searches him again, admitting that Deva's mother had exposed him to get Deva out of his illegal activities. Deva surrenders the diamonds, and Parthiban reveals that he can now enlist Deva to work as a customs official. Deva accepts the job and walks out with his mother and Yamuna.
Cast
*
Suriya
Saravanan Sivakumar (born 23 July 1975), known by his stage name Suriya, is an Indian actor, producer, television presenter and a philanthropist. He primarily works in Tamil cinema where he is one of the highest paid actors. He received numerou ...
as Devaraj Velusamy (Deva), a post graduate in
computer science and involved in smuggling to help his father's friend Dass.
*
Prabhu
''Prabhu'' means master or the Prince in Sanskrit and many of the Indian languages; it is a name sometimes applied to God. The term is also used by devotees of the Hindu God Lord Krishna/ Vishnu as a title and form of address. It is also appen ...
as Dass, a local smuggler who starts with Kamalesh's father. Later become number one.
*
Tamannaah
Tamanna Bhatia (born 21 December 1989), known professionally as Tamannaah, is an Indian actress who appears primarily in Telugu and Tamil films, along with a few Hindi films. In 2005, she made her acting debut at the age of 15 in the Hindi fi ...
as Yamuna, Chitti's sister, and Deva's love interest (Voice dubbed by
Chinmayi
Chinmayi Sripaada is an Indian playback singer, working mainly for the South Indian film industry. She is also a voice actor, television presenter, radio jockey, and an entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of a translation services company ...
)
*
Akashdeep Saighal
Akashdeep Saigal is an Indian television actor known for his portrayal of ''Ansh Virani'' and ''Eklavya Virani'' in ''Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'' as well as participating in ''Bigg Boss 5''.
Personal life
Saigal's father and older brothe ...
as Kamalesh, Dass's business enemy who later kills him, dubbed by Ajay Kapoor
*
Jagan as Chitti Babu, Deva's friend and later revealed to be Kamalesh's spy in Dass' group who later dies.
*
Karunas
Karunas (born 21 February 1970 as Karunanidhi Sethu) is an Indian actor, politician and comedian in the Tamil film industry. Appearing mostly in supporting roles, he has also played lead roles in films including '' Dindigul Sarathy'' (2008) ...
as Dilli, Dass's driver, who is hearing impaired.
*
Ponvannan
Ponvannan (born Shanmugam; 23 September 1963) is an Indian actor and director who has worked in Tamil cinema and television. After beginning his career as an artist (painter), Ponvannan apprenticed as a director and writer under Bharathiraja. H ...
as J. Parthiban IRS, the customs officer and the Assistant Commissioner of the Income Tax-Air Intelligence Unit.
*
Renuka
Renuka, also known as Yellamma, is a Hindu goddess worshipped predominantly in the South Indian states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and western state of Maharashtra. She is also known as the mother of Paras ...
as Kaveri Velusamy, Deva's mother, who does not approve of his affairs with Dass.
*
Delhi Ganesh
Delhi Ganesh is an Indian actor who mostly acts in supporting roles in Tamil cinema and serials. He has acted in more than 400 films from 1976 to present. Before films, he was a member of the Delhi-based theatre troupe, ''Dakshina Bharata Nata ...
as Narcotics Officer
*
Subhalekha Sudhakar
Suravajhala Sudhakar (born 19 November 1960), known by his stage name Subhalekha Sudhakar, is an Indian actor who works in Telugu and Tamil language films and television. Sudhakar's first Telugu film ''Subhalekha'' (1982) gained him wide reco ...
as Film Producer
*
Janaki Sabesh
Janaki Sabesh is an Indian media professional, actor, model, storyteller, author of children's book, theatre and voiceover artist. Throughout her film career, she has played the "screen mother" to several leading actors, appearing predominantly ...
as Kamalesh's aide at the airport and the bar
*
Kalairani
Kalairani Indian actress who has worked in many Tamil films and as a performer with the Koothu-P-Pattarai theatre group.
Filmography
Serials
* ''Panchavan Kaadu'' (2014) (Tamil)
* ''Unarchigal'' (2014) (Tamil)
* ''Nandini
Nandini is a ...
as Brothel Owner
* Boys Rajan
*
Koena Mitra
Koena Mitra (born 7 January 1984) is an Indian actress and model who appears in Bollywood films. She is mostly known for her item numbers and for her appearance as Julie in the movie '' Apna Sapna Money Money''.
Early life
Mitra was born in Ko ...
as an
item number
In Indian cinema, an item number or item song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films (Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, and ...
in ''Honey Honey''
*
Raghuvaran
Raghuvaran Velayutham (11 December 1958 – 19 March 2008) was an Indian actor who predominantly acted in films made in South India. He has acted in more than 200 Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. According to the ''Hindustan ...
as Velusamy, Deva's father (Photo only)
Production
Development
Three years after the release of his debut venture ''
Kana Kandaen
''Kana Kandaen'' () is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language thriller film directed by K. V. Anand in his directorial debut, and produced by P. L. Thenappan. The film stars Srikanth, Prithviraj, Gopika, and Vivek. The music was composed by Vidyasa ...
'' starring
Srikanth Srikanth or Sreekanth is a common Indian first name.
* Srikanth (Tamil actor, born 1940), Tamil film actor active in films from 1965
* Srikanth (Tamil actor, born 1980), Tamil actor active in films after 2002
* Srikanth (Telugu actor), Telugu act ...
and
Gopika
Girly Anto, credited by her screen name Gopika (born 1 February 1984) is an Indian actress, who has predominantly starred in Malayalam films.Starting her career as a model, she ventured into acting with the Malayalam film, '' Pranayamanithooval' ...
, cinematographer
K. V. Anand
Karimanal Venkatesan Anand (30 October 1966 30 April 2021) was an Indian cinematographer, film director and photojournalist, worked mainly in the Tamil film industry. After a short period as a journalist, he became a cinematographer in the earl ...
expressed his desire to commence his second film as director. He and Subha discussed several plots and settled for "Ayan" because "it was not only different but had scope for entertainment".
It was later announced that Anand would be directing his next film, produced under the AVM Production banner, titled ''Ayan''. The film was inaugurated at AVM Studios on 24 March 2008 with the presence of most of the unit members. On the occasion, Anand announced the film's genre to be an action thriller interlaced with romance and comedy. He also suggested ''Ayan'' meant "outstanding", excellence" or can be the name for sun rays in five different languages. However, this was later doubted by a few critics, raising a point saying ''Ayan'' was not necessarily a
Tamil language word. Despite the film's lyricist
Vairamuthu's calls for the word to be a Tamil word, it was argued that ''Ayan'' was a nickname for the
Hindu deity Lord
Brahma
Brahma ( sa, ब्रह्मा, Brahmā) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 21 ...
. Since the word was then touted to be borrowed from the
Sanskrit language, the film was prone to a title change, in light of
Tamil Nadu's Entertainment Tax Exemption Act, which was passed in 2006. A similar problem was faced by the producers of ''
Aegan
''Aegan'' is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film directed and co-written by Raju Sundaram and produced by Ayngaran International. It stars Ajith Kumar and Nayanthara, with Suman, Jayaram, Nassar, Navdeep, and Piaa Bajpai in support ...
'', which was also under production at the time. The controversy was later dropped. ''Ayan'' was announced to be predominantly set in various locations of both South Asia and Africa. It was made at a production cost of 200 million.
Casting
K. V. Anand
Karimanal Venkatesan Anand (30 October 1966 30 April 2021) was an Indian cinematographer, film director and photojournalist, worked mainly in the Tamil film industry. After a short period as a journalist, he became a cinematographer in the earl ...
announced the film with both
Suriya
Saravanan Sivakumar (born 23 July 1975), known by his stage name Suriya, is an Indian actor, producer, television presenter and a philanthropist. He primarily works in Tamil cinema where he is one of the highest paid actors. He received numerou ...
and
Tamannaah
Tamanna Bhatia (born 21 December 1989), known professionally as Tamannaah, is an Indian actress who appears primarily in Telugu and Tamil films, along with a few Hindi films. In 2005, she made her acting debut at the age of 15 in the Hindi fi ...
to play the lead roles in the film. Surya was initially expected to play the lead role in Anand's earlier film but was not able to do so.
Anand expressed his thoughts during the film's inauguration that "Surya was apt for the title role" since the film's title meant "sun rays" and the name "Surya" refers to the sun. ''Ayan'' would also make Surya's second film with
AVM Productions
AVM Productions is an Indian film production studio founded by A. V. Meiyappan. It is the final oldest survived studio in India. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai. It has produced over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, ...
, after their previous partnership in ''
Perazhagan
''Perazhagan'' () is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language comedy drama film directed by Sasi Shanker, starring Suriya and Jyothika with both playing dual roles. The supporting cast includes Vivek, Manorama and Manobala. The movie's score and soundtr ...
''. Furthermore, Surya had worked with Anand since Surya's debut in the 1997 film ''
Nerukku Ner
''Nerrukku Ner'' () is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Vasanth and produced by Mani Ratnam. The film stars Vijay, Suriya, Simran, and Kausalya, while Raghuvaran, Shanthi Krishna, Baby Jennifer, Kar ...
'' for which Anand was the film's photographer.
Surya's physique was key for his character, as he would be acting as a powerful and active youngster. During the film's launch, he announced that he would give the film his best, understanding the nature of the producers, who previously presented the big-budget film ''
Sivaji
Sivaji is an Indian actor who appears in Telugu films. He won Nandi Award for Best Male Dubbing Artist for the movie '' Dil'' (voice for Nitin).
Career
Sivaji is from Narsarsopet in Guntur district. Sivaji started his stint as an editor in ...
''. Tamanna, after starring in the Tamil films ''
Kalloori
''Kalloori'' () is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language coming-of-age drama film by director Balaji Sakthivel. The movie was produced by S. Shankar's banner S Pictures. The story, based on a college campus, featuring debutants Akhil, Tamannaah, and Bha ...
'' (for which she was nominated for a
Filmfare Award
The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...
) and ''
Padikathavan'', was cast in ''Ayan''.
Prabhu
''Prabhu'' means master or the Prince in Sanskrit and many of the Indian languages; it is a name sometimes applied to God. The term is also used by devotees of the Hindu God Lord Krishna/ Vishnu as a title and form of address. It is also appen ...
was consecutively cast in ''Ayan'' in a pivotal role, as per his previous films, in which he played important supporting characters. It was later announced that Anand would introduce a new actor to
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood ...
in the film, who will be playing a negative role, which was later known to be
Akashdeep Saighal
Akashdeep Saigal is an Indian television actor known for his portrayal of ''Ansh Virani'' and ''Eklavya Virani'' in ''Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'' as well as participating in ''Bigg Boss 5''.
Personal life
Saigal's father and older brothe ...
, who predominantly works in
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
films.
Apart from the film's cast, the film's crew consisted of
Harris Jayaraj
Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Telugu and two films in Hindi.
He has been honoured with ...
as the composer along with
Vairamuthu,
Pa. Vijay and
Na. Muthukumar
Nagarajan Muthukumar (12 July 1975 – 14 August 2016) was a Tamil poet, lyricist, and author. Best known for his Tamil language film songs, he received the most Filmfare Awards for Best Lyricist in Tamil and was a two-time recipient of the Nat ...
as the lyricists.
M. S. Prabhu was chosen as the film's cinematographer, who is a friend of Anand and worked with him under the guidance of
P. C. Sriram.
Filming
Nenje Nenje’ song was shot on the sand dunes of the Namib-Naukluft National Park, Dune 7 and Dead Vlei in Namibia, in freezing temperature. Songs were composed in Mauritius, where William Honk choreographed the car chase shots.
The stunt sequences were shot at Binny Mills with a huge set resembling an airport while another fight was shot at Cape Town, Africa. The filming was also held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zanzibar.
Themes and influences
The film dealt with the concept of smuggling and custom officers. In order to prepare the script, Anand did a lot of research and is said to have spoken to a lot of custom officers to understand the modus operandi of smuggling.
Music
The film's soundtrack is composed by
Harris Jayaraj
Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Telugu and two films in Hindi.
He has been honoured with ...
, in his fourth collaboration with
Suriya
Saravanan Sivakumar (born 23 July 1975), known by his stage name Suriya, is an Indian actor, producer, television presenter and a philanthropist. He primarily works in Tamil cinema where he is one of the highest paid actors. He received numerou ...
, after ''
Kaakha Kaakha
''Kaakha Kaakha'' (), titled ''The Police'' in the UK, is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. It stars Suriya and Jyothika, with Jeevan playing the antagonist. The film featured musi ...
'', ''
Ghajini'' and ''
Vaaranam Aayiram
''Vaaranam Aayiram'' () is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon and produced by Venu Ravichandran of Aascar Films. The film stars Suriya in dual lead roles as father and son, with Sameer ...
'', and his first collaboration with director
K. V. Anand
Karimanal Venkatesan Anand (30 October 1966 30 April 2021) was an Indian cinematographer, film director and photojournalist, worked mainly in the Tamil film industry. After a short period as a journalist, he became a cinematographer in the earl ...
. Harris composed all the songs in
Mauritius. The film's audio launch took place on 19 January 2009, at the office of
Sun TV Network in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...
, with the presence of the film's cast and crew.
The audio launch had a live telecast on
Sun Music
Sun Music ( ta, சன் மியூசிக்) is India's first 24-hour music channel led by the well-known Sun TV Network of India. The channel features Tamil music from Kollywood. Most of the shows in Sun Music requires call-in audienc ...
.
The film features six tracks, with lyrics written by
Na. Muthukumar
Nagarajan Muthukumar (12 July 1975 – 14 August 2016) was a Tamil poet, lyricist, and author. Best known for his Tamil language film songs, he received the most Filmfare Awards for Best Lyricist in Tamil and was a two-time recipient of the Nat ...
,
Vairamuthu and
Pa. Vijay.
The film was dubbed into Telugu as ''Veedokkade'', and its soundtrack was released on 22 February 2009.
Reception
The soundtrack album received mostly positive reviews from music critics as well as listeners. Behindwoods gave the album 3 out of 5 stating, "Harris Jayaraj’s crafting is elegant as ever. But what disappoints us here slightly is that the songs have influences of his earlier albums here and there, which could have been avoided. Harris does have it in him to give us many more ‘wah wah’ numbers." Indiaglitz gave the album 2.75 out of 5 and stated, "'Ayan' has a whole lot of mix in spellbinding melodies and mind-boggling peppy numbers. Undoubtedly, Harris is there over the top with the prodigious score for his ducky actor Surya." Rediff gave the album 2.5 out of 5 stating, "Harris Jeyaraj wants to break away from his usual melodies and try something new. And he has succeeded, to a certain extent. Barring one or two numbers, this effort doesn't seem to sustain itself after the first few lines, but perhaps, with repeated listening, its appeal might increase."
Release
The satellite rights of the film were secured by
Sun TV. The film was given a "U/A" certificate by the
Indian Censor Board
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...
.
AVM Productions
AVM Productions is an Indian film production studio founded by A. V. Meiyappan. It is the final oldest survived studio in India. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai. It has produced over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, ...
sold the film's distribution rights for
Tamil Nadu to
Sun Pictures for 200 million.
Reception
Critical reception
The film received highly positive reviews from critics, upon release.
Malathi Rangarajan of ''
The Hindu'' wrote: "Ayan is Suriya’s show all the way. He bears the onus with a smile and the death-defying stunts add to the robust image he aims to project".
Behindwoods wrote: "Ayan is fun. Just buy a huge bag of popcorn, a can of cola, and have a blast! But do remember the first step about the logic". Indiaglitz wrote: "Though the storyline is familiar and oft-seen in the past, the pacy narration and captivating visuals provide the necessary pep to the film".
Sify
Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...
rated 3 out of 5 stars stating "Paisa Vasool" ().
Rediff rated 3.5 out of 5 stars stating "Ayan is definitely a must-watch."
Box-office
In Chennai alone, box office totals were reported as in theatrical revenue. International distribution rights were sold to
Ayngaran International
Ayngaran International is a film distribution and production company, based in the United Kingdom. Historically, Tamil films from India have been distributed to overseas theaters and for home media consumption by Ayngaran. The chairman of the ...
. Ayan's revenue was in Malaysia and in the UK. The film's Telugu dubbed version, ''Veedokkade'', was sold to
Hyderabad
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. ...
based producer,
Bellamkonda Suresh
Bellamkonda Suresh is an Indian film producer in the Telugu film industry.
Biography
Bellamkonda Suresh is married to Bellamkonda Padmavathi and has two sons named Bellamkonda Sai Sreenivas and Bellamkonda Ganesh Babu. Sreenivas made his de ...
.
The final worldwide box office was around .
The film ran over 100 days in Kerala. The Telugu dubbed version ''Veedokkade'' ran over 100 days in Andhra Pradesh.
Awards
''Ayan'' received the most nominations at the
57th Filmfare Awards South
The 57th Filmfare Awards South ceremony honoring the winners and nominees of the best of South Indian cinema in 2009 was held on 7 August 2010 in Chennai, India.
Nominations
The Filmfare Best Film Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as ...
(12) and the
4th Annual Vijay Awards (18).
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayan
2009 films
2009 action thriller films
Films shot in Malaysia
Films about organised crime in India
2000s Tamil-language films
Films shot in Namibia
Films shot in South Africa
Films shot in Tanzania
Films shot in Zimbabwe
Films shot in Botswana
Films shot in Mauritius
Films shot in Chennai
Films shot in Kuala Lumpur
Indian action thriller films
AVM Productions films
Films set in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Films about mining
Blood diamonds
Parkour in film
Films scored by Harris Jayaraj
Films with screenplays by Subha
Films about the Narcotics Control Bureau
Films about the illegal drug trade
Films directed by K. V. Anand