Red (2002 Film)
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''Red'' is a 2002 Indian
Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
-language
action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...
directed by
Singampuli Singampuli is an Indian actor and Film director, director working in Tamil cinema, Tamil films. After making ''Red (2002 film), Red'' (2002) and ''Maayavi'' (2005), he has made a career appearing in comedy roles and supporting roles. Career S ...
(under the name Ram Sathya) and produced by S. S. Chakravarthy. The film stars
Ajith Kumar Ajith Kumar Subramaniam (born 1 May 1971) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. To date, he has starred in over 63 films, and won four Vijay Awards, three Cinema Express Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and three Ta ...
(in the titular role) and
Priya Gill Priya Gill is an Indian former actress, model, and beauty pageant titleholder. She won the title of Femina Miss India, Femina Miss India International 1995 and represented India at Miss International 1995. She appeared mainly in Hindi films, a ...
in the lead roles, while
Manivannan Manivannan (31 July 1953 – 15 June 2013) was an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter, voice artist, playback singer and social activist who worked in Tamil cinema. In a career spanning three decades, he went from being a story and ...
,
Raghuvaran Raghuvaran Velayuthan Nair (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 language, Tamil, Telugu language, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi ...
and
Salim Ghouse Salim Ghouse (10 January 1952 – 28 April 2022) was an Indian film, television and theatre actor, theatre director, and martial artist. He has acted in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and English films. Early life Salim Ghouse was born in Ch ...
played pivotal roles. The film's background score and soundtrack are composed by
Deva Deva may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Deva, List of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition monsters, an ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd edition monster * Deva, in the 2023 Indian film ''Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefir ...
. ''Red'' released on 14 January 2002. It had an average box office performance.


Plot

Aathi is an orphan-gangster who is well known with his alias name RED, (Revolution, Education, and Development) at the
Madurai district Madurai District is one of the 38 districts of the state of Tamil Nadu in southeastern India., United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The city of Madurai serves as the district headquarters. It houses the famous Sri Meenakshi ...
of Tamil Nadu who possesses a heart of gold, and when not bashing up mercenaries, he spends his time forcing schools to accept students without donations and taking care of orphans. Srini is his biggest enemy. RED falls for Gayathri, the daughter of his friend and confidante Narayanan, and helps her without her knowledge. She likes him but wants him to give up his life of violence. Meanwhile, reporter Manimegalai for ''
Ananda Vikatan ''Ananda Vikatan'' is a Tamil-language weekly magazine published from Chennai, India. History ''Ananda Vikatan'' was started by Late Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926 as a monthly publication. The issue for December 1927 was not publishe ...
'' begins to serialise RED's life story under the name Aathi, and it becomes quite the rage among readers and rest forms the plot.


Cast


Production

NIC Arts, the producers of
Ajith Kumar Ajith Kumar Subramaniam (born 1 May 1971) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. To date, he has starred in over 63 films, and won four Vijay Awards, three Cinema Express Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and three Ta ...
's previous films '' Vaali'', '' Mugavaree'' and ''
Citizen Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationality ...
'' signed him to appear in a film titled ''Red'' directed by debutant
Singampuli Singampuli is an Indian actor and Film director, director working in Tamil cinema, Tamil films. After making ''Red (2002 film), Red'' (2002) and ''Maayavi'' (2005), he has made a career appearing in comedy roles and supporting roles. Career S ...
, an associate of
Sundar C Vinayagar Sundar Vel (born 21 January 1968), known professionally as Sundar C, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, and playback singer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. He has directed over 30 films and received the Kalaimamani#2009, Kalaim ...
. The original plot point of Ajith's 1999 film '' Unnai Thedi'' was recommended by Singampuli, and Ajith had mentioned that if the film became a success he would feature in a future film to be directed by Singampuli.
Priya Gill Priya Gill is an Indian former actress, model, and beauty pageant titleholder. She won the title of Femina Miss India, Femina Miss India International 1995 and represented India at Miss International 1995. She appeared mainly in Hindi films, a ...
made her first and only Tamil film appearance. Principal photography at Annapoorna Studios, where art director Sabu Cyril erected a part of
Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...
town for the film. Filming took place in and around
Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
,
Vishakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is between the Eastern Ghats and the coast of t ...
,
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
and also around some outskirts of
Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...
while songs were filmed overseas.


Soundtrack

The soundtrack features six songs composed by
Deva Deva may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Deva, List of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition monsters, an ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd edition monster * Deva, in the 2023 Indian film ''Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefir ...
. All lyrics written by
Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Ramasamy (born 13 July 1953) is an Indian lyricist, poet, and novelist working in the Tamil film industry. He is a prominent figure in the Tamil literary world. A master's graduate from the Pachaiyappa's College in Chennai, he firs ...
. The prelude of the song "Kannai Kasakkum" is based on "Catch the Fox" by Den Harrow. The soundtrack became a success prior to release, with critics praising the songs particularly "Thai Madiyae".


Critical reception

Malathi Rangarajan of ''
The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
'' opined that "When the film begins stating that the title is an earth-shattering acronym (Revolution Education and Development), you wait for something radical and path-breaking. But no ... there is compassion, some mindless violence, a docile retreat, an impulsive retaliation ... and that's about all". A critic from ''
Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology (ICT) company providing telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation integration services, and ...
'' wrote that "Like it or not, in Red didacticism prevails over a clarity of vision, logic and reason. The films leaves you exhausted and stressed and is as avoidable as a migraine". Malini Mannath of ''Chennai Online'' said that "the script is insipid, the scenes are repeated, and it gets all too monotonous towards the end".


References


External links

* * {{Rotten Tomatoes 2000s Indian films 2000s masala films 2000s Tamil-language films 2002 action films 2002 directorial debut films 2002 films Films about social issues in India Films scored by Deva (composer) Films shot in Madurai Indian action films Tamil-language action films Tamil-language Indian films