Plot
Velu is a state-level Kabaddi player living in Chennai. His father, Assistant commissioner of police (India), Assistant Commissioner of Police Sivasubramaniam, constantly chides him for neglecting his studies and favouring Kabaddi. In contrast, his mother dotes on him, and his younger sister Bhuvana, a sharp and inquisitive schoolgirl, constantly gets Velu into trouble with their father, but nevertheless adores him. One day, Velu gets sent to his relatives' wedding in Trichy, but skips the wedding to go and play in a kabaddi match in Madurai, unknown to his parents. In Madurai, Muthupandi, a ruthless gang leader, lusts for a girl named Dhanalakshmi and would do anything to marry her. Muthupandi kills Dhanalakshmi's oldest brother as he rejects his offer to marry her. Dhanalakshmi's second oldest brother is also killed by Muthupandi when attempting to avenge his brother's murder. Dhanalakshmi's father is a meek man who gets terrified by Muthupandi's acts and asks Dhanalakshmi to leave Madurai and lead a peaceful life with her uncle in the United States, giving her money and her university certificates. Muthupandi catches her when she runs but Velu, who happens to pass by, clashes with Muthupandi and rescues Dhanalakshmi and then takes her to Chennai. Muthupandi swears revenge. Velu takes Dhanalakshmi to his house and hides her in his room, unknown to his family. With the help of his friends, he arranges a passport, Travel visa, visa, and plane tickets for Dhanalakshmi so that she can go to the United States. Meanwhile, Muthupandi and his father, who is the Home Minister, ask Sivasubramaniam to search for Dhanalakshmi and the apparent kidnapper. When Sivasubramaniam discovers that it is his own son who did the "crime", Velu and Dhanalakshmi run away and hide in the Chennai Lighthouse, lighthouse. Dhanalakshmi has by now fallen in love with Velu, and has been accepted by his mother and sister. So she is reluctant to go to the US. Velu however, is adamant on sending her to the US, and he, along with his friends, get her to the Chennai International Airport in time for her flight before their kabaddi match against Punjabi kabaddi, Punjab in the final match of the National League. Sivasubramaniam, enraged that his son is a wanted criminal and yet plays in a kabaddi match, goes to the stadium to arrest Velu. By now, Velu too 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 replaced by his best performance on seeing Dhanalakshmi, winning his team the championship. Soon after, Velu is arrested by his father, but is then stopped by Muthupandi, who wants to fight Velu, having been incited by Dhanalakshmi to do so to prove his worth. Velu defeats Muthupandi and embraces Dhanalakshmi, but when Muthupandi regains consciousness and tries to kill Velu, a floodlight broken during the fight accidentally hits Muthupandi, who gets electrocuted to death.Cast
Production
Development
Vikram (actor), Vikram was the first choice for the film, however due to outstanding film commitments, he was replaced by Vijay (actor), Vijay. Dharani was finalized 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 (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 Nancy Jennifer, 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 (actor), 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 July 2003, after Vijay had completed shooting for his previous film ''Thirumalai'' and the entire film was completed by February 2004. Shooting took place mainly in and around Chennai ,surrounding the areas like Mylapore and Besant Nagar, Chennai, 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.Music
Vidyasagar (composer), Vidyasagar was signed to compose the soundtrack album and Film score, background score for ''Ghilli''; it marks the fourth collaboration of both Dharani (director), Dharani and Vijay (actor), Vijay, with the former on ''Ethirum Pudhirum, Ethirum Puthirum'', ''Dhill'' and ''Dhool'', and working with the latter after ''Coimbatore Mappillai'' (1995), ''Nilaave Vaa'' (1998) and ''Thirumalai'' (2002). The soundtrack features six songs. The lyrics were penned by Yugabharathi, Pa. Vijay, Na. Muthukumar, Kabilan (Lyricist), Kabilan and Maran. The song ''Appadi Podu'' was later reused by Chakri (composer), Chakri as "Adaragottu" in the Telugu movie ''Krishna (2008 film), Krishna'' (2008). The song was also adapted by P. A. Deepak, a music producer, as ''Hum Na Tode'' in the 2013 Hindi cinema, Hindi movie ''Boss (2013 Hindi film), 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 cinema, south Indian songs that are considered a "national rage" in India. The "Kabaddi" theme music from the soundtrack album was remixed by Anirudh (composer), Anirudh, for ''Master (2021 film), Master'' (2021).Release
''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.Reception
Critical reception
''Ghilli'' opened to favourable reviews. ''Sify'' rated the movie 5 out of 5 stars and said, "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. Indo-Asian News Service, IANS stated that "''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 and gave an overall rating of 3/5 stars. ''The Hindu'' stated that "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.com'' stated that, "''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.Box Office
Ghilli become first tamil film to earn from box office and in Kerala also, it become highest grossing non-malayalam film at that time. It became commercially successful, breaking box office records of Rajinikanth’s 1999 film ''Padayappa''. 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 * Madras Corporate Club Best Actor Award – Vijay (actor), Vijay * Dinakaran Best Actor Award – Vijay * Film Today Best Actor Award – Vijay * Dinakaran Best Villain Award – Prakash RajLegacy
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 Shah Rukh Khan in the Hindi film ''Chennai Express'' (2013) and by Vijay himself in ''Master (2021 film), 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).References
External links
* {{Dharani (director) 2000s sports films 2000s Tamil-language films 2004 action films 2004 films Films directed by Dharani Films scored by Vidyasagar Films shot in Madurai 2000s masala films Sports action films Tamil remakes of Telugu films