Jilla

''Jilla'' () is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by R. T. Neason and produced by R. B. Choudary under Super Good Films. The film stars Mohanlal and Vijay as a crime boss and his adopted son, a police officer, whose lives and approach towards law changes after a violent incident. The cast also includes Kajal Aggarwal, Soori, Mahat, Nivetha Thomas, Sampath Raj and Pradeep Rawat. The film has music composed by D. Imman, cinematography handled by Ganesh Rajavelu and editing by Don Max.

The film released on 10 January 2014 and received generally positive reviews from critics and audience. ''Jilla'' completed a 100-day theatrical run on 19 April 2014. The film had earned 85 crore in its entire run at the box office.'Jilla' Box Office Collection: Mohanlal-Vijay Starrer Wins BO Battle
. M.ibtimes.co.in (5 February 2014). Retrieved on 2015-05-31. The film performed commercially better than its competitor '' Veeram''. The film was remade in Odia as ''Bajrangi'' (2017).

Plot

Shakthi is the adopted son of a Madurai-based crime boss, Sivan and is also his right-hand man, bodyguard and driver. Sivan lives happily with his wife, Shakthi, his son, Vignesh, and his daughter, Mahalakshmi. Shakthi hates the police force due to a police officer killing his father, who was Sivan's driver, in his childhood. His hatred is such that he hates the khaki colour (which is worn by police in India). Shakthi doesn't let Sivan's watchman wear his Khaki watchman uniform, constantly teases his friend Gopal, who gets selected as a constable, and even loses romantic interest in a woman named Shanthi after he finds out that she is an Inspector.

When Sivan is insulted by Ajay Rathore, a newly appointed police commissioner of Madurai, who wants to wipe the criminal system of Madurai, Sivan forces Shakthi to become an IPS officer to save his crime syndicate and prove the commissioner's words wrong. Reluctantly taking charge as ACP of Madurai City East, Shakthi gives free rein to Sivan and his henchmen, who wreak havoc over Madurai, until one of their activities inadvertently causes a gas leak which destroys a school and some nearby buildings, killing several people, including women and children. The incident, along with the assault of a woman by Sivan's henchmen when she had come to the police station to lodge a complaint against Sivan for killing her husband, shocks Shakthi emotionally and causes him to follow the path of an honest police officer.

Shakti, donning the khaki uniform for the first time, thrashes Sivan's henchmen who assaulted the woman. Sivan does not like Shakthi's new person and after a heated argument between the two. A cat-and-mouse game begins between Sivan and Shakthi, with Sivan and his henchmen determined to humiliate Shakthi at every opportunity. Shakthi, assisted by Shanthi and Gopal, tries to rid Sivan's influence in Madurai. Shakthi is soon promoted to the rank of DCP for his success in arresting most of Sivan's gang members and beneficiaries within one night. Later, Shakthi finds out that Sivan's other adopted son, minister Aadhi Kesavan, is plotting to kill Sivan in revenge for Sivan killing his police officer father (the same police officer who killed Shakthi's father) in his childhood.

Since Shakthi had inadvertently thwarted his earlier plans to kill Sivan, he also plans to get Sivan to kill Shakthi by killing Sivan's son Vignesh and putting the blame on Shakthi for Vignesh's death. Unfortunately for Aadhi, Sivan learns about his plan and reconciles with Shakti, where they fight Aadhi's henchmen and Aadhi. Shakthi beats up Aadhi and gives him to Sivan to kill. Sivan gives Aadhi a choice to kill himself. Aadhi takes up the choice and slits his throat, thereby killing him. The next day, at Sivan's house, as per Sivan's request, the police came to arrest Sivan. Shakti hesitantly arrests him, and they both walk out of the house in a manner reminiscent of their walking style.

Cast

Special appearances

Themes and influences

The film was reported to be similar to the basic plot of the Telugu movie '' Prasthanam'' (2010), with some twists removed, the senior character dumbed down, and have a '' Ulle Veliye'' (1993) Parthiban style police twist.

Production

Casting

Upon the completion of '' Velayudham'' (2011), Vijay announced his next project to be with R. T. Neason, who had worked in ''Velayudham'' as an assistant to director Jayam Raja. The project however commenced only two years later, after Vijay completed three other films. Neason described ''Jilla'' as a "Madurai-based movie" and also revealed that right from 2009, he had this story line about two powerful characters and their emotional interaction, making it his second directorial after '' Muruga'' (2007). Vijay who had several collaborations with R. B. Choudary decided to produce the film. Vairamuthu was chosen to pen the lyrics for a song in ''Jilla'', who would be writing a song for Vijay after 12 years. Malayalam Superstar Mohanlal plays the other leading role when he liked the script and accepted the film. Raju Sundaram will be choreographing the dance sequences in the film.

Nisha Agarwal was rumored to be performing in the film, but she denied these rumors on Twitter, stating that she had not been approached for a film role. Kajal Aggarwal and Poornima Bhagyaraj were also slated to perform in the film. Gautam Kurup was signed up as the second antagonist. Niveda Thomas said that she would be playing the daughter of Mohanlal's character and sister of Vijay's character. Due to clash of dates, cinematographer Natty Subramaniam was replaced by R. Ganesh. During a photoshoot with the main cast, Nesan announced that filming would take place in Madurai, Chennai and Andhra Pradesh, while songs would be filmed overseas.

Filming

The opening ceremony for the film was held on 11 March 2013 at R. B. Choudary's Chennai office. The first schedule of film shooting took off on 13 May in Madurai and Karaikudi with Mohanlal and Poornima Bhagyaraj. Vijay was reported to join by the end of the month, but this didn't materialise. For the next schedule the film crew shifted to a Chennai-based studio where large sets resembling the city of Madurai were built up for the film. In September 2013, it was reported that Vijay and Kajal Aggarwal would be playing police officers in the film.

The fourth schedule of the film was supposed to start on 14 August. However, the shooting got cancelled due to heavy rain. In October it was reported that 80% of the film had been completed with only the song sequences remaining.

Soundtrack

Release

''Jilla'' was released on 9 January 2014 in France, Singapore and Canada, and worldwide on 10 January 2014. The satellite rights of the film were purchased by Sun TV for a record price of .

Critical reception

''Jilla'' received generally positive reviews from critics and audience who praised the cast performances (particularly Mohanlal and Vijay), background score and action sequences, while the length was criticized and consequently trimmed by ten minutes.

''Sify'' stated that the film is a "Mass Masala Entertainer" and wrote, "''Jilla'' is masala entertainment and a full course meal that leaves you with a smile on your face", calling it "a perfect outing with your family this festival season and rated 4/5". ''The Times of India'' gave 3.5 stars out of 5 and stated "As far as commercial films are concerned, ''Jilla'' is definitely assured filmmaking", while adding, "the main issue with ''Jilla'' is that it is overlong. Neason, probably in an effort to make it a wholesome entertainer, keeps packing in scenes oblivious to the running time. '' Ananda Vikatan'' rated the film 41 out of 100.

''Bangalore Mirror'' gave 3.5 out of 5 and called it "a perfect festival film that has all the trappings of a blockbuster" Gautaman Bhaskaran of ''Hindustan Times'' gave the film 3/5 stars and stated, Mohanlal and " Vijay captivating style and powerful performance makes the movie a solid family entertainer". S Saraswathi of ''Rediff'' gave 3.5/5 and wrote, Mohanlal and " Vijay easily keep the audience entertained with their powerful performances, both equally confident and secure in their own ability, undoubtedly making the film a solid commercial entertainer for the masses."

Box office

''Jilla'''s opening netted around in Tamil Nadu alone. ''IB Times'' stated it opened well in Kerala too. It grossed around worldwide on its opening day and worldwide in its extended five-day weekend. In Chennai city alone, the film netted in the first week with an average theater occupancy of 97% and stood first for the weekend. The second week had an occupancy of 85-90% in the city and netted around The film still stood at the number ten position in Chennai by the third week resulting in a total collection of . ''Jilla'' grossed around by the fourth week in Kerala. After 8 weeks at the Chennai box office, the film netted around .

''Jilla'' released at 44 screens in UK. The film collected ''Jilla'' has grossed £4,815 from five screens in its third weekend at the UK box office. It had a collection of £243,029 () in 17 days. In Australia. The film has grossed a total of A$43,899 in 17 days at the Australian box office. ''Jilla'' opened at Number 2 in Malaysian Box Office and was released in 69 screens. Mohanlal's ''Jilla'' has made from 36 screens in the first weekend.

Remake plans

In a meeting with his fans' association at Srikakulam in January 2014, Chiranjeevi announced that he wants V. V. Vinayak to direct the remake of ''Jilla'' (2014) starring himself and his son Ram Charan after the 2014 Indian general elections. It was supposed to be Chiranjeevi's 150th film as an actor. Chiranjeevi opted to choose a script that would reflect the sentiments of Telugu people and walked out from the remake. Charan felt uncomfortable to reprise a role where he has to oppose his father and being dissatisfied with the story, he dropped the remake's proposal.

In late March 2014, R. T. Neason, the director of the original, wanted to direct the Telugu remake bankrolled by Super Good Films. Neason wanted Nandamuri Balakrishna and N. T. Rama Rao Jr. to reprise the roles played by Mohanlal and Vijay in the original respectively. Its possibility was doubtful because of the strained relationship between Balakrishna and Rama Rao Jr. in the past few years. After the release of '' Gopala Gopala'' (2015), its co-producer Sharat Marar acquired the remake rights of ''Jilla'' and approached Daggubati Venkatesh and Ravi Teja with the proposal of its remake to be directed by Veeru Potla.

In the past, Potla approached both Venkatesh and Ravi Teja with a storyline in July 2014 which upon their consent was developed into a script, which remained in scripting stage according to Ravi Teja as of late September 2014. Kona Venkat was reported to pen the remake's screenplay. Ravi Teja evinced interest to be a part of the remake and the film's production was expected to begin in April 2015. However, there were reports stating that ''Jilla'' would be dubbed into Telugu with a duration of 140 minutes including a separate comedy track on Brahmanandam with Vijay. Also, Rama Rao Jr.'s elder brother Nandamuri Kalyan Ram planned to remake ''Jilla'' in Telugu with Balakrishna after arranging a special screening for the latter.

The Telugu dubbed version was confirmed in mid April 2015. Tamatam Kumar Reddy and Prasad Sannidhi of Sri Obuleswara Productions acquired the Telugu dubbing rights while R. B. Chowdary was announced to present the film. The deleted track that was shot with Mohanlal, Vijay and Brahmanandam in Tamil was kept in the Telugu version. Shashank Vennelakanti penned the dialogues for the Telugu dubbed version. After considering many other titles, ''Jilla'' was retained for the Telugu dubbed version.

References

2014 action drama films
2010s Tamil-language films
2014 films
Fictional portrayals of the Tamil Nadu Police
Films scored by D. Imman
Films shot in Madurai
Films shot in Osaka
Indian action drama films
Indian police films
Indian films about revenge
2014 masala films
Tamil films remade in other languages
Films shot in Kyoto Prefecture
Films shot in Kyoto
Super Good Films films

External links

* {{IMDb title, 2678948

2014 action drama films
2010s Tamil-language films
2014 films
Fictional portrayals of the Tamil Nadu Police
Films scored by D. Imman
Films shot in Madurai
Films shot in Osaka
Indian action drama films
Indian police films
Indian films about revenge
2014 masala films
Tamil films remade in other languages
Films shot in Kyoto Prefecture
Films shot in Kyoto
Super Good Films films