''Vaaimai'' () is a 2016 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

legal drama Legal drama, also called courtroom drama, is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in wh ...

film written and directed by A. Senthil Kumar. Inspired by the script of

Reginald Rose Reginald Rose (December 10, 1920 – April 19, 2002) was an American screenwriter. He wrote about controversial social and political issues. His realistic approach was particularly influential in the anthology programs of the 1950s. Rose w ...

's ''

Twelve Angry Men ''Twelve Angry Men'' is an American courtroom drama written by Reginald Rose about the deliberations of a jury at a homicide trial. It was broadcast initially as a television play in 1954. It was adapted for the stage the following year, and ...

'' (1954), the film stars Shanthanu Bhagyaraj and Muktha Bhanu amongst an ensemble cast.

Goundamani Subramaniyan Karuppaiya (born 25 May 1939), known by his stage name Goundamani, is an Indian actor and comedian who works in Tamil cinema. He is known for his comic duo partnership in Tamil language, Tamil films with fellow actor Senthil. The p ...

, Thyagarajan,

Ramki Ramakrishnan (born 31 March 1962), better known by his stage name Ramki, is an Indian actor best known for his work in Tamil films. He made his debut in '' Chinna Poove Mella Pesu'' (1987). He was a lead actor from 1987 to 2004. He is well kn ...

Urvashi Urvashi (, ) is the most prominent apsara mentioned in the Hindu scriptures like the ''Vedas'', the epics ''Ramayana'' and ''Mahabharata'', as well as the ''Puranas''. She is regarded as the most beautiful of all the apsaras, and an expert danc ...

, Manoj K. Bharathi, Prithvi Pandiarajan and

Poornima Bhagyaraj Poornima Bhagyaraj (née Jayaram) is an Indian actress in Malayalam and Tamil films. She has also done a few Hindi and Telugu films. She is best known for her leading roles from 1980 to 1985. She married actor and director K. Bhagyaraj, who ...

are also part of the cast. Though production begun in 2013, the film was released, following a production delay, on 8 September 2016.

Plot

A woman stands accused of helping her son assassinate a politician. She needs to defend herself against accusations that she was an accomplice to the plot.

Cast

Production

Senthil Kumar chose to make his debut with ''Vaaimai'' after his other project, ''Thirudan'' featuring

Vijay Antony Frances Antony Cyril Raja (born 24 July 1975), known professionally as Vijay Antony, is an Indian music composer, playback singer, actor, film editor, lyricist, audio engineer, and filmmaker working predominantly in Tamil cinema. He made his d ...

, ran into production troubles during 2012. The film began production in February 2013, with

making a comeback to acting. It was subsequently shot in places like Delhi, Rishikesh, Haridwar and Kollimalai, but took almost two years to complete, which the director attributed to the inclusion of an animated song sequence. Shanthanu Bhagyaraj, when questioned about the film's similarities to ''

'', replied, "To my knowledge, we will not be mentioning the film in the credits, as there have been many jury-based films made, and ''Vaaimai'' could be inspired by any of them".

Vijay Sethupathi Vijaya Gurunatha Sethupathi Kalimuthu (born 16 January 1978) is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil films. Sethupathi is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film Awards, National F ...

serves as narrator.

Soundtrack

Debutant Auggath composed the music of ''Vaaimai''. The audio launch was held on 5 May 2015.

Release and reception

The film was released on 8 September 2016. Vishal Menon from ''

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 ...

'' called it "a forgettable re-interpretation of an all-time classic" and gave the film a very negative review. 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 "It's very difficult to tolerate when someone adapt a classic film like ''Twelve Angry Men'' with a plodding screenplay, over the top dialogues and dramatic performances! Well, if you are a fan of ''Twelve Angry Men'', better never ever try to watch ''Vaaimai''!". A reviewer from ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' noted that the film is "unconvincing, with writing that makes no sense and execution that is laughable".

References

External links

* * {{Twelve Angry Men 2010s Indian films 2010s legal drama films 2010s Tamil-language films 2016 directorial debut films 2016 films Films about assassinations Films about capital punishment Films about juries Films about murder Films shot in Delhi Indian courtroom films Indian legal drama films Indian remakes of American films Tamil-language drama films Tamil-language Indian films Twelve Angry Men