''Valla Desam'' () is a 2017 Indian Tamil-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 ...

written and directed by N. T. Nantha. The film stars

Anu Hasan Anu Haasan (born Anuradha Chandrahasan) is an Indian actress and TV anchor. She made her film debut in the critically acclaimed ''Indira (film), Indira'' (1995) and has since appeared in many Tamil films, playing minor roles. She hosted the cele ...

, with

Nassar Nassar (), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer, or Nacer. People with the surname include: People with th ...

, Amit, David Yuvarajan and Akarshana portraying supporting characters. The film began production in early 2012 and had a theatrical release after several delays on 22 September 2017.

Cast

as Anu *

as *

Bala Singh Bala Singh (7 May 195227 November 2019) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil language films. After making his debut in Nassar's '' Avatharam'' (1995), he appeared as the antagonist in over a hundred films. Early life and career Bala Sin ...

V. I. S. Jayapalan V. I. S. Jayapalan is a Sri Lankan-Norwegian writer, political commentator and actor who has appeared in Indian films, mainly in Tamil cinema. He made his acting debut in Vetrimaaran's ''Aadukalam'' (2011) and won a National Film Award for his p ...

Amit Tiwari Amit Tiwari is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Telugu films. He is known for playing antagonist roles in films such as '' Vikramarkudu'' (2006), '' Lakshyam'' (2007), '' Rowdy Rathore'' (2012) and '' Temper'' (2015). He was a contest ...

* David Yuvarajan as David * Akarshana as Anjali * Andrei Lenart as Andrei Blok * Rory Locke as Alex Dela *

Pippa Winslow Pippa Winslow is an American and British actress, singer and voice actress. Early life and education Winslow is originally from the United States. She obtained a BA in Drama from the University of California, Irvine and an MFA from the Ameri ...

as Surgeon * Kumud Pant as CID Officer

Production

first announced the project during an interview to

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 ...

in May 2012, stating she had signed on to appear in a film titled ''Kanavughal Aayiram'' to be directed by London-based film maker Nantha Thurai. The film began shoot in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

during late 2012 under the title of ''Aayiram Kanavugal'' and was also developed under its literal English translation ''1000 Dreams'', before undergoing a name change in late 2014 after a period of little progress. In July 2015, actor

Silambarasan Silambarasan Thesingu Rajendar (born 3 February 1984), popularly known as Simbu or by his initials as STR, is an Indian actor, producer, and playback singer who primarily works in Tamil cinema. He is the eldest son of director T. Rajendar. ...

recorded his voice for a song in the film, which has music composed by his cousin, Muthukumarasamy who is also the son of veteran composer late

L. Vaidyanathan Lakshminarayana Vaidyanathan (; ; 9 April 1942 – 19 May 2007) was an acclaimed musicologist, music director and composer, trained in the classical Carnatic music tradition. Vaidyanathan was born in Chennai to V. Lakshminarayana, and Seethalak ...

. The film's soundtrack album and trailer was released at an event in Chennai in August 2015 by actor

Kamal Haasan Parthasarathy Srinivasan (born 7 November 1954), known professionally as Kamal Haasan, is an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Considered as one of the most accomplished actors of Indian Cinema, Haas ...

and director

Bharathiraja Bharathiraja ( born 17 July 1941) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor who works mainly in the Tamil film industry. Making his debut in 1977 with ''16 Vayathinile'', he is known for realistic and sensitive portrayals of ...

. Following two years of inactivity, the team prepared the film for a theatrical release in September 2017.

Soundtrack

The film's music was composed by L. V. Muthukumarasamy and R. K. Sundar, while the audio rights of the film were acquired by Junglee Music. The album was released on 3 August 2015 and featured five songs.

Release

The film was released across Tamil Nadu on 22 September 2017 during the most crowded release date of the year at the Chennai box office. The film drew largely negative reviews, with a critic from Sify.com writing that the film has "bad writing and amateurish making" and "ends up as a tedious watch mainly due to the bland writing". The critic added the film has "the potential for an edge of the seat action thriller but sadly the problem is that it literally offers nothing new and execution is below average". A critic from the

Deccan Chronicle ''Deccan Chronicle'' is an English-language daily newspaper based in Hyderabad, India. Founded in 1938, it was initially launched as a Weekly newspaper, weekly and later converted into a daily. The newspaper's name reflects its origins in the ...

wrote "the problems of ''Valla Desam'' start early and despite having a lot of the elements required for a successful spy thriller in place, the dialogues and the characterization fall flat, and because of this, none of the personal tragedy and dangers tends to strike you as imminent. Likewise, 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 "''Valla Desam'' aspires to be a tense spy thriller, but falls short in both the writing and making." Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion wrote "It’s a great idea to bring the Vijayashanti brand of action-heroine back to the Tamil screen, but you have to make us invest in her as a person first. Anu’s family scenes are painfully perfunctory."

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 4981012 2017 films 2010s Tamil-language films 2010s Indian films Indian spy action films Indian action thriller films Films set in London Films shot in London 2010s spy action films 2017 action thriller films