''Viyabari'' ( ) is a 2007 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

science fiction comedy Science fiction comedy (sci-fi comedy) or comic science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction or science fantasy that exploits the science fiction genre's conventions for comedic effect. The genre often mocks or satirizes standard science fic ...

film directed and written by

Sakthi Chidambaram Sakthi N Chidambaram (born Dinakar), is an Indian film director and screenwriter, who directs Tamil cinema, Tamil films. Career His real name is C. Dhinakaran. He first wrote the dialogues for the films ''Kottai Vaasal'' (1992), ''Veettai Paar ...

. The film stars

S. J. Suryah Selvaraj Justin Pandian (born 20 July 1968), known by his stage name S. J. Suryah, is an Indian actor, film director, producer, playback singer, writer and philanthropist who predominantly works in Tamil films and in few Telugu films. He sought t ...

in a

dual role A dual role (also known as a double role) refers to one actor playing two roles in a single production. Dual roles (or a larger number of roles for an actor) may be deliberately written into a script, or may instead be a choice made during produc ...

as a businessman and his clone, alongside an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...

that includes

Tamannaah Bhatia Tamanna Bhatia (born 21 December 1989), known professionally as Tamannaah Bhatia, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. Having appeared in 88 films, she has received several awards, including two Sa ...

Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Telugu language, Telugu, Tamil language, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, English language, Engl ...

Namitha Namitha Vankawala (born 10 May 1981) is a state executive member of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tamil Nadu. She started her career initially as an actress and model who predominantly works in Tamil and Telugu cinema along with a few films ...

, Malavika,

Vadivelu Kumaravadivel Natarajan (born 12 September 1960) known professionally as Vadivelu, is an Indian actor, comedian and occasional playback singer, having acted mainly in Tamil cinema. He has at least 290 credits to his name. He was a recipient of ...

, Santhanam,

Seetha Sita (; ), also known as Siya, Jānaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi. She is t ...

, and

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 ...

. The music was 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 ...

. Cinematography was handled by M. V. Panneerselvam, and editing was done by S. Suraj Kavee.

Plot

Suryaprakash is a businessman who wants to become richer than

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend ...

. In the process, he loses his family and social life. He tells scientist Stephen Raj to clone him so that he can keep concentrating on his business affairs whilst the clone replaces him at home. Savithri, a college girl doing a research project on Suryaprakash, falls in love with him. Suryaprakash is not interested in Savithri, but marries her because she's a good cook. After partying with two models and humiliating his brother-in-law "Digil" Paandi, Suryaprakash finally comes to understand the value of family after his mother dies.

Cast

Soundtrack

The film's music was composed by

made his singing debut in this film. Saraswathy Srinivas of ''

Rediff.com Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...

'' wrote, "Vyaabaari is representative of the rot that has infected Tamil film lyrics. Avoid".

Critical reception

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 ...

'' criticised the film and asked "what the actor and his director was trying to convey through this film — a bit of sleaze and fun or steamy mother sentiments?" Sriram Iyer of ''Rediff.com'' wrote, "At quite a few places, the movie seems like a rehash of Surya's earlier films. Its better if Mr.Surya realises that it will look better if someone else pays tribute to his work, rather doing it himself". Malini Mannath of ''Chennai Online'' wrote, "Shakti Chidambaram produces, scripts and directs the film. His earlier films with Sathyaraj were fairly engaging entertainers. But 'Vyabari' is just a test of patience". S. R. Ashok Kumar 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 ...

'' wrote, "Director Shakthi Chidambaram is known for his works in comedy and watching `Vyabari' one feels he could have stuck to what he is best at". Lajjavathi of ''

Kalki Kalki (), also called Kalkin, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hinduism, Hindu god Vishnu. According to Vaishnavism, Vaishnava cosmology, Kalki is destined to appear at the end of the Kali Yuga, the last of the four ages i ...

'' praised the acting of Suryah and Bhatia, Deva's music, and Panneerselvam's cinematography, and was thrilled by the innovative ideas of Tamil directors. However, she felt that Chidambaram should have provided a neater screenplay.

References

External links

* * {{Sakthi Chidambaram 2000s Indian films 2000s science fiction comedy films 2000s Tamil-language films 2007 films Films about cloning Films directed by Sakthi Chidambaram Films scored by Deva (composer) Indian science fiction comedy films Tamil-language Indian films