Winner (2003 Film)
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''Winner'' is a 2003 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 romantic
action comedy film The action comedy is a film genre that applies to action films where humor plays a much more central role. While early films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the Americ ...
directed and co-written by
Sundar C Vinayagar Sundar Vel (born 21 January 1968), known professionally as Sundar C, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, and playback singer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. He has directed over 30 films and received the Kalaimamani#2009, Kalaim ...
. The film stars
Prashanth Prashanth Thiagarajan (born 6 April 1973), known professionally as Prashanth, is an Indian actor, businessman, playback singer and film producer known for his works predominantly in Tamil cinema. Besides Tamil films, he has also appeared in f ...
and
Kiran Rathod Kiran Rathod (born 11 January 1981) is an Indian content creator and actress. She is well known for her appearance in Tamil films. Rathod has established herself in Kollywood. She also appears in Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. She is ...
in the lead roles, while
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 ...
, Vijayakumar, M. N. Nambiar and
Riyaz Khan Riyaz Khan is an Indian actor and bodybuilder. He predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam and Tamil cinema, Tamil films and television series, besides acting in a few Telugu language, Telugu and Kannada cinema, Kannada films, as well ...
play important supporting roles. The film, which has music scored by
Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja (born 31 August 1979), is an Indian composer and playback singer. He mainly scores music for Tamil films along with few Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use o ...
and cinematography handled by
Prasad Murella Prasad Murella is an Indian cinematographer who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. He debut film was '' Azhagana Naatkal'' in Tamil. Personal life He was born in Vijayawada where he completed his schooling and his higher studies. Due to ...
, released on 27 September 2003.


Plot

Sakthi is studying
Engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
in a college in
Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
, and gets into quarrels every other day. Not able to withstand the threats from hooligans, his billionaire parents send him to his mother's village in
Pollachi Pollachi is a town and municipality in Coimbatore district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Pollachi taluk. It is situated near the center of the South Indian Peninsula, surrounded by Western Gha ...
where his maternal grandfather Velayutham and grandmother Sivagami reside. Though his grandparents are rich and respected farmers, Sakthi has not met them due to a small dispute between his father and grandfather. In the village, an innocent third cousin of Shakthi, Kaipulla, lives with the old couple with hopes of becoming their heir. He has a small gang and roams around the village with his mates. Kaipulla is constantly challenged by Sakthi's distant relative body-builder Kattadurai, who is also a rich landlord. Sakthi visits his grandparents and decides to stay in the village for a month. A marriage of their relative is planned, and the whole family from all over Tamil Nadu assembles. Neelaveni, who accompanies her relatives, sees Sakthi at the wedding and falls in love with him. Kattadurai is supposed to marry Neelaveni. Many events follow. Kattadurai often clashes with Sakthi and gets beaten up. Amidst the wedding preparation, a group of former enemies including Vaira Kannan and Neelavani's aunt, along with Neelaveni's father, kidnap Neelaveni. After a huge tussle, Sakthi brings Neelaveni back.


Cast


Production

Actor
Prashanth Prashanth Thiagarajan (born 6 April 1973), known professionally as Prashanth, is an Indian actor, businessman, playback singer and film producer known for his works predominantly in Tamil cinema. Besides Tamil films, he has also appeared in f ...
signed on to star in the film, being produced by R. Bhooma Ramachandran in late 2001, with
Aarthi Agarwal Aarthi Agarwal (March 5, 1984 – June 6, 2015) was an American actress of Indian origin who primarily worked in Telugu cinema and Tamil cinema. Early life and career Agarwal was born on March 5, 1984, in New Jersey to Gujarati parents. He ...
signed on the play the film's heroine. It was reported that Agarwal had impressed actress
Khushbu Khushbu Sundar (born Nakhat Khan; 29 September 1970) is an Indian politician, actress, film producer and television personality. She is known for her work predominantly in Tamil cinema, Tamil language films and in a few Telugu cinema, Telugu ...
with her performances in Telugu films and Khushbu thus recommended her to her filmmaker husband,
Sundar C Vinayagar Sundar Vel (born 21 January 1968), known professionally as Sundar C, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, and playback singer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. He has directed over 30 films and received the Kalaimamani#2009, Kalaim ...
. Vivek was the director's original choice for the comic role of Kaipulla, that was eventually played by
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 ...
. Agarwal was later replaced by
Kiran Rathod Kiran Rathod (born 11 January 1981) is an Indian content creator and actress. She is well known for her appearance in Tamil films. Rathod has established herself in Kollywood. She also appears in Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. She is ...
. Despite Agarwal being removed, she can be seen in the beginning of the song "Mathapoo", which was filmed in
Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...
. Scenes showcasing a wedding at Rathod's character's house was shot at Vasan House,
Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
. Other scenes were shot in
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
. Prashanth was briefly hospitalised after injuring himself filming an action scene for the film. Vadivelu was injured on a separate occasion and could not walk properly, so his limp was written into the script as a result of his character being beaten up. The scene where he tells
Riyaz Khan Riyaz Khan is an Indian actor and bodybuilder. He predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam and Tamil cinema, Tamil films and television series, besides acting in a few Telugu language, Telugu and Kannada cinema, Kannada films, as well ...
's character, "Venaam Valikkuthu Azhuthuruven" () took 16 takes to approve as Khan could not control his laughter every time Vadivelu said the line.


Soundtrack

The music was composed by
Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja (born 31 August 1979), is an Indian composer and playback singer. He mainly scores music for Tamil films along with few Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use o ...
. Vignesh Ram of ''Nilacharal'' called it an "above average album with a mixture of western, folk, dappanguthu and melody numbers".


Release and reception

The film was released on 27 September 2003. Malini Mannath of ''Chennai Online'' wrote, "It's a typical Sunder C film, one of his more enjoyable ones, with the right dose of action, sentiment, romance and humour, all weaved into a single film that is engaging and with not many lagging moments. The film makes no pretensions of being a classy affair, but nevertheless it is wholesome entertainment for the entire family. The highlight is the humour generated by the comedy track". Visual Dasan 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 ...
'' called Vadivelu as man of the match while also praising Kiran's acting and Prashanth's action. Malathi Rangarajan 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, "It is a typical Sundar C. brand entertainer ..with comedy, stunts, romance and sentiment thrown in to make the product racy ..So naturally don't expect too much of logic in the story or plausibility in the narration".


Post-release

Post-release, the film's producer Ramachandran criticised Prashanth for his alleged unprofessional behavior during production. He claimed that the actor insisted on hiring Agarwal and she was paid more than the budget allocated by the producer just for the lead actress, but Prashanth after a point unceremoniously demanded her removal, and himself often did not show up for filming according to the agreed schedule. Ramachandran alleged that Prashanth was upset that Vadivelu's role had more scope than his own, hence he refused to let the film be completed and released within the planned time. He blamed Prashanth for the cost overruns, and said he was forced to sell the film at a low price to distributors. Despite this, he adopted the name "Winner" Ramachandran as an homage to the film. Vadivelu's association in the film titled 'Varuthapadatha Valibar Sangam' became popular, and was used as the title for a 2013 film.


References


External links

* * {{Sundar C 2000s Indian films 2000s masala films 2000s romantic action films 2000s Tamil-language films 2003 action comedy films 2003 films 2003 romantic comedy films Films directed by Sundar C Films scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja Films shot in Chennai Films shot in Hyderabad, India Films shot in Thiruvananthapuram Indian action comedy films Indian romantic action films Indian romantic comedy films Tamil-language action comedy films Tamil-language Indian films Tamil-language romantic comedy films