Villu Movie Photo Gallery - New

Villu Movie Photo Gallery - New

Posted: 09 Jan 2009 04:14 AM CST

Prabhu Deva, who has been going through difficult times, is all set for the release of Villu, his second film as director. Once again, it has his favourite Ilayathalapathy Vijay as the hero along with Nayanthara, Prakash Raj and Vadivelu.
The film is to be released on January 12, the same day his first Tamil film (as director) Pokkiri, was released two years ago. The movie went on to become a blockbuster.
Ask the director why the project has been christened Villu and Prabhu Deva nonchalantly replies, "My hero is like a villu (bow) with a taut string that enables an arrow to hit the bull's eye with precision. In our mythology, the ambu (arrow) and villu were weapons used by celestial beings."
Draw his attention to the fact that his fans are eager to know about the story of the film and he smiles. "When an arrow is dispatched from a bow, it races to its target. Similarly, my hero travels from his village to the city and from there to foreign lands and finally zeroes in on his target," he says and goes on to explain that his film falls under the action-adventure genre."I would say that it will be Vijay's first Bond kind of film.
There is action, chases through air, water and land, exotic locales, light-hearted romance, comedy and one-liners. All this packaged with typical Tamil sentiments and a stunning climax, with a surprise element and twist." There have been rumours that the story has been inspired by Abbas Mastan's Soldier. Ask him about it and he replies, "Any film in Indian cinema will have a reference to an earlier film. The basic story thread of all our commercial movies is from the Ramayana or Mahabharatha." So, does he think Villu will be able to get the same kind of reception that Pokkiri got? Says he, "I think it is the perfect Pongal mass entertainer, and should work big time at the box-office. All of us have worked very hard and by God's grace, it has come out well. I leave the rest to the audience. The Vijay magic plus the songs, action and comedy will be the highlights of the film."
The Vadivelu-Vijay comedy scenes went a long way in making Pokkiri a hit. Now, they are back in Villu too. Says Prabhu Deva, "Vijay, Vadivelu and Nayanthara will bring the house down with their rollicking comedy. Devi Sri Prasad, the music director, after seeing the trio's slapstick humour, told me that he had never laughed so much while doing the re-recording of the film."
The highlight of Prabhu Deva's films has been his well choreographed songs and peppy music. And despite the fact that the music of Villu has been receiving mixed reports, the director seems confident. "After people see the picturisation, the music will become popular. Songs like Vaada Mapillay … and Nee Kobapattal Naanum … are sure to rock. Five choreographers whom I rate highly — Raju Sundaram, Shobi, Asok Raj, Baba Bhaskar and Dinesh have worked hard on the songs.Vijay dances like a dream and Nayanthara is fantastic," he points out.
The good director-actor rapport between him and Vijay has been the talk of the town. Point it out to him and he smiles before replying, "As a superstar, Vijay fits the bill and is the complete all-rounder who can dance, romance and do comedy and action scenes with ease. When I discuss a scene with him, he listens carefully and then exceeds my expectations. He is willing to go the extra mile to make it look good and convincing on screen. Yes, there is a lot of positive energy and we are in perfect sync."
What can fans expect next from him? "I want to take a two-month break and be alone with my thoughts. Then I will start the post-production work of Boney Kapoor's Wanted — Dead or Alive, the Hindi remake of Pokkiri, with Salman Khan and Ayesha Takia," he signs off. Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Villu Movie Photo Stills
Cast: Vijay, Nayantara Vadivelu,Direction: Prabhu Deva,Music: Devi Sri Prasad,Banner: Ayngaran International Films

Villu– The deplorable Soldier!

Posted: 12 Jan 2009 10:39 AM CST

Villu Movie Review
Starring: Vijay, Nayanthara, Vadivelu.
Direction: Prabhu Deva
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Production: Ayngaran International
Let's first get things straight: Villu is Prabhu Deva's version of the Hindi box office hit Soldier. It dawns on you as the movie progresses and sadly when your next seat neighbor is an over-enthusiastic bloke who can't help but revealing the incidents of Soldier in correlation with Villu, you have no choice other than to blame your stars (as in, astrological ones). Having said that, we do not mean Prabhu Deva made a good adaptation of Soldier – not that if he attempted it, things would've been any better. With tacky production values, shabby cinematography and amateurish direction Villu comes across as a more than two-hour long torment that only less people deserve – those who have committed some unpardonable crime, perhaps.
Prabhu Deva cannot be excused in a lifetime for conceiving Vijay's scarecrow entry – it happens in a laundry place and Vijay flies across and lands gathering all the lengthy and colorful garments entwined on his body making him look no less than a scarecrow. Thankfully enough, Vijay does not have too many punch dialogues though – this time around he attempts to impress his fans using his antics in fights and gathering sentiments. That's not to mention that his dialogues double up to serve the purpose of punch one liners. And there are these amateur stunt scenes – Vijay emerges unscathed invariably in all of them. In land, water and on air, that is. He also plays a double role of that of a father and a son. And with that Prabhu Deva has successfully made the army operations appear as if it were a one-man-attempt. And the atrocious dialogue – that the only benefit of being in the army is the subsidized liquor – is inexcusable.
Villu's story is reminiscent of the prehistoric Tamil cinema formulas – son taking revenge over his father's killers to satiate his mother's wishes. And of course, there is time for love, double crossing, comedy and some sentiments in the midst.

Nayan's presence serves the purpose of eye candy – she wears micro minis (she even asks you so in one of the songs), bras disguised as tops, dangerously low-waist skirts and spaghetti tops. Whatever happened to that naïve and talented girl of Ayya and Manasinakkara? Although Vadivelu's unimaginative comedy track (yes, the track has absolutely no connection whatsoever with the movie's main plot) is boisterous and loud, it serves as a saving grace for the movie in many instances.
Prakash Raj, Anandraj, Manoj K Jeyan, Geetha, Ranjitha and Pandu's roles are shoddily developed. The atrociously plump Kushboo ends up performing the title item number, partly voiced by Kovai Sarala. Now that reminds us of the forgettable music – except for a couple of songs that could be favored by the front benchers, the music and rerecording are largely intolerable.
A separate review could be written about Ravi Varman's cinematography. The frames appear hazed even in the foreign locales. In many scenes where a chase sequence is in progress, the images become pixilated, making one wonder about the poor production values.
For all these reasons Villu, in all probability, could even tire out the loyal fans.