Aalavandhan

Aalavandhaan (Hindi: Abhay)
Poster of the Tamil (original) version
Directed by	Suresh Krissna
Produced by	S. Thanu
Screenplay by	Kamal Haasan
Based on	Dhayam by Kamal Haasan
Starring	Kamal Haasan Raveena Tandon Manisha Koirala
Music by	Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (songs) Mahesh Mahadevan (score)
Cinematography	Tirru
Edited by	Kasi Viswanathan
Production company	V. Creations
Release date	14 November 2001 (2001-11-14) (Tamil) 15 November 2001 (2001-11-15) (Hindi)
Running time	178 minutes (Tamil) 177 minutes (Hindi)
Country	India
Language	Tamil Hindi
Budget	₹1million

Aalavandhan (transl. He Came to Rule) is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language psychological thriller film directed by Suresh Krissna, and produced by S. Thanu. An adaptation of the novel Dhayam that was written by Kamal Haasan in 1984, The film stars Haasan in dual roles, with Raveena Tandon, Manisha Koirala, Sarath Babu, Gollapudi Maruti Rao and Milind Gunaji in supporting roles. It has elements of magic realism.

The film was simultaneously filmed in Hindi with the title Abhay (transl. Fearless) with three different actors. It was also dubbed in Telugu under that same title. Although a commercial failure during its release, Aalavandhan and Abhay won the National Film Award for Best Special Effects. The film later attained cult status and its animated action sequence went on to inspire American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino to create an anime sequence in his 2003 martial arts film Kill Bill: Volume 1.

Plot

The following plot focuses on the Tamil version only.

Major Vijay Kumar and his buddies of the Black Cats save a group of tourists held hostage by terrorists in a Kashmir valley. Meanwhile, at a military hospital, Vijay meets his girlfriend Teju, a news presenter who he is ready to marry. Teju reveals she is pregnant after she presents her HCG report to Vijay after one of their dates gone wrong. Vijay then reveals his plan to visit his twin brother, Nandakumar "Nandu", in an asylum who is implicated for murdering his step-mother, to Tejaswini. Nandu is a paranoid schizophrenic man who has spent most of his life in the asylum. Vijay cares about Nandu and looks forward to his release, but Nandakumar's doctor tells him that Nandu has developed into a psychopath. He is now a danger to society and should not be released.

Vijay and Teju visit Nandu to share the news about their impending marriage, which turns disastrous as Nandu begins to see Teju in the image of his evil stepmother. Seeking to save Vijay from Teju, Nandu manages to escape custody after killing two other inmates Sulthan and Paasha, for a clean getaway, thus leaving no trail. He later meets his maternal uncle, who was responsible for incarcerating him. The man dies of choking upon seeing his nephew. Vijay and Teju get married. The next day Vijay and Teju are shocked to learn of Nandu's escape. Vijay initially refuses to believe it was Nandu who escaped. But, Nandu's doctor believes it was Nandu who escaped, because of the similarity that both Nandhu and his murdered buddy Sulthan are circumcised due to health reasons after the postmortem of Sulthan's beheaded corpse, thus proving Nandu is circumcised. But, Vijay is convinced that it was Nandu.

Nandu visits Vijay's home when he is not there and leaves a message about wanting to kill Teju. He keeps hallucinating about his deceased mother in his imagination. While searching for Teju, Nandu kills a drug peddler and falls in love with a socialite Sharmilee by looking at her promotional posters. By chance, he stumbles across Sharmilee at a hotel. Sharmilee ecstatically falls for Nandu upon his antics, and both become close. Both being drugged, Sharmilee playfully whips Nandu, which inadvertently causes him to visualise his stepmother's whippings and brutally murders her as a result. After returning to his senses, he regrets his actions and tearfully burns Sharmilee's corpse before exiting the room, but leaves behind evidence through which Vijay deduces him as the murderer.

Vijay and Teju leave for Vijay's ancestral home in Ooty to stay safe from Nandu, but he secretly follows them. Vijay and Teju find Nandu's old diary in the house through which they read his past: Vijay and Nandu's mother committed suicide after realising that Santhosh, their father was having an affair with Jayanthi, who later became their stepmother. Both brothers hate her, especially Nandu. The teacher complains about this, and Nandu justifies that he is only reflecting the home environment. Enraged, Santhosh beats both his sons for disliking his new wife.

One day, the brothers learn that Jayanthi is having an affair with another man, and Nandu tries telling this to his father, who pays no heed, and instead beats him. Nandu pleads to his maternal uncle to take him along with him. But as he is suffering from throat cancer, he refuses and suggests a boarding school. Eventually, Vijay leaves with his uncle to a boarding school while Nandu remains home.

The situation gets worse at home with Nandu and Jayanthi turning violent, and Santhosh gets a heart attack. Nandu overhears a conversation between Jayanthi and a lawyer, and realises that she is only after his father's wealth. Seeing this, Santhosh dies due to another heart attack. Nandu now starts to see both his deceased parents in his hallucinations, as a result of being turned into a psychopath due to his stepmother's cruel antics. His mother gives him the mission of killing Jayanthi, granting him a military knife. Nandu kills Jayanthi with the knife, but before dying, she vows that she will return. Nandu stays with the corpses in the house before being incarcerated at the asylum.

In the present, Vijay learns from his old friend Tenoosh Kooth that Nandu has reached Ooty. Vijay reaches on time to save Teju from Nandu, who entered their hotel room and leaves with her. Nandu, after getting a serpent styled tattoo all over his body which resembles the bond between the brothers by Tenoosh Kooth, decides to exact revenge on Teju. He chases the couple wreaking havoc across the road. After a while, they escape from the clutches of Nandu, Vijay manages to push Nandu's car into an abyss and assumes he is dead. However, Nandu escapes and continues his trail. Vijay plans to leave the city and notices Nandu coming to the hotel secretly.

Vijay and his commandos try to nab him, but he takes on everyone and kills many. Finally, the brothers have a fight where Nandu overcomes Vijay. He corners Teju, who starts whacking him with a belt in self-defense, reminding Nandu of Jayanthi's manner of punishing him. Vijay reaches by then, and there is another fight between the brothers. Nandu visualises his mother asking him to join her as Jayanthi is torturing her up there. He realises his mistake and apologises to Vijay for chasing Teju. To kill his stepmother, he lights up some cylinders which explode, killing him.

Some months later, Teju is revealed to be pregnant with twins. She fears they will have the same traumatic childhood Vijay and Nandu had, but Vijay comforts her by telling her that they are good parents and nothing will happen.

Cast

Tamil version

• Kamal Haasan as Nandha Kumar (Nandhu), Vijay Kumar (Vijay)
• Raveena Tandon as Tejaswini 'Teju', News reporter for Star News channel
• Manisha Koirala as Sharmilee, the socialite
• Gollapudi Maruti Rao as the Psychiatrist doctor
• Milind Gunaji as Colonel Santhosh Kumar, Nandhu and Vijay's father (voice dubbed by Nassar)
• Sarath Babu as Tejaswini's father
• Fathima Babu as Tejaswini's mother
• Anu Haasan as Priya Kumar, Nandhu and Vijay's mother (cameo)
• Kitu Gidwani as Jayanthi Kumar, Nandhu and Vijay's stepmother
• Riyaz Khan as Sulthan
• Vikram Gokhale as Nandhu and Vijay's maternal uncle Ranganath
• Poovilangu Mohan as Nandhu and Vijay's headmaster
• Yashpal Sharma as the Kashmiri militant
• Major Ravi as Menon, Vijay's buddy in Black cat
• Vikram Dharma as a Drug peddler
• Nissar Khan as Sonu, Vijay's buddy in Black cat
• Raji Iyer as Malathi, Teju's coworker in Star News channel
• Krishna Bhatt as Tenoosh Kooth, a mentally unstable Kota tribesman
• Shiva in "Siri Siri" song (uncredited role)

Hindi version

All characters mentioned above in the Tamil version are the same in the Hindi version except Nandu's name, the doctor's character, and Tejaswini's parent's characters have been played by different actors.

• Kamal Haasan as Major Vijay Kumar 'Vijay' and Abhay Kumar 'Abhay'
• Raveena Tandon as Tejaswini 'Teju'
• Naveen Nischol as Ravinder, Tejaswini's father
• Smita Jaykar as Geeta, Tejaswini's mother
• Vallabh Vyas as Srinivasa Rao, Psychiatrist doctor

Production

Dhayam was a novel written by [Kamal] for a magazine long back, and it talked about a pair of twin brothers, one being an ‘animal’ (Nandhu) and the other a ‘trained animal’ (Vijay). We wanted this contrast and started off from there. The ‘animal’ had to literally look the part, and that's why Kamal sir went bald and bulked up like never before [...] The ‘trained animal’ was a dashing commando with a logical approach. Usually, most twin films fail to show the real difference between both brothers. To bring out this contrast, Kamal shot for Vijay first and then took on the Nandhu character.

—Suresh Krissna, in 2017

In the early 1980s, Kamal Haasan wrote a story titled Dhayam for the journal, "Idhayam Pesugiradhu". He had discussed making the story into a film with K. Balachander during the period, but felt that the story was ahead of its time. In 2000, he picked up the story again and agreed to make the film with director Suresh Krissna, a former assistant of Balachander, and producer S. Thanu. When Thanu had agreed to produce a film for Haasan, he had initially rejected the storylines of Pammal K. Sambandam and Nala Damayanthi. This prompted the pair to begin work on Dhayam instead, and the film was revealed to be called Aalavandhan in Tamil and Abhay in Hindi. Abhay was distributed by reputed Shringar Films. Mahesh Mahadevan was signed on to compose the background music, Tirru was selected to be the cinematographer and Sameer Chanda was picked to be the art director. Actor Jayam Ravi also worked on the film as an assistant director.

The film was first announced with Haasan and Simran and Bollywood actress Rani Mukerji in a special appearance. Both actresses left the project for its delay in start, being replaced by Raveena Tandon and Manisha Koirala. Producer Dhanu had initially tried to cast Aishwarya Rai in the film, but the actress did not sign the project.

Composer Harris Jayaraj was first approached by the producer to do music for the movie, and he assured to introduce him as a music composer before Minnale. But Harris refused as he owed to do his first movie with Gautham Menon. Later, music trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy was signed as music composers.

The film featured Haasan in two distinct roles, for one of which he had his head shaved bald and gained ten kilograms. To play the other in the film, he went to the National Defence Academy for a crash course and also consulted his co-actor Major Ravi, who was a former officer in the Indian Army. Stunt choreographer Grant Page, who had worked in the American film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, was assigned to compose stunt sequences in Kashmir. Another fight sequence was shot in Delhi for 15 days using 39 cars with 3 cameras with a machine called Airramp brought from abroad for jumping scenes.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by the music trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy making their debut in Tamil, and the film score is composed by Mahesh Mahadevan. The film features six tracks in both Tamil, Hindi and Telugu versions with lyrics written by Vairamuthu, Javed Akhtar and Vennelakanti respectively.

The album of the film's Tamil version was released on 24 September 2001, and it created a record by selling over 2,00,000 copies in less than eight hours of its release. However, according to Rediff, it "did not live up to expectations."

Aalavandhan
Soundtrack album by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Released	24 September 2001
Recorded	2001
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	27:20
Language	Tamil
Label	Magnasound Universal Music Ayngaran Music An Ak Audio Sa Re Ga Ma
Producer	Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy chronology
Dil Chahta Hai (2001) Aalavandhan (2001) Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai? (2002)

All songs written and composed by Vairamuthu. 

Tamil track list
No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Africa Kaattu Puli"	Nandini Srikar	4:57
2.	"Aalavandhan"	Shankar Mahadevan	3:19
3.	"Kadavul Paadhi"	Kamal Haasan, Nandini	3:14
4.	"Kadavul Paadhi"	Kamal Haasan	2:41
5.	"Siri Siri"	Kamal Haasan, Mahalakshmi Iyer	6:23
6.	"Un Azhagukku"	Shankar Mahadevan, Sujatha Mohan	6:46
Total length:			27:20

Abhay
Soundtrack album by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Released	10 October 2001
Recorded	2001
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	27:28
Language	Hindi
Label	T-Series
Producer	Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy chronology
Dil Chahta Hai (2001) Abhay (2001) Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai? (2002)

All songs written and composed by Javed Akhtar. 

Hindi track list
No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Zingoria (Joote Ke Chaal Liye)"	Nandini Srikar	4:58
2.	"Aa Hi Gaya Dekho Abhay"	Shankar Mahadevan	3:21
3.	"Kal Tak Mujhko Gaurav Tha"	Kamal Haasan	3:16
4.	"Hey! Who Are you"	Kamal Haasan, Manisha Koirala	2:43
5.	"Hans De Hans De"	Shankar Mahadevan, Kamal Haasan, Mahalakshmi Iyer	6:23
6.	"Koyal Se Mili Tumko"	Shankar Mahadevan, Sujatha Mohan	6:47
Total length:			27:28

Abhay
Soundtrack album by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Released	2 November 2001
Recorded	2001
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	27:26
Language	Telugu
Label	Magnasound Records T-Series
Producer	Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy chronology
Dil Chahta Hai (2001) Abhay (2001) Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai? (2002)

All songs written and composed by Vennelakanti. 

Telugu track list
No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Andamaina Aadapuli"	Swarnalatha	4:59
2.	"Kannulalo Merupu"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Sujatha Mohan	6:47
3.	"Nuvvu Evaro ! What are you !"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Harini	2:42
4.	"Aggipidugai"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	3:20
5.	"Dhaivam Sagamai"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	3:16
6.	"Navu Navu"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Harini	6:22
Total length:			27:26

Release

Started on a budget of ₹7 crore, Aalavandhan costs tripled by the time of release. The film was released on 16 November 2001, during Diwali. The Hindi version Abhay was bought over in Maharashtra by the reputed Shringar Films. The number of prints in Tamil Nadu had been increased by almost 5 times the average. Both Aalavandhan and Abhay got A (adults only) certificate from the CBFC. Later, both were re-examined upon request to get a UA certificate.

The film was the top opener of the Diwali weekend at the box office but was not successful. According to Bollywood Hungama, Abhay collected ₹93.35 lakh at the box Office.

Reception

Initial reviews at the time of the film's release were mixed. Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu said, "Too much publicity can sometimes affect a film adversely, because of the great expectations triggered. In the case of Aalavandhan, the hype and hoopla built up for months seems justified — to a certain extent". The film won the National Film Award for Best Special Effects at the 49th National Film Awards in 2002.

Reviewing the Hindi version Abhay, Taran Adarsh said, "On the whole, Abhay has nothing to offer to the masses or the classes. Poor". Rediff author R. Swaminathan said, "What happens when an exceptionally talented actor develops an inexplicable urge to delve into the dark side of the human psyche, and worse, decides to paint the town red about it? Well, for one, you get a film called Abhay." Vijay Ramanan of Planet Bollywood rated the film 5.5 out of 10, saying, "The film falls flat on its face because of its failure in the two most important departments of filmmaking – scriptwriting, and direction [...] It almost seems as if Kamal Haasan and Suresh Krishna were high on drugs while making this film." Smriti Kashyap of fullhyd.com said "The movie is a huge letdown. It lacks the pop, snap and crackle to fill you with enough guts to potter down to the theater and watch it. Catch it on the CD, it's easier on the brains."

Although the film failed commercially, it was positively received over the next few years, subsequently becoming a cult classic, with some critics stating that the film was "way ahead of its time". The film was shown in the 2016 Fantastic Fest, where it was acclaimed by the American audiences. In 2013, Rediff included the film in its list, "The 10 Best Films of Kamal Haasan".

Awards

National Film Awards

• Best Special Effects - N. Madhusudhanan

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards

• Best Editor - Kasi Viswanathan

Re-release

Following the film's positive response at the 2016 Fantastic Fest, a digitally restored version was announced.

Alternate cut

In April 2021, Thanu announced that he would release a re-edited version of Aalavandhan.

Legacy

Several years after its release, it was reported that the American director Quentin Tarantino acknowledged to Anurag Kashyap that the animated violence shown in this film inspired the anime scenes in his Kill Bill films. Vivek operates a mechanic shop under the name Aalavandhan in 12B (2001). The song "Kadavul Paathi Mirugam Paathi" inspired a 2015 film of same name directed by Raaj Menon.

Bibliography

• Dhananjayan, G. (2014). Pride of Tamil Cinema: 1931 to 2013. Blue Ocean Publishers. ISBN 978-93-84301-05-7.

External links

• Aalavandhan on IMDb
• Abhay on rediff.com