Coming Soon - Varalaaru, Vallavan

Recently, we’ve had several films undergo problems that affected their release. But Varalaaru (previously Godfather) easily takes the crown for the most-delayed film in recent times. I remember talking about the release of Anniyan and Godfather in the same post on this blog over a year ago. But while Anniyan has come and gone, Godfather, after a name change to take advantage of the tax exemption for Tamil movie titles, will finally see the light of day only tomorrow. But the timing worked out since it is the only film with a really big-name star releasing this Diwali.

The film has some strong names behind it, which makes these delays all the more surprising. Ajith, who is considered the actor with the biggest and most loyal fan base after only Rajnikanth, is starring in three roles. The actor is currently on his comeback trail and Varalaaru's success is quite important. Based on the initial rumors and the promos, one of the roles seems to be that of an old man while another is that of a eunuch. Not much more is known about the story though. Paired with him is Asin, definitely one of the top and most sought-after heroines today, after her turn in Ghajini.

The film is helmed by K.S.Ravikumar, a director with an enviable hit ratio. He has made hit films with actors like Rajni and Kamal and is an expert at creating fast-paced, masala films that work at the box-office. But most importantly for Varalaaru, he is the man who have Ajith his last bonafide hit in Villain. Music is scored by A.R.Rahman, whose Tamil albums have almost become rarities. Though the album is pretty lackluster with no real hit numbers, Rahman’s name on the credits always adds gloss to a film. Adding more gloss is P.C.Sriram, who is behind the camera.

Going up against Varalaaru is Vallavan, Simbhu’s directorial debut. Though Manmadhan is widely believed to have been ghost-directed by him, Vallavan is his official first film as director. After facing its own share of problems, that film is also poised to hit the screens tomorrow.

This film too has a 3 associated with it – it’s the number of heroines Simbhu has. Leading the group is Nayanthara, who, with 3 movies, is undoubtedly this Diwali’s queen at the movies. Giving her company is Reema Sen, who is being called a lucky actress because of the box-office success of her movies so far. The third heroine is Sandhya, in her third film after Kaadhal and Dishyum. According to Simbhu, the film deals with three time periods in his life. One of them is school life and this seems to be the segment where Sandhya is paired with him.

Vallavan was most in the news for complaints from its producer that Simbhu had gone way over budget. Simbhu was accused of the same in Manmadhan(the reasons then were his insistence in getting cameos from expensive actresses like Mandira Bedi) and looks like he hasn’t changed. From the looks of the trailer, the movie does have an expensive and grand look, especially in the song sequences. So let’s hope the money was well-spent.

Working in Vallavan's favor is the fact that its the only film whose soundtrack is a hit. Simbhu and Yuvan Shankar Raja proved in Manmadhan that they shared a good rapport and looks like YSR has come through for Simbhu again. Loose Penne... is already a huge hit and the picturization might make hits out of a couple of more numbers too.

There are 5 other movies opening for Diwali but the big fight seems to be between the Ultimate Star and the Little Superstar. Lets wait and see who creates fireworks at the box-office…