| Villain | |
| Director: | K. S. Ravikumar |
| Screenplay: | K. S. Ravikumar |
| Story: | Yugi Sethu |
| Starring: | Ajith Kumar Meena Kiran Rathod |
| Producer: | S. S. Chakravarthy |
| Music: | Vidyasagar |
| Studio: | NIC Arts |
| Distributor: | NIC Arts |
| Cinematography: | Ashok S. Moorthy |
| Editing: | K. Thanigachalam |
| Runtime: | 164 minutes |
| Country: | India |
| Language: | Tamil |
Villain is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language heist action comedy film directed by K. S. Ravikumar and produced by S. S. Chakravarthy. The film stars Ajith Kumar in dual lead roles alongside Meena and Kiran Rathod. Vidyasagar composed the score and soundtrack for the film.
Villain released on 4 November 2002. It received positive reviews and became a blockbuster. The film was remade in Telugu with the same name starring Rajasekhar in 2003.
Shiva and Vishnu are identical twins. Shiva, the elder one, is a bus conductor, while Vishnu, the younger one, has a mild intellectual disability. During their childhood, Shiva overhears his parents' plot to send Vishnu to an unknown orphanage and to hide this information from him. To save his brother Vishnu, Shiva runs away to another city with him and strives hard to look after him. A 'dada' Sundaramoorthy, who runs a beggar trade, beats Vishnu brutally, and Vishnu becomes disabled for life. Shiva leaves Vishnu in a home run by a social worker Lalitha.
During the day, Shiva works as a bus conductor, and at the same time, poses as Vishnu: to play Robin Hood and steal from the rich and corrupt. A gang including Thangam, Mani, and others assist him in these operations. He is never suspected, and so, with the stolen money, he takes care of not only Vishnu, but also 800 people in other institutions for the physically disabled. A college student Lavanya falls in love with Shiva, but he later learns that she is Sundaramoorthy's sister-in-law. Matters worsen when Sundaramoorthy becomes the chairman of the institute for the physically disabled. How Shiva deals with the situation forms the rest of the story.
During the film, Thangam is secretly in love with Shiva, though he does not know this. Later she gives up her love and lets Lavanya marry Shiva. At last, Shiva marries Lavanya and Thangam marries Vishnu. The brothers live happily ever after.
The film saw the first collaboration of Ajith and K. S. Ravikumar, with the former revealing that he was initially reluctant to work with the director in fear of a misunderstanding. Kiran was signed the film as the second female lead alongside Meena after the success of Gemini.[1] [2] The shooting of the film was completed in 39 days.[3]
The soundtrack features 7 songs composed by Vidyasagar and lyrics written by Vairamuthu.[4] [5]
Villain released in Diwali on 4 November 2002 alongside Vijay starrer Bagavathi. The Hindu reviewer claimed that "if you don't rack your brains about the feasibility of the hero's game plans, you could enjoy watching "Villain"" and that "Ajit scores on both fronts".[6] Another critic cited that it was "great slag-less and racy screenplay and some stunning performances from Ajith make this film a treat for the senses".[7] Chennai Online wrote "'Villain' is a film that would satisfy Ajit's fans, and after a series of flops it is a well deserved success for the handsome actor".[8] New Straits Times wrote "Villan seems aimed specifically to please Ajith's and Kiran's fans. If you are one of their fans, you will probably enjoy this film. However, the film would have been a lot better minus some songs which really test our patience".[9] Indiainfo wrote "Slick photography by Ashok-Murthy and trendy music by Vidyasagar makes this other than mediocre film watchable. Ajith's acting is okay. Kiran looks glamorous. Meena's role is tacky. In a bid to appease everyone - youth, women and mass - director K. S. Ravikumar missed the line. He should have been taken more care over script. A watchable film for the sheer sake of songs and sexy Kiran".[10] Ajith's performance earned him his second Filmfare Award for Best Actor.[11] [12] Cinesouth wrote "10 years ago 'Gentleman' happened. Twist the story around a bit and serve it in a new bottle, and, there it is- 'Villain' from director KS Ravikumar (Story: Yugi Sethu). It's all the magic of screenplay. In the depths of the story lies the engrossing flashbacks of Ajith's life. With those extremely poignant scenes the director had moved the film ahead".[13]