Aanai (transl. Order) is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language vigilante action film written and directed by Selva. It stars Arjun, Namitha and Keerthi Chawla in the lead, while Vadivelu, Sanghavi and Manoj K. Jayan play pivotal roles. D. Imman composed the soundtrack, while Shiva was the cinematographer for the venture which released in December 2005.

Aanai
DVD cover
Directed bySelva
Written bySelva
G. K. Gopinath
Produced byK. S. Sreenivasan
StarringArjun
Namitha
Keerthi Chawla
CinematographyK. S. Shiva
Edited byS. Sathish
J. N. Harsh
Music byKarthick Babu
Distributed byVasan Visual Ventures
Release date
  • 2 December 2005 (2005-12-02)
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

The film is a remake of the 2004 film Man on Fire,[1] whose Hindi remake, Ek Ajnabee, was released a week later.

Plot

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Vijay is an ex-police officer who is persuaded by his former boss to be the bodyguard of a millionaire's 8-year-old daughter named Priya. However, Priya gets kidnapped by a militant called Ahmed Khan in London, where Vijay sets out on a rampage to exact vengeance and save Priya.

Cast

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Production

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Selva, who had directed Arjun in Karnaa (1995) and the long delayed Manikanda (2006) was signed by Vasan Visual Ventures to work with him again. The actor signed on for a hiked price of one crore rupees, following the success of his previous film Giri.[2] The unit had a 15-day shooting stint in Hyderabad in February 2005, with two of the lead actresses Namitha and Sanghavi involved in the shoot.[3] The film featured a new editing technique tried by Satish and Harsha, while the team shot three songs with Arjun and Namitha in London, notably near the London Eye and Windsor Castle.[4] Another song was shot with Arjun and Namitha at the Mohan Studio in Chennai, with the actor notably wearing four inch heels to make up for height difference with the actress.[5]

During the making of the film, allegations arose that Arjun had been sending lewd messages to Namitha, which led to a brief furore on sets.[6]

Release and reception

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The film had a brief delay in getting released due to the failure of the actor's previous film, Chinna, though the film finally released across Tamil Nadu in early December 2005.[7] Sify wrote, "what could have been an edge-of-the-seat thriller ends up as a badly made mass-masala movie", concluding that the film is "disappointing".[8] Chennai Online wrote "It's a typical Arjun flick with guns blazing and the 'Action King' all set out to destroy his new set of enemies single-handedly. But this time the foes are not from across the border - probably there has been a surfeit of it - so the patriotism factor, so much a part of his films, is missing here. And for Arjun, it's just yet another role to re-establish his credentials as the 'Action King', for, how much variations can he bring into a role he'd done innumerable times earlier!".[9]

Soundtrack

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The soundtrack album was composed by D. Imman.[10]

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Aanai" (English)D. ImmanD. Imman 
2."Hey Idupattum"P. VijayD. Imman, Srilekha Parthasarathy 
3."Azhagiya Darisanam"Palani BharathiMadhu Balakrishnan, Binni Krishnakumar 
4."Chinnajiru Kilye"BharathiyarAnanthu 
5."Figurudan Oru Naal"Na. MuthukumarKarthik, Saindhavi 
6."Kumru Kumrur"P. VijaySirkazhi Sivachidambaram, Annupamaa 
7."Midukkanavaney"P. VijayBalram, Mathangi Jagdish 
8."Sare Jahan Se Acha"Muhammad IqbalSrinivas 
9."Enthan Varungala Veetukaraney"Victor DassSusi Reeta 

References

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  1. ^ "Let's take a look at Kollywood's several attempts in remaking foreign films". Deccan Chronicle. 31 January 2016. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  2. ^ "Arjun acts pricey!". Sify. 12 February 2005. Archived from the original on 11 December 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  3. ^ "Aanai from Arjun". The Hindu. 11 March 2005. Archived from the original on 10 April 2005. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  4. ^ "Romance on the ECR". The Hindu. 18 November 2006. Archived from the original on 4 December 2005. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  5. ^ "Long and short of it!". Sify. 17 November 2005. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  6. ^ "The gentleman turns lecher!". Sify. 3 April 2005. Archived from the original on 9 December 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  7. ^ "Will Arjun's Aanai be released this month?". Behindwoods. 8 November 2005. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  8. ^ "Aanai". Sify. Archived from the original on 14 August 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  9. ^ Mannath, Malini (12 December 2005). "Aanai". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 6 February 2007. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  10. ^ "Aanai". JioSaavn. 25 December 2005. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
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