Vanmam (transl. Vengeance) is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by Jai Krishna, a former assistant of Kamal Haasan.[1] It stars Vijay Sethupathi, Kreshna and Sunaina.[2] The film has music scored by S. Thaman and cinematography by Balabharani.[3][4] It is a rural tale about the life of two friends, played by Sethupathi and Kreshna.[1][5] In spite of expectations the movie didn't perform well at the box office. The film was highly panned by the critics for its poor screenplay.

Vanmam
Film Poster
Directed byJai Krishna
Screenplay byJai Krishna
Story byJai Krishna
Produced byNemichand Jhabak
V. Hitesh Jhabak
StarringVijay Sethupathi
Kreshna
Sunaina
CinematographyBala Bharani
Edited bySuresh Urs
Music byS. Thaman
Production
company
Release date
  • 21 November 2014 (2014-11-21)
Running time
156 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Cast

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Production

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In August 2013, it was confirmed that Vijay Sethupathi would be doing a film with Kreshna titled Vanmam which means "vengeance".[7] Filming began in late April 2014 in Nagercoil.[2] and was shot in and around Kanyakumari district[1] for about 37 days, during which 60% of the filming had been completed.[8] Vijay Sethupathi joined the cast from the second schedule onward.[9] The final schedule began on 15 June 2014 and ended on 10 July 2014. The action sequences were canned during the final schedule of the film.[10] The shooting was wrapped up 3 days earlier on 7 July 2014.

Music

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Vanmam
Soundtrack album by
Released2 September 2014
Recorded2013–2014
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length18.27
LanguageTamil
LabelSony Music
ProducerS. Thaman
S. Thaman chronology
Aagadu
(2014)
Vanmam
(2014)
Tamizhuku En Ondrai Azhuthavum
(2014)

S. Thaman composed the music for the film. The audio launch of the film was scheduled to take place on 28 August 2014,[11] but was postponed to 2 September 2014. The audio rights were purchased by Sony Music India.[12]

The soundtrack received mixed reviews from critics. Behindwoods wrote, "Vanmam - de-ja-vu of Thaman's earlier albums", and rated the album 1.75/5.[13] Indiaglitz wrote, "Thaman's last release Meaghamann is a cool album with just 3 songs and a theme track. He has dished out a similar stuff in Vanmam."[14] Karthik of Milliblog wrote, "But for occasional inventiveness, this familiar, predictable output from Thaman is distressing."[15] Siddarth Srinivas of Cinemalead gave 2 out of 5 and concluded, "Though the autotune tsunami bashes this album to an extent, Thaman has come up with decent songs in "Manamae" and "Aetti Enga Porae". The saturation point has been breached for the composer, and its high time he comes up with innovative music. Otherwise, he better stick to the Telugu industry where he is a celebrated figure!"[16]

Track list

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All lyrics are written by Yugabharathi

No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Aetti Enga Porae"M. M. Manasi, Nivas4:29
2."Paadatta Paadatta"Hariharasudhan, Velmurugan3:58
3."Manamae Manamae"Pooja Vaidyanath, Suchith Suresan5:19
4."Raasa Raasa"M. M. Monisha4:17
Total length:18:03

Critical reception

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Baradwaj Rangan for The Hindu called Vanmam "just about the vilest thing I've sat through in recent times. The emotional beats are buried so deep they're hardly discernible, and what's on the surface is a generic mix of love and drama and sentiment and action. There's not a thing that's new".[17] The Times of India gave the film 2.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "The worrying bit about the film is that nothing feels really at stake. The director, who nicely captures milieu, hasn't done so when it comes to characters and plot. The result is that the film often seems like a morality drama turned into a rural masala".[18] Sify wrote, "It is a story that has been told from time immemorial, and there is nothing fresh in presentation or treatment. And terrible screenplay aggravates the misery" going on to call it a "clichéd long and boring movie".[19] Rediff wrote, "Director Jai Krishna's Vanmham is just another ordinary, highly predictable and melodramatic revenge drama that seriously tests your patience".[20]

In contrast, The New Indian Express wrote, "Weaving a fairly engaging tale and moving his narration with focus and assurance, the director establishes his credentials in his very first effort".[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b c V. Lakshmi (5 September 2013). "Vijay Sethupathi, Kreshna become friends". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 17 January 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Vijay Sethupathi's "Vanmam" kicks off". The New Indian Express. 30 April 2014. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  3. ^ "Vijay Sethupathi's film commences in Kanyakumari". IndiaGlitz. 29 April 2014. Archived from the original on 11 May 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  4. ^ Naig, Udhav (16 April 2014). "Udhayanidhi ropes in Ahmed to direct his next". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 23 April 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  5. ^ "Vijay Sethupathi is a ruffian in "Vanmam"". IndiaGlitz. 17 April 2014. Archived from the original on 23 November 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  6. ^ Raghavan, Nikhil (3 October 2015). "Etectera: From small to big screen". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 22 June 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  7. ^ "The Vengeance of Vijay Sethupathy" Archived 6 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Behindwoods. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  8. ^ "Vanmam's Marudhanayagam connection and more .." Archived 5 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Behindwoods. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  9. ^ "Vijay Sethupathi's Vengeance started from yesterday" Archived 20 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Behindwoods. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  10. ^ "VIJAY SETHUPATHI AND KRESHNA FIGHTS AT THE "VANMAM" SHOOTING SPOT VIDEO" Archived 1 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Behindwoods. 19 June 2014. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  11. ^ "'Vanmam' audio launch on August 28" Archived 24 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine. The Times of India. 21 August 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  12. ^ "'Vanmam' audio launch on Sep 2" Archived 5 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine. way2movies. 21 August 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  13. ^ "VANMAM SONGS REVIEW" Archived 3 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Behindwoods. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  14. ^ "Vanmam - One more short and sweet album from, Thaman". Indiaglitz. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  15. ^ Karthik (2 September 2014). "Vanmam (Music review), Tamil – Thaman" Archived 6 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Milliblog. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  16. ^ Srinivas, Siddarth (2 September 2014). "VANMHAM AKA VANMAM MUSIC REVIEW" Archived 7 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Cinemalead. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  17. ^ Rangan, Baradwaj (21 November 2014). "Vanmam: So indifferently made, it's shocking". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  18. ^ "Vanmham Movie Review {2/5}: Critic Review of Vanmham by Times of India". The Times of India.
  19. ^ "Movie Review : Vanmham". Sify. Archived from the original on 21 November 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  20. ^ "Review: Vanmham is an uninspiring revenge drama". Archived from the original on 24 November 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  21. ^ "Big Treat for Fans of Sethupathi". Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
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