Dheena is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by AR Murugadoss in his directorial debut. The film stars Ajith Kumar and Suresh Gopi in the lead roles along with Laila as the female lead. The music and background score is composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja and cinematography by K. Aravind.
| Dheena | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | AR Murugadoss |
| Written by | AR Murugadoss |
| Produced by | P. Karthikeyan |
| Starring | Ajith Kumar Suresh Gopi Laila |
| Cinematography | Aravind Kamalanathan |
| Edited by | Suresh Urs |
| Music by | Yuvan Shankar Raja |
Production company | Vijayam Cine Combines |
Release date |
|
Running time | 167 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Dheena released on 14 January 2001. The film received positive reviews and became a commercial success. It marked the beginning of a new image of Ajith Kumar and he earned his nickname, Thala (leader), from this film.
Plot
editThe film starts with the police arresting Aathikesavan's men as suspects for burning Minister Malarvannan's liquor shop. Aathi sends Dheenadhayalan aka Dheena, his adopted brother, to attack the false witnesses in this case and bail them out. This leads to further conflicts between Aathi, Dheena and Malarvannan and Dheena ends up chopping off Malarvannan's hand.
Meanwhile, Dheena falls in love with a girl named Chitra. After a little bit of pursuing and getting to know one another, they fall in love, and when Chitra learns that Dheena is involved in rowdyism, she stands by her decision to be with him because of Dheena's essential good character. Meanwhile, Dheena learns that Ashok has teased his sister Shanthi and thrashes him. A little later, he finds that Ashok has again given a love letter to Shanthi and beats him up, but learns that he is Chitra's brother. Chitra tells Dheena that Shanthi is also in love with Ashok. Dheena realizes this misunderstanding and agrees to help them get married. Finding difficulties in obtaining Aathi's permission, Shanthi elopes with Ashok and gets critically injured in an accident. In the hospital, Shanthi asks for Dheena's promise to protect Ashok's family from Aathi before she succumbs to her injuries.
Aathi, enraged by his sister's death, orders Dheena to kill the family of Ashok. But Dheena refuses and tells him that Shanthi is also in love with him. Aathi refuses to believe this and misunderstands the reason for Dheena's refusal to obey him since he loves the boy's sister Chitra. Aathi swears that he will kill everyone responsible for this including Dheena and the brothers become sworn enemies. Dheena moves to Chitra's flat to protect her family, but Ashok is intimidated and does not believe his intentions. Aathi kills one of Ashok's friends and lands in jail. But Dheena continues to protect the family in various instances from Aathi's men, and they all understand Dheena's good intentions.
Aathi gets released and orders his men to kill Dheena and Chitra's family. The MLA Malarvannan finds out about the brothers' enmity and tries to join hands with Aathi to get his revenge on Dheena, but Aathi refuses to get him involved. Malarvannan, however, is determined to get his revenge on Dheena and sends his henchmen under the guise that they all belong to Aathi's group. Dheena finds out about this and fights them off, but Malarvannan's men stab Chitra. Meanwhile, Aathi learns about Shanthi's love for Ashok from some of her friends, realizes his mistake, and joins forces with Dheena once again and fights off Malarvannan and his men. Knowing that Malarvannan is responsible for this, Aathi tries to kill him, but Dheena stops him and tells him that if he kills him, someone will avenge him and this cycle of violence could continue and asks him to stop the violence. Chitra recovers from her injuries and finds that Aathi has accepted their family. Aathi finally declares Dheena to be his brother hereafter and they are all united.
Cast
edit- Ajith Kumar as Dheenadhayalan (Dheena)
- Suresh Gopi as Aathikesavan (Aathi)
- Laila as Chitra (Voice dubbed by Savitha Reddy)
- Bala Singh as MLA Malarvannan
- Vaishnavi as Vaishnavi Chitra's friend
- Sheela as Priya
- Rajesh as Police
- Sriman as Anand, Auto driver
- Mahanadi Shankar as Narayanan
- Shyam Ganesh as Ashok, Chitra's brother
- K. R. Vatsala as Malarvannan's wife
- Neelu as Restaurant Owner
- Crane Manohar as Bus Conductor
- Besant Ravi
- Vijayalakshmi as Chitra and Ashok's mother
- Thadi Balaji as Balaji "Bala", Auto Driver
- Raviraj as Advocate
- Sampath Ram as Aadikesavan's henchman
- Divya as Shanthi
- Pondy Ravi as MLA Malarvannan's Henchman (credited as Ravi)
- Raneesh[1]
- Nagma in an item number in the song "Vathikuchi Vachi Karanda"
- Alphonse Puthren as Molester Friend in Plaza Corner scenes
Production
editThe film is the directorial debut of AR Murugadoss, who previously worked as an assistant to S. J. Suryah.[2] The team considered signing Vasundhara Das as the lead actress, before opting for Laila.[3] Nagma was selected to appear in an item number.[4] In 2020, Laila revealed how she felt was not feeling well during the shooting of "Kadhal Website", but the upbeat tune of the song encouraged her to dance and the song became a hit upon release.[5]
Soundtrack
editThe soundtrack was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja.[6] Music was released on Tips Music.[7] The song "Nee Illai Endral" marked the singing debut of Anuradha Sriram's younger brother Murugan.[8]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Kathal Website Ondru" | Vaali | Shankar Mahadevan, Harini, Silambarasan | 5:34 |
| 2. | "Nee Illai Endraal" | Vaali | Murugan M. Iyer, Bhavatharini | 5:24 |
| 3. | "Sollamal Thottu Chellum Thendral" | Vijay Sagar | Hariharan | 5:24 |
| 4. | "Vathikuchi Pathikadhuda" | Vaali | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | 4:45 |
| 5. | "En Nenjil Mingle Aanaley" | Vijay Sagar | Harish Raghavendra | 4:17 |
| Total length: | 25:29 | |||
Release and reception
editThe film released on 14 January 2001, during Pongal alongside Friends.[9] It received a positive review from The Hindu, with the critic stating that the "acts of the hero does appeal or impress the audience because his bloody adventures in the film are justifiable" labelling the film as a mass masala entertainer.[10] Rediff.com suggested that "overall, the film is briskly paced, and holds your interest throughout. What prompts the 'Can do better' report are the little, but eminently avoidable, niggles." but praised the performances of Suresh Gopi and Ajith Kumar.[11] Visual Dasan of Kalki gave the film a verdict of "average".[12]
Legacy
editThe film's success marked the beginning of a new image of Ajith Kumar, that of an action hero that would appeal to the masses.[13] Furthermore, Ajith Kumar's nickname in the film, Thala (Leader) became a new identity for the actor amongst his fans.[14] The film also established Murugadoss who went on to become one of the successful directors whereas Yuvan Shankar's songs were equally successful which are considered to have played a major role for the film's great success.[15]
Remakes
editThe film was remade in Kannada as Dhumm (2002) and in Bengali as Deva (2002).[16]
References
edit- ^ Yuvaraj (22 December 2019). "THALAIVAR ASKED "DID VIJAY SIR COME HERE?" - DARBAR AND THUPPAKKI ACTOR SHARES!". Behindwoods. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
- ^ "Ajith-Laila in Dhina". ajithkumar.fr.fm. 2001. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
- ^ Rajitha (26 August 2000). "Vijay meets his son on the Net!". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 8 February 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
- ^ Rasika. "Sizzling dance number". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 14 May 2001. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
- ^ "Popular actress Laila shares a secret from the shooting of 'Dheena' with Ajith". The Times of India. 28 April 2020. Archived from the original on 26 April 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- ^ "Dheena". AVDigital. Archived from the original on 17 November 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
- ^ "Dheena – EP". Apple Music. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
- ^ "Murugan And Devan: The Singers Of New Generation:". Indiainfo. Archived from the original on 5 February 2002. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
- ^ Warrier, Shobha (18 January 2001). "Ajith hospitalised!". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
- ^ Rangarajan, Malathi (2 February 2001). "Film Review: Dheena". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
- ^ Rajitha (31 January 2001). "Not bad, can do better". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
- ^ தாசன், விசுவல் (28 January 2001). "தீனா". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 32. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2022 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Purushothaman, Kirubhakar (1 May 2018). "Aasai to Dheena: Films that made Ajith Kumar the Thala of Tamil cinema". India Today. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
- ^ "Ajith and AR Murugadoss to team up?". Sify. 25 May 2016. Archived from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
- ^ "Asal music director: Yuvanshankar Raja". tamilwire.com. Archived from the original on 30 June 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "'Billa' to 'Mankatha': Seven of 'Thala' Ajith's films that left a mark". The News Minute. 1 May 2021. Archived from the original on 30 August 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
