| Uttama Villain | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Ramesh Aravind |
| Written by | Kamal Haasan |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Shamdat Sainudeen |
| Edited by | Vijay Shankar |
| Music by | Ghibran |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by |
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Release date |
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Running time | 171 minutes[1] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
| Box office | est. ₹15 crore[2] |
Uttama Villain (transl. The Righteous Villain) is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language comedy drama film directed by Ramesh Aravind and written by Kamal Haasan. The film was presented by N. Lingusamy in association with Kamal Haasan and produced by S. Chandrahasan for Raaj Kamal Films International and N. Subash Chandrabose for Thirupathi Brothers Film Media. It features an ensemble cast that includes Kamal Hassan, K. Viswanath, K. Balachander, Jayaram, Andrea Jeremiah, Pooja Kumar, Nassar, Parvathy Thiruvothu and Urvashi in prominent roles. This is the posthumous film of actor and director, K. Balachander following his death in December 2014.
It follows Superstar Manoranjan (Kamal Haasan), who is affected by a brain tumour, learns that he has only a short time to live and approaches his mentor, director Margadarisi (K. Balachander) to direct his next project — a folklore-ish comedy about a man who keeps cheating death and his role in saving a kingdom. Meanwhile, he has to sort out his personal life, which involves an estranged son, and a daughter from the love of his life.
The project materialised in late 2013, and the film's principal photography commenced on 3 March 2014. The filming which took place in Chennai, Bengaluru and Turkey was completed on 9 August 2014. The cinematography was handled by Shamdat and Vijay Shankar did the editing work. The music is composed by Ghibran, in his first collaboration with Kamal Haasan, the soundtrack album received high praise upon its release.
Uttama Villain, after many delays, was scheduled to release on 1 May 2015, but was released a day later on 2 May, after the disputes between financiers and producers were sorted out.[3] The film received outstanding reviews from critics and several awards from International Film Festivals,[4] and went on to gross over US$16 million worldwide.
- ^ "Uttama Villain at BBFC". BBFC. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
- ^ "Times of India ₹15crore".
- ^ "Uttama Villain to release today". The Hindu. PTI. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
- ^ Sundar, Mrinalini (17 November 2015). "International film festival awards for Uttama Villain". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 November 2015.