Vaalee (1999 film)

Vaalee
Poster
Directed by	S. J. Suryah
Written by	S. J. Suryah
Produced by	S. S. Chakravarthy
Starring	Ajith Kumar Simran Jyothika
Cinematography	Jeeva M. S. Prabhu (additional)
Edited by	B. Lenin V. T. Vijayan
Music by	Deva
Production company	NIC Arts
Release date	30 April 1999 (1999-04-30)
Running time	167 minutes[1]
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Vaalee is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language psychological romantic thriller film written and directed by S. J. Suryah in his directorial debut. The film stars Ajith Kumar in the main dual lead role with Simran and Jyothika in her Tamil debut while Vivek, Rajeev, Pandu and Sujitha appear in important supporting roles. A modern-day adaptation of the legend of Vali from the Ramayana, it revolves around identical twins Shiva and Deva, with Deva being deaf-mute. When Shiva marries Priya, Deva becomes obsessed with her and lusts for her.

Suryah completed the script for Vaalee in 60 days, and the project was picked up for production by S. S. Chakravarthy of NIC Arts. The soundtrack was composed by Deva, and the lyrics were written by Vairamuthu. The cinematography was handled by Jeeva, while the editing was done by the duo B. Lenin and V. T. Vijayan.

Vaalee was released on 30 April 1999 to positive reviews from critics. The film became a commercial success, running for over 270 days in theatres. Ajith won his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil and Jyothika won Best Female Debut – South at the same ceremony. The film was remade in Kannada in 2001 under the same title.