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Dhill
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Wikipedia article
'Dhill' is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Dharani. The film stars Vikram and Laila, while Ashish Vidyarthi, Nassar and Vivek play supporting roles. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by Vidyasagar, while S. Gopinath handled the camera work.
The film was released on 20 July 2001, and achieved critical and commercial success at the box office. The film was remade in Telugu as 'Sreeram' (2002), Hindi as 'Dum' (2003), Kannada as 'Sye' (2005), Bengali Kolkata as 'Shatrur Makabila' (2001) and in Bengali Bangladesh as 'Arman' (2002). Dhill was the first film to credit Vikram with the title 'Chiyaan'.
Plot
Dhill is the story about Kanagavel (Vikram), whose only dream is to become a police officer. He succeeds in passing the exams and wins a girlfriend named Asha (Laila). One night after having dinner at a restaurant near the beach, Kanagavel goes to pay the bill, leaving Asha behind. At that moment a corrupt police officer named Inspector 'Encounter' Shankar (Ashish Vidyarthi) drinks and behaves indecently to Asha. He then attempts to assault her but is severely beaten up by Kanagavel, and he receives a scar on his face. Shankar, angered by this, seeks revenge against Kanagavel. In the end, Kanagavel kills Shankar and his goons.
Cast
* Vikram as Kanagavel
* Laila as Asha
* Ashish Vidyarthi as Inspector Shankar, later DSP / aka Encounter Shankar
* Nassar as Chief of Police Training Academy
* FEFSI Vijayan as Aadhi Bhagavan aka Adi
* Vivek as Megaserial Mahadevan
* Rajasekhar as Subramaniam, Kanagavel's father
* Kalairani as Kanagavel's mother
* Deepa Venkat as Selvi,Kanagavel's sister
* Akash as Sekar,Kanagavel's brother-in-law, and Asha's brother
* Vijaya Bharathi as Commissioner's wife
* Sukran as Ashok
* Mayilsamy as Kanagavel's friend
* Vaiyapuri as Udumalai
* Mohan Raj as Minister Vedhanayagam
* Charuhasan as Minister
* MRK
* R. N. R. Manohar
* Crane Manohar
* Karnaa Radha
* Manikka Vinayagam
* Alphonsa in an item number ('Machan Meesai')
Production
Vikram, after the success of the critically acclaimed 'Sethu', chose to sign on to appear in an action film directed by his Loyola College classmate Dharani. The director had previously worked under the name of Ramani and had made the Mammootty starrer 'Ethirum Pudhirum' in 1999. The film was initially titled as 'Kanagavel' after the lead character, before being renamed to 'Dhill'. To appear trim in the role of the aspiring police officer, Vikram went on a strict diet eating only fruits and drinking juice. He revealed that for the film when bulking, he was on 25 egg whites and one whole cooked chicken a day and also employed a body builder to train him.
Vikram often helped out during the shooting of the film by helping suggest changes to scenes. The film also marked the Tamil debut of Hindi actor Ashish Vidyarthi, who has since gone on to appear in several other prominent films. The actor had to wear prosthetic make-up for the film, noting that it took over one hour to put on.
Soundtrack
The Music Was Composed By Vidyasagar.
Release
'The Hindu' stated that "Vikram has the ability and potential" and that "Vikram has once again proved that his success in 'Sethu' was not a fluke". Ayappa Prasad from Screen Magazine wrote that " 'Dhill 'stands out for its convincing storyline and a good performance by Vikram who has strained a lot to be a good action hero who can also emote".http://www.cscsarchive.org:8081/MediaArchive/art.nsf/(docid)/C7C0176562FC0DAEE5256B170039A5C7 'Dhill' became Vikram's first success in the masala film genre and led the way for more such films in the same genre for him.[https://archive.org/details/kalki2001-08-05/page/16/mode/2up 'Kalki' review]
'Dhill' won six Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for 2001 with Vidyasagar winning the Best Music Director award for his work in 'Dhill' alongside 'Thavasi' and 'Poovellam Un Vasam'. The film also won the Best Male Playback Singer for P. Unnikrishnan, Best Female Playback Singer for Sujatha and the Best Make-up Artist award for Nageswar Rao. Furthermore, dubbing artistes Sai Ravi and Sreeja picked up the Best Male Dubbing Artist and Best Female Dubbing Artist respectively for their work in the film.
The success of 'Dhill' prompted Vikram and Dharani to come together in 2002 for a project titled 'Dhool', which also went on to do become a large commercial success. Furthermore, to capitulate on the hit pair of Vikram and Laila, a 1997 Malayalam film they had starred in together, 'Ithu Oru Snehagadha' was dubbed and released in Tamil as 'Thrill'.
Dubbed versions and remakes
Despite the remakes, the film was dubbed and released in Hindi twice under the titles 'Meri Aan: Man In Work' (2009 (1st dub) and 2021 (2nd dub)) respectively.
References
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