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The Legend (2022 film)
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Wikipedia article
'The Legend' is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by J. D.Jerry. The film stars Saravanan Arul, Urvashi Rautela (in her Tamil film debut) and Geethika Tiwari (in her film debut), with Vivek (in his final appearance before death), Suman, and Nassar. The film's music was composed by Harris Jayaraj, while cinematography and editing were handled by R. Velraj and Ruben, respectively. The plot revolves around Dr. Saravanan, a scientist who focuses on using his education and expertise to help his people and the nation.
The film's title was announced on 3 March 2022, along with a first look and motion poster. The film was shot at various locations abroad, apart from Chennai, Pollachi, and the Himalayas. The film was initially scheduled for release on 1 July 2022 but got postponed to 15 July 2022 before postponing again. 'The Legend' was released theatrically on 28 July 2022.
Plot
The story revolves around Dr. Saravanan, an apparently world-renowned scientist who has revolutionised the antibiotics field, who chooses to work from his village for the sake of his people. Spurred by the death of his diabetic friend, he decides to invent a cure for the disease. But this spells bad news for the pharma mafia, which has already suffered a lot because of Saravanan's earlier research - antibiotic requirement test. So, their Indian operatives decide to sabotage Saravanan's research, even causing him a very personal loss. Can the scientist find it in himself to go ahead with his research and succeed in his endeavour forms rest of the story.
Cast
* Saravanan Arul as Dr. Saravanan
* Urvashi Rautela as Madhumitha
* Geethika Tiwari as Thulasi, Dr. Saravanan's wife
* Suman as VJ
* Prabhu as Pugazhenthi, Saravanan's elder brother and a doctor.
* Nassar as Saravanan's professor (scientist)
* Vivek as Thangam, Saravanan's uncle.
* Robo Shankar as Thirupati, Saravanan's friend who suffers from diabetics.
* Yogi Babu as Dada
* Vijayakumar as Saravanan's father
* Sachu as Saravanan's grand mother
* Latha as Saravanan's mother.
* Livingston as Gopi, a doctor who works with VJ.
* Vamsi Krishna as Munna (VJ's henchman)
* Thambi Ramaiah as Thulasi's father
* Devadarshini as Thirupati's wife
* Munishkanth as Vasanthan Perumal, a volunteer who helps for diabetics research.
* Deepa Shankar as Vasanthan Perumal's wife
* Hareesh Peradi as a scientist
* Singampuli as VJ's Assistant
* Mayilsamy as Vivek's sidekick
* Mansoor Ali Khan as Politician
* Besant Ravi as Henchman
* Rahul Dev as a member of VJ's pharmaceutical mafia
* Amit Tiwari as VJ's henchman
* Cell Murugan as man from Manali
* Ashwanth Ashokkumar as Puluthi Kulanthai Thirupathi's son who also suffers from diabetics.
* Manasvi Kottachi as Thulasi's friend
* Yashika Aannand as Special appearance in the song "Mosalo Mosalu"
* Raai Laxmi as Special appearance in the song "Vaadi Vaasal"
Production
Development
The Legend New Saravana Stores Productions company announced a project with J. D.Jerry as the director which marks his comeback to directing and with Arul Saravanan in the lead role which would mark his debut as an actor in this film after he previously appeared in ad films of his store with multiple heroines of the film industry present in the ad. It would also marks the first production venture of the businessman-turned actor's production. On 3 March 2022, the title of the film was announced to be 'The Legend' along with the first look and motion poster of the film being released. It was reported that the first look of the film would be released at Cannes Film Festival.Pattukkottai Prabakar was announced to be writing the dialogues and Harris Jayaraj was announced to compose the music which marks his comeback to composing after 'Kaappaan' while R. Velraj and Ruben were announced to be handling cinematography and editing respectively. It was also reported that SS Moorthy was bought in as the art director, while Raju Sundaram, Brindha, and Dinesh have been roped in as choreographers of the film. Initially, it was reported that the film would be a bilingual film made in Tamil and Hindi languages, however these reports proved to be false.
Casting
Arul Saravanan was reported to play the role of a scientist, while Urvashi Rautela who appeared predominantly in Hindi films, was cast as the female lead, marking her debut in Tamil cinema. She will be seen playing the role of a microbiologist an IITian in the film. Suman is also playing a negative role in this film called VJ a flithy medical mafia who is very evil and cruel. Actress Geethika Tiwari was also announced to play another female lead in this film. The film also has an ensemble cast of actors including Nassar, Vivek, Vijayakumar, Prabhu, Livingston, Yogi Babu, Robo Shankar, Sachu, Vamsi Krishna, Latha, Deepa Shankar, Hareesh Peradi, Singampuli, Mayilswamy, Besant Ravi and Mansoor Ali Khan in other pivotal roles. Actresses Raai Laxmi and Yashika Aannand were signed on to make special appearances in the songs "Vaadi Vaasal" and "Mosalo Mosalu" respectively.
Filming
The film has been shot at various locations abroad, apart from Chennai, Pollachi, and the Himalayas. The team shot a song at a set made on a cost of 30 crore.Music
The music of the film is composed by Harris Jayaraj, making his comeback to composing after 'Kaappaan', which marks his first collaboration with both Legend Saravanan and J. D.Jerry. The audio rights of the film were purchased by Think Music India. The first single titled "Mosalu Mosalu" was released on 9 April 2022. The second single titled "Vaadi Vaasal" was released on 20 May 2022. The entire soundtrack album was released on 30 May 2022.
Marketing
The motion poster of the film was unveiled on 3 March 2022 at the films poster launch held at Cannes Film Festival. The trailer of the film was released on 29 May 2022. Within 2 days, the trailer crosses over 1 crore views. Reviewing the trailer of the film 'Cinema Express' wrote "The film directed by the duo JD-Jerry looks like a typical mass entertainer with colourful songs, gravity-defying action, comedy tracks and a mandatory social message in it. From the slick-looking trailer, it is evident that the film boasts of an excellent technical team, rich production values and a stellar ensemble." 'Indiaglitz' too wrote after reviewing the trailer that "The trailer promised a mass entertainer with some gravity-defying action sequences, beautiful locations, colourful songs, comedy tracks and a mandatory social message." The film's audio launch took place in Chennai on 29 May 2022. It was also reported that ten more female lead actresses would be a part of the film's audio launch. Another pre release event was also held in Kochi, Kerala to promote the film.
Release
Theatrical
'The Legend' was released theatrically on 28 July 2022. It was initially slated that the film would be released theatrically on 1 July 2022. However, there were reports suggesting that the film would release on15 July 2022. However the release date was postponed.
Distribution
The theatrical rights of the film in Tamil Nadu was brought by Gopuram Cinemas. The distribution rights of the film in Kerala was brought by Magic Frames, while the worldwide distribution of the film has been bagged by AP International.Home media
The satellite rights of the film sold to Star Vijay and the digital rights are acquired by Disney+ Hotstar.Reception
Critical Response
Avinash Ramachandran of 'Cinema Express' gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "For the uninitiated, the film might be just one big joke, but honestly, Saravanan and team clearly know what they wanted to do with The Legend. They are all in on the joke, and so are we." 'Pinkvilla' gave the films rating 2 out of 5 and stated "Harris Jayaraj's music is pretty decent. R Velraj's cinematography is another plus. SS Moorthy's art direction is respectable. The dance choreographers (Raju Sundaram, Brinda, Dinesh) is better than the stock stunts by Anl Arasu." M Suganth of 'The Times of India' gave the film 1.5 out of 5 and stated that "The one thing that JD-Jery get right is in glossing their product to hide its two major shortcomings - writing and lead performances. The film is mounted on a scale that reminds us of big-star movies from the 2000s, and even the plastic visual tone (R Velraj is the cinematographer), and grand but empty score (by Harris Jayaraj) are from that time. Alas, if only had they spent some of the money that they have splashed on the needless songs and stunts for the writing! Forget a wannabe star like Saravanan, even a bona fide superstar like Rajinikanth wouldn't have managed to save this vanity project." Bharathy Singaravel of 'The News Minute' rated the film 1.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Such as putting on display every possible stunt sequence Kollywood has conceived of over the years. To keep pace, Harris Jayrajs music desperately tries to inflate all the mass moments Saravanan desires. At a run-time of 2 hours 40 minutes, The Legend starts off laughable and quickly becomes unendurably grating. Opinions may differ, but even as a film so awful it could become iconically bad, it fails. It has its utterly charmless hero to thank for that." Bhuvaneshvar Chander of 'The Hindu' wrote "Sadly, The Legend also fails to consistently be hilarious in its long 160-minute runtime. On top of it all, this is also a film that ridiculously uses Vivekh, even making one feel guilty for disliking the role of the late legendary actor." Kirubhakar Prabhakaran of 'The Indian Express' gave the film 1 out of 5 stars and wrote "The innate problem of The Legend is that its not a movie but a set piece to propel Saravanan into stardom. Even the well-intended story about taking on the medical mafia is exploited to serve the hero. All the scenes are carefully crafted to exalt the hero, and it is saddening and excruciating to see these renowned actors reduced to auxiliary templates with only one objective to hype up the hero. JD and Jerry have made much better ad films, and The Legend ends up as an elaborate and expensive addition to their stable. The pseudo movie aims to sell Saravanan Arul as a star. Unfortunately, the attempt is in vain since stars both cinematic and celestial cannot be designed." Jayadeep Jayesh of 'Deccan Herald' rated the film 1 out of 5 and wrote "Haris Jayarajs music does not reflect his best work. Sloppy VFX and over-saturated cinematography are also minuses of the film. A few self-aware jokes would have made The Legend a moderately enjoyable spoof of the vintage masala film. But the film takes itself way too seriously.".Box office
On the first day of its release the film collected over 2 crores. On the first week of its release the film made a box office collection of 6 crores worldwide.Notes
References
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