Ji (film)

Ji
Directed by N. Linguswamy
Produced by S. S. Chakravarthy
Written by N. Linguswamy
Starring Ajith Kumar
Trisha Krishnan
Charanraj
Vijayakumar
Manivannan
Visu
Shridhar Kumar
Music by Vidyasagar
Edited by Ganeshkumar
Production
company
NIC Arts
Release dates
  • 11 February 2005
Running time
 172 minutes
Country India
Language Tamil
Budget INR11 crore

Ji (Tamil: ஜி) is a 2005 Tamil action film directed by Linguswamy and produced by S. S. Chakravarthy. The film stars Ajith Kumar and Trisha Krishnan in the lead roles, while the score and soundtrack are composed by Vidyasagar. The film was released in February 2005 following a series of delays and received mixed reviews.

Plot

Vasu (Ajith), a final year college student is happy go lucky. But he is forced to contest elections in the college after being persuaded by his friends (Venkat Prabhu and Arun). He, however, incurs the wrath of the local MLA Varadharajan (Charanraj), whose son, studying in the same college, also contests the elections.

In the course of events, the MLA's gang attacks Vasu and his friends. It's here that Vasu's father (Vijayakumar), a tea shop owner, advises the students to take a plunge in politics and teach the bad apples like Varadharajan a lesson. Taking cue from his words, Vasu does indeed take the plunge in politics with the backing of college students and even files nomination for the Assembly election in Kumbakonam constituency. Varadharajan is naturally annoyed and angry at the presumptuousness of Vasu and tells him to back off from the elections. But a relentless Vasu goes ahead with his plans. The rest is a sequence of events by which Vasu wins the admiration of masses and succeeds in getting elected as a MLA.

Unfortunately, Varadharajan, unable to digest the defeat, plays a trick and burns a primary school and Vasu is blamed for the death of innocent children. He gets sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment. After serving the term, Vasu comes out of prison only to take revenge on Varadharajan. It's a happy ending with Vasu holding the hands of his lover Bhuvana.

Cast

Production

After the success of Run, N. Linguswamy announced his plans of re-collaborating with Madhavan in Sathyam, a film about student politics to be produced by A. M. Rathnam, but Madhavan opted out due to his work in Mani Ratnam's Aayutha Ezhuthu. Linguswamy then approached Ajith Kumar in September 2003 to star in the film and the actor accepted with S. S. Chakravarthy taking over as producer for the film newly re-titled Ji. Initial reports suggested that either Kutty Radhika or Nisha Kothari would be signed on as heroine, though the role was later given to Trisha Krishnan.[1]

In January 2004, Linguswamy and Ajith clashed over the script of the film during the shoot in Kumbakonam, giving first indications of the instability of the unit.[1] Linguswamy revealed that half way through the production of Ji, he had a bad gut feeling about it and was quick to move on to the production of his next venture, Sandakozhi.[2] Ajith Kumar suddenly moved on to work in A. R. Murugadoss's Mirattal in March 2004, leaving Ji temporarily shelved. He returned in July 2004 and was injured during the shoot of the film.[1] Shooting was again cancelled by the producer in August 2004 as he ran into financial troubles with the cancellation causing Trisha and Ajith Kumar to give priority to other films.

The first release date set for the film had been August 2004 although this was passed due to the delays of Ajith's other films at the time - Attagasam and Jana.[1] Subsequently several release dates were mentioned across late 2004 and then a promotional spree began signalling that the film would be released on January 14, 2005.[3] Trisha's other commitments had left three songs unshot and the film was postponed from that date to February 4.[3][4] It later released on February 11, 2005.

Release

A critic form Indiaglitz.com praised the film citing that "Lingusamy should be appreciated for giving a movie with pulsating sequences. He has infused the script with all the right ingredients and keeps the tempo of the narration on an even keel."[5] Critics from The Hindu claimed that the film "could have been better", with a claim that Ajith "often looking either subdued or confused, and goes through the motions with very little involvement".[6][7]

The film took a large opening all over Tamil Nadu, but collections began to slide after three days. Two days after the release director Lingusamy edited 1350 feet (17 Minutes) of the film in the second half as people complained about the length of the film.[8][9]

Soundtrack

Ji
Soundtrack album by Vidyasagar
Released 2005
Label Star Music
Producer Vidyasagar
Vidyasagar chronology

London
(2005)		 Ji
(2005)		 Chandramukhi
(2005)

Acclaimed music director Vidyasagar has composed the soundtracks and background music for the film.

No. TitleSinger(s) Length
1. "Kiliye Kiliye "  Udit Narayan, Sujatha Mohan 4:30
2. "Ding Dong"  Madhu Balakrishnan, Madhushree 4:33
3. "Vamba Velaikku"  KK 4:40
4. "Sarala Kondayil"  Karthik 1:00
5. "Yethanai Yethanai"  Shankar Sampoke 5:15
6. "Thiruttu Rascal"  Mano, Srilekha Parthasarathy 4:53

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "www.ajithkumar.fr.fm". www.ajithkumar.fr.fm. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  2. ↑ Malathi Rangarajan (2010-04-01). "Arts / Cinema : Oh boy!". The Hindu. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Ajit’s `Ji` postponed!". Sify.com. 2004-12-22. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  4. ↑ "'Ji'postponed again!!". Sify.com. 2005-02-02. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  5. ↑ "Ji Tamil Movie Review - cinema preview stills gallery trailer video clips showtimes". IndiaGlitz. 2005-02-12. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  6. ↑ "Entertainment Chennai / Film Review : "Ji"". The Hindu. 2005-02-18. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  7. ↑ "Ji is for Ajith fans only!". Rediff.com. 2005-02-14. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  8. ↑ "`Ji` limping!". Sify.com. 2005-02-17. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  9. ↑ "‘Ji’ collapses, ‘Constantine’ rises!". Sify.com. 2005-02-21. Retrieved 2012-08-04.