Ullaasam

Ullaasam
DVD Cover
Directed by	JD-Jerry
Produced by	Amitabh Bachchan
Written by	JD-Jerry Balakumaran
Starring	Ajith Kumar Vikram Maheswari Raghuvaran S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
Music by	Karthik Raja
Cinematography	Jeeva
Edited by	B. Lenin V. T. Vijayan
Production company	Amitabh Bachchan Corporation
Release dates	23 May 1997
Running time	136 minutes
Language	Tamil

Ullaasam (Tamil: உல்லாசம், Ullācam ^?) is a 1997 Tamil action romance film directed and co-written by the duo JD-Jerry and produced by noted Hindi film actor Amitabh Bachchan. The film featured Ajith Kumar, Vikram and Maheswari in the lead roles with Raghuvaran, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and Srividya in other pivotal roles. The film was released in May 1997 to mixed reviews.

Plot

The plot revolves around two fathers and their sons. Raghuvaran, Vikram's father, is a smuggler who lives in a house near S.P.Balasubramaniam's, father of Ajith. In his childhood days, getting attracted by Raghuvaran's activities, Ajith remains to stay with him always. While SPB tries to convince his son, it is all in vain. He got vexed and started to raise Vikram, son of Raghuvaran, as a good man. In college days, Vikram becomes a singer, and becomes a lover boy in the college. While Ajith studying in the same college becomes a dancer and turns out to be a local dada, who helps Raghuvaran in his business. In the meanwhile, Ajith and Vikram love the same girl (Maheswari), who in turn loves Ajith. SPB comes to know about Vikram's love affair and begs Ajith to leave his love for Vikram, since he won't be able to lead a peaceful life in the shape he is. The film ends with Ajith having to choose between his lady love and the dark world.

Cast

• Ajith Kumar as Guru
• Vikram as Dev
• Maheswari as Megha
• Raghuvaran as GK
• S. P. Balasubrahmanyam as Thangiah
• Devan
• Srividya

Production

The film became Amitabh Bachchan's first Tamil language film production under his banner, Amitabh Bachchan Corporation and as a result roped in several leading stars for the project.^[1] Maheswari, the cousin of actress Sridevi, was enjoying success in Telugu films at that time. Moreover, the film boasted of a strong supporting cast of Raghuvaran, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and Srividya with Jeeva as cinematographer and Raju Sundaram as choreographer.^[2] The director duo were signed on after ABCL had been a part of the marketing team in some of the television serial episodes they had directed. Abdullah, actress Kushboo's brother, and Roshni, actress Nagma's sister, were also reported to be a part of the initial cast but eventually did not feature.^[3]

Leading Tamil actor Kamal Haasan sung a song, "Muthe Muthamma" for the film under the composition of Karthik Raja.^[4] The film was briefly delayed due to the FEFSI production strikes of 1997.^[5] Furthermore, during production Ajith suffered due the dancing and fighting involved which caused problems for his back, leading to a further round of corrective surgery.^[6]

Release

The film opened to mixed reviews with a critic labelling that "though boasting of impressive names in its credits, Ullasam doesn't bring out the best in any of them".^[7][8] Even though actor Ajith had first billing upon release, the movie later became a cult favourite among actor Vikram's fans. Post-release, Vikram acknowledged the film for expanding his female fan base as a result of the soft-personality of his character.^[9]

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack was composed by Karthik Raja with actor Kamal Haasan also singing a song in the album.
The lyrics written by Gangai Amaran, Arivumathi, Pazhani Bharathi, Paarthi Bhaskar and Arun Mozhi (Rap).

References