Ullaasam

Ullaasam
DVD Cover
Directed by	J.D. & Jerry
Produced by	Amitabh Bachchan
Written by	J.D. & 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. GK (Raghuvaran), Dev (Vikram) father, is a smuggler who lives in a house near by Thangiah S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, father of Guru (Ajith Kumar). In his childhood days, Guru got attracted by GK's activities and follows his footsteps. While Thangiah tries to convince his son, it is all in vain. He got vexed and started to raise Dev (GK's son), as a good man. In their college days, Dev becomes a singer. With the lover boy image, he is really popular amoung the ladies in the college. While Guru studying in the same college becomes a dancer and turns out to be a local dada, who helps GK in his business. Both Guru and Dev fall in love with the same girl Megha (Maheswari). Who is in love with Guru. Thangiah comes to know about Dev's love for her and begs Guru to leave his love for Dev, since he won't be able to lead a peaceful life in the shape he is. Despite Guru having thoughts of leaving Megha. Dev steps aside knowing that Megha in love with Guru. As Dev hides his feelings for Megha. He wishes the both of them by saying, that the love they have for each other will prevail. The film ends with Guru's choosing to stay with the dark world and with Megha, by his side.

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