Aalavandhan

About the film

Aalavandhan (transl. He Came to Rule) is a 2001 Indian psychological action thriller film directed by Suresh Krissna and produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu. The film features Kamal Haasan in dual roles, alongside Raveena Tandon, Manisha Koirala, Sarath Babu, Gollapudi Maruti Rao, Madurai G.S. Mani and Milind Gunaji. It is an adaptation of the 1984 novel Dhayam, written by Haasan, and incorporates elements of magical realism. The film was simultaneously shot in Tamil and Hindi, with the latter version titled Abhay (transl. Fearless), with three different actors in supporting roles. The Tamil version was dubbed into Telugu and released under the title of Hindi version.

While Aalavandhan underperformed commercially and garnered mixed reviews upon its release, it was positively received in subsequent years and achieved cult status, with some critics praising it as being ahead of its time. The film won the National Film Award for Best Special Effects and was retrospectively screened at the 2016 Fantastic Fest, where it received a standing ovation. In 2013, it was included in Rediff's list of "The 10 Best Films of Kamal Haasan." A digitally remastered but heavily trimmed version was released on 8 December 2023.

Plot

Major Vijay Kumar, a Black Cat commando, leads a team to rescue tourists held hostage by terrorists in Kashmir. After the mission, Vijay meets his girlfriend, Tejaswini "Teju," a news presenter, and they plan to marry. Teju reveals she is pregnant, sharing her HCG report with Vijay. Meanwhile, Vijay decides to visit his twin brother Nanda Kumar, also known as Nandu, who has been confined to a mental asylum for murdering their stepmother, Jayanthi.

Nandu, a schizophrenic with paranoid delusions, has spent most of his life in the asylum. Despite Vijay's care for his brother, the doctor warns that Nandu poses a danger to society. Vijay and Teju visit Nandu to inform him of their wedding, but Nandu begins to perceive Teju as Jayanthi. Believing he must save Vijay, Nandu escapes the asylum after killing two inmates, Sulthan and Paasha, leaving no evidence of his whereabouts. Nandu later confronts his maternal uncle, who had a role in his incarceration, causing the man to choke and die from the shock.

Vijay and Teju marry but soon learn of Nandu's escape. Nandu's doctor initially denies the possibility but is convinced when postmortem evidence on Sulthan reveals circumcision, a trait shared by Nandu. Nandu begins his quest to kill Teju, leaving a threatening message at Vijay's home. He hallucinates his deceased mother and spirals further into violence. Nandu becomes infatuated with Sharmilee, a socialite, after seeing her posters. They meet by chance, and Sharmilee, charmed by Nandu's antics, becomes close to him. However, a drug-induced playfulness triggers Nandu's memories of Jayanthi's abuse, leading him to brutally murder Sharmilee. Regretful, Nandu burns her body but leaves evidence that helps Vijay identify him as the culprit.

Production

In the early 1980s, Kamal Haasan wrote a story titled Dhayam that was serialised in the magazine journal, Idhayam Pesugiradhu. He had discussed making the story into a film with K. Balachander during the period, but felt that the story was ahead of its time. In 2000, he picked up the story again and agreed to make the film with director Suresh Krissna, a former assistant of Balachander, and producer S. Thanu. When Thanu had agreed to produce a film for Haasan, he had initially rejected the storylines of Pammal K. Sambandam and Nala Damayanthi. This prompted the pair to begin work on Dhayam instead, and the film was revealed to be called Aalavandhan in Tamil and Abhay in Hindi. Abhay was distributed by reputed Shringar Films. Mahesh Mahadevan was signed on to compose the background music, Tirru was selected to be the cinematographer and Sameer Chanda was picked to be the art director. Actor Ravi Mohan also worked on the film as an assistant director.

The film was first announced with Haasan and Simran and Bollywood actress Rani Mukerji in a special appearance. Both actresses left the project for its delay in start, being replaced by Raveena Tandon and Manisha Koirala. Producer Dhanu had initially tried to cast Aishwarya Rai in the film, but the actress did not sign the project.

Composer Harris Jayaraj was first approached by the producer to do music for the film, and he assured to introduce him as a music composer before Minnale. But Harris refused as he owed to do his first movie with Gautham Vasudev Menon. Later, music trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy was signed as music composers.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the movie was composed by the music trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy making their debut in Tamil, and the film score is composed by Mahesh Mahadevan. The film features six tracks in both Tamil and Hindi versions with all lyrics written by Vairamuthu, Vaali and Javed Akhtar respectively.

The album of the film was released on 24 September 2001, and it created a record by selling over 2,00,000 copies in less than eight hours of its release. However, according to Rediff, it "did not live up to expectations."

Release

Started on a budget of ₹7 crore, the costs associated with Aalavandhan tripled by the time of release. The film was released on 16 November 2001, during Diwali. The Hindi version Abhay was bought over in Maharashtra by the reputed Shringar Films. The number of prints in Tamil Nadu had been increased by almost 5 times the average. Both Aalavandhan and Abhay got A (adults only) certificate from the CBFC. Later, both were re-examined upon request to get a UA certificate.

Key details