Ezhumalai


Ezhumalai is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by Arjun, who also played the titular character. It also features Simran, Gajala and Mumtaj as the female leads, while Vijayakumar and Ashish Vidhyarthi play supporting roles. This film is the Tamil remake of the Telugu blockbuster Narasimha Naidu, starring Balakrishna. Despite the release of original film, this film was later dubbed in Telugu again as Simha Baludu. The movie was a big commercial success and completed a 150-day theatrical run at the box office.

Plot

Ezhumalai leads a peaceful life as a dance master in the village. Anjali falls in love with him before learning that he has a son and that his wife Lakshmi is dead. She wishes to marry him but faces competition from Lakshmi's sister Sandhya, who also wishes to wed him. Anjali is the daughter of Nagalingam, who is from a neighboring village. When she reveals this fact to Ezhumalai, she learns he and her father are sworn enemies and that her father killed Lakshmi.

Cast

The songs are by Mani Sharma, lyrics written by Vaali and Thamarai.

Critical reception

Thiraipadam wrote that the film "itself is an age-old revenge tale that offers nothing new and so, the proceedings are predictable, most of the time." The Hindu wrote "The screenplay is Arjun's. So is the direction. And the action hero thrills his fans with stunts aplenty. Yet fights alone, however well choreographed, cannot make a film watchable. You need a well-narrated story — something "Ezhumalai" lacks. Most of the time action waits for no reason and seems to need no logic." Sify wrote that "the film caters strictly to the frontbenchers".