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Aayudham
Aayudham
	DVD cover
Directed by	M. A. Murugesh
Written by	M. A. Murugesh; Kamaleshkumar (dialogues)
Produced by	Surya Rajkumar
Starring	Prashanth; Sneha
Cinematography	Aravind Kamalanathan
Edited by	A. K. Sankar
Music by	Dhina
Production; companies	Mars Entertainment Group; Motion Pictures Partners International
Release date	14 January 2005;
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Aayudham (transl. Weapon) is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by M. A. Murugesh. It stars Prashanth and Sneha, while Vadivelu, Subbaraju, Rajesh, and Janagaraj play supporting roles. Featuring music composed by Dhina, the film was released on 14 January 2005 and became an average success.^[1]

Plot

Siva is admitted to a medical college in Chennai. His police constable father, gets a transfer to Chennai, as well, so that he can keep an eye on his son. Siva soon develops a liking towards Mahalakshmi, his collegemate. However, Naga, Maha's servant-maid's son and the dreaded don of Chennai city, is obsessed with making Maha his own. It is now upto Siva to rescue Maha and her family from Naga's clutches.

Cast

Prashanth as Siva
Sneha as Mahalakshmi
Vadivelu as Thangapandi
Subbaraju as Naga
Rajesh as Siva's father
Janagaraj as Naga's uncle
Mansoor Ali Khan as Minister Andiappan
Manobala as College Professor
Santhana Bharathi
Kalairani as Maha's House servant
Ramji as Police
Thalaivasal Vijay
Ajay Rathnam
Singamuthu
Bonda Mani
Besant Ravi
Meenal Pendse special appearance in the "Sarakku Sarakku"

Production

The film was directed by M. A. Murugesh, who had previously directed the film, Indru Mudhal (2003). Sneha was selected to play the lead female role and began work on the film in May 2004.^[2] The first schedule of the film commenced in Chennai, where a dance number was shot at a lavish set costing ₹40 lakh (equivalent to ₹1.4 crore or US$170,000 in 2023) at AVM Studios, where Prashanth and fifty dancers took part. The second schedule of forty days was held at locations in Madurai, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari and Nagercoil. Dance choreographer Dinesh choreographed two dance numbers – one in which Prashanth and Mumbai's Minal took part, the other where he danced with Rasna, a Mumbai model. The third schedule was filmed in London, including a song sequence shot near the River Thames.^[3] Fifty girls from the musical, Bombay Dreams, were selected to feature in Sungadi saris during a song shoot at Trafalgar Square.^[4]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Dhina. It was released in early October 2004.^[5]

Song	Singer(s)	Lyrics
"Aalakala Visham"	Harini	Viveka
"Hormone Surrakuthu"	KK, Harini	Pa. Vijay
"Koottaan Choru"	Anuradha Sriram, Dhina	Pa. Vijay
"Naan Oru Mathiri"	Febi Mani, Srimathumitha	Snehan
"Sarakku Sarakku"	Karthik, Srilekha Parthasarathy	Snehan

Release and reception

The film was released in January 2005 during Pongal.^[6] Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu noted that "it's all very fine if you are not looking for anything innovative in the entertainment offered", adding that "Prashanth is too experienced an actor to goof up the role. He plays Siva with ease. And as always he is more at home in action" and that "Sneha makes proper use of the couple of scenes that offer her a little scope to perform."^[7] Sify noted that film was "below average" and added "The film looks like a poor man’s Ghilli and the story is as old as the hills with no semblance of either style or substance."^[8] Visual Dasan of Kalki wrote that Aayudham had taken the single line plot from third rated masala films like Jayam and Ghilli. He said exaggerations are key in such stories, but in Aayudham, the director was very careful to portray every scene in an interesting way and succeeded in it.^[9] Cinesouth wrote "Though the concept of the film is as old as it can be, that is, love- struggle- and triumph in love-, but, it is like serving old feast on a new flashy and flower designed plate".^[10] Malini Mannath of Chennai Online wrote "It's familiar territory for the audience, with predictable situations, stereotyped characters and an already-seen-ambience. It is an amalgam of various films like 'Run', 'Gilli', 'Arul' etc. It does not quite keep up to the promise of the opening scenes."^[11]

The film performed average at the Tamil Nadu box office.^[12] The film's release was hampered by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami which also hit Chennai.^[13]

References

^ "Aayudham". BizHat.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
^ Rangarajan, Malathi (14 May 2004). "Winning on her own terms". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 20 June 2004. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
^ Mannath, Malini (8 November 2004). "Ayudham". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 10 February 2005. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
^ Swaminathan, Chitra (17 August 2004). "Driven by goals, not girls". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 12 September 2004. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
^ "'Aayutham' music launched with fanfare". Cinesouth. 5 October 2004. Archived from the original on 7 February 2005. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
^ Warrier, Shobha (14 January 2005). "Pongal Releases, 2005". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
^ Rangarajan, Malathi (14 January 2005). "Aayudham". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 30 January 2005. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
^ "Aayudham". Sify. 13 January 2005. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
^ தாசன், விஷுவல் (23 January 2005). "ஆயுதம்". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 85. Archived from the original on 25 March 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2023 – via Internet Archive.
^ "Aayudham". Cinesouth. Archived from the original on 7 February 2005. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
^ Mannath, Malini (18 January 2005). "Ayudham". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 5 February 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
^ "Prashanth – 24x7". Sify. 22 February 2005. Archived from the original on 22 April 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
^ "Tsunami wreaks havoc on Tamil films". Nowrunning.com. 31 January 2005. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2012.