Palanivel and Vetrivel are inseparable brothers who eke out a living as a farmer and minivan driver respectively in a village on the foothills of Palani temple. When Vetri falls in love with a city-based RJ Anjali, who is on a visit to Palani, he finds Lakshmi to romance his brother. Meanwhile, Vetri goes to Chennai in search of a job and his ladylove. He gets a job as a driver in a courier company, where Vimala Hassan, a fanboy of Kamal Haasan, is an employee and becomes Vetri's friend. Now enters Essaki, a dreaded don who controls the Saidapet area of the city. He initially helps Vetri but soon locks horns with him. Palani comes to Chennai to meet Vetri and runs into Essaki, and it is revealed that they are childhood friends. In order to not worry his brother, Vetri does not mention the ongoing feud between him and Essaki, and circumstances do not let Essaki and Vetri meet in front of Palani.After some twists and turns, Essaki learns that Vetri is Palani's brother and plans to kill him. However, he stabs Lakshmi, who saves Palani, and she succumbs to her wound. Devastated and enraged, Vetri fights Essaki, who gets the upper hand until Palani stabs him. The brothers then live a peaceful life, with Vetri marrying Anjali.
Daisy Shah (special appearance in the song "Othaiku Othaiya")
Production
Casting
Pooja Umashankar walked out of the film due to the film's long delay to start.[2][3] Instead, Vedhika was selected.[4] Kasthuri was selected to play an important role making her comeback to Tamil cinema.
Filming
Actor Arun Vijay and the cinematographers were arrested by the Thai army when the shoot was on for this film at Ko Man Islands near Pattaya City, It was only when the location manager and the producer explained the story to concerned officials that those arrested were released, The shooting came to a halt until the crew were released.[5]
The shooting of the film took place in Langavi Islands in Malaysia. Arun Vijay, Vedhika, and the choreographer went as a team to the island for shooting. The shooting took place for a long time, and by the time crew left it became dark, they missed the way, and they were stranded mid-sea for more than two hours.[6]
The set of the temple town Palani has been erected at Sriperambadhur for shooting of the film, Since the story of the film happens in Palani, the set of the temple including marketplace, shops, and streets has been erected in Sriperambadhur for 50 lakhs. A fight sequence featuring Arun Vijay clashing with the villains has been shot under the guidance of stunt master Kanal Kannan. Scenes featuring Vedhika have also been shot there. Four cameras were being used for the shooting at the spot.[7][8]
During the shooting, the makers did a charity work to underprivileged rural areas. These donations have been used to provide adequate number of ambulance facilities to the villages of Ramanadhapuram, Pattukottai, and Dindugal.[9] Shooting for the climax has been on at Binny Mills, and whilst acting out a stunt sequence involving jumping over the camera, Arun Vijay hurt his ribcage and arm. Luckily, the injuries were not major and the actor went about shooting the scenes after rest for a couple of hours.[10]
Mumtaj was said to be appearing in an item number, which proved false.[11]
The film was officially announced as a hit by the reports given by Top 10 movies in Kalaignar TV and other websites. It ran successfully for more than 100 days.[13][14]
Reception
Kollywood today wrote: "There’s nothing exceptional you will be witnessing with Malai Malai".[15] Oneindia wrote: "Director Venkatesh uses all his usual techniques to entertain the viewers. The techniques he has applied may be old but guaranteed for a 2 hours 30 minutes entertainment. Arun Vijay has successfully broken all the odds in the film Malai Malai and become a complete hero in this film through his good performance and heroine Vedhika also perform well in the sleek action masala. ".[16] Sify wrote: "a typical mass masala movie with all essential ingredients".[17]
Legacy
The success of Malai Malai and breakout success of star Arun Vijay prompted the producers of the critically reviled then-unreleased and shelved film Thunichal to use his newfound publicity to launch their own film, in which a pre-fame Vijay had starred. Arun Vijay, worried that the move could hamper his new-found image at the box office, lodged a complaint with the Nadigar Sangam, alleging that the producers of Thunichal were attempting to release the film without his voice.[18] Soon after, he retracted his statements and refuted that the film would not damage his reputation.[19]
After Malai Malai, the crew of the previous film re-united with Maanja Velu,[20][21] a remake of the Telugu film Lakshyam[22] which also went on to become a hit at the box office.
