Arrambam () is a 2013 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Vishnuvardhan. Produced by A. Raghuram and co-written by Subha, the film stars Ajith Kumar, Arya, Nayanthara, Taapsee and Rana Daggubati (in a cameo), with Mahesh Manjrekar, Aadukalam Naren, Kishore, Atul Kulkarni, Akshara Gowda and Murali Sharma in supporting roles. While the score and soundtrack of the film were composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, the cinematography was handled by Om Prakash and editing by A. Sreekar Prasad.
Following a six-month long pre-production and the official announcement of the project in May 2012, filming commenced in June 2012 and continued for the next 15 months. Majority of the filming happened in Mumbai. Other locations included Chennai, Bangalore, Dubai, Hyderabad, Mahabaleshwar, Jaisalmer, Leh and Ladakh. The film was not titled until it entered post-production and was mostly referred to as Thala 53 or Valai, a supposed working title. The film was released on 31 October 2013.
Plot Ashok Kumar "A.K" fixes bombs in three places and informs the cops about them. Before the cops arrive, he sets off the bombs. Ashok and his girlfriend Maya, threaten her old college mate hacker, Arjun, forcing him to hack each system simultaneously. Ashok threatens Sriram Raghavan by trying to kill his child so that he can extract the truth about black money, where he murders Sriram. Arjun gets irritated by the things happening around him and complains about Ashok's misdeeds to Inspector Prakash. When Ashok gets closer to achieving his goals, Arjun gives him away to the cops, and both are arrested. Upon discovering his true identity, the police release Arjun. Later, Maya, who had escaped from the scene, tracks Arjun and his girlfriend Anitha and tells them about Ashok's original motive.
Past: A few months ago, Ashok was a former member of the Anti-Terrorist Squad who was on a mission to expose a scam regarding faulty bulletproof jackets given to the security forces, which resulted in many deaths, including his best friend and colleague ACP Sanjay. It turned out that Home Minister Mahadev Rane and his associates JCP Milind Virekar and Ramya Radhakrishnan were the people involved in the scam. Ramya's goons killed Sanjay's pregnant wife and her parents by poisoning, while Maya, whom they also poisoned, and Mango, whom the goons placed on a railway track, survived the attack. Ashok also gets shot and is pushed from a cliff but survives.
Present: After learning about this, Arjun feels guilty and decides to help them.Aarambam (DVD): clip from 1.11.41 to 1.48.24 Ashok, Maya and Arjun arrive in Dubai to meet Mahadev's daughter, Deeksha, where Arjun enters a bank in the guise of a service engineer and opens an account so that Ashok can transfer all of Mahadev's money into his account. Maya kills Ramya by pushing her off a building. Deeksha later finds out about their plan but is later threatened at gunpoint by Ashok. Ashok, Arjun, and Maya later arrive in Mumbai but come to know that Mahadev has kidnapped Anitha. Ashok tactfully kidnaps Deeksha and Durrani in Kashmir. Mahadev arrives in Kashmir with Anitha. Here, Durrani and Deeksha get killed while Arjun saves Anitha.
Ashok kidnaps Mahadev and ties him to various bombs, where he questions his corrupt activities. Prakash arrives and calls Ashok to defuse the bombs. Ashok advises Prakash to think from the point of view of a commoner instead of a policeman to determine whether it is right on his part to save a corrupt person. Prakash changes his mind and asks the other police officers to leave him, so the bomb blasts, killing Mahadev. Arjun and Anitha get married, while Ashok transfers Mahadev's illegal money to the Reserve Bank without revealing his appearance. A couple of guys kidnap Arjun and Anitha in Jordan during their honeymoon trip, only to know that Ashok has brought them for another mission.
Cast
Ajith Kumar as Ashok Kumar IPS (AK) Arya as Arjun Nayanthara as MayaArrambam (DVD): opening credits from 1.24 to 1.44 Taapsee as Anitha Mahesh Manjrekar as Mahadev Rane Aadukalam Naren as Sriram RaghavanArrambam (DVD): closing credits from 2.32.58 to 2.33.03 Atul Kulkarni as JCP Milind Virekar Suman Ranganathan as Ramya Radhakrishnan Kishore as Inspector Prakash Krishna as Mango Akshara Gowda as Deeksha Rane Murli Sharma as Durrani Bhawana Aneja as Nandhini Karthik as Imran Mona Kakade as Prakash's wife Rana Daggubati as ACP Sanjay (guest appearance) Savi Sidhu as Durrani's comrade (uncredited)
Production
Development In September 2011, producer A. M. Rathnam stated that he would produce Ajith Kumar's next film after Billa II, which was touted to begin by December 2011. Vishnuvardhan, whom Ajith had worked with in Billa, was the front-runner to direct the film, although certain media sections also suggested that Rathnam may recruit director Shankar to make a sequel to his 1996 vigilante film Indian. The claims were refuted by a source close to Ajith. In January 2012, Rathnam informed that he had signed Ajith and director Vishnuvardhan for his next film, while the director himself confirmed later that he was "undoubtedly directing Ajith’s next flick". A press release published by A. M. Rathnam in May 2012 officially announced the project and listed the cast and crew members. According to the press release, the film would be produced by A. Raghuram on behalf of Sri Satya Sai Movies, while Rathnam would supervise it.
Subsequently, speculation arose that Vishnuvardhan may remake his own 2011 Telugu action thriller Panjaa, or the Bollywood action flick Race, but the director clarified that he would not remake either film. Writer-duo Subha joined the team and worked on the script and dialogues. According to a "close source from the production house", a remake of Race was planned initially, as there was not much time to write a fresh script, but after Subha's entry into the team, the idea was scrapped and work on an original script began, with the writers telling that they took "nearly three months to come out with the sketch". In an early interview during the scripting phase, Vishnuvardhan opened up about the film that he was planning to work "on a drama, more on family action drama". Upon completion of the film, he made clear that the film was not a gangster film, and labelled it as an "action drama", further adding that it was a "fictional story based on a real incident". Vishnuvardhan also said that work on the story began only after he was signed on to direct a film with Ajith. Ajith continued the "salt and pepper look" from Mankatha, as he would play a "mature guy", and underwent supervised weight-training, working out at the gym for six hours a day. The actor later disclosed that he played a "mean guy ... a politically incorrect character" while adding that the film would have a "strong social message". Vishuvardhan opened up that Ajith would play an officer in the cyber crime department of the country. Closer to the film's release, the director revealed that Ajith would have "two faces in the film".
The film was started without a title and remained untitled for over 15 months, during which it was widely referred to as Thala 53 in the media, denoting Ajith's 53rd film. A teaser trailer released in May 2013 on YouTube did not feature a title either. The makers had tossed with the idea of naming the film Thala, Ajith's nickname, which was refused by the actor, while Vishnuvardhan also requested fans to suggest a suitable title. Several false titles including Surangani, and Paravai went around in the media, and in January 2013 "A source in the know" stated that the title was Valai, after one of the writers, Suresh, had tweeted that the title begins with a 'V'. Although not officially confirmed, the film was henceforth referred to as Valai by the media. At Anna University's Gateway 2013 Short Film Festival by the Department of Media Sciences in April 2013, Vishnuvardhan revealed that the film was not titled Valai, adding that two titles were under consideration. On 24 July 2013, Arrambam was unveiled as the film's official title. The dubbed Telugu version was titled Aata Arambham.
Casting Vishnuvardhan told that he was looking for an actress who could speak Tamil properly to be cast for the lead female role, with Anushka Shetty and Amala Paul being among the considered candidates. Kajal Aggarwal was also reportedly approached for the lead heroine. Although he wanted a "fresh pairing for Ajith", the director eventually selected Nayanthara, who had earlier worked with both Ajith and Vishnuvardhan in Billa. Several media sections carried reports that Vishnuvardhan's brother Kreshna would be signed for a parallel role in the film, but the role went to Arya, who had been part of four Vishnuvardhan directorials. Several sources claimed that Arya may play an antagonistic role, which Vishnuvardhan did not comment on but he informed that Arya's role in the film was that of a hacker.
Richa Gangopadhyay was supposed to play the second female lead, but was replaced with Taapsee Pannu, who stated that she played a journalist, a "very lively character, who is always on the go". It was then reported that Arvind Swamy and Prithviraj Sukumaran would play pivotal roles, and that Telugu actors Nagarjuna, Ravi Teja and Jagapathi Babu would have cameo appearances in the film; however none of the actors had any roles in the film. By late May, Hindi actor Mahesh Manjrekar was finalised for the role of a villain in the film, stating that he would be shooting for it from August onwards. The next month, Suman Ranganathan was cast for the role of Ramya, a "hard-nosed reporter", making a comeback to Tamil cinema after 17 years. Telugu actor Rana Daggubati was signed to do a "special appearance" in the film, and took part in the shooting in Mumbai; he completed his part in June 2013. It was reported that the 2008 Mumbai attacks would be part of the storyline, which would feature Rana's portion. Kishore joined the cast in July 2012 to enact an Anti-terrorist squad member, claimed to be a prominent role in the film. Akshara Gowda stated that she was also part of the film, while Prashant Nair informed that he had a small role in Valai.
Vishnuvardhan's norm composer Yuvan Shankar Raja was recruited to compose the film score. Stephen Richter who was one of the stunt coordinators in Ajith's Billa II was hired to choreograph stunts in this film, too. Besides Richter, Lee Whittaker, who has worked in Hollywood films, and Kecha designed several stunts sequences. Sunil Babu was initially called in as the art director but opted out later, with Ilaiyaraja taking his place. Vishnuvardhan's wife Anu Vardhan, who had worked on all of her husband's film, was in charge of costume designing in this film as well. Nirav Shah was approached to work as the cinematographer, but as he was busy with other commitments, P. S. Vinod, who filmed Vishnuvardhan's previous film, Panjaa, was recruited. Vinod was later replaced by Om Prakash.
Filming