Underplayed Gems

Vaali (1999)

Vaali poster
Original title
வாலி
Directed by
S. J. Surya
Genre
romantic thriller
Country
India
Runtime
2h 38m
Rated
UA
Rating
7.0 of 10 from 25 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

Identical twin brothers have very different lives. One is deaf and mute and develops a dangerous obsession with his brother's girlfriend. The obsession continues even after the couple gets married.

tenseobsessivemelodramaticromanticdarktwistysuspensefulemotional

What happens

Vaalee is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language romantic psychological thriller film written and directed by S. J. Suryah in his directorial debut. The film stars Ajith Kumar in the main dual lead role with Simran and Jyothika (in her Tamil debut). Vivek, Rajeev, Pandu and Sujitha appear in supporting roles. It revolves around identical twins Shiva and Deva, the latter being deaf-mute. He lusts for Shiva's love interest Priya, an obsession that continues even after their marriage. Suryah completed the script for Vaalee in 60 days, and the project was picked up for production by S. S. Chakravarthy of NIC Arts. It is Ajith's first film to feature him in dual roles. The film's title is a reference to Vali from the Hindu epic Ramayana. The cinematography was handled by Jeeva, the music by Deva, and the editing was done by the duo B. Lenin and V. T. Vijayan. Vaalee was released on 1 May 1999 to positive reviews. The film became a commercial success, and a major breakthrough for Ajith, Simran and Jyothika. Ajith won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil and Jyothika won Best Female Debut – South at the same ceremony. The film was remade in Kannada under the same title in 2001. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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