Ghilli, once more
Why a 20-year-old lm starring Vijay is being celebrated by Tamil cinema fans today
One of Chennai’s important landmarks is the Gemini yover. Very close to this landmark is the Little Flower School for the Blind and the Deaf — which was the venue in 2004 for the audio cassette release of Tamil lm Ghilli starring Vijay, Trisha and Prakash Raj.
It was here that the tunes of ‘Appadi Podu’ and ‘Arjunar Villu’ played for the rst time, and subsequently, echoed in cinema halls when the lm released to a rapturous reception in April 2004.
Cut to April 2024, these tunes are still playing as the lm’s re-release has crowds thronging theatres, despite the IPL buzz. Why is a 20-year-old Tamil lm still being celebrated? Director Dharani has the answers.
Question: We last met 20 years ago and spoke about the same lm, and here, we are, speaking about it yet again...
Dharani: When I heard about the re-release, I imagined that it would be a one-day celebration, like a Vidyasagar concert or an AR Rahman concert. I never imagined that it would become such a celebration. People in the theatres are literally completing the dialogues. The lm and its content has remained alive till now, and I’m grateful to the media and fans for celebrating it that way. Q: Why do you think Ghilli, which has been played multiple times on television, is still being celebrated?
Dharani: I think it is because of the emotion behind the lead actor, who played a ‘good boy’, and for that, I am indebted to writer Gunasekar who helmed the Telugu original, Okkadu, which we remade as Ghilli. It has a naughty protagonist, who