V. I. P. (1997 film)

V. I. P. is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film directed and co-written by Sabapathy Dekshinamurthy. The film stars Prabhu Deva, Abbas, Simran and Rambha, while Rami Reddy, Anupam Kher and Manivannan play other pivotal roles. Ranjit Barot composed the music, while Arthur A. Wilson handled the cinematography. The film was released on 4 July 1997. This is one of the first two Tamil films of actress Simran, along with Once More.

V. I. P.
Poster
Directed bySabapathy Dekshinamurthy
Written bySabapathy Dekshinamurthy
K. Selva Bharathy (dialogues)
Produced byKalaipuli S. Thanu
StarringPrabhu Deva
Abbas
Simran
Rambha
CinematographyArthur A. Wilson
Edited byB. Ramesh
Music byRanjit Barot
Production
company
Kalaippuli International
Distributed byV Creations
Release date
4 July 1997
Running time
154 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

Guru is a graduate but cannot find a job because employers are looking for experience. He and his pickpocket and bike thief friend Indhu live along with the mechanic Nizam Bhai and his wife. The couple is a Muslim, and the lady wears a purdah, and it is shown that whoever lifts her purdah and sees her face faints immediately. Nizam Bhai himself has seen his wife's face only during their first night. This provides comic relief.

There is a wealthy businessman, but his business is about to topple when he invites his nephew Santhosh from America to save it from loss. Priya is his daughter, and she expects to marry Santhosh when he arrives. Meanwhile, Guru steals a car from a businessman who refused to employ him and when the goondas chase, he and Indhu enter into the airport. In a series of comic events, Guru ends up in Priya's house as Santhosh, and Santhosh, who tries to save Indhu, lands up with her in Mizoram.

The businessman introduces Guru (now Santhosh) as the new managing director of the company to his employees. He also encourages Santhosh to take up the new assignment. Guru, who is a talented youth, works hard and brings the company back to business; meanwhile, the real Santhosh struggles with Indhu to get back home. When Santhosh gets back to Chennai, he collects his bags and passport from the airport.

By now, Santhosh has fallen in love with Indhu, and Priya has fallen in love with Guru. Indhu and Guru meet up and find out about Guru acting as Santhosh and that the real Santhosh is with Indhu. When Santhosh finds out that Guru has taken the company to greater heights than he would have, he accepts Guru as his friend and does not reveal his true identity to his uncle's family. In the end, all confusions are cleared, and the lovers unite.

Cast

Production

Pooja Kumar was the first choice for a lead actress role, but walked out of the project due to date issues. Producer Thanu then approached Laila, who was left unimpressed when the producer asked her to consider changing her stage name to Pooja, as the invitations for the film had already been printed. Laila also revealed her unawareness of Rambha also being a part of the film. Laila subsequently dropped out of the project, wanting to make her Tamil debut in a film where she played the sole heroine.[1]

The film consequently marked the debut of actress Simran in Tamil films, with V.I.P and her other film, Once More both releasing on 4 July 1997.[2] Simran had earlier rejected Tamil films including Bharathiraja's proposed Siragugal Murivathillai, and had garnered popularity in the Tamil film industry prior to the release of her first film. She worked on V.I.P alongside her commitments for Once More, Nerrukku Ner (1997) and Poochudava (1997).[3] The project also became the first Indian film to have a trailer released online.[4]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ranjit Barot, with lyrics written by Vairamuthu, Arivumathi and Palani Bharathi.[5] Thanu in an interview for Maalai Malar in 2013 revealed that both Ranjit Barot and Shankar Mahadevan were initially chosen as composers; however Shankar left the film due to creative differences but tuned two songs "Minnal Oru Kodi" and "Netru No No".[6]

Track listing
No.TitleSingersLength
1."Minnal Oru Kodi"Hariharan, K. S. Chithra4:29
2."Ichankaatule Muyal Onnu"KK, Anupama4:20
3."Mayilu Mayilu Mayilamma"P. Unnikrishnan, Mano, K. S. Chithra, Ranjini4:28
4."Netru No No"Shankar Mahadevan, Dominique Cerejo5:17
5."Indiran Alle"Dominique Cerejo, Sipra Bose, Anupama3:56
6."Vandhadhe Luck Vandhadhe"Ranjit Barot3:58
Total length:26:28

Release and reception

V. I. P. was released on 4 July 1997. The film did above average business but ended up being a success at the box office, owing to the substantial size of the budget.[7][8] R. P. R. of Kalki wrote that the team have carefully planned to give a film that is completely fun without pain; there will be no cheating in the yield.[9] K. N. Vijiyan of New Straits Times wrote, "If you don't take the storyline too seriously, you will probably enjoy the movie better".[10]

References

  1. "தாணு தயாரித்த 'வி.ஐ.பி' சிம்ரன் அறிமுகம்" [Simran was introduced in V. I. P. produced by Thanu]. Maalai Malar (in Tamil). 7 October 2013. Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  2. "Simran". arigemmovies.com. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
  3. "Simran". Dinakaran. Archived from the original on 15 June 1998. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  4. "GOKUL'S CINEMA NEWS". GOKUL'S HOME PAGE. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  5. "VIP (1997)". Raaga.com. Archived from the original on 15 September 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  6. "வி.ஐ.பி தயாரானபோது பிரபுதேவா காதல் திருமணம்" [Prabhu Deva's love marriage during the production of V. I. P.]. Maalai Malar (in Tamil). 8 October 2013. Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  7. Rajitha (1 December 1998). "Abbas on a roll". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  8. "A-Z Continues..." Indolink. Archived from the original on 24 April 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ஆர். பி. ஆர். (20 July 1997). "வி.ஐ.பி". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 80. Archived from the original on 9 May 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  10. Vijiyan, K. N. (14 July 1997). "Enjoyable flick for the young". New Straits Times. pp. Arts 4. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
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