Muthu Pandi, a village strongman, decides to marry his niece Dhanalakshmi, and begins his quest by eliminating everyone who opposes their union - starting with both her brothers. In desperation, Dhanalakshmi decides to escape from the village, and in the process is unwittingly assisted by a university Kabaddi player Velu. Velu, an aspiring kabaddi player, goes to Madurai to participate in a regional match, where he rescues Dhanalakshmi from Muthupandi, a powerful man keen on marrying the girl against her wish. "Ghilli" is the Tamil language remake of the Telugu film "Okkadu".<br/><br/>It is unfortunate that Dharani does not show any directorial stamp of his own, instead relying on the same techniques Gunasekhar had employed in the Telugu original. He makes a few (detrimental) changes in the screenplay to suit the star Vijay's image, such as addition of annoying comic sidekicks and making the scenes with his family more comic and OTT than the original, deleting all the sweet and enjoyable character interaction. Even the climax is hastily put together, without any buildup that the climax of the original had. The only two aspects where this version scores over its source is that Trisha makes for prettier eye candy than Bhoomika Chawla, and Vidyasagar's music is ROCKING and 100x better than Mani Sharma's forgettable score. Every song is enjoyable, but "Sura Thenga Adra Adra" which is the hero's intro song is my favourite, can't get enough of it. Ghilli is one of the best made entertainers Tamil cinema has ever seen, and is the movie that brought Vijay into stardom. It is easy to remake a blockbuster movie, but to surpass the original is something only a few movies can do, and Ghilli is one of them. Although the general story line is the same as Okkadu, director Dharani had riveting screenplay that made the movie feel more intense and racy. The movie's decision to forego a comedy track was a great move, since Vijay does an excellent job in providing comic relief during his interactions with his family. Prakash Raj's role is extended a little bit more in the Tamil version and he does a great job portraying a menacing villain who will do anything to achieve his goal. Trisha also does a great job as playing a mortified girl who is running for her life. The soundtrack by Vidyasagar is simply iconic with songs like Appadi Podu. Some of the scenes maybe considered "over the top" by today's standards, but without a doubt this was a culturally significant movie in Tamil cinema. There really isn't much to complain about this movie since it did well in all areas.
Vannar replied
295 weeks ago