Valiyavan

Valiyavan (English: Strong Man) is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language romantic action sports film written and directed by M. Saravanan. It stars Jai and Andrea Jeremiah and the music was composed by D. Imman with editing by M. Subarak and cinematography by Dinesh Krishnan. The film commenced shoot from May 2014 and ended on 27 March 2015.
Plot.
The film opens with Vinod (Jai) sipping his milkshake and walking in the subway. Then, suddenly, a young woman called Subiksha (Andrea Jeremiah) blocks his path and proposes to him and disappears. He takes it as a joke and goes away, but during the following week, he starts to wonder about her and questions himself on whether she told the truth. Because of this, he starts to wait in the subway every day. Subiksha does not come, but on the other hand, she visits his workplace in and his friend's room, where he stays. Unfortunately, both times, he does not make it in time to meet her. Finally, when he meets her, she tells him that they have already met at a party where their mutual friend asks her to drop him at his place as he is very drunk. However, Vinod does not remember this incident.
When he replies to her proposal, she rejects him by stating that she just messed with him for his behavior on the night when she dropped him at home, though he continues to pursue her. Subiksha puts a condition that if Vinod fought with Ashwin Ranjith (Aaran Chaudhary), a boxing champion, she would return his love. He agrees to fight him not only to win her love but also because of an incident that happened because of Ashwin, which has caused him to stay away from his father Raghuraman (Azhagam Perumal). In a flashback, it is revealed that Vinod loved his father dearly and was at a shopping mall happily spending time with his family, but Ashwin unknowingly sits on some hot dogs. Because of this, Ashwin publicly insults Raghuraman. After this incident, Vinod stays away from Raghuraman. Raghuraman, who is Subiksha's colleague, narrates this incident to her, which causes Vinod to defeat Ashwin in the end.
Production.
In February 2014, AR Murugadoss announced that he was set to produce a venture to be directed by M. Saravanan which would feature Jai in a leading role; with the trio collaborating again after the success of "Engaeyum Eppothum" (2013). However, the film was later announced to be produced by SK Studios instead. Andrea Jeremiah was selected to play the film's lead actress and filming began in April 2014.
Soundtrack.
The film's score and soundtrack were composed by D. Imman. The album consists of 8 tracks, featuring lyrics penned by Na. Muthukumar and Viveka. It was released on 9 January 2015 in Chennai. The soundtrack received positive reviews with Behindwoods noting that "album is purely situational and may work well with the visuals".
Release.
Critical reception.
Baradwaj Rangan, writing for "The Hindu", stated, "(the) first half (of the film) is practically empty — we have to wait for the second half for things to get going. So a certain amount of pointlessness in the early portions is par for the course. What’s shocking in M. Saravanan’s Valiyavan is how excruciating this pointlessness is. You may end up feeling physical pain", going on to call it "an easy contender for the year’s worst screenplay". The Times of India gave 2 stars out of 5 and wrote, "With one of the most preposterous scripts in recent times, M Saravanan...disappoints in "Valiyavan". Rediff gave the same rating and wrote, "Valiyavan" fails to impress, it is unworthy of the director who gave us the brilliant "Engaeyum Eppothum". Sify wrote, "Valiyavan" is a mixed bag. The first half is terrible with no story, and it is the last 30 minutes which has some meat in it. (The) script and presentation is a big letdown".
"Behindwoods.com" rated the film 2.25 out of 5 and stated, "An usual commercial flick, with an action packed Jai and a very attractive Andrea". Gautaman Bhaskaran of "The Hindustan Times" rated 1.5 out of 5 and wrote, "Romance and revenge, but little energy to push them".
Home media.
The satellite rights of the film were sold to Raj TV.