When director Ramesh Aravind was asked recently in an interview if Uthama Villain’s lead star Kamal Haasan is interfering too much into the directorial department, the director refused it outright.

Pointing out that Uthama Villain is the brainchild of Kamal Haasan and that he is responsible for the script, Ramesh Aravind agreed that it is true that he gives valuable suggestions to make the film racier and that he is making use of the idea to the fullest. However, the star never interferes into his department and has given him a free hand, Ramesh stated. Uthama Villain, starring Andrea, Pooja Kumar, Parvathy, K Balachander, K Vishwanath and others, is being produced by Lingusamy’s Thirupati Brothers.

Kamal Haasan starrer Uthama Villain’s shooting schedule in Chennai was wrapped up recently and the team is now gearing up fly down to Australia for the next schedule. It is said that Uthama Villain team is all ready for this tour and will be boarding the flight right after the Lok Sabha polls in the state are over.

Kamal Haasan plays dual roles in Uthama Villain which is being directed by Ramesh Aravind. This film, which is touted to be a quickie, stars Andrea, Pooja Kumar, Jairam, director K Balachander, Parvathy Menon and others.

The latest addition to Kamal Haasan’s Uthama Villain is Parvathy Nair. The Bengaluru-based model Parvathy Nair will be making her acting debut with this movie directed by Ramesh Aravind.

Excited over bagging this great opportunity to share the screen space with the legendary actor Kamal, Parvathy said that she will do her best to prove her mettle as an actress. It is said that Parvathy Nair plays Kamal’s daughter in the film. Uthama Villain has a huge star cast including Jayaram, Pooja Kumar, Andrea, Parvathy Menon and others. Ghibran is scoring the music for this venture.

Even before the release of Kamal Haasan’s ‘Vishwaroopam 2′, news have started to come up about the release of his next film ‘Uthama Villain’. As we had reported earlier, the movie will be a quickie and it will be wrapped up by the end of May. If sources are to be believed, the movie will be hitting the screens on August 29th, to coincide with Vinayagar Chathurthi.

Directed by Ramesh Aravind, the movie has Kamal Haasan in two roles. Andrea, Jayaram, MS Bhaskar, K Balachander, Pooja Kumar and Parvathi Menon play central characters in the film.

Uthama Villain team, comprising of Kamal Haasan, Andrea, Pooja Kumar, Parvathy Menon, Nassar, Jayaram, K Balachander and director Ramesh Aravind are working hard to wrap up the film by May last week. After the movie is completed, Kamal Haasan is expected to do the remake of Drishyam.

Kamal Haasan has reportedly given bulk dates for ‘Uthama Villain’ so that it could be shot quickly. The movie is jointly produced by  Tirupathi Brothers and Rajkamal Films International. The first look posters and the teaser have managed to create a huge buzz among the movie buffs.

Nassar has always been an integral part for Kamal Haasan’s team. This talented actor has been cast in important roles in most of the films that featured Kamal Haasan and Uthama Villain also has him in the star cast.

Nassar’s wife Kameela Nassar has revealed that her husband is extremely excited over being cast in Uthama Villain that he has allotted 26 days of call sheet for the first schedule. She also revealed that he will be playing the character Muthuarasan, an eighth century villain in the film.


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Fans here is the official press release from Kamal Haasan's Uthama Villain.

Uthaman an 8th century drama actor and Manoranjan, a 21st century cinema Superstar. Both the characters are portrayed by Mr. Kamal Haasan. 

Manoranjan's mentor, who has groomed and guided him to this status of superstardom, is played by Mr. K. Balachander.  Ms. Oorvasi as Manoranjan's wife and Mr. K. Vishwanath as his father-in-law, essay pivotal roles in the film.

The 21st century Superstar Manoranjan's love interest is portrayed by Ms. Andrea Jeremiah.  Ms. Pooja Kumar plays an emotionally disturbed Princess to Uttaman's 8th century persona. Mr. Nasser plays an overbearing dictator, Muttharasan from the 8th  century story. Jacob Zachariah played by Mr. Jayaram and his adopted daughter played by Parvathi Menon, are critical characters of  the story.  Mr. M S Bhaskar portrays the memorable character of Chokku Chettiar. 

CAST & CREW: 
Director - Mr. Ramesh Arvind 
Story, Screenplay - Mr. Kamal Haasan 
Director of Photography – Mr. Shyam Dutt 
Editor – Vijai Sankar 
Music - Mr. Ghibran 
Lyrics – Mr. Kamal Haasan and Mr.Viveka 
VFX - Mr. Madhusudan 
Producer - Mr. N. Subash Chandra Bose 
Co-Producer - Mr. G.R.Venkatesh 

Cast:
Kamal Haasan 
Naseer
Jayaram 
Pooja Kumar 
Andrea 
Urvashii 
Parvathi Menon 
M.S.Baskar 

Special Appearances by : 
K. Balachander 
K. Vishwanath 

The first look poster and the teaser of Uthama Villain were released in online space a couple of days ago. The fans pointed out that the picture of Uthama Villain was very similar to that of a photograph pictured by a renowned photographer. Sources reveal that the painted face look in the teaser is a traditional art form called Theyyam in Kerala. The art form is fondly called as Theyyattam.

A source in the know clarifies that Kamal Haasan’s sole intention was to introduce the art form to people here in Tamil Nadu. Uthama Villain is directed by Ramesh Arvind and the story and screenplay are written by Kamal Haasan himself



UHAMA VILLAIN – SPECULATIONS FROM ITS TEASER


Ulaga Nayagan Kamal Haasan had always been known for doing things differently. While others up the curiosity element only when they release their trailers and teasers, this man does that right from day one – right from the first look posters, the title font, the cast and crew – everything about his projects raises expectation levels to improbable proportions. Uthama Villain’s posters and first look teaser are no different.

The teaser of Uthama Villain features a masked face, which according to online reports is based on North Kerala’s Theyyam art form. Also known as Theyyattam or Thira, it is ritual kind of worship, with several thousand years of customs and traditions. The people consider the practitioners, generally belonging to the lower class community, of this art form as God – Kamal Haasan’s home ground, where he can score sixes and boundaries, every time and with ease. Even, a poster of the movie seems similar to Michelangelo's fresco painting, The Creation of Adam, which depicts Genesis - an image of near-touching hands of God and Adam. The imitated version, Uthama Villain has an image of near-touching hands of Kamal Haasan (God) and a child (Adam).

Also, the legendary actor’s practice of alternating between big and small movies, between serious and entertainers, in succession, suggests that Uthama Villain, coming after Vishwaroopam, might be a jolly ride. The involvement of Crazy Mohan, who had penned dialogues for classics such as Michael Madana Kama Rajan, Apoorva Sagodharargal, Avvai Shanmughi and Panchathanthiram also suggests the same.

A cult similar to Theyyam is followed in the Tulu Nadu region of Karnataka, in a different name as Bhuta Kola. The involvement of Ramesh Aravind, who has the Kannada roots, and the fact that the team is shooting in Karnataka, suggest that Uthama Villain may probably not be based on Theyyam, but on Bhuta Khola. And, given Kamal Haasan’s interest in experimenting with dialects, emulating Tulu language onscreen is a challenge never attempted before in Tamil Cinema, and only he can pull off.

The title card of Uthama Villain also provides a lot to contemplate on.Uthama is shaped like a bow (villu), and Villain is shaped like a key. The makers probably point to the popular Tamil Nadu art – Villupaattu, a musical story-telling form where narration is interspersed with music. It uses a Villu(bow) that has a long string under tension, and a bunch of keys called veesukols or villadi kol in each of his hands. Thus, indicating that the film might be about the dying art forms!

Well, as Uthama Villain is straight from Kamal Haasan, no one can be sure of anything, until the release of the movie. Let’s speculate as much as possible, and be surprised with something entirely different.