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170-487: Vishwaroopam (titled Vishwaroop in Hindi; transl.  The magnificent incarnation ) is a 2013 Indian action spy film co-written, directed and produced by Kamal Haasan , who also enacts the lead role. The film also stars Rahul Bose , Shekhar Kapur , Pooja Kumar , Andrea Jeremiah , Nassar and Jaideep Ahlawat in supporting roles. The film's script was written by Kamal Hassan, Chakri Toleti and Atul Tiwari. In

340-476: A Dalcha or any other meat-based gravy is also a sought-after dish, usually prepared during Jummah or during other special occasions. In Deltaic Regions, for wedding ceremonies, a dish by the name of ' Anju Kari Soru ' (roughly translates to 'Five Gravy Rice') is served. This spread includes Ghee rice, Dalcha , a Chicken-based gravy (' aanam ' in Tamil), a Mutton-based gravy, a stir-fry made out of Mutton Liver, and

510-567: A cameo role , while Samrat Chakrabarti had also been selected for a supporting role. Jaideep Ahlawat disclosed in an interview that he would play an "out-and-out negative character" in the film. Zarina Wahab told in November 2011 that she shot for a small role in Vishwaroopam . In January 2012, Chitrangada Singh was offered a "very special role", which the actress had to decline, since her dates clashed with Sudhir Mishra 's film. As Kamal Hassan

680-504: A cannibal , Closer to release, Kamal Haasan revealed that he had thought of the story seven years before production began and had to convince himself that the story could be made into a feature film. The film was named Vishwaroopam , after several titles were considered, by late March and the shooting was planned to begin by mid-April and to be completed within 100 days. It was revealed that the film would be produced in three languages—Tamil, Telugu and Hindi—simultaneously. On 24 May 2011, it

850-656: A 100-day run in Tamil Nadu and 100 days in Bangalore city. In Malaysia, the film grossed US$ 325,871 after three weekends. The distributor refunded up to $ 1 million of advances to 65 exhibitors due to abrupt cancellation of shows. In the UK and Ireland, the film grossed £308,350 from 20 screens after five weekends. In the US, the Tamil version grossed $ 1,039,994 from 44 screens after eight weekends while

1020-505: A Global release status of Chinese-language martial arts films, most notably Zhang Yimou 's Hero (2002) and House of Flying Daggers (2004), Stephen Chow 's Kung Fu Hustle (2004) and Chen Kaige 's The Promise (2005). Most Hong Kong action films in the first quarter of the 21st century, such as those in Cold War (2012), Cold War 2 (2016) and The White Storm film series have their violence toned down, especially compared to

1190-449: A big budget multi-starrer film, it was expected to commence by March 2011, with a Hollywood studio reportedly coming forward to produce it. However, in early 2011, sources claimed that Kamal shelved that project and agreed to star in a Selvaraghavan directorial, being impressed by the one-line story narrated to him. Reports further suggested that the film was based on the 2001 American psychological thriller Hannibal , with Kamal playing

1360-411: A complete exhibitor boycott of the film, Haasan agreed to release the film first in theatres. Later, Muslim civic organisations in Tamil Nadu demanded the ban of the film and claimed, that the film was defamatory to Islamic ethos and would hurt Muslim sentiments. Although the film was cleared by Central Board of Film Certification of India, District collectors in the state of Tamil Nadu gave orders to

1530-436: A fight sequence. In the 1980s, American martial arts films reflected the national move towards conservatism, reflected in films of Chuck Norris and other actors such as Sho Kosugi . The genre would shift from theatrical releases towards the end of the decade with the rise of home video, the lower box-office of American martial arts productions, and a significant portion of direct-to-video action films that first were made in

1700-493: A global audience of these films in the United States and Europe, but was cut short on Lee's death in 1973 leading the phases popularity to decline. Following a period of stagnation, Chang Cheh and Lau Kar-leung revitalized the genre with shaolin kung fu films and Chor Yuen 's series of darker swordplay films based on the novels of Gu Long . Kung Fu comedies appeared featuring Jackie Chan as martial arts films flourished into

1870-521: A good action flick." Vishwaroopam has been in the news for several critically viewed controversies. The first of this kind was the title naming issue, where the Hindu Makkal Katchi demanded the change from its current Sanskrit title to a purely Tamil one. When Kamal Haasan announced a Direct-To-Home premiere of the film, theatre owners demanded a rollback of this plan, as they feared major revenue losses to DTH service providers. Threatened by

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2040-566: A hero overcoming enemies or obstacles and physical conflicts or challenge, usually battling other humans or alien opponents. By late 2010s studies of genre analysis, the term "genre" itself is often replaced or supplemented with the words "mode" and "narrative form" with all three terms often being used interchangeably. Johan Höglund and Agnieszka Soltysik Monnet said that the difference between these concepts are elusive, but stated that genre could be defined as belonging to specific historical and cultural moments while "mode" and "form" can refer to

2210-523: A jam and banana combo mixed along with the rice as dessert. However, due to the rise of popularity in Biryani, this has increasingly become a rare spread. During the month of Ramadan, the ' Nonbu Kanji ' is a staple for breaking the fast in Iftar , served for free in almost every masjid in the state. Other snacks and delicacies that are popular during this month are Vadai , Samosa , Sharbath -based beverages, and

2380-835: A jelly-like dessert made out of Agar-Agar ('China Grass', called 'Kadal Paasi ' in Tamil) and milk. Desserts include the Dumroot , a semolina ('rava' in Tamil) ghee cake with soft center and hard crust at the top, is popular in the deltaic households. Watlappam , is another dessert, a pudding, popular in Marakkayer households. Dodol is another halwa-based dessert, originally persumed to have come from Southeast Asia. Along with Bread Halwa, Rava Kesari , Phirni, Inippu Soru , and Payasam made out of Vermicelli . Other delicacies include, Idiyappam and Parotta , both of which are usually served with gravies (usually meat-based), usually had for either breakfast or for dinner. Chicken 65 ,

2550-454: A larger pattern that operates across a wider historical and cultural field. In their book Action Cinema Since 2000 (2024), Tasker, Lisa Purse, and Chris Holmlund stated that thinking of action as a mode is more helpful than thinking of it as a genre. The three authors suggested that action frames a certain manner of filmmaking and viewing exceed genre without eclipsing it stating that websites such as IMDb and Misplaced Pages rarely label films by

2720-563: A maritime trading community in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu. One notable sea-faring merchant, as recorded in the Chronicles of Thondaiman , was Periya Thambi Nainar Marakkayar who is widely believed to be the first rupee millionaire. His son Seethakaathi, an altruist. B. S. Abdur Rahman was the first rupee billionaire Marakkayar. The 11th president of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam was also born in Marakkayar fisherman family. Similar to

2890-573: A minister in the Rajaji administration. Karim Ghani , veteran freedom fighter and a close associate of Subash Chandra Bose, who hailed from Ilayangudi , served as Information Minister in Netaji ministry during the 1930s. Since the late 20th century, politicians like Muhammad Ismail Rowther (founder of Indian Union Muslim League ) and Dawood Shah advocated Tamil to be made an official language of India due to its antiquity in parliamentary debates The community

3060-552: A mutton gravy, and payasam . Culture and literature are heavily influenced by the Qadiri flavour of Sufism . Their domain range from mystical to medical, from fictional to political, from philosophical to legal and spiritual. The earliest literary works in the community could be traced to Palsanthmalai , a work of eight stanzas written in the 13th century. In 1572, Seyku Issaku, better known as Vanna Parimala Pulavar , published Aayira Masala Venru Vazhankum Adisaya Puranam detailing

3230-411: A nuclear oncologist, Nirupama, who begins to confide that her marriage was one of convenience. Her husband, Vishwanath, aka Viz, a Kathak teacher, has feminine behaviour, which prompted her to be attracted to her boss, Deepankar. She doubts whether Viz has secrets of his own, and hires a P.I. to find anything to be used for divorce. She learns from the P.I. that Viz is a Tamil Muslim . The investigator

3400-401: A part of the team that Kamal Haasan had assembled for Marmayogi , which did not take off. Mahesh Narayanan, a leading Malayalam film editor, was signed up for the project after he had acquainted with Kamal Haasan for the pre-production works of the film Traffic , which the actor later opted out from. The team signed up N. G. Roshan as a make-up artist after Kamal Haasan appreciated his work in

3570-607: A past; they were both involved in Al-Qaeda training camps. Viz's real name is Wizam Ahmad Kashmiri, an alleged Tamil Jihadi, wanted by the Indian Army . Omar accepts him into his team. One day, Omar tells Wizam that American prisoners of war are still alive and incarcerated. He orders his deputy, Salim, to behead the Captain and capture it on video. The next day Wizam sees Osama bin Laden greeting

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3740-491: A popular fried starter, usually had with Biryani, is widely believed to have been invented by Buhari Hotel (Anna Salai, Chennai 600 002), whose founder was from Tirunelveli. Mini Samosas , stuffed with minced (kheema) meat are also popular snack items. Murtabak is a meat-based stuffed parotta dish, originally speculated to have been brought from Yemen, and which eventually spread to South East Asian countries. During Eid, breakfast usually includes Idli or Idiyappam with

3910-543: A propensity for violent action, identified with the films of Chang Cheh . Violent female characters have been part of cinema since its early inception, with characters such as Kate Kelly brandishing a shotgun in The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906). Women traditionally appear in action films as romantic interests, tomboys , or sidekicks to male protagonists. Violent white women would appear in other genres as well such as

4080-501: A series of action sequences, stating that that the difference between Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Die Hard (1988), that while both were mainstream Hollywood blockbusters with hero asserting masculinity and overcoming obstacles to a personal and social solution, John McClane in Die Hard repeatedly firing his automatic pistol while swinging from a high rise was not congruent with

4250-725: A significant portion. These films include Taxi 2 (2000), Kiss of the Dragon (2001), District 13 (2004) and Unleashed (2005). Whan asked about the Americanization of these French films, Christophe Gans , director of Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) stated that "Hollywood ownership of certain elements [...] must be challenged, in order to show that these elements have also long been present in European culture." The most significant producers of French action films with international ambitions

4420-653: A similar level of popularity to that of the Western in the United States. The most internationally known films of this era were the films Kurosawa with Seven Samurai (1954), The Hidden Fortress (1958), and Yojimbo (1961). By at least the 1950s, Japanese films were looked upon as a model to be emulated by Hong Kong film production, and Hong Kong film companies began actively enlisting professionals from Japan, such as cinematographer Tadashi Nishimoto to contribute to color and widescreen cinematography. New literary sources also developed in martial arts films of this period, with

4590-406: A single genre and that streaming services such as Amazon Prime and Netflix similarly dilutes what is marketed and received as action. In transnational cinema, there are two major trends in action films: Hollywood action films and their style being imitated around the globe and the other being Chinese-language martial arts films. The roots of action films extend into the beginning of film but it

4760-444: A subject which is truly international on global terrorism." and called it a "must watch for those who seek classy, stylish and extra-strong entertainment." NDTV stated, " Vishwaroopam is likely to be appreciated by lovers of Hollywood action films." and pointed out, "The film's only minus point – the placement of songs works as speed breakers for a spy thriller." B.V.S. Prakash of Deccan Chronicle gave 3 stars and stated that

4930-613: A teaser of the film were released on May Day 2012 as part of the film's marketing process. The poster consisted of Kamal Haasan wearing a green khaki jacket, with a flying pigeon and a skyline of a city consisting of several skyscrapers in the background. Snippets from the film were unveiled during the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) weekend and awards in Singapore in June 2012, as the actor-director screened excerpts from

5100-451: A three-act structure centered on survival, resistance and revenge with narratives where the physical body of the hero is tested, traumatized and ultimately triumphant. The third shift in action cinema, the postclassical, was defined by the predominance of Eastern cinema and its aesthetics, primarily the wire-work of Hong Kong action cinema from the classical era, through the convention of the increasingly computer generated effects. This saw

5270-594: A tough police officer protects society by upholding the law against systematic corruption. This extended into films which O'Brien described as "knee-jerk responses" to perceived threats with rogue cop and vigilante films such as Dirty Harry (1971) and Death Wish (1974) where the restoration of order is only possible by force and antisocial characters prepared to act when society does not. The vigilantism reappears in other films that were exploitative of southern society such as Billy Jack (1971) and White Lightning (1973) and "good ol' boy" comedies like Smokey and

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5440-456: Is Luc Besson 's France-based EuropaCorp , who released films like Taxi (1998) and From Paris with Love (2010). EuropaCorp produced Transporter franchise starred British actor Jason Statham and made him an action film star, which led him to feature in The Expendables series by the end of the 2010s. The action film genre has been a staple of Bollywood cinema . In the 1970s,

5610-428: Is Kamal's best film as a director." and called it "a well made commercial entertainer". In contrast, Baradwaj Rangan of The Hindu said, "The surprise about Vishwaroopam is how straightforward it is, given Kamal Haasan's track record. (It's basically a big, dumb action movie, but with smarts.)" Sudhish Kamath picked Vishwaroopam as one of five films that have redefined Tamil cinema in 2013, writing " Vishwaroopam

5780-457: Is a film that will, inevitably, be remembered as much for its bumpy road to the screen as it will be for its objective quality." and called it "good fun". Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express rated the film 3 stars, saying: "This is a fill it-shut it-forget it film, whose big budget slickness never overpowers it, and which holds you while it lasts." Film journalist Sreedhar Pillai, in an interview with IBN Live said, "I think it [ Vishwaroopam ]

5950-569: Is a generic term to refer to several types of films containing martial arts. The wuxia film is the oldest genre in Chinese cinema. Stephen Teo wrote in his book on Wuxia that there is no satisfactory English translation of the term, with it often being identified as "the swordplay film" in critical studies. It is derived from the Chinese words wu denoting militarist or martial qualities and xia denoting chivalry, gallantry, and qualities of knighthood. The term wuxia entered into popular culture in

6120-406: Is answered by Wizam, who tells him that Abbasi is not alive. Omar is shocked to hear this, but he escapes with Salim in his plane. Wizam indicates that he will now go after Omar. After finishing his Manmadan Ambu (2010), Kamal Haasan stated in November 2010 that he was working on the scriptment of his "pet project" titled Thalaivan Irukkiran , a film about an international community. Termed as

6290-644: Is ardent reader of Richard Dawkins, he had named Miles Anderson as Dawkins in the movie. The film's shooting was supposed to begin on 20 April but became delayed, since the US Consulate had refused visas to the cast and crew. The team decided to relocate to Canada, postponing filming to June. The shooting began for the film in Chennai in August 2011 and locations filmed at included Haasan's office in October 2011, when Isha Sharvani

6460-702: Is based on Twin Dragons (1992). Other films such as the martial arts film Bhadrachlam (2001), borrows from American cinema with the Jean-Claude Van Damme film Kickboxer (1989). SS Rajamouli 's RRR (2022) was among the highest budgeted films made in India, and became a rare hit film outside of Indian diaspora, where it broke box office records in Japan and performed exceptionally well in American box office. Japan

6630-589: Is currently one of the highest-grossing Tamil films of all time. On its opening day of release in Tamil Nadu, 8 February 2013, Vishwaroopam netted ₹ 58.1 million (US$ 700,000) at the box office. The film accounted for 90% of the takings in Chennai box office on its opening weekend, grossing ₹ 30.6 million (US$ 370,000), 89% on its second weekend, 78% on its third weekend, 38% on its fourth weekend, 28% on its fifth weekend and 2.1% on its sixth weekend. The film earned over ₹ 128 million (US$ 1.5 million) nett after eight weekends in Chennai box office. In Tamil Nadu,

6800-442: Is itself empowering and, if not, whether a hypersexualized female character can still represent strength and autonomy. Hypersexualized female action leads had tight fitting or revealing costumes that Tasker identified as "exaggerated statements of sexuality" and in the tradition of "fetishistic figure of fantasy" derives from comic books and soft pornography . This originated in television with characters like Buffy Summers ( Buffy

6970-402: Is killed in a warehouse by Farukh, a prominent member of the cell led by Omar Qureshi. A diary on the P.I. gives away Nirupama's existence, and the group led by Farukh invades her home and takes Viz and Nirupama hostage. While Viz and Nirupama are held hostage, Viz surprises Nirupama by killing Farukh and his men single-handedly and escaping with his wife. Omar and Viz are then revealed to have

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7140-632: Is made either out of Basmati rice or by Jeeraga Samba rice. In a typical Tamil Muslim Wedding, a Mutton Biryani is served, along with Raitha , Brinjal Chutney, Chicken 65 , with desserts usually being either Bread Halwa (which is a molten variant of the Hyderabadi Double ka Meetha and the North Indian and Pakistani Shahi Tukda ) or Rava Kesari , along with Sweet Beeda . Phirni and 'Inippu Soru' while rarer, are also served as desserts in some weddings. Ghee rice , served usually with

7310-401: Is sensitive and mature but the basic problem is the inconsistent pace. Prasanna D Zore of Rediff gave the movie 2/5 stars and wrote " Vishwaroop is flawed and a big disappointment from Kamal Haasan" "At times, the film tries to preach what is just and what is unjust but fails miserably." Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN noted "A lot of it is unabashedly entertaining, although you'll wish the film

7480-403: Is the most-layered film of the year and with every watch, you will find something that Kamal Haasan has planted in it, waiting to be discovered". Times of India gave the film's rating 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Intentions of this film and the maker are good. Kamal's performance is A-grade. However the film fails, especially in the second half because there are no lump-in-the-throat moments; nor

7650-464: Is there any shock and awe." The Deccan Herald gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, saying " Vishwaroop is a helluva entertainer" and pointed out "The action sequences are, at last, on a par with Hollywood." LiveMint reviewed the Hindi version Vishwaroop and stated that the film is a showcase for Haasan's wide-ranging skills with both microwaves and machine guns. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave Vishwaroop 3 out of 5 stars and stated that

7820-437: Is usually black in color, paired with a headscarf , as Purdah. Many visit Dargahs and Masjids on major life milestones like births, marriages and deaths and recite mawlid . Rowther weddings have retained several Rajput traditions across generations like grooms going on a horseback procession. Surnames (identifying caste or tribe like Bohra, Bukhari, Chishti, Khan, Syed, Sahib, Shah, etc.) were positively discouraged by

7990-568: The femme fatales in film noir and horror films of the 1970s. Violent women were common in action films since the 1960s. These films featured working-class women exacting revenge. Films of the 1970s featured black women such as Pam Grier in films like Foxy Brown (1974). In the 1980s, a new symbolically transgressive character emerged in the form of Ellen Ripley in Aliens (1986) and Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and

8160-540: The Bollywood action film consolidated with two films starring Amitabh Bachchan : Prakash Mehra 's Zanjeer (1973) and Yash Chopra 's Deewaar (1975). The box office success of these films made Bachchan a star and spawned the "angry young man" film in Bollywood cinema. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the action genre film declined considerably with new films predominantly featuring former bodybuilders failing to reach

8330-493: The FBI for questioning. Dawkins is murdered by Salim while picking up a videotape from an antique shop. The FBI later releases Wizam and the women from custody after he reveals himself as a RAW agent. Wizam, along with the FBI, takes down Abbasi and defuses the caesium bomb with the help of Nirupama. Omar tries to activate a bomb through his phone but fails. He then calls Abbasi, but the call

8500-508: The Hong Kong action cinema , such melodramatic male bonding and marginalized women characters, while the Korean films also have greater elements of tragedy and romance emphasized. Most martial arts films made before the mid-1960s were Cantonese-language productions. In comparison, Mandarin-language films were an integral part of Hong Kong cinema due to the influx of Shanghai film talent in

8670-554: The September 11 attacks in 2001, which suggested an end to fantastical elements that defined the action hero and genre. Following the release of Quentin Tarantino 's Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004) revisited the tropes of 1970s action films leading a renaissance of vengeance narratives in films like The Brave One (2007) and Taken (2008). O'Brien found that Tarantino's films were post-modern takes on

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8840-501: The xinpai wuxia xiaoshuo (or "new school martial arts fiction") coming into prominence with the success of Liang Yusheng 's Longhu Dou Jinghua (1954) and Jin Yong 's Shujian enchou lu (1956) which showed influence of the Shanghai martial arts films but also circulated from Hong Kong to Taiwan and Chinese communities overseas. This led to a growing demand in both local and regional markets in

9010-550: The "U/A" certificate. The makers planned the high-budget production to premiere at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival . The film released with over 3,000 prints worldwide. While the movie was scheduled to release in theatres on 25 January 2013, the DTH release was planned for 2 February 2013 via six DTH players – Tata Sky, Airtel, Sun, Dish, Videocon and Reliance. Vishwaroopam was scheduled to release in about 500 screens in Tamil Nadu , but

9180-462: The 1910s, the contemporary definition usually refers to a film that came with the arrival of New Hollywood and the rise of anti-heroes appearing in American films of the late 1960s and 1970s drawing from war films , crime films and Westerns . These genres were followed by what is referred to as the "classical period" in the 1980s. This was followed by the post-classical era where American action films were influenced by Hong Kong action cinema and

9350-428: The 1960s with films like The Born Losers (1967) which was predominantly a drama, interspersed with martial arts scenes. American martial arts films predominantly came into production following the release of Enter the Dragon (1973), with the only higher-budgeted American film to follow in its wake being The Yakuza (1974). Lott noted the two films would lead to the two subsequent styles of martial arts films in

9520-593: The 1970s. James Monaco wrote in 1979 in American Film Now: The People, The Power, The Money, the Movies that "the lines that separate on genre from another have continued to disintegrate." Tasker said that most post-classical action films are hybrids, drawing from genres as varied as war films, science fiction , horror , crime, martial arts , and comedy films . In Chinese-language films, both wuxia and kung fu are genre-specific terms, while martial arts

9690-768: The 1980s. Other films again modernized the form with gangster films of John Woo ( A Better Tomorrow (1986), The Killer (1989)) and the Wong Fei Hung saga returning in Tsui Hark 's Once Upon a Time in China featuring Jet Li which again revitalized the swordplay styled films. By the turn of the century Hollywood action films would look towards Hong Kong cinema and bringing some of their major actors and directors over to apply their style to their films, such as Chan, Woo, Li, Michelle Yeoh and Yuen Woo-Ping . The release of Ang Lee 's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) led to

9860-478: The 2009 Malayalam film Pazhassi Raja , while Mahadevan Thampi was picked to be the still photographer after Kamal Haasan had worked with him for a day during his guest appearance in Four Friends . By February 2011, newcomer Sonakshi Sinha was approached to play the lead female character, and was confirmed to play Haasan's wife. Her salary for the film was touted to be ₹ 2 crore (US$ 240,000). However, with

10030-702: The 21st century have been comic book adaptations, which commenced with the X-Men and is seen in other series such as Spider-Man , and Iron Man series. Tasker wrote that despite the central characters in superhero cinema being extraordinary, occasionally even God-like, they often followed the traces of the central character becoming powerful of which is fundamental to action films, often dealt with origin stories in superhero films. Action films often interface with other genres. Tasker wrote that films are often labelled action thrillers, action-fantasy and action-adventure films with different nuances. Tasker later discussed that

10200-515: The Al Qaeda chieftains in a cave. Then, a US-led air force begins a bombing raid on the town. Omar begins to suspect that there is an informant on his team but mistakenly orders the lynching of an innocent man. Eventually, it is revealed that there are sleeper agents scraping caesium-137 from oncological equipment to build and trigger a dirty bomb in New York City. Nirupama is stunned to discover

10370-513: The Bandit (1977). This era also emphasizes the car chase scenes as moments of spectacle in films like Bullitt and The French Connection (1971). O'Brien described these films as emphasizing "the fusion of man and machine" with the drivers and vehicles acting as one, concluding with what he described as "the ultimate in apocalyptic modernity and social erasure" in Mad Max 2 (1981). O'Brien described

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10540-746: The Bollywood press who reported on him in the headlines of Bollywood magazines for his public brawls and affairs with leading actresses. In Dabangg (2010), Khan continued with this public persona, which was repeated in several of his later films such as Ready (2011), Bodyguard (2011), Ek Tha Tiger (2012) and Dabangg 2 (2012). From the 1980s, generations of actors in Telugu cinema have invoked Hong Kong action films, such as Srihari who stated he wanted to become an actor after watching his first Bruce Lee film. Several films in Telugu cinema were remakes of Hong Kong films, such as Hello Brother (1994) which

10710-593: The Dragon briefly allowed an influx of Hong Kong films to Japan, but the trend did not last, with 28 Hong Kong films, mostly kung fu films, being released in 1974, and the number decreasing to five in 1975, four in 1977 and only two in 1978. Ryuhei Kitamura , director of Versus (2000), said in 2004 that he grew frustrated with the Japanese film industry as producers felt they couldn't make action films in competition with Hong Kong or American productions. Versus grew to become popular outside of Japan, and Kitamura said he

10880-466: The Hindi version. Development of the project began after the release of Haasan's Manmadan Ambu (2010) when several of the crew were brought in from the United States to lend their technical expertise. The direction was taken over by Kamal Haasan from Selvaraghavan and reports indicating comparison with several English films surfaced during the production. The first teaser was revealed in April 2012 and

11050-597: The Hong Kong film industry after the handover in 1997. Anglophone action film scholarship has tended to emphasize bigger budget American action films, with academics tending to find films that fall out of Hollywood productions as not quite fitting definitions of the genre. By 2024, many national and regional industries were known for action films. These include international films such as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam , South Korean, Japanese, Thai , Brazilian , Chinese , South African , French and Italian action titles. At

11220-766: The IUML and causing unrest among community elders who preferred status quo . Nevertheless, the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazagham was constituted in 1995. This non-profit organization quickly became popular and assertive among the working class youth. In 2009, the Manithaneya Makkal Katchi , the political arm of TMMK was formed. The TMMK itself split to form the break-away organisation Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath soon. In 2011, MMK won 2 of 3 contested Assembly seats viz. Ambur ( A. Aslam Basha ) and Ramanathapuram ( M. H. Jawahirullah ). Broadly speaking,

11390-565: The Iraqi war ballad Sackoon Pataippor . Nevertheless, an independent identity evolved only in the last quarter of the 20th century triggered by the rise of Dravidian politics as well as the introduction of new mass communications and lithographic technologies. The world's first Tamil Islamic Literature Conference was held in Trichy in 1973. In the early 2000s, the Department of Tamil Islamic Literature

11560-565: The Islamic principles and beliefs in a FAQ format. In 1592, Aali Pulavar wrote the Mikurasu Malai . The epic Seera Puranam by Umaru Pulavar is dated to the 17th century and still considered as the crowning achievement in canonical literature. Other significant works of 17th century include Thiruneri Neetham by Sufi master Pir Mohammad, Kanakabhisheka Malai by Seyku Nainar (alias Kanakavirayar ), Tirumana Katchi by Sekathi Nainar and

11730-564: The Jewish Levite , the Labbay sect mainly engages in religious scholarship and avoids entrepreneurial activities. In Tamil Nadu, the Tamil Muslim community is widely recognized for its diverse economic contributions, excelling in roles as rentiers, entrepreneurs, gemstone jewelers, and money changers. Notably, their economic activities have positioned them with GDP per capita incomes that surpass

11900-802: The Red Lotus (1965) and King Hu 's Come Drink with Me (1966). In the 1970s, the Hong Kong martial arts films began to grow under the format of yanggang ("staunch masculinity") mostly through the films of Chang Cheh which were popular. This transition led to the kung fu film sub-genre at beginning of the decade and moved beyond the swordplay films with contemporary settings of late Qing or early Republican periods and had more hand-to-hand combat over supernatural swordplay and special effects. A new studio, Golden Harvest quickly became one of independent filmmakers to grant creative freedom and pay and attracted new directors and actors, including Bruce Lee . The popularity of kung fu films and Bruce Lee led to attract

12070-429: The Telugu version grossed $ 200,293 after seven weekends from 21 screens. Kamal Haasan, Chakri Toleti and Atul Tiwari mentioned that the sequel Vishwaroopam II was already planned and more sequences had already been shot featuring Andrea Jeremiah in a more prominent role. The sequel was released on 10 August 2018. Action film While the term "action film" or "action adventure film" has been used as early as

12240-480: The United States, Europe and Japan had during this period. Yip described Japanese cinema as the most advanced in Asia at the time. This was showcased by the international breakthrough of Akira Kurosawa 's films like Rashomon (1950). The film genre known as the chanbara was at its height in Japan. The style was a sub-genre to the jidai-geki , or period drama with an emphasis on sword fighting and action. It had

12410-406: The United States, with films like Enter the Dragon about people who reveled in combat, often in a tournament setting, and The Yakuza which had several genres attached to it, but featured several martial arts sequences. By the end of the 1970s, the style was an established genre in American cinema, often featuring tough heroic characters who would fight and not think about their actions until after

12580-584: The Vampire Slayer (1997–2003)) and Xena ( Xena: Warrior Princess (1995–2001)). These series popularity demonstrated a growing market for female action film heroes, in films of the 2000s like Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), Charlie's Angels (2000), Ultraviolet (2006), Salt (2010) and series like Underworld and Resident Evil . These series like their television series earlier, had their leads eroticized as active and physically capable while also being scantily-clad, hyper-feminized similar to

12750-553: The action heroine's dual status of an active subject and sexual object was overturning the traditional gender binary because the films "assume that women are powerful" without resorting to justify her physical aggression through narratives involving maternal drive, mental instability or trauma. Purse found that female leads in films like Elektra (2005), Kill Bill , Underworld , Charlie's Angels and Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) did showcase women having expensive cars, clothing, travel, homes and often high-paying jobs, but that this

12920-494: The allegations of the film being anti-Islamic stating that: "It is clearly cultural terrorism and the demand for a ban shows complete disregard to the certification given by a statutory body called the Censor Board. My team would have taken action if only the film had any objectionable content. A film goes through several levels before getting passed by the Censor Board". The film grossed ₹220 crore (US$ 37.54 million) worldwide, and

13090-519: The anti-Hindi agitations. He was a lawyer by profession and was known by the honorifics Khan Bahadur . He became the Dewan of Pudukottai after withdrawal from political work. Mohammad Usman was the most prominent among the early political leaders of the community. In 1930, Jamal Mohammad Rowther became the president of the Madras Presidency Muslim League. Yakub Hasan Sait served as

13260-495: The artists appearing as war victims had blood and other forms of injuries applied on their bodies. The Jaika stunt team, that was also involved in Billa II (2012) at the time, worked on the action sequences. Haasan's younger daughter Akshara Haasan joined the crew as an assistant director . Kunal Rajan was roped in as a sound designer and the stunt crew for the film were imported in from Thailand. In September 2012, Haasan revealed that

13430-435: The book Australian Genre Film , Amanda Howell suggested that this label was used to help distance Australian cinema from Hollywood films as it would be suggesting commerce over culture and that it would be "quite unacceptable to make Australian movies using conventions established in the U.S.A." Howell stated this to be the case with action films of the 1970s and 1980s with Brian Trenchard-Smith 's Turkey Shoot (1982) being

13600-550: The classical form of action cinema to be the 1980s. The decade continued the trends of formative period with heroes as avengers ( Lethal Weapon (1987)), rogue police officers ( Die Hard (1988)) and mercenary warriors ( Commando (1985)). Following the continuity of the car and man hybrid of the previous decade, the 1980s featured weaponized men with who were either also carrying weapons such as Sudden Impact (1983), trained to be weapons ( American Ninja (1985)) or imbued with technology ( RoboCop (1987)). O'Brien noted that

13770-680: The community is not homogeneous. Its origin is shaped by centuries trade between the Bay of Bengal and the Maritime Southeast Asia . By the 20th century, certain Tamil races began to be listed as social classes in official gazettes of different clans as Rowther , Marakkar , and Labbay . The Rowther community is a large population of muslim landowning community in the deltaic districts and Southern districts of Tamil Nadu. They were famous for their cavalry and horse trade. Politicians Quaid-e-Millath , Dewan Khan Bahadur Khalifulla Sahib (he

13940-651: The community tends to support laissez faire and free trade ; and have been unimpressed by Communism as a public policy though fringe groups often called for affirmative action in the last quarter of the 20th century. New generation of leaders like Daud Sharifa Khanum have been active in pioneering social reforms like independent mosques for women. MLAs and MPs such as A. Anwar Rhazza , J. M. Aaroon Rashid , Abdul Rahman, Jinna, Khaleelur Rahman, S. N. M. Ubayadullah , Hassan Ali and T. P. M. Mohideen Khan are found across all major Dravidian political parties like DMK , DMDK and AIADMK , as well as national parties like

14110-473: The community to avoid sectarianism in line with Dravidian reform movement of the 20th century. Music involves distinctively the Turkish daf and other percussion instruments . Cuisine is a tell-tale syncretic mixture of Tamil and other Asian recipes. Biriyani , especially the ones made out of mutton , is the favorite in special occasions, particularly during wedding banquets and during Eid festivities. It

14280-445: The costumes for the film. Shah Rukh Khan 's Red Chillies Entertainment handled Vishwaroopam 's graphics. A research had to be carried out on the American army's hierarchy for the costumes. N. G. Roshan, who had previously worked in notable Malayalam films, took charge of the make-up for the film. The villain had to undergo a heavy use of prosthetic make-up . A scene involving a war explosion had to show an injured jaw for him. Further,

14450-459: The decline of overt masculinity in the action film which corresponded with the end of the Cold War in 1991, while the rise of self-referential and parodies of this era grew in films like Last Action Hero (1993). O'Brien described this era as being soft where the hard bodies of the classical era were replaced with computer generated imagery such as that of Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). This

14620-546: The direct-to-video field, or in similarly low-budget theatrical releases such as Bulletproof Monk (2003). While the American styled-films were predominantly made in the United States, productions were also made in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and South Africa, and were predominantly shot in the English-language. Heroic Bloodshed is a that originates with English-language Hong Kong action and crime film fan communities in

14790-487: The earlier work of directors like Woo and Johnnie To . Antong Chen, in his study on the Hong Kong action film, wrote that the influence of China and the amount of Chinese co-productions made with Hong Kong created a shift in these films, particularly following the release of Infernal Affairs (2002). Harvey O'Brien wrote in 2012 that the contemporary action film emerged through other genres, primarily Westerns , crime and war films and can be separated into four forms:

14960-432: The early 1960s and saw a surge in production of Hong Kong martial arts films that went beyond the stories about Wong Fei-hung which were declining in popularity. These new martial arts films featured magical swordplay and higher production values and more sophisticated special effects than the previous films with Shaw Brothers a campaign of "new school" ( xinpai ) martial arts swordplay films such as Xu Zenghong's Temple of

15130-484: The end of the 1990s. Films such as Chunhang (2000) and Memento Mori (2000) and action films Shiri (1999) and Nowhere to Hide (1999) received commercial releases in North America, Asia, and Europe. The success of the latter two films was unprecedented, and was followed by other South Korean action films in the early 2000s reaching the top of the local box office. These South Korean films mimic some traits of

15300-527: The female leads in implausible elements, such as in Charlie's Angels , Fantastic Four (2005) and My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006). The fighting styles of women also tend towards more traditionally feminine fluid movements of martial arts, over using guns or directly punching. Purse wrote that the contemporary female action film lead's sexualized brand had her in close proximity of post-feminism discourse about choice, power and sexuality. Marc O'Day interprets

15470-403: The film "A gripping spy thriller of international standards". Radhika Rajamani of Rediff gave 3 out of 5 stars and stated, " Vishwaroopam undoubtedly rests on Kamal Haasan, who is brilliant." Vivek Ramz of in.com rated it 3.5 out of 5 and stated. " Vishwaroopam is a nicely made thriller and Kamal's show all the way". Sify said, "It is technically brilliant with world class making and

15640-530: The film "rides on performances." Firstpost stated that " Vishwaroopam is non-stop action Hollywood style". Praveen Kumar of OneIndia noted that the "film is on par with Hollywood standards" and gave 3.5/5. Anuja Jaiman of Reuters said, " Vishwaroopam is a work of art that surpasses Bollywood potboilers and tries to initiate a conversation about a not-so-perfect world and its great religious divide. Watch it for Haasan and your right to freedom of expression." J Hurtado of Twitch Film said, " Vishwaroopam

15810-424: The film did not get exemption from entertainment tax due to U/A certificate. It yielded ₹ 7 crore or 10 per cent of the total entertainment tax revenue of the year for the exchequer. Despite the controversy, the Hindi version of the film did exceptionally well at the box office with 45% opening and netting ₹ 115 million in its first week, and a lifetime business of ₹ 190 million nett. The film completed

15980-421: The film getting delayed, she opted out by July, due to conflicting dates with her Hindi assignments. Following Sinha's exit, other leading Bollywood actresses, including Katrina Kaif , Deepika Padukone , and Sonam Kapoor were considered. Vidya Balan was also approached by the makers, but she declined the offer, owing to her prior commitments. By mid-August, Sameera Reddy was reported to have been roped in for

16150-502: The film in the state for 15 days by the Government of Tamil Nadu . The ban resulted in similar decisions in major overseas markets like Malaysia , Sri Lanka and Singapore while release was delayed in the south Indian states of Andhra Pradesh , Kerala and Karnataka . Heeding the requests of Muslim civic organisations, controversial scenes were muted or morphed, allowing the film to be released on 7 February 2013 in Tamil Nadu. Despite

16320-536: The film is a Kamal Haasan show all the way, "It has an interesting premise, superb combat scenes and Kamal Haasan's bravura act as its three aces. But a stretched second hour and far from dramatic finale dilute the impact. Yet, all said and done, those with an appetite for well-made thrillers might relish this effort!" Anupama Chopra of Hindustan Times gave 3 out of 5 stars to Vishwaroop . Meena Iyer of The Times of India gave 3 out of 5. Mid-Day gave 3 out of 5 to Vishwaroop and stated that Kamal Haasan's film

16490-683: The film spending RM 4 million on copyright, print and promotion. Blue Sky Cinemas distributed the Tamil and Telugu versions of the film in Canada and the USA. The prohibitory orders imposed under Section 144 of Criminal Penal Code to ban the film in Tamil Nadu were lifted on 3 February 2013. Both the Tamil and Telugu versions of the film were screened at the Fourth Annual India International Film Festival of Tampa Bay on 16 February 2013 and 17 February 2013. The temporary suspension on

16660-816: The film was lifted by the Sri Lanka Public Performance Board on 10 February 2013. In Malaysia, the National Censorship Board and the Malaysian Islamic Development Department reviewed the film and the Home ministry lifted the ban on 19 February 2013. In 2015, the film was screened at the Habitat Film Festival. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu stated, " Vishwaroopam is a technically brilliant, ambitious film where most characters are not what they seem", and called

16830-458: The film was removed from screens by district collectors across the state, due to sustained protests by Muslim civic organisations. In Andhra Pradesh, the film was scheduled to release in 300 screens by Siri Media. The film released in 82 screens in Kerala on 25 January. After initial delays, Karnataka saw a full release on 29 January 2013 in 40 screens across the state. The Hindi version Vishwaroop

17000-405: The film would utilise Auro 3D sound technology, making it the first Indian film to do so. Initially, Yuvan Shankar Raja was reported to compose the film's musical score and songs. However, Kamal signed in the musical trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy to compose music for the trilingual, making it his second collaboration with them after Aalavandhan . Lyricist Vairamuthu took charge of the lyrics of

17170-428: The film, Nirupama, an ambitious woman studying in the US, marries a coward classical dancer, Viswanathan. On being suspicious of his behaviour, she hires a detective, who reveals his true identity and past. Shot simultaneously in both Tamil and Hindi , the film features soundtrack composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy , with the Tamil lyrics written by Vairamuthu and Haasan himself, while Javed Akhtar translated them for

17340-451: The film, attracting critical acclaim. A one-minute trailer was released at the award ceremony. Salman Khan organised a special screening of Hindi version Vishwaroop at Ketnav Studio, Mumbai on 1 February 2013. An Auro 3D trailer of the film was released on 7 November, coinciding with Haasan's birthday. It included a webcast of Kamal's speech via Skype . The film is releasing in 3,000 prints worldwide. A special screening of Vishwaroopam

17510-455: The film. Due to delays, casting took a relatively long period of time, with several of the original cast dropping out of the project. Vishwaroopam was shot extensively overseas in countries like the United States and Canada. Domestic locations included Chennai and Mumbai . Kamal Haasan went to the USA on 15 December 2011 for completing a schedule. The main outdoor shoots were shot in New York as

17680-411: The first theatrical trailer was revealed in June 2012. Vishwaroopam is the first Indian film to utilise the new Auro 3D sound technology. The film was also to be the first Indian film to release via direct-broadcast satellite , also known as direct-to-home (DTH), but after protests of theatre owners this plan was dropped. The film was released worldwide, excluding Tamil Nadu , on 25 January 2013 and

17850-414: The following films were voted the top ten best action films of all time. In Hong Kong, the "new school" of martial arts films that Shaw Brothers brought in 1965 featured what featured what Yip described as "strong, active female characters as protagonists." These female-centered films were challenged with the rise of a new male heroic prototype marked by a strong sense of youthful energy and defiance and by

18020-448: The formative trends at this point had become "identifiably generic" as film industries began to reproduced these films during the decade producers like Joel Silver and production companies like The Cannon Group, Inc. began to formulate production of these films with both high and low budgets. The action films of this era have roots in classical story telling, specifically rooted from martial arts films and Westerns, and are built around

18190-598: The formative, the classical, the post-classical and neoclassical phases. Yvonne Tasker reiterated this in her book on action and adventure films , saying that action films became a distinct genre during the New Hollywood period of the 1970s. The formative films would be from the 1960s to the early 1980s where the Anti-hero appears in cinema, featuring characters who act and transcend the law and social conventions. This appears initially in films like Bullitt (1968) where

18360-540: The former was one of the highest-grossing movies of the year in Japan. Following LoveDeath , Kitamura's next directing work was in the United States. The action cinema of South Korea mostly existed on the margins of the film industry in South Korea. The genre was initially called the Hwalkuk ("living theatre") was a term that indicated plays and films driven by action scenes, while this term has not been used regularly since

18530-405: The fragmented and delayed releases, Vishwaroopam garnered positive reviews and grossed US$ 38 million worldwide against a budget of US$ 16 million. The film was honoured with awards for Best Art Direction and Best Choreography at the 60th National Film Awards . A sequel to the film, Vishwaroopam II , was released on 10 August 2018. In New York City, a psychologist conducts a session with

18700-494: The genre include chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work while other scholars asserted there were more underlying traits that define the genre. David Bordwell in The Way Hollywood Tells It wrote that audiences are "told that spectacle overrides narrative" in action cinema while Wheeler Winston Dixon echoed that these films were typified by "excessive spectacle" as a "desperate attempt to mask

18870-479: The genre is regularly lambasted for favoring spectacle over finely tuned narrative." Bordwell echoed this in his book, The Way Hollywood Tells It , writing that the reception to the genre as being "the emblem of what Hollywood does worst." In the Journal of Film and Video , Lennart Soberson stated that the action film genre has been a subject of scholarly debate since the 1980s. Soberson wrote that repeated traits of

19040-430: The ground. While heroes in kung fu films often display chivalry, they generally hail from different fighting schools, namely wudang and shaolin . American martial arts films feature what author M. Ray Lott described as a more realistic style of violence over the Hong Kong wuxia films with more realism and are often low-budget productions. Martial arts began routinely appearing in fight scenes in American films in

19210-456: The growing using of computer generated imagery in film. Following the September 11 attacks , a return to the early forms of the genre appeared in the wake of Kill Bill and The Expendables films. Scott Higgins wrote in 2008 in Cinema Journal that action films are both one of the most popular and popularly derided of contemporary cinema genres, stating that "in mainstream discourse,

19380-484: The image of Indiana Jones in Raiders swinging his whip to fend off villains in the backstreets of Cairo. British author and academic Yvonne Tasker expanded on this topic, stating that action films have no clear and constant iconography or settings. In her book The Hollywood Action and Adventure Film (2015), she found that the most broadly consistent themes tend to be a characters quest from freedom from oppression such as

19550-557: The lack of content." Geoff King argued that the spectacle can also be a vehicle for narrative, opposed to interfering with it. Soberson stated that Harvey O'Brien had "perhaps the most convincing understanding of the genre", stating that the action film was "best understood as a fusion of form and content. It represents the idea and ethic of action through a form in which action, agitation and movement are paramount." O'Brien wrote further in his book Action Movies: The Cinema of Striking Back to suggest action films being unique and not just

19720-520: The late 1920s. These films were popular during the period, which comprised almost 60% of the total Chinese films. Man-Fung Yip stated that these film were "rather tame" by contemporary standards. He wrote that they lacked the kind of dazzling action choreography as expected today and had crude and rudimentary special effects. These films came under increasing attack by both government officials and cultural elites for their allegedly superstitious and anarchistic tendencies, leading them to be banned in 1932. It

19890-564: The late 1970s, with "action movie" becoming the more familiar term. The Korean action films came from Japanese cinema, James Bond series , and Hong Kong action cinema. As North Korea borders China, it block access to the continent from a South Korean perspective, the Cold War allowed South Koreans to substitute deferred travel beyond the border through films with locations shot in Hong Kong. While melodrama and comedy were staples in South Korean cinema, most action films were sporadic and tied to

20060-501: The late 1980s and early 1990s. In the Chinese language, the term used for these films is jinghungpin , literally meaning "hero films". Academic Laikwan Pang asserts that these gangster films appeared at a time when Hong Kong citizens felt particularly powerless with the handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China set for 1997. The key directors of the genre were John Woo and Ringo Lam , and producer Tsui Hark , with

20230-508: The late 1980s and early 1990s. Author Bey Logan stated that the term was coined by Rick Baker, in the British fanzine Eastern Heroes . The term is used broadly. Baker described the style as Hong Kong action films which feature gangsters and gunplay and martial arts that were more violent than kung fu films and academic Kristof Van Den Troost described it a term used to distinguish Hong Kong gun-heavy action films from period martial arts films from

20400-431: The late 1980s in the United States were martial arts films. Towards the end of the 1990s, production of low-budget martial arts films declined as no new stars in the genre developed and older actors such as Cynthia Rothrock and Steven Seagal started showing up in less and less films. Even internationally popular films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) had negligible effects in American productions in either

20570-582: The lead character is based there, and the production team also matched New York with the Grand Rapids in Michigan . Re-recording and dubbing work began in Mumbai in late February 2012, with Haasan arranging a dialogue coach in Tamil and Hindi to get the artistes' dubbing in place, with Atul Tiwari supervising the Hindi dialogues. The climax scenes featuring an aerial fight choreographed by Hollywood stuntman Lee Whittaker

20740-512: The lines of the Mission Impossible series . The film was being made as a bilingual and simultaneously shot in Tamil and Hindi languages; all the actors had to learn their dialogues in both languages. Sanu Varghese made his debut as a cinematographer in Tamil after previously working in the Hindi film, Karthik Calling Karthik and the Malayalam film Elektra . Varghese had previously been

20910-617: The most notorious. Smith had previously released films like Deathcheaters (1976) and Stunt Rock (1979) when financial incentives were available for overtly commercial projects. She commented that action films did tell identifiably Australian stories such as the Sandy Harbutt 's biker film Stone (1974) and Miller's post-apocalyptic film Mad Max (1979) derived from Australia's social and cultural realities, as well as how George Miller 's later Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) derived from Australia's long-standing cinematic fascination with

21080-486: The multi-ethnic Tamil Muslim community. Ravuttars have also been found as Tamil polygars , zamindars and chieftains from the 16th to 18th centuries. Traditionally, they were known as Maravars , but after the arrival of Islam, they transformed into horseback warriors, hence adopting the Tamil name Rowther. The traditional homelands of the Rowthers were in the interior of South Tamilakam . The Marakkar sect has been

21250-604: The notion that traditional marks of masculinity are not exclusive to men and that musculature was not natural, but something to be achieved. Accusations of these muscular women of the era were levelled at that them by 1993 were that they were "men in drag" and that the films generally have to "explain" why their female leads displayed physical aggression and why they were "driven to do it." As the 1990s went on, Hollywood films began having more conventional looking women in their action films such as The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996). A vibrant debate exists about whether hypersexualization

21420-435: The physical effort required to completing a task and the abilities and skills acquired over time. Films from the period reflected on the cultural and social climate from the period, as seen in invoking Japanese or Western imperialist forces as foils. The kung fu film came out of the wuxia films. In comparison to the wuxia , film, the focus on the kung fu film is on the martial arts over chivalry, The martial arts films

21590-567: The popularity Bachan had. These films predominantly earned their revenue through longer runs at B-grade theatres. A cycle of action films came from these films in the 1980s and 1990s called the Avenging Woman film, where female protagonists seek justice for a rape victim, where the protagonist seeks revenge through violence. In 2009, the action genre was re-popularized with the box office success of Wanted (2009) starring Salman Khan . Khan reinvented his screen persona with that of his image in

21760-543: The postwar period. These films were targeted at the more educated and more refined middle-class audiences who saw themselves as above the contemporary martial arts films. Scott Higgins wrote in 2008 in Cinema Journal that Hollywood action films are both one of the most popular and popularly derided of contemporary cinema genres, stating that "in mainstream discourse, the genre is regularly lambasted for favoring spectacle over finely tuned narrative." Bordwell echoed this in his book, The Way Hollywood Tells It , writing that

21930-402: The reception to the genre as being "the emblem of what Hollywood does worst." Tasker wrote that when action and adventure films secured awards, it is often in categories such as visual effects and sound editing. Time Out magazine conducted a poll with fifty experts in the field of action cinema, including actors, critics, filmmakers and stuntmen. Out of the 101 films ranked in the poll,

22100-441: The road and cars and a history of cultural anxiety towards a bleak and forbidding outback landscape opposed to the optimism of American action films. France is a major European country for film production and has made co-production commitments with 44 countries around the world. Around beginning of the 21st century, France began producing a series of films explicitly intended for international markets, with action films representing

22270-426: The role, while sources stated that Anushka Shetty was finalised soon after. In early November 2011, New York based model-actress Pooja Kumar was signed in for a role after she had been recommended to Kamal Haasan by his partner, Gautami . Being a non-Tamil speaker her dialogues have been dubbed by actress Abhirami , although Pooja Kumar dubbed for herself in the film's Hindi version. Telugu actress Lakshmi Manchu

22440-516: The serialization of Jinaghu qixia zhuan (1922) ( transl.  Legend of the Strange Swordsmen ). In wuxia , the emphasis is on chivalry and righteousness and allows for phantasmagoric actions over the kung fu film 's more ground-based combat. The Kung fu film emerged in the 1970s from the swordplay films. Its name is derived from the Cantonese term gong fu which has two meanings:

22610-404: The songs in the film, after Kamal Haasan had approached him and narrated the entire plot, to which he immediately agreed to work upon. Javed Akhtar has penned lyrics for the Hindi version, while Ramajogayya Shastry has done the lyrics for the dubbed Telugu version. The audio was released on 7 December 2012. The Telugu version of the audio was released on 30 December 2012 at Hyderabad. Vishwaroopam

22780-479: The starting point of the genre being traced to Woo's A Better Tomorrow (1986) make a record-breaking HK$ 34.7 million at the Hong Kong box office. The style of these films would influence American productions, such as Michael Bay 's Bad Boys II (2003) and the Wachowskis ' The Matrix (1999). Korean media recognized the more fatalistic and pessimistic tone of these films, leading to Korean journalists to label

22950-403: The state average. This socio-economic profile underscores the community's significant role in shaping the economic landscape of Tamil Nadu. As a mark of modesty, women used to traditionally wear white thuppatti which is draped over their body on top of the saree , only revealing their face. However, due to cultural exchange and evolving trends, nowadays, most women wear an Abaya , which

23120-663: The state of Tamil Nadu where 90% of the Muslim community identified themselves as Tamil Muslims . In Tamil Nadu, the majority of Tamil-speaking Muslims belong to the Rowthers Community while other Muslims live in coastal Tamil Nadu. There is a substantial diaspora, particularly in Southeast Asia, which has seen their presence as early as the 13th century. In the late 20th century, the diaspora expanded to Western Europe, Persian Gulf and North America. Though numerically nominal,

23290-496: The state of Tamil Nadu and India, because he was "fed up at being played around in a dirty political game". He estimated the notional loss of revenue, due to banning policies, at almost ₹ 600 million. A mutual agreement with all 24 Muslim civic organisations was finally settled on 2 February 2013, when Haasan accepted to mute five scenes. Leela Samson , the then chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification , condemned

23460-433: The style as "Hong Kong noir ". The influence of these films was evident in early Korean films such as Im Kwon-taek 's General's Son (1990) and later films such Song Hae-sung 's A Better Tomorrow (2010), Cold Eyes (2013) and New World (2013). Postcolonial Hong Kong cinema has struggled to maintain its international identity as a provider of these types action films because the talents involved had abandoned

23630-450: The term action film genre and adventure are often used in hybrid, and are even used interchangeably. Along with Holmund and Purse, Tasker wrote that the action films expansiveness complicates easy categorization and though the genre is often spoken of as singular genre, it is rarely discussed as singular style. Screenwriter and academic Jule Selbo expanded on this, describing a film as " crime /action" or an "action/crime" or other hybrids

23800-645: The theatre owners to not show the film, citing law and order problems, however the film released in other states with greater Muslim populations than in Tamil Nadu. The ban in Tamil Nadu triggered also the stop of screenings in neighbouring Indian states and foreign markets. Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt condemned the actions instructed by Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Jayalalitha as a critical attack on freedom of speech in India, of which she denied all allegations against her regarding political and business interests. After persistent pressure to cut objectionable scenes, Kamal Haasan said that he could be forced to leave

23970-445: The themes that rescinded irony to restore " cinephile re-actualization of the genre's conventions." The genre went into full circle resurrecting films from the classical period with Live Free or Die Hard (2007) and Rambo (2008) finding the characters navigating a contemporary world while also acknowledging their age, culminating into The Expendables (2010) film. The most commercially successful action films and franchise of

24140-525: The title character in China O'Brien (1990) who were physically muscular and or enacted more extreme violence that was usually reserve for male action leads. In her book Contemporary Action Cinema (2011), Lisa Purse described the media response to female leads in action films reveal a discomfort about their presence and are often described with hesitant terms of women moving into territories that are perceived as masculine. Revealing woman in this form deconstructs

24310-414: The true identity of Viz, along his uncle Colonel Jagannathan, his British friend Dr. Dawkins, and the young dancer Ashmita. Viz later reveals that he has a lot of emotional baggage and that he has executed many militants, including Nassar, Omar's boss. His mission is to bust the sleeper-cell of Al Qaeda in the US. Wizam and his team try to counter Omar's plans, and in the ensuing events, they are arrested by

24480-533: The turn of the millennium, Australian genre films have gained increasing acceptance in the Australian feature film industry, while the action genre represented a small percentage of its output in the 21st century. Scholars of Australian genre film generally used the term "action-adventure" which allows them to apply it to various forms of narratives such as tongue in cheek heroic posturing stories like Crocodile Dundee (1986), road movies or bush/outback films. In

24650-422: The use of locations such as Hong Kong. These films often featured one-legged or otherwise handicapped action characters similar to those of Japanese films ( Zatoichi ) and Hong Kong films ( The One-Armed Swordsmen ). These included Im Kwon-taek's Returned Left-Handed Man (1968), Aekkunun Bak's One-Eyd Park (1970) and Lee Doo-yong's Returned One-Legged Man (1974). In the 1990s, the country's national cinema

24820-468: The woman of exploitation films of the 1970s such as Caged Heat (1974) and Big Bad Mama (1974). While characters like Frank in The Transporter series are permitted to visibly sweat, strain and be bloodied, Purse found a reluctance for filmmakers to have their female leads have any appearance warping injuries to ensure a perfectly made-up face. Comedy is often used in films of this period to place

24990-448: Was "only a semantic exercise" as both genres are important in the construction phase of the narrative. Mark Bould in A Companion to Film Noir (2013) said that categorization of multiple generic genre labels was common in film reviews who are rarely concerned with succinct descriptions that evoke elements of the film's form, content and make no claims beyond on how these elements combine. Film Studies began to engage generic hybridity in

25160-408: Was a difficult market for Hong Kong action cinema to break into. Prompted by the success of Enter the Dragon and the popularity of Bruce Lee, Toei made their own Bruce Lee-style martial arts films, with The Street Fighter and its two sequels starring Sonny Chiba as well as a spin-off with a female lead similar to Hong Kong's Angela Mao called Sister Street Fighter . The success of Enter

25330-577: Was a very popular daily. S. M. Muhammed Sheriff was the first elected IUML MP from Tamil Nadu. He produced clear documentary evidence that Kachchatheevu belonged to India. During the Emergency , he was the advisor to the Governor. M. M. Ismail became Chief Justice in 1979 and was sworn in as Acting Governor of Tamil Nadu in 1980. As Kamban Kazhagam president, he organized literary festivals, that focused on classical Tamil literature. Justice S. A. Kader who

25500-466: Was aiming for the foreign audience, as he was disappointed with the current state of Japanese films. Kitamura's characters have been described as "a careful combination of the maverick independence of 1980s Hollywood action heroes and the calmness and acceptance of Japanese samurai, a consistent criticism of Japanese people today." Kitamura followed up Versus with two manga-inspired big-budget action films, Azumi and Sky High . Both released in 2003,

25670-607: Was also a part of the shoot. The film briskly progressed in late 2011, with scenes involving Samrat Chakrabarti filmed in November of the same year. Sets resembling Afghanistan were created in Chennai, with many foreigners from Russia, Iran and Africa playing American soldiers, while Haasan wore an Afghan look. In November 2011, the team also pursued schedules in Amman and Petra in Jordan with Rahul Bose 's scenes being canned. Haasan learnt Kathak from Birju Maharaj for an important portion in

25840-459: Was also released in Barco 's 3D cinema sound. The makers planned the high-budget production to premiere at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival . A special screening of the film was arranged for Hollywood-based producer Barrie M. Osborne and make-up artist Michael Westmore . Before release, it was reported to have been split into two parts, with each one having a separate release. The first-look poster and

26010-409: Was announced that Selvaraghavan was ousted from the project, as he was busy finishing his project with his brother Dhanush . Kamal Hassan decided to direct the film himself in addition to writing the story, screenplay, and dialogues. The producing studio, Telephoto Films, had urged him to take up the project, planning for a release on 7 November 2011. The film was then disclosed to be a spy thriller on

26180-417: Was displayed in corresponding with corresponded with millennial angst and apocalypticism showcased in films like Independence Day (1996) and Armageddon (1998). Action films of mass destruction began requiring more overtly super heroic characters with further comic book adaptations being made with increased non-realistic settings with films like The Matrix (1999). The fourth phase arrived following

26350-462: Was filmed at Chandivali Studio in Andheri , Mumbai in early March 2012 with Haasan and Rahul Bose. The film was shot in digital format, after several false starts Haasan's previous projects. Speaking about it, he said "The fact that cinema is going digital is the biggest technological change today. We have to accept it, as it is happening globally and it will happen in Tamil Nadu too." Gautami designed

26520-625: Was held at Tamil Nadu superstar Rajinikanth's house on 6 February 2013 at the 6 Degrees theatre in the Auro 3D format for his friends. On 9 February 2013 Kamal Haasan left for Paris for the French premiere of Vishwaroopam . The film's Tamil version was given a "U/A" (Parental Guidance) certificate by the Indian Censor Board with minor cuts, while the Hindi version Vishwaroop , which was originally given an "A" certificate, went through minor cuts to receive

26690-464: Was in decline by the mid-1970s in Hong Kong in relation to the stock market crash which went from over 150 films in 1972 to just over 80 in 1975, which led to a downfall in martial arts films produced. When the economy became to rebound, a new trend of martial arts films, the Shaolin kung fu films emerged and sparked a revival of the genre. Unlike the wuxia , the kung fu film primarily focuses on fighting on

26860-509: Was in decline leading to Hong Kong gangster films filled in this void leading to large commercial success at the national box office. Early Korean heirs to Hong Kong action films include Rules of The Game (1994), Beat (1997), and Green Fish (1997) involving men who gain confidence and achieve personal growth as they embark on journeys to protect national state and meet devastating ends. South Korean cinema only received international attention in both art film and blockbuster formats towards

27030-493: Was meanwhile selected for a role, however, Sharvani too opted out later, due to "inordinate delay in the start of the shoot". By late August 2011, British model-turned-actress Amy Jackson was reported to have been added to the cast. During mid-October, singer-actress Andrea Jeremiah had been signed on for a pivotal role and paid an advance. Rahul Bose was finalised to play the antagonist . Later that month, actor-director Shekhar Kapur informed on Twitter that he would perform

27200-599: Was not until the base of Chinese commercial filmmaking was relocated from Shanghai to Hong Kong in the late 1940s that martial arts cinema was revived. These films contained much of the characteristics of the previous era. During this period, over 100 films were based on the adventures of real life Cantonese folk hero Wong Fei-hung who first appeared in film in 1949. These films primarily on circuited within Hong Kong and Cantonese-speaking areas with Chinese diaspora . Yip continued that these Hong Kong films were still lagging behind in aesthetic and technical standards that films from

27370-425: Was offered a role in the film, but declined it due to date issues. Shriya Saran was reported to play the second female lead in the film, with the actress dismissing the news several days later, citing that she had not even heard the script, following which Priya Anand was claimed to have secured that role. This turned out to be false, with Kamal Haasan citing that he did not know who Priya Anand was. Isha Sharvani

27540-504: Was only in the mid-20th century when action films developed into their own recognizable genre instead of being a collection of other types of films such as Westerns, swashbucklers or adventure films. Films have been described "action films" or "action-adventure film" as early as the 1910s. Only by the 1980s was the term action as its own unique genre used routinely in terms of promotion and reviewing practices. The first Chinese-language martial arts films can be traced to Shanghai cinema of

27710-576: Was only shown as being applicable to white middle-class women. Purse found that these women were empowered at the price of women of other ethnicities. This is seen in Aeon Flux (2005) where Sithandra dies protecting Aeon and Rain's death to make way for Alice in Resident Evil (2002). Tamil Muslim Tamil Muslims are Tamils who practise Islam . The community is 6 million in India , primarily in

27880-507: Was released in Tamil Nadu on 7 February 2013. The Hindi version was released on 1 February 2013. Legal controversies, regarding the film's plot of India's foreign intelligence service Research and Analysis Wing 's participation in America's war on terror after the 9/11 attacks perpetrated by Al-Qaeda agents, arose as several Muslim civic organisations protested the film's release in Tamil Nadu , resulting in an official ban being imposed on

28050-474: Was released on over 1,035 screens on 1 February 2013, thereby marking the biggest ever release for a Kamal Haasan film in Hindi. It was distributed by Balaji Motion Pictures . The film was scheduled to release on 250 screens in the overseas markets including 40 screens in Sri Lanka, 20 screens in Singapore, 20 screens in Canada. In Malaysia, the largest overseas market for Tamil films, Lotus Five Star distributed

28220-573: Was set up in the University of Madras . Modern notable writers include Mu. Metha and Pavalar Inqulab , Kalifulla Shahib served as the minister for public works in the Cabinet of Kurma Venkata Reddy Naidu in 1937. He was sympathetic to the cause of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy and his Self-Respect Movement. He spoke against the introduction of compulsory Hindi classes in the Madras legislature and participated in

28390-408: Was shorter and smarter." and gave the movie 2.5/5. NDTV reviewed the Hindi version Vishwaroop and gave it 4 out of 5 stars, stating that Vishwaroop is technically dazzling. Vinayak Chakravorty of India Today gave the movie 2.5/5 stars and reviewed, "As the sleek shots pile up, you realise what they are desperately trying to hide: Vishwaroop lacks the energy and imagination that one looks for in

28560-577: Was the Judge of Madras High Court during 1983-89 became the President of Tamil Nadu State Government Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission on retirement. In the early 1990s, the Indian National League split from the IUML. The non-denominational social reform movements (called Ghair Muqallid ) began to take the front stage (to fight superstition creep) spearheaded by P. Jainulabdeen further weakening

28730-401: Was the first Muslim from Madras Presidency go to London for studies), Karim Ghani veteran freedom fighter and a close associate of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose , First woman judge of Supreme court of India Fathima Beevi , Poets like Umaru Pulavar , Kunangudi Masthan Sahib , Fourth Nakkeerar Gulam Kadir Navalar , Dawood Shah all are from Rowther Community. Rowthers constitute large part of

28900-507: Was united in a single political party under Quaid-e-Millath presidency for 27 years keeping rabble-rousers away until his death in 1972. His support was invaluable for ruling parties in the state, as well as in the Centre. He was instrumental in framing and obtaining the minority status and privileges for minorities in India thus safeguarding the Constitution of India . His newspaper Urimaikkural

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