Red is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Singampuli (under the name Ram Sathya) and produced by S. S. Chakravarthy. The film stars Ajith Kumar (in the titular role) and Priya Gill in the lead roles, while Manivannan, Raghuvaran and Salim Ghouse played pivotal roles. The film's background score and soundtrack are composed by Deva. Red released on 14 January 2002. It had an average box office performance.[2][3]
Aathi is an orphan-gangster who is well known with his alias name RED, (Revolution, Education, and Development) at the Madurai district of Tamil Nadu who possesses a heart of gold, and when not bashing up mercenaries, he spends his time forcing schools to accept students without donations and taking care of orphans. Srini is his biggest enemy. RED falls for Gayathri, the daughter of his friend and confidante Narayanan, and helps her without her knowledge. She likes him but wants him to give up his life of violence. Meanwhile, reporter Manimegalai for Ananda Vikatan begins to serialise RED's life story under the name Aathi, and it becomes quite the rage among readers and rest forms the plot.
NIC Arts, the producers of Ajith Kumar's previous films Vaalee, Mugavaree and Citizen signed him to appear in a film titled Red directed by debutant Singampuli, an associate of Sundar C. The original plot point of Ajith's 1999 film Unnai Thedi was recommended by Singampuli, and Ajith had mentioned that if the film became a success he would feature in a future film to be directed by Singampuli.[6]Priya Gill made her first and only Tamil film appearance.[7] Principal photography at Annapoorna Studios, where art director Sabu Cyril erected a part of Madurai town for the film. Filming took place in and around Chennai, Vishakhapatnam, Hyderabad and also around some outskirts of Madurai while songs were filmed overseas.[8]
Soundtrack
The soundtrack features six songs composed by Deva. All lyrics written by Vairamuthu.[9] The prelude of the song "Kannai Kasakkum" is based on "Catch the Fox" by Den Harrow.[10] The soundtrack became a success prior to release, with critics praising the songs particularly "Thai Madiyae".[11]
Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu opined that "When the film begins stating that the title is an earth-shattering acronym (Revolution Education and Development), you wait for something radical and path-breaking. But no ... there is compassion, some mindless violence, a docile retreat, an impulsive retaliation ... and that's about all".[12] A critic from Sify wrote that "Like it or not, in Red didacticism prevails over a clarity of vision, logic and reason. The films leaves you exhausted and stressed and is as avoidable as a migraine".[13] Malini Mannath of Chennai Online said that "the script is insipid, the scenes are repeated, and it gets all too monotonous towards the end".[14]
Box office
Despite the film's success, India Today estimated it suffered a loss of ₹4 crore (equivalent to ₹15croreorUS$1.7million in 2023).[15]
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