Aayudham (2005 film)

Aayudham
DVD cover
Directed by	M. A. Murugesh
Written by	M. A. Murugesh Kamaleshkumar (dialogues)
Produced by	Surya Rajkumar
Starring	Prashanth Sneha
Cinematography	Aravind Kamalanathan
Edited by	A. K. Sankar
Music by	Dhina
Production companies	Mars Entertainment Group Motion Pictures Partners International
Release date	14 January 2005 (2005-01-14)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Aayudham (transl. Weapon) is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by M. A. Murugesh. It stars Prashanth and Sneha, while Vadivelu, Subbaraju, Rajesh, and Janagaraj play supporting roles. Featuring music composed by Dhina, the film released on 14 January 2005 and became an average success.^[1]

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Siva is admitted to a medical college in Chennai. His police constable father, gets a transfer to Chennai, as well, so that he can keep an eye on his son. Siva soon develops a liking towards Mahalakshmi, his collegemate. However, Naga, Maha's servant-maid's son and the dreaded don of Chennai city, is obsessed with making Maha his own. It is now upto Siva to rescue Maha and her family from Naga's clutches.

The film was directed by M. A. Murugesh, who had previously directed the film, Indru Mudhal (2003). Sneha was selected to play the lead female role and began work on the film in May 2004.^[2] A major portion of the film was shot at Chennai Trade Center at Nandambakkam near Chennai, while two songs were filmed in London.^[3] The first schedule of the film commenced in Chennai, where a dance number was shot at a lavish set costing ₹40 lakh (equivalent to ₹1.4 crore or US$170,000 in 2023) at AVM Studios, where Prashanth and fifty dancers took part. The second schedule of forty days was held at locations in Madurai, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari and Nagercoil. Dance choreographer Dinesh choreographed two dance numbers – one in which Prashanth and Mumbai's Minal took part, the other where he danced with Rasna, a Mumbai model.^[4] Fifty girls from the musical, Bombay Dreams, were selected to feature in Sungadi saris during a song shoot at Trafalgar Square.^[5]

The soundtrack was composed by Dhina. It was released on 17 December 2004.^[6]

The film was released in January 2005 during Pongal.^[7] Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu noted that "it's all very fine if you are not looking for anything innovative in the entertainment offered", adding that "Prashanth is too experienced an actor to goof up the role. He plays Siva with ease. And as always he is more at home in action" and that "Sneha makes proper use of the couple of scenes that offer her a little scope to perform."^[8] Sify noted that film was "below average" and added "The film looks like a poor man’s Ghilli and the story is as old as the hills with no semblance of either style or substance."^[9] Visual Dasan of Kalki wrote that Aayudham had taken the single line plot from third rated masala films like Jayam and Ghilli. He said exaggerations are key in such stories, but in Aayudham, the director was very careful to portray every scene in an interesting way and succeeded in it.^[10] Cinesouth wrote "Though the concept of the film is as old as it can be, that is, love- struggle- and triumph in love-, but, it is like serving old feast on a new flashy and flower designed plate".^[11] Chennai Online wrote "It's familiar territory for the audience, with predictable situations, stereotyped characters and an already-seen-ambience. It is an amalgam of various films like 'Run', 'Gilli', 'Arul' etc. It does not quite keep up to the promise of the opening scenes."^[12]

The film performed average at the Tamil Nadu box office.^[13] The film's release was hampered by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami which also hit Chennai.^[14]

• Aayudham at IMDb 
• Aayudham at Rotten Tomatoes