Simbu Promises Gangsters, Assassins, & Revenge In VETTAI MANNAN

Everybody loves a good gangster movie and they've been a staple of Indian cinema for at least forty years now.  Tamil director Nelson is preparing a new gangster film,  starring Simbu for release in 2012 called Vettai Mannan, and this first teaser is pretty damned stylish.  The footage in the teaser was obviously shot specifically for this promotion and may or may not reflect the final film, but if this is the direction they are going, I think we may have something fun to look forward too. 

According to what little information I can find, Vettai Mannan is something like a Scarface story with heart.  A small time hood turns assassin for the big gangsters, only to grow powerful enough that he doesn't need to take orders from anyone.  When Kashi (Simbu) loses a friend in a deal gone bad, he goes on a mission for revenge. 

As is customary for Indian films, the press has been full of hype designed to display how much money has been spent on the film.  In this case, the producers brag about shooting the film mostly outside of India, namely the US and Mexico.  In addition, there is talk of a grand action finale, here's the scuttlebutt from South Dreamz:

Simbu's 'Vettai Mannan', which has been progressing steadily, is said to possess one such action sequence which takes places in the climax of the film.  Simbu and director Nelso are planning to set up the fight sequence on par with the technical excellence seen in Hollywood movies.

The climax fight sequence is likely to be shot using three 'Time-Freeze' cameras and seven 'Aree' type cameras, making it a total of ten cameras to be used to shoot aparticular sequence.  Noted Hollywood stunt technicians and stuntmen are expected to be part of this sequence, which is likely to be shot in Mexico.

Actor Jai plays Simbu's close friend in the film, which is just an extension of real-life experience as he and Simbu have been close pals right from their school-days.  The climax sequence to be shot would involve Simbu fighting ferociously after the enemies 'kill' his friend Jai.  The fight sequence might take up as many as eight minutes in the film, it is revealed.

Sounds impressive.  Indian production houses like to brag that their production quality is like Hollywood, though every time they say that, it seems to fall a wee bit short. 

One thing that Indian filmmakers can be proud of is a wealth of creative and talented cinematographers and action teams.  The teaser below doesn't show much, and as I said, probably contains no footage that will end up in the film, but it is pretty catchy.  Seeing as there is no English dialogue nor subtitles, I asked my friend Ravi to translate, and he obliged:

MAN ON PHONE: We saw your man. Everyone is very happy. I think we'll give you this project. How much do you charge for one murder?

BALD MAN: One crore.

MAN ON PHONE: Money's not a problem. You'll do the work, right?

BALD MAN: What am I here for? I'll finish the job.

SIMBU: Then why am I here? Do you want me to kill someone this way? Send details here (EMAIL ADDRESS flashes on screen). Transfer the cash to this account (ACCOUNT NUMBER flashes on screen).

What's that? [something I couldn't understand]

At the end I think he says something like "Just don't tell anyone."

Thanks to Ravi, and enjoy the 30 second teaser for Vettai Mannan