Vazhakku Enn 18/9

The story is narrated through flashbacks. Pa. Veluchamy, a teenager, works in a roadside shop. He meets Jyothi, who is a maidservant at a few of the nearby apartments, and falls in love with her. Aarthy lives in one of the apartment buildings. Dinesh is a student who resides in the same building. Dinesh is a spoiled brat. As luck would have it, Aarthy falls for him without knowing his true intentions. Dinesh too is attracted to Aarthy. He seizes the opportunity and shoots video clips of her private moments on his mobile phone and even circulates them among his friends via MMS. When Aarthy finds out during a date with him in a beach resort, she is aghast and threatens to approach the police. An angry Dinesh plans to ruin Aarthy's life by killing her in a car accident, but she manages to escape from it. He plans to throw acid on her face, but Jyothi accidentally intervenes and thus sustains serious injuries in the process. The movie picks up speed as the corrupt Police Inspector Kumaravel begins investigations. Kumaravel negotiates with Dinesh's mother, who is a school correspondent, but refuses later due to her stubborn character and completes the investigation with Dinesh as the culprit of the murder attempt. But Dinesh's mother approaches the minister (with whom she is having an affair) and asks him to intervene. The minister and Kumaravel negotiate, finally agreeing upon an amount of 10 lakh rupees to be paid to the latter by the former for the release of Dinesh from the investigation. Kumaravel then blackmails Velu into standing in the shoes of the accused in front of the court if he wants to cure Jyothi. Velu accepts and is sentenced to several years in prison. Kumaravel has now received the money and uses it to complete the construction of his house. Unlike what he had planned, he gives nothing to Jyothi. Later, Jyothi gets to know that Velu did not commit the crime and is falsely accused for her to be cured. She realizes that Kumaravel has cheated on her and Velu. Angry, she goes to the court and throws acid on Kumaravel. She is immediately arrested, and as inquiries run course, the judiciary finds Velu innocent and releases him. Dinesh is arrested, and Jyothi is sentenced to seven years in prison for her crime. In the final scene, Velu meets Jyothi in prison, proposes his love, and tells her that he will be waiting for her. As he leaves the cell, the door closes with the disfigured face of Jyothi shown on screen. ==Cast==

• Sri as Pa. Veluchamy • Urmila Mahanta as Jyothi • Mithun Murali as Dinesh • Manisha Yadav as Aarthi • Rethika Srinivas as Jayalakshmi • Singampuli as Ramakrishnan • Muthuraman as Inspector M.V. Kumaravel • Chinnasamy as Chinnasamy • Senthil as Vediappan • Rani as Rani • Goutham as Goutham • Vidhya Eeshwar as Gayathri • Anjalai as Parvathy • Devi as Rosy • Pasanga Sivakumar as Director (voiceover by Imman Annachi) (uncredited) • Kadhal Saravanan as Actor (uncredited) • Sanjana Sarathy as Swetha • Balaji Sakthivel as Minister, with the character's face blurred and only the voice audible.(uncredited Cameo) ==Production==

Balaji Sakthivel began working on Vazhakku En 18/9 in 2008, after N. Lingusamy agreed to produce the film under his Thirupathi Brothers banner. He was working on the scriptment for over 15 months and finished the entire script by early 2010. Sakthivel said that he had completed the middle portion and the climax part of the film but was unsure about how to start the film, taking over one year to finalize on the opening sequences, which he worked on with Lingusamy. He further informed that the climax was inspired from a news report. Noted guitarist R. Prasanna, who Sakthivel was supposed to work with in his previous venture Kalloori, was chosen to compose the film's soundtrack and background score, replacing his usual associate Joshua Sridhar. The composer was chosen only after the filming was completed. ==Soundtrack==

The soundtrack album and background score were composed by noted guitarist R. Prasanna, The album was released on 4 April 2012, in an audio launch event and subsequently premiered on an FM Radio Station. ==Release==

Vazhakku En 18/9 was initially slated to release on 27 April 2012; however the success of Oru Kal Oru Kannadi led to its release being postponed to 4 May 2012. ==Reception==

Vazhakku Enn 18/9 received high critical acclaim upon release. The Times of India gave it 4.5 out of 5, the highest rating ever for a Tamil film since its inception in April 2008, with its reviewer M. Suganth calling the film a "bravura piece of filmmaking that will leave you stunned - and even invigorated - by the time it ends". Rediff's Pavithra Srinivasan gave the film 3.5 out of 5, citing that Vazhakku En 18/9 was "hard-hitting" and a "must-watch". Sify's critic labelled the film as "excellent" and commented that it was "refreshing, captivating and engrossing". Malathi Rangarajan from The Hindu wrote: "The acumen of the ace story teller comes to the fore yet again in Vazhakku Enn: 18/9. A neat presentation with an all new-cast could have been a tough proposition. But Sakthivel achieves it with élan", concluding that the film was "another product Sakthivel can be proud of". Romal M. Singh from Daily News and Analysis wrote: "Simply put, Vazhakku Enn 18/9 is the much-sought after cinematic ‘voice’, representing the world we live in — as is — no glamourising, no touch-ups and definitely no un-needed glorifying". Vishnupriya Bhandaram of The Hindu in her review of the Telugu version Premalo Padithe said: "What is perhaps beautiful about the story is that it is an amalgamation of two levels in society — the high, mighty and rich and the poor". She further continued: "With a heavy heart and a mind ridden with hard truths, take away what you can: a semblance of love in a promise to wait a lifetime for a half-burnt face". ==Accolades==

;60th National Film Awards • Best Feature Film in Tamil • Best Make-up Artist - Raja Tamilnadu State Awards • Best Film 2012 ;2nd South Indian International Movie Awards • Best Director - Balaji Sakthivel • Nominated—Best Film • Nominated—Best Cinematographer - Vijay Milton • Nominated—Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Urmila Mahanta • Nominated—Best Female Debutant - Urmila Mahanta South Asian Film Festival (SAFF) • Best Film ;7th Vijay Awards • Best Film • Best Director - Balaji Sakthivel • Nominated—Best Debut Actor - Sri • Nominated—Best Debut Actress - Manisha Yadav • Nominated—Best Debut Actress - Urmila Mahanta • Nominated—Best Villain - Muthuraman • Nominated—Best Cinematographer - Vijay Milton • Nominated—Best Editor - Gopi Krishna • Nominated—Best Story, Screenplay Writer - Balaji Sakthivel ==References==