Valimai preview: All you need to know about Ajith's much-awaited action flick

The shooting of H Vinoth's Valimai, starring Ajith in the lead, had been wrapped up a few a months ago and fans of the star can't wait to watch the movie in theatres soon. This is the second time the actor-director duo has teamed up after Nerkonda Paarvai, the remake of Pink, which was released in 2019. The official announcement on the project's release date was first made more than a month ago. Though it was supposed to release on January 13, the third wave of the pandemic made the makers come up with another date. Ajith will be seen playing a cop in the movie which is set against the backdrop of illegal bike racing. 

Yogi Babu, Kartikeya Gummakonda and Pavel Navageethan among others play pivotal roles in the film, which marks the second Tamil project of Bollywood actress Huma Qureshi, who will be seen essaying the female lead in it. Nirav Shah and Thota Tharani handled cinematography and art direction respectively in the movie, which was announced much before Nerkonda Paarvai hitting the screens.  

Why is Valimai riding on high expectations?

A film of Ajith doesn't need any specific reason to garner huge expectations among cinephiles of Tamil Nadu. However, there are a few factors which made Valimai the biggest ever film of the star in terms of the hype surrounding it. Vinoth's sophomore project, Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru, was liked by critics and audience alike, and fans of the star were elated when the news of the director teaming up with Ajith was out. Since the duo's first collaboration was a remake, fans hope Valimai will be the full-fledged action film they have been waiting for a long time from the star. Ajith's last action movie was Vivegam which didn't satisfy his legions of fans.

Moreover, it's been three years since fans got to watch a thorough entertainer from their favourite star. Though Nerkonda Paarvai, as a remake, did justice to a good extent to its original version and was liked by a section of fans, it wasn't the whistle-worthy mass entertainer which his fans would love to watch on big screen. The presence of Yuvan Shankar Raja, who has given foot-taping music in the star's earlier films, Dheena, Billa, Billa 2, Mankatha and Arrambam, in the crew is another reason why fans are overwhelmed about the project.

What made Valimai one of the most tweeted hashtags in India in 2021?

With hardly any official updates about the project after it went on floors, fans of the star became impatient as they felt that makers of every other stars' movies are coming up with frequent updates, which included first looks, teaser, motion poster, single releases, trailers and release dates. Quite disappointed with this, distressed fans started taking to Twitter to vent out their frustration by requesting and demanding an update from the film's makers. As the hero and director do not have a presence on Twitter, they used to constantly tag Boney Kapoor in their tweets. 

After realizing that Boney isn't paying attention to them, they started doing things which Kollywood had never witnessed. They went all out to make the makers notice their displeasure over the lack of updates. A few videos of fans displaying placards with 'Valimai Update' written on it on cricket ground, political meetings and other public places went viral on social media. A miffed Ajith issued a press release asking fans to be patient and to maintain decorum in public places. 

Later, all eyes were on May 1, as it was widely speculated that the first look of the film will be released on the star's birthday. But the makers postponed their plans to unveil the project's first look owing to the second wave of COVID-19, leaving fans heartbroken. A hardcore fan of Ajith was the talk of the town on social media in July after he was seen holding a placard asking for an update on the movie during the England vs Denmark semi-finals of Euro 2020 held at Wembley Stadium in UK.  

How did the makers manage to satisfy the crazy and impatient fans?

The long-wait of Thala fans came to an end with the makers finally releasing a few stylish stills of the star on social media in the second week of July. The die-hard fans of the actor were more than excited to have got a glimpse of their matinee idol who bid adieu to his popular salt-and-pepper hairstyle in the pictures. As if this wasn't enough, a motion poster of the film was also released with pulsating BGM scored by Yuvan, leaving fans excited to the core. Earlier last month, the team also released the lyric video of Naanga Vera Maari, a colourful song which has Ajith shaking a leg with a group of dancers. Fans couldn't have asked for more   

When will Valimai film hit screens?

Initially, there was speculation that the film will hit screens on Deepavali 2021. Fans of the star were excited from the time the speculation started doing the rounds on social media. Later, there was news that the movie will make it to the screens on January, as a Pongal festival release. Putting rest to speculation, the long-wait of Ajith fans come to end now, as the action thriller is all set to hit the screens on February 24.  

How many languages is Valimai releasing in?

The project will be released in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi on the same day. The movie is releasing in record number of screens in Tamil Nadu. The team is planning to release Valimai in good number of screens in North India as well. Though big ticket flicks are releasing in Tollywood this week, the makers are confident of Valimai attracting movie buffs in Telugu states as well.