The Righteous Villain) is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language comedy drama film directed by Ramesh Aravind and written by Kamal Haasan.

It features an ensemble cast that includes Kamal Hassan, K. Viswanath, K. Balachander, Jayaram, Andrea Jeremiah, Pooja Kumar, Nassar, Parvathy Thiruvothu and Urvashi in prominent roles.

It follows Superstar Manoranjan (Kamal Haasan), who is affected by a brain tumour, learns that he has only a short time to live and approaches his mentor, director Margadarisi (K. Balachander) to direct his next project — a folklore-ish comedy about a man who keeps cheating death and his role in saving a kingdom.

Twenty-five years ago, he had been forced to marry Varalakshmi, the daughter of noted film director Poornachandra Rao, despite being in a relationship with a woman named Yamini (not shown on-screen).

The two directors had fallen out when Manoranjan married Varalakshmi and started acting in films directed and produced by Poornachandra Rao, who is Margadarsi's rival.

It is a fantasy comedy film which tells the story of a street artist named Uttaman, who has dodged death several times and is hence believed to be immortal.

The people present in the hospital, including all the loved ones of Manoranjan, enjoy the film, which ends with Uttaman killing Muttharasan in a stage drama (Iraniya Naadagam), thus dodging death yet again.

In early 2013, director-producer N. Lingusamy made an official statement confirming that Kamal Haasan had agreed to direct and feature in a film to be produced by the production house, Thirrupathi Brothers.

[5][6] The actor had handed Lingusamy three scripts with the pair chose the most commercially viable option, with the early working title of the film being Bitter Chocolate.

[16] Sanu John Varghese and Mahesh Narayanan was initially reported to be the film's cinematographer and editor respectively after working with Haasan in Vishwaroopam.

[17] However, Haasan chose Shamdat Sainudeen and Vijay Shankar as the director of photography and editor of the project respectively[18] and Gautami was selected to handle the costume designing for the film.

[22] Kajal Aggarwal was initially reported to have signed on to play the lead female role,[23] though her manager later confirmed that she was not approached and that her dates were already allotted for other projects.

[35] Another actress Parvathy Nair was added to the cast after impressing the team in an audition and was select to be paired opposite Ashwin, a debutant who plays Kamal Haasan's son in the film.

[48] In mid-February 2014, the team carried out make up tests involving Kamal Haasan in Bangalore with a photo shoot being held with the actor.

[53] Further scenes involving Kamal Haasan in the role of a star actor were filmed at a shopping mall in Bangalore, with several hundred onlookers used as extras.

[54] After initially planning a trip to Australia to film the songs from the soundtrack for a week, the team later opted to fly to Turkey instead.

[74] The album which featured 17 tracks including seven themes from the score, with lyrics written by Haasan, Viveka and Subbu Arumugam,[75] was released on a mobile application instead of conventional CDs, as a first-of-its-kind approach.

[76] The soundtrack release coincided with a promotional launch event held at Chennai Trade Centre on 1 March 2015, with prominent celebrities along with the film's cast and crew being present.

[82] Karthik Srinivasan of Milliblog called it "one of the most daring and inventive musical attempts in recent Tamil cinema history".

[95][96] Thirrupathi Brothers acquired the domestic theatrical rights while Raajkamal Films International handled the distribution for the overseas theatres.

[99] The release was later pushed to 10 April 2015, coinciding the five-day Tamil New Year weekend; and trade analysts believed about the increase in footfalls, following school examinations which will be completed within the same date.

Theatres across TN had sold tickets in advance for the opening day, but most of the shows were cancelled, which led to outrage and dismay with the film union and producers.

Kamal Haasan, after the Dubai premiere on 30 April, flew back to India late on Friday, to sort out the issue along with trade bodies like Tamil Film Producers Council and Nadigar Sangam.

[122] A critic from Behindwoods also rated the film three-and-a-half out of five and felt it was an "excellent cinematic viewing experience" appreciating its "unique narrative".

[123] Siddharth K of Sify gave Uttama Villain four out of five stars and called it "a courageous film which breaks away from being a routine fare", describing it as "emotional as well as gripping".

[124] Karthik Keramalu of IBN Live appreciated Uttama Villain majorly for three particular conversations that they placed among the best in Tamil cinema, concluding that it is "a film worthy of a eulogy speech and the grandeur is not spoilt in the name of commercialization".

[125] S. Saraswathi of Rediff.com appreciated director Ramesh Aravind for the narrative "that skilfully alternates between fake and real which is seemingly similar situations is ingenious" and lauded the brilliance of Kamal Haasan, "the master performer for essaying two totally contrasting characters amazingly".

[126] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV lauded Uttama Villain as a "terrific take on superstardom and mortality, feeling it is a satire in parts when Manoranjan, played by Kamal Haasan comes to know that he has only a few days to live, so he decides to make a film in which he's immortal".

[127] Anupama Subramanian of Deccan Chronicle wrote that the movie lived up to expectations partially as the first half drags, but post interval picks up the momentum summing up as a Kamal show all the way, sparkling as an ego bloated Manoranjan and the simpleton Uttaman, concluding, "There are few shortcomings.

[128] Baradwaj Rangan in his review for The Hindu wrote, "Kamal Haasan's writing is so dense and allusive and overstuffed and layered and indulgent that it's always a question whether even the best actors and directors in the world can come up with the kind of wit and timing needed to fully make the transition from page to screen — in other words, the best Kamal Haasan movies are probably locked up inside his head, where they reside in the most perfect possible manner.