''144'' is a 2015 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

-language heist

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by G. Manikandan and produced by C. V. Kumar, starring

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

Ashok Selvan Ashok Selvan is an Indian actor who works prominently in Tamil cinema. He made his breakthrough playing one of the lead roles in ''Soodhu Kavvum'' (2013), before gaining critical acclaim for his performances in C. V. Kumar's productions '' Pizza ...

Oviya Helen Nelson, (born 29 April 1991) better known professionally by her stage name Oviya, is an Indian model and actress who works in the Tamil and Malayalam films. She made her breakthrough as an actress in Sarkunam's rural romantic comedy ' ...

and Shruthi Ramakrishnan. The film's plot is partially inspired by the novel ''Vasanthakaala Kutrangal'' written by Sujatha.

Cast

as Thesi *

as Madhaan *

as Kalyani * Shruthi Ramakrishnan as Divya *

Ramdoss Ramdoss, better known as Munishkanth, is an Indian actor who appears in Tamil language films. He had notable roles in films, including ''Mundasupatti'' (2014), '' Maanagaram'' (2017), ''Maragadha Naanayam'' (2017) and ''Raatchasan'' (2018). C ...

as Ravi Varman * Madhusudhan Rao as Rayappan, Divya's father *

Sujatha Sivakumar Sujatha Sivakumar is an Born: (27 September 1973) Indian actress who has appeared in Tamil films. Sujatha rose to fame with her performance in Ameer's ''Paruthiveeran'' (2007), before appearing in several supporting roles as a mother in Tamil ...

as Meenakshi Rayappan, Divya's mother * Udayabhanu Maheshwaran as 'Feelings' Ravi *"Hello" Kandasaamy as Tube, Thesi's father *

Ambani Shankar Ambani Shankar is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil films. He has appeared in films including '' Ji'' (2005) and '' Ambasamudram Ambani'' (2010), and garnered his stage name from the latter film. Career Shankar grew up in Tirumangalam, ...

* Karunakaran as Intro Narrator *

S. J. Surya S. Justin Selvaraj, known by his stage name S. J. Suryah is an Indian film director, screenwriter, actor, composer, producer and music director who has worked predominately in Tamil film industry. He sought to become an actor but started out d ...

as Narrator

Production

The film was launched by producer C. V. Kumar with new director Manikandan, and it began shooting in February 2015, with a principal cast of

and Sruthi Ramakrishnan. The team shot scenes in

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

, with Ashok Selvan portraying an illegal car racer. After a single long filming schedule, the film was announced to be nearing completion by April 2015.

Soundtrack

Music and soundtracks were composed by

Sean Roldan Raghavendra Raja Rao, known by his stage name Sean Roldan is an Indian musician who has worked on Carnatic music, independent music, and film scores for the Tamil film industry. He rose to fame after gaining critical acclaim for his work in Bal ...

. The soundtrack features six songs, the lyrics for which were written by Kabilan, Sean Roldan, Vivek, Karaikudi and Bharathi Ganesan. Behindwoods rated the album 2.5 out of 5 and called it "An album laced with good energy and fun moments, but falls short of the expectations from a Sean Roldan fare."

Critical reception

M. Suganth of ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'' rated the film 3 out of 5 and wrote, "You could also call it

Mundasupatti ''Mundasupatti'' () is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language period comedy film written and directed by Ram Kumar and produced by C. V. Kumar under his banner Thirukumaran Entertainment and Fox Star Studios. It stars Vishnu Vishal and Nandita Swetha, wi ...

-meets-

Rajathandhiram ''Rajathandhiram'' () is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language heist thriller film written and directed by debutant A. G. Amid and jointly produced by Sunland Cinemas and White Bucket Productions. Fox Star Studios acquired the distribution rights of the ...

and you wouldn't be wrong as like that crime caper, it also about a gold heist that involves an elaborate set-up and planning. But the filmmaking is more

, with noticeable rough edges that keep reminding us that this is a first-timer's film and lacks the sophistication (it is an exposition-filled film) of both

Soodhu Kavvum ''Soodhu Kavvum'' () is a 2013 Indian Tamil-language black comedy crime film written and directed by Nalan Kumarasamy. It features Vijay Sethupathi, Bobby Simha, Ashok Selvan, Ramesh Thilak, Karunakaran and Sanchita Shetty in the lead roles. ...

and

." Baradwaj Rangan of the Hindu called it "A shaky start, but lots of laughs later "

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=5273834 2015 films 2015 black comedy films Indian black comedy films Films scored by Sean Roldan Films based on Indian novels 2010s Tamil-language films 2015 directorial debut films