''Eeswaran'' is a 2021 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, nati ...
-language
action drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...
written and directed by
Suseenthiran
Suseenthiran is an Indian film director and screenwriter in Tamil cinema. He rose to fame with his directorial debut ''Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu'' (2009).
Career
Suseenthiran, who originally hails from a small village called Amarapoondi in Palan ...
, and produced by Balaji Kapa under banners Madhav Media. It stars
Silambarsan,
Bharathiraja
Bharathiraja (born 17 July 1941) is an Indian film director and actor who works mainly in the Tamil film industry. Making his debut in 1977 with ''16 Vayathinile'', he is known for realistic and sensitive portrayals of rural life in his films. ...
,
Nidhhi Agerwal
Nidhhi Agerwal is an Indian actress who has appeared in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. Agerwal made her acting debut in 2017 with the Hindi film ''Munna Michael.'' She made her Telugu debut with '' Savyasachi'' (2018) and Tamil debut with '' E ...
marking the debut in
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood' ...
and
Nandita Swetha
Swetha (born 30 April 1990), professionally known as Nandita Swetha, is an Indian actress, model, dancer and media personality who predominantly appears in Tamil and Telugu language films. Swetha also starred in the Kannada film industry with t ...
. The film has music scored by
Thaman S
Ghantasala Sai Srinivas Thaman (born 16 November 1983), known professionally as Thaman S, earlier as S S Thaman, is an Indian music composer, professional drummer, and playback singer who predominantly works in Telugu films and Tamil films. Th ...
, whereas cinematography and editing were handled by
Tirru
S. Thirunavukarasu (born 21 July 1966), better known mononymously as Tirru, is an Indian cinematographer who has worked in multiple languages across India. He won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography for '' 24'' (2016).
Personal ...
and
Anthony
Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonia (gens), Antonii'', a ''gens'' (Roman naming conventions, Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were ...
respectively.
Principal photography commenced on
Dindigul
Dindigul, also spelt Thindukkal (), is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Dindigul district. Dindigul is located southwest from the state capital, Chennai, away from Tiruchirappalli, away ...
in October 2020, and wrapped up within a single schedule of 22 days. The film released on 14 January 2021, coinciding with
Pongal Pongal may refer to:
* Pongal (festival), an annual Tamil festival
* Pongal (dish)
Pongal, also known as pongali or huggi, is an Indian rice dish. In Tamil, "pongal" means "boil" or "bubbling up". The two varieties of pongal are ''chakarai pong ...
. The film received mixed reviews from critics and was an average success.
Plot
Periyasamy is a farmer who leads a simple and happy life with his wife Paapathi, and their children. One day, the family astrologer Kaali visits periyasamy's family and makes accurate predictions about their past and future. Periyasamy's world turns upside down the very same day, because just as Kaali had predicted, Paapathi slips and injures her head, and succumbs to her injuries. Years go by, Periyasamy's children get married and move to Chennai for their livelihood leaving him alone in the village. He eagerly awaits his family's occasional visits.
A young man, Eeswaran, joins as house help/ foster son for Periyasamy. Eeswaran is street smart, wise and runs from pillar to post to get things done, all the while establishing connections with many VIP's in the state. In March 2020, the entire country goes into lockdown due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in India
The COVID-19 pandemic in India is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). As of , according to Indian government figures, India has the second-highest n ...
, and Periasamy's family decides to move to the village rather than being stuck in the city. Periyasamy is overjoyed at the idea of spending more time with his grandchildren, So he calls astrologer Kaali, who predicts that there would certainly be a death in the next few days, leaving them worried about contracting the coronavirus and dying from the complications. The whole family takes PCR tests and to their relief, results come back as negative. However, the doctor informs Eeswaran about Periyasamy's young granddaughter Diya's rare heart condition which requires immediate attention. Eeswaran arranges for Diya's surgery without the family's knowledge, in order to keep them calm and happy.
Meanwhile, Eeswaran's married ex-girlfriend and Periyasamy's granddaughter Vasuki, also comes to stay with them in the lockdown and this causes tension between the two. Vasuki and Eeswaran fell in love, but they broke up when Eeswaran refused to leave the village for the sake of Periyasamy. Vasuki's younger sister Poongodi falls in love with Eeswaran, but he doesn't reciprocate her feelings for the same reason, that he doesn't want to leave Periyasamy alone. Periyasamy understands this situation and confesses to Eeswaran about how he lost the one true love of his life, Parvathi. He says that he had married Paapathi due to circumstances, but Parvathi came back into his life once again. He had no choice but to marry her as his second wife and they had a son, Aadhisivan. But things go awry when Paapathi came to know of Parvathi and Periyasamy's relationship. So, Parvathi took Aadhisivan and disappeared for good, Periyasamy doesn't know their whereabouts until date. He urges Eeswaran to accept Poongodi's proposal, Eeswaran obliges.
Periyasamy's daughter and son-in-law Maragadhamani's business keeps incurring losses and he gets loans from his wife's brothers but fails to repay them, leading to family feuds. Maragadhamani asks Periyasamy to sell the family owned land and help him in his business, but Periyasamy vehemently refuses. So, Maragadhamani plans to kill Periyasamy in order to usurp the family property. He sends poisonous snakes into Periyasamy's farm, Eeswaran discovers the plan and saves the family, but gets bitten. He thrashes Maragadhamani, but the family throws Eeswaran out, citing that he is an outsider. Seeing the commotion, Diya faints and the whole family tries to rush her to the hospital for surgery. But they are stopped by Rathnaswamy, Periyasamy's arch-nemesis who was just released from jail. Rathnaswamy wants revenge against Periyasamy as he believes that the latter was the root cause of the suicide of his wife and daughter. Eeswaran rescues the family once again from Rathnaswamy despite the snake poison affecting his body. Finally, he rushes to see Diya, where he collapses and is taken for emergency treatment. Amidst all the confusion, Sonamuthu, a close aide of Periyasamy and Kutty Puli, Eeswaran's friend, explain that Eeswaran is none other than Periyasamy and Parvathi's son Aadhisivan and the truth was hidden as a dying wish from Parvathi. Periyasamy and the whole family are overwhelmed hearing this and rush in to see him. Eeswaran recovers from the snake bite and Diya's surgery also is successful and the whole family is happily reunited.
Eeswaran gets married to Poongodi, he solves Maragadhamani's loan problems and asks him to do proper money management. He gets a call informing him about the sudden demise of astrologer Kaali, indicating that Kaali's predictions came true in some form.
Cast
Production
Development
In August 2020,
Silambarasan
Silambarasan Thesingu Rajendar, nicknamed as Simbu or his initials S. T. R., is an Indian actor, filmmaker and musician in Tamil cinema. He began his acting career by playing roles as a child artist in films directed by his father T. Rajendar, b ...
was reported to be a part of Suseethiran's untitled film. A source claimed that Simbu had read the script through a virtual meeting with the director, due to the
COVID-19 lockdown
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countrie ...
, and expected to shoot the film in October 2020, during the
fifth phase of unlock.
Producer Balaji Kapa of Madhav Media, stated an official announcement of their colloaboration with the director and actor on 10 October 2020.
Silambarasan released the first look of the film on 26 October 2020, in which the title was revealed to be ''Eeswaran''.
Casting
The film's cast members had
Bharathiraja
Bharathiraja (born 17 July 1941) is an Indian film director and actor who works mainly in the Tamil film industry. Making his debut in 1977 with ''16 Vayathinile'', he is known for realistic and sensitive portrayals of rural life in his films. ...
signing to act as father of Silambarasan.
Bala Saravanan
Bala Saravanan (born 2 November 1987) is an Indian actor and comedian who has appeared in Tamil language films.
Career
Bala made his debut as an actor in Vijay TV's school drama serial "''Kallikattu Pallikoodam"'' and came to notice in the Vija ...
signed to appear in a comical role, and
Nidhi Agerwal
Nidhhi Agerwal is an Indian actress who has appeared in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. Agerwal made her acting debut in 2017 with the Hindi film '' Munna Michael.'' She made her Telugu debut with '' Savyasachi'' (2018) and Tamil debut with '' ...
playing the female lead.
Thaman S
Ghantasala Sai Srinivas Thaman (born 16 November 1983), known professionally as Thaman S, earlier as S S Thaman, is an Indian music composer, professional drummer, and playback singer who predominantly works in Telugu films and Tamil films. Th ...
was roped in to compose music, whilst cinematographer
Tirru
S. Thirunavukarasu (born 21 July 1966), better known mononymously as Tirru, is an Indian cinematographer who has worked in multiple languages across India. He won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography for '' 24'' (2016).
Personal ...
, editor
Anthony
Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonia (gens), Antonii'', a ''gens'' (Roman naming conventions, Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were ...
and art director
Rajeevan
Rajeevan is an art director in Indian films. He is a graduate of Loyola College, Chennai.
Career
Rajeevan began doing art direction for ad films and television serials, before being given the opportunity to work in a feature film for the firs ...
, were also a part of the technical crew.
For his role in the film, Silambarasan took an extremely intense weight training and strict diet regime, under his trainer Sandeep Raj, in which he lost 30 kilograms in the process.
He also indulged in sports, yoga and
Bharathanatyam
Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...
, as a part of the fitness regime.
He learnt Bharathanatyam from former actress
Saranya Mohan
Saranya Mohan is a former Indian actress, who predominantly appeared in Malayalam and Tamil films. She has also acted in a few Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films. She is best known for her performances in ''Yaaradi Nee Mohini'' (2008), ''Vennila ...
, for few sequences.
Filming
The principal photography commenced on 17 September 2020, the very same day of the launch. The production team adhered to the safety guidelines, imposed by the government in order to control the spread of
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Primarily shot at
Dindigul
Dindigul, also spelt Thindukkal (), is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Dindigul district. Dindigul is located southwest from the state capital, Chennai, away from Tiruchirappalli, away ...
, the principal shoot was wrapped up on 7 November 2020, Simbu also completed the dubbing portions of the film on a single day.
Soundtrack
The music for the film is composed by
Thaman S
Ghantasala Sai Srinivas Thaman (born 16 November 1983), known professionally as Thaman S, earlier as S S Thaman, is an Indian music composer, professional drummer, and playback singer who predominantly works in Telugu films and Tamil films. Th ...
, collaborating with Silambarasan for the third time after ''
Osthe
''Osthe'' (''The Best'') is a 2011 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language action comedy film directed by S. Dharani, a remake of the 2010 Bollywood film ''Dabangg''. It starred Silambarasan, Richa Gangopadhyay, Sonu Sood, Jithan Ramesh, Santhan ...
'' (2011) and ''
Vaalu
''Vaalu'' () is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language romantic action comedy film written and directed by debutante Vijay Chandar. The film stars Silambarasan and Hansika Motwani, with Santhanam, VTV Ganesh and Brahmanandam portraying supporting role ...
'' (2015) and first time collaborated with Suseenthiran. The lyrics for the songs were written by
Yugabharathi
Yugabharathi is a Tamil poet and lyricist. His birth name was "Santhanam Desan" and he was known as "Santhanam" by his family and friends. During the early 1990s when he began writing poems for magazines he started using the pen name "Yugabharat ...
. Thaman started composing for the film, during the announcement of the release, and completed within a record time of two months. Before the audio release, the first song "Thamizhan Paattu" was served as the film's lead single, which was released on 14 December 2020. The tracklist of the film was released on 2 January 2021, which featured four songs, and the audio was released the very same day, at the Albert Theatre in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
.
Reviewing for the soundtrack album for ''
Sify
Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...
'', music critic Siddharth Srinivas gave 3 out of 5, stating "''Eeswaran'' is a nice and effective album from Thaman, who doesn’t go long lengths but still makes it an adequately listenable experience on the whole." A critic from ''Thandora Times'' gave 3 out of 5 stating, "''Eeswaran'' has songs that have a commercial film package." ''Studio Flicks'' gave 2.5 out of 5 stating "''Eeswaran'' has all the elements of a successful commercial album."
Release
''Eeswaran'' is scheduled to release on 14 January 2021, coinciding with
Pongal Pongal may refer to:
* Pongal (festival), an annual Tamil festival
* Pongal (dish)
Pongal, also known as pongali or huggi, is an Indian rice dish. In Tamil, "pongal" means "boil" or "bubbling up". The two varieties of pongal are ''chakarai pong ...
. The Tamil Nadu theatrical rights of the film were bought by 7G Films. It was released through
video-on-demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
, over the new platform OlyFlix, for viewers across overseas countries. Satellite Rights and Digital Rights of the film Acquired by
Star India Network.
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 ...
'', gave 2.5 out of 5 and stated "The lack of novel ideas, ineffective twists and female leads who have hardly anything to do affect the flow of the film. The emotional scenes lack required intensity, and the tension surrounding the antagonist could have been much better." Srinivasa Ramanujan of ''
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
'' stated "The Simbu-starrer is yet another village-based tale that has more uncles and relatives than ideas." ''Behindwoods'' gave 2.25 out of 5 stating "STR's vintage changeover is promising, but Eeswaran falls short of expectations." ''
Sify
Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...
'' gave 2.5 out of 5 and stated "''Eeswaran'' is an average formulaic rural family entertainer."
Ranjani Krishnakumar of ''
Firstpost
''Firstpost'' is an Indian online news and media website. The site is a part of the Network 18 media conglomerate owned by Reliance Industries, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC-TV18.
The ''Network 18'' group was originally owned by Raghav ...
'' gave 1.5 out of 5 and stated "In bringing together this colourful and relatable cast of characters, Suseenthiran scores. But that’s that. Once he’s established the milieu, he doesn’t know where to take the film." Ashameera Aiyappan of ''
Cinema Express
''Cinema Express'' was an Indian Tamil-language entertainment fortnightly magazine published from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was a part of The New Indian Express Group, which also publishes ''Samakalika Malayalam Vaarika'' weekly as well as '' Din ...
'' gave 1.5 out of 5 and stated "It is great that Simbu looks like he has turned back time. But it isn’t great that the film also seems to have travelled back with him." Manoj Kumar R of ''
The Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...
'' gave 1 out of 5 stars "Eeswaran is nothing but a two-hour-long verbal and visual flow of cues that reinforce the patriarchal view of women's subservient role to men in a family."
Logesh Balachandran of ''
India Today
''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...
'' gave 3.5 out of 5 and wrote "Eeswaran isn't a great film, but director Suseenthiran gets many things right. At a time when fans are longing to witness that energetic Simbu on screen, which has been missing for years now, Suseenthiran delivers a perfect rural entertainer that serves just that. The screenplay has been developed in a manner to please both the star’s fans and family audience. Unlike the actor’s previous films, there is adequate emotion in the script which works big time."
Controversies
Snake issue
In the motion poster of the film which released on 26 October, the protagonist Silambarasan had a snake wrapped on his neck a forest official filed a case stating that the team had given sedatives to the animal to prevent it from harming the team which kills the animal very soon and also said that many crews are lying telling it is a fake snake. However, the team stated that the snake was a plastic snake and no harm was there for the animal as well as the crew. But a video was released in which Silambarasan practised throwing a snake in a sack bag, but the team said it was a scene in the movie and the snake was a fake one. On 19 November, the
Animal Welfare Board of India
The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), headquartered at Ballabhgarh in Haryana state, is a statutory advisory body advising the Government of India's Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying(Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairy ...
, objected the film's team to remove the controversial motion poster, which was later removed from YouTube.
Harassment against Suseenthiran
Director Suseendhiran was involved in controversy over unnecessarily interrupting when Nidhhi Agerwal was speaking in front of public during the audio launch of the film. The director reportedly urged the actress to say that she loves
Silambarasan
Silambarasan Thesingu Rajendar, nicknamed as Simbu or his initials S. T. R., is an Indian actor, filmmaker and musician in Tamil cinema. He began his acting career by playing roles as a child artist in films directed by his father T. Rajendar, b ...
. His distateful behaviour was heavily criticised in the social media for harassing Agerwal in front of public. However the director clarified the controversy stating that he wanted to give the essence to the audience on how the film will work.
100% seating capacity issue in Tamil Nadu
The film was given permission to release the film with 100% seating capacity in theatres along with Vijay starrer ''
Master
Master or masters may refer to:
Ranks or titles
* Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans
*Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...
'' (2021) by the
Government of Tamil Nadu
Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, lik ...
despite the increase in
COVID-19 cases in India especially with
cases also increasing in Tamil Nadu. However the
Central Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...
issued warrant against Tamil Nadu government's decision to approve the release of the films with full 100% seating capacity. The central government stated that 100% seat occupancy is clearly in violation of the guidelines of MHA which only allows 50% seat occupancy in theatres. Some doctors also cautioned against full seating capacity for the film. Soon after, Central Government notice was passed and it was revoked back to 50% seating capacity in Tamil Nadu theatres.
OTT release issue
In overseas countries, the makers had signed a deal for the new
OTT platform
An over-the-top (OTT) media service is a Media (communications), media service offered Direct-to-consumer, directly to viewers via the Internet. OTT bypasses Cable television, cable, broadcast television, broadcast, and satellite television platf ...
OlyFlix, where the makers will premiere the film through
video-on-demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
from 14 January 2021 (coincdiing with the release in Indian theatres). However, the Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association opposed the decision for a simultaneous OTT release, fearing that piracy sites may upload the
high definition print of the film, which will affect the theatrical business. The exhibitors also threatened to boycott the film, if they suggest for an OTT release on the said date. Following pressure from theatre owners and exhibitors, the makers decided to hold the release over video-on-demand, and instead they requested the theatre owners to increase the number of screens for the film.
References
External links
*
{{Suseenthiran
2021 films
2021 action drama films
Indian action drama films
Films directed by Suseenthiran
Films scored by Thaman S
2020s Tamil-language films
Films about the COVID-19 pandemic