''Irandaam Ulagam'' () is a 2013 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
romantic fantasy
Romantic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy fiction, describing a fantasy story using many of the elements and conventions of the chivalric romance genre.
One of the key features of romantic fantasy involves the focus on relationships, social, ...
film written and directed by
Selvaraghavan
Selvaraghavan is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor who has directed and acted predominantly Tamil films. His directorial debut had with ''Thulluvadho Ilamai'' (2002) but his father is credited for business reasons, which stars his ...
. Starring
Arya
Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...
and
Anushka Shetty, the film's soundtrack was composed by
Harris Jayaraj
Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Telugu and two films in Hindi.
He has been honoured with K ...
, with a score composed by
Anirudh Ravichander and cinematography handled by
Ramji. After several months of production, the film was released worldwide on 22 November 2013.
Plot
''Irandam Ulagam'' is about two stories which unfold concurrently in two different planets – our
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
and an unnamed
exoplanet.
On earth a timid medical student Ramya who has a crush on an academic mathematician Madhu Balakrishnan, asks him out. He initially refuses her proposal for marriage as his father has a disability, needing his full attention and care. Later, Madhu gradually reciprocates Ramya's love seeing her caring nature and proposes marriage. But, she reluctantly rejects his proposal as her family has already arranged her marriage. While on a trip to Goa, Madhu wins Ramya's heart while her fiancé abruptly cancels the marriage citing dowry as the reason. She suddenly dies in a freak accident, and this is followed by Madhu's paralysed father's death too. Depressed by the sudden twin tragedies, Madhu becomes a vagabond in Goa. He sees an apparition of his dead father that tells him death is an illusion. Later, at a local tourist spot, he follows an empty car to a hilltop and tries to commit suicide. He gets injured and faints while trying to drive the car.
The story moves parallel in the alternate world in a relatively primitive kingdom which protects the immortal ''Amma''. The son of a noble military commander, Maravan, falls in love with a
working class
The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...
orphan, Varna. Maravan, though fearless, does not take an interest in martial arts and roams around the kingdom drinking with his friends. Varna, on the other hand, is interested in a military career though she picks and packs wild mushrooms to eke out a living. She also has the desire to protect ''Amma'' from the enemies of the kingdom. While gatecrashing a military admissions exam for Amma's protection, the tyrant king condemns Varna to his harem. Maravan pleads with the king to release Varna, and the king, in return, challenges Maravan to get hold of a lion's skin within three days. Maravan, though inexperienced, fights with the lion that has never been conquered until then and gets Varna released. At the behest of the king, Varna is forced to marry Maravan, which goes against her
free will
Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded.
Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to ac ...
. So, she tries to commit suicide after assaulting the king. But ''Amma'' saves her, and the riled king exiles her to the forest. Depressed, Maravan tries to commit suicide in vain. Taunted by new military recruits, Maravan climbs a sacred mountain called Swamimalai.
Meanwhile, with the special powers of ''Amma'', an inter-planetary portal opens briefly between Maravan in Swamimalai and Madhu in Goa. Maravan rescues the fainted Madhu from the car and takes him to ''Amma'' for treatment. People of the kingdom celebrate Madhu mistake him for an angel. Enemies lay siege to the kingdom and try to kidnap ''Amma'', but intoxicated Maravan fights them off with the help of Varna, who returns from the forest. When Madhu looks at Varna (who looks like Ramya), flowers begin to bloom in the kingdom for the first time. But the timid people force Varna back into the forests. Later Maravan's bravery is rewarded by his father and king, who admits him into military service. Maravan, with new-found confidence, goes into the forest to meet Varna with food and blankets. But she rejects him again. Madhu, too goes into the forest to meet Varna. This time, Varna accepts his friendship. Marvan gets jealous of Madhu. A stormy night forces Varna to eventually return to the kingdom from the forest. The enemies of the kingdom capture ''Amma'' while the irate king sends Maravan for execution for illegally housing Varna. Maravan is captured by the enemy troops while abducting ''Amma''. Madhu and Varna set out through the forest to find Maravan and ''Amma''. Varna eventually realises that she had fallen in love with her husband Maravan after hearing about Ramya. Maravan bravely wipes out the entire army of the enemy and escapes with ''Amma'' on a boat. But Madhu is drowned in combat. ''Amma'' stops Varna and Maravan from saving him. Then an inter-planetary portal opens briefly again, and Madhu lands in another unnamed exoplanet where he finally meets his soulmate Ramya look-alike again. He earnestly asks her if she is single. Finally, he realises that it is his true destiny.
Cast
*
Arya
Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...
as Madhu Balakrishnan/Maravan
*
Anushka as Ramya/Varna/The third world girl
*
Venkatesh Harinathan as Venky
* Ashok Kumar as Madhu Balakrishna's Father
* Padu Raman as Chief Doctor
* Hema Rajkumar as Ramya's colleague
* Selva
*
Rohit Kalia
Rohit Kalia is an Indian Australian actor, model and voiceover artist who appears in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu language films and television serials. He is also the winner of first ever Mr India Australia title held in Sydney, Austra ...
as Ramya's fiancé (uncredited; seen in "Kanimozhiyae" song)
Production
Development
After deciding to shelve another project titled ''Idhu Maalai Nerathu Mayakkam'' featuring Dhanush and Andrea, Selvaraghavan began shooting with the same cast in June 2010, for a film titled ''Maravan''. Filming was held at Jeppiaar Engineering College 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 ...
. The title later was changed to ''Irandaam Ulagam'' and in a turn of events,
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja or Abdul Haliq (born 31 August 1979) is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer and singer-songwriter. He mainly scores music for Tamil films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use of Wes ...
replaced Prakash Kumar as music composer. However, in a sensational turn, Prakash Kumar was assigned again as composer after Yuvan Shankar Raja moved out of the project. The film ran into trouble yet again after lead actress Andrea Jeremiah pulled out of the film.
Meanwhile, Harris Jayaraj was confirmed to be a part of the project as the music director, again replacing Prakash Kumar.
Sivakarthikeyan
Sivakarthikeyan (born 17 February 1985), also referred to as SK, is an Indian actor, singer, film producer, lyricist, and television presenter, who works predominantly in Tamil films. He has also won a Tamil Nadu State Film Award, four Edison ...
also briefly shot for the film in a supporting role, but was replaced by
Venkatesh Harinathan after having creative differences with Selvaraghavan.
Filming
The film shooting took off on 24 December 2011, in
Ramoji Film City
Ramoji Film City is an integrated film studio facility located in Hyderabad, India. Spread over 1,666 acres (674 ha), it is the largest film studio complex in the world and as such has been certified by the Guinness World Records. It was estab ...
,
Hyderabad
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...
. The next schedule was filmed in
Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
, inside the
BITS-Pilani, Goa Campus, following which the team shot few scenes in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
and the forests of
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. It was reported that Arya and Anushka will play double roles. Selvaraghavan reported that the film will have
CGI scenes. Some portions were shot in Hyderabad. Arya
worked out to build a huge frame and
six-pack abs to fit the muscular lead role. The team returned from Georgia after almost two months of continuous shoot under extreme conditions. Chinmayi dubbed in Tamil for Anushka. The unit after shooting at Ramoji Film City moved to the holy town of Srisailam situated in Nallamala Hills of Kurnool district. Scenes crucial for the story were shot in this last and final schedule. The talkie portions of the project were completed by April 2013.
In October 2013, all post-production work including
computer generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The images ...
work lasting several weeks was finally over and the content was locked. The film cost an estimated 55 crore.
Soundtrack
Harris Jayaraj was hired to compose the soundtrack of ''Irandaam Ulagam''. All the songs in the soundtrack were written by
Vairamuthu
Vairamuthu Ramasamy (born 13 July 1953) is an Indian lyricist, poet, and novelist working in the Tamil film industry. He is a prominent figure in the Tamil literary world. A master's graduate from the Pachaiyappa's College in Chennai, he first ...
. Jayaraj said that the songs would feature breezy romantic and situation based tracks as per the film's central theme. The song "En Kaadhal Thee" sung by
S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), also referred to as SPB or SP Balu or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is wi ...
was recorded in late October 2012.
A single track sung by
Dhanush, titled "Pazhangkalla" was released on 2 September 2013. The soundtrack was released at a launch event held at Sathyam Cinemas in Chennai on 18 September 2013. Behindwoods rated the album 3.5 out of 5 stating, "Two creative worlds collide resulting in a beautiful explosion of sounds." The album was
mastered
Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via meth ...
and made available for
iTunes on 26 September 2013 and within one week of its release, the album topped at the iTunes India charts.
''Irandaam Ulagam'' (Tamil soundtrack)
''Irandaam Ulagam'' (Additionals)
Initially the album features ten tracks, with all of them being composed by Harris Jayaraj, but he left the project composing 7 songs, due to other commitments.
Anirudh Ravichander composed the other three songs, and also the background score. The songs were released as an additional soundtrack on 14 October 2013.
''Varna'' (Telugu soundtrack)
The album of the Telugu version ''Varna'' features seven songs composed by
Harris Jayaraj
Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Telugu and two films in Hindi.
He has been honoured with K ...
, but the additional tracks were not included in the dubbed version. A single track titled "Paalalle" was released on 10 October 2013. The song was sung by
Karthik and
Vijay Prakash
Vijay Prakash (born 21 February 1976) is an Indian Playback singer and also a Music Composer from Karnataka. He has given his voice for predominantly Kannada and Telugu language films. In addition, he has also sung in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam ...
, is a Telugu version of the song "Pazhangkalla", which sung by
Dhanush. Except for this track, the other songs have the same set of vocalists. The soundtrack was released on 26 October 2013.
Marketing
A 70-feet cut-out of Anushka was erected at Shilpa Kala Vedika in Madhapur on the eve of the audio launch.
Release
The satellite rights of the film were secured by
STAR Vijay
Star Vijay is an Indian Tamil language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Disney Star (formerly Star India), a subsidiary of Asianet Star Communications. The channel's headquarters is in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Star Vijay change ...
. The film was initially announced to release in
Diwali 2013, but was later postponed to 22 November along with its dubbed versions in
Telugu
Telugu may refer to:
* Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India
*Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India
* Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language
** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode
S ...
titled ''Varnaa'', and in
Hindi
Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
,
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
,
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
,
Uzbek, and
Turkish, placing it among the highly anticipated films of the year. The film was given a
U certificate by the
Indian Censor Board
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...
with no cuts and the film runs for 2 hours 40 minutes and 9 seconds. The censor board members are reportedly in awe after watching the final product of the film which is directed by Selvaraghavan. According to reports the film's producers, PVP Cinema, will release the fantasy thriller in more than 1,200 screens worldwide which is biggest release ever in
Arya
Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...
's career. Apart from India, "Irandam Ulagam" will release in overseas markets including US, UK, Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland and France
The advance bookings for the film, which started on Wednesday (20 November), has received a good response. Bookings were high in Chennai city, particularly in multiplexes, said entertainment industry tracker Sreedhar Pillai . As there was a good pre-talk for the Tamil movie, multiplexes in the city decided to open the counters to sell tickets of the movie two days before its release. The bookings had a slow start, and till the afternoon, the response was not high. But post noon, tickets started selling like hot cakes. According to reports, the multiplexes have sold over 15,000 tickets for the first weekend.
The film had a grand worldwide premiere on 21 November all over the USA, where it was released in more than 100 screens.
Box office
The Tamil version earned around 16.46 crore in its opening weekend in Chennai. The film witnessed average theatre occupancy of 79 percent during the first weekend, reported Behindwoods. In the UK, in the opening weekend, ''Irandam Ulagam'' earned 19,024 £ (19.28 lacs) at the box office. It got released on 14 screens.
Critical reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics.
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 ...
wrote, "With just a handful of movies, Selvaraghavan has announced himself a major filmmaker, and it falls on us to look at his latest venture, ''Irandaam Ulagam'', as the (worthy) next instalment in a thematically connected oeuvre as well as a (problematic) standalone film. It’s a love story without a shred of genuine passion".
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 the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote, "The disjointed way in which the scenes play out in this world at times makes one wonder if we are seeing the film version of a feverish dream Selvaraghavan might have had". ''Behindwoods'' rated it 3 out of 5 and stated "If you do not question the concept and enjoy the fantasy you will like ''Irandam Ulagam''".
Oneindia
Oneindia.com is an Indian website established in January 2006 by BG Mahesh. The website provides news updates, information on sports, events, travel, entertainment, business, lifestyle, videos, and classifieds in seven different Indian language ...
gave 2.5 out of 5 stated "Full marks to the technical brilliance of ''Irandam Ulagam''. But the decision to watch Irandam Ulagam lies between whether you love watching abstruse movies or purely entertainment flick. If you love to see the former, don't miss it".
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 ...
wrote, "''Irandam Ulagam'' is not everybody’s cup of tea, but the film is made with a lot of passion and sincerity. However, like all his previous films, this one too is ahead of its time".
Rediff
Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City.
, it had more than 300 e ...
gave 3 out of 5 and wrote, "''Irandam Ulagam'' is a visually stunning fantasy story set in an imaginary world that describes a love that transcends the human understanding of time and space. (It) is an ambitious project by a director who always strives to give a different and unique experience to his audience".
IANS
Indo-Asian News Service or IANS is a private Indian news agency. It was founded in 1986 by Indian American publisher Gopal Raju as the "India Abroad News Service" and later renamed. Their main offices are located in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The ser ...
gave 2 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Selva complicates a simple love story in his attempt to merge romance and fantasy genres, only to give the audience an unbearable experience. The film is ruined by an abstract and complicated screenplay". ''India Glitz'' rated 2.75/5 stated "'Irandam Ulagam' is a complete experience. It doesn't have the usual high amounts of action, romance, comedy and masala as a normal Kollywood film would have; though it has all of it, everything is in moderation. A love story beyond one this world, the film is not a thoroughbred strictly Indian flavour, but is meant for the world audience at large. Savouring tastes of global interests, the film is a fair choice of being a multilingual international movie. In all 'Irandam Ulagam' is for the wise audience".
Bangalore Mirror wrote, "Selva needs to be commended for having chosen such a challenging theme, though he should have taken a little more care to distinguish between the behavioral traits and life styles of the inhabitants of the two worlds".
Deccan Herald
''Deccan Herald'' is an Indian English language daily newspaper published from the Indian state of Karnataka. It was founded by K. N. Guruswamy, a liquor businessman from Ballari and was launched on 17 June 1948. It is published by The Print ...
gave 2 out of 5 and wrote, "''Irandam Ulagam'', twin worlds, both of which disappoint given that the narrative makes the audience totally disoriented and disinterested in its dour, dull drama that unfolds in spectacular fashion".
The New Indian Express
''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naid ...
wrote, "Brilliantly conceived, the film, however, falls short on execution".
See also
*
Planetary romance
Planetary romance is a subgenre of science fiction in which the bulk of the action consists of adventures on one or more exotic alien planets, characterized by distinctive physical and cultural backgrounds. Some planetary romances take place ag ...
*
Science fiction films in India
The genre of science fiction has been prevalent in the Indian film industry since the second half of the 20th century. Beginning in 1952, the Tamil film '' Kaadu'' was made, which was an Indian-American co-production. The 1963 Tamil film '' Kala ...
References
External links
*
{{The Show People
2013 films
Indian romantic drama films
2013 romantic drama films
2013 science fiction action films
2010s romantic fantasy films
Planetary romances
Films shot in Andhra Pradesh
Indian musical fantasy films
Films directed by Selvaraghavan
Films scored by Harris Jayaraj
2010s Tamil-language films
Indian romantic fantasy films
Indian science fiction action films
Films about parallel universes
Indian fantasy action films
Indian science fiction films