''Madha Yaanai Koottam'' () is a 2013 Indian
Tamil language
Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pudu ...
thriller 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-ge ...
written and directed by Vikram Sugumaran, a former assistant of
Balu Mahendra
Balanathan Benjamin Mahendran (19 May 1939 13 February 2014), commonly known as Balu Mahendra, was a Sri Lankan-born Indian cinematographer, director, screenwriter and film editor who worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. Widely regarded as ...
and dialogue writer of ''
Aadukalam
''Aadukalam'' (; ) is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Vetrimaran, who also co-wrote the screenplay and dialogues with Vikram Sugumaran from his story. Produced by Five Star Kathiresan and distributed by Sun Pictures, the fi ...
''. It was dubbed into Hindi as ''Ravanpur''. The film is produced by
G. V. Prakash Kumar stars, newcomer
Kathir
Kathir is an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter who works predominantly in Tamil cinema.
Early life
Kathir was born in kalkarai, a small village in the Radhapuram Taluk of Tirunelveli District, state of Tamil Nadu, India. Kathi ...
, along with
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 ' ...
. The film's soundtrack and background score were composed by
N. R. Raghunanthan
N. R. Raghunanthan is an Indian film score and soundtrack, soundtrack composer. He has scored music for Tamil cinema, Tamil films.
NR R debuted as a music director in 2010 with ''Thenmerku Paruvakaatru'' directed by Seenu Ramasamy which met with ...
. The film was a
sleeper hit
In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later on. A sleeper hit may have little prom ...
at the box office.
Plot
The film revolves around the family of Jayakkodi Thevar (Muruganji), who has two wives. Jayakkodi is a respected landowner whose family has helped develop the village for generations. However, his first wife Sevanamma (
Viji Chandrasekhar
Viji Chandrasekhar is an Indian actress. She has appeared in several Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films. She played the female lead role in '' Arohanam'' which had won several awards. She is known for her roles and she has also featur ...
) and her elder brother Veera Thevar (
Vela Ramamoorthy
Vela Ramamoorthy is a Tamil writer and actor who has appeared in Tamil language films.
Career
Ramamoorthy is a PUC Graduate. He joined the Indian Army and served for five years before being posted in Post office. Since he is a writer, many pe ...
) control the local gangs and are feared by the villagers. Despite being 25 years older and already having four sons, Veera married Sevanamma's daughter and has a son of age 12 with her. Jayakkodi prefers to live with his second wife and her children, Parthiban (
Kathir
Kathir is an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter who works predominantly in Tamil cinema.
Early life
Kathir was born in kalkarai, a small village in the Radhapuram Taluk of Tirunelveli District, state of Tamil Nadu, India. Kathi ...
) and Ammu (Vinitha). Because of her husband's preference of his second wife, Sevanamma dislikes the second wife and her children. Veera blames his brother-in-law's second wife and her children of destroying his sister's life, and he hates them, too. The only member of the first wife's family that accepts the second wife's family is Jayakkodi's drunkard eldest son, Boologarasa (
Kalaiyarasan
Kalaiyarasan Harikrishnan is an Indian actor, who works in the Tamil film industry. He has collaborated with directors Myshkin and Pa. Ranjith, with whom he worked in ''Madras'' (2014) for which he received acclaim for his performance.
Career ...
). However, he is often powerless against his mother and maternal uncle. The relatives of Jayakkodi also do not deal closely with his second family as his second-wife is of lower caste.
Ponram is a newly rich person from same village and caste as Jayakkodi, and he wants to replace Jayakkodi as the most respected person. After being outshone in temple donations, Ponram competes with Veera for land tender from the forest department. When Jayakkodi comes to the tender, Veera leaves it out of respect, but Jayakkodi loses it to Ponram. Ponram's younger brother insults Jayakkodi, and later that night, he is brutally killed by Veera and his sons. Jayakkodi goes to pay respects to Ponram's brother, and a fight erupts between Ponram and Parthi. Jayakkodi and Parthi are arrested. Veera comes to their aid by using a related lawyer and saves them without hassle. Ponram swears revenge on Jayakkodi's entire family.
Parthi develops affection for a Malayali girl named Ritu (
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 ' ...
), whom he first meets at his sister's nursing college and later convinces her to stay at his house due to ragging issues at the college hostel. Jayakkodi arranges a wedding for Ammu with one of his relative's sons, but the relative backs out due to caste pressure from Veera. Jayakkodi arranges a grand wedding for Ammu with his caste groom from Tanjore. After the wedding, Ritu leaves to her hometown to pursue her masters, and she stays silent when Parthi confesses his love for her in the bus stop minutes before she leaves. Jayakkodi dies unexpectedly after a heart attack the next night. Veera's sons come with their cousins and take Jayakodi's body back to Sevanamma's house. Boologarasa invites his stepmother and half-siblings to pay their respects, but his uncle Veera threatens to have the entire village boycott the funeral if they attend. As a result, the second wife and her children are kept away from the rituals.
Boologarasa is guilt-suck that his stepmother and half-siblings are excluded from his father's funeral. He invites Parthi to the 16th day ritual in honor of their father. After initial procrastination, Parthi decides to attend the ritual. Boologarasa teases Veera's sons for not being able to do anything to stop him from bringing his brother to their home. Angered, Boologarasa's cousins attack him. This eventually escalates into a fight. As one of Veera's sons tries to stab Boologarasa, Parthi pushes him away, and the man lands on a sharp knife, dying at the spot. Parthi flees as his brother holds back his surviving cousins. In order to avenge his son's death, Veera and his surviving sons plan to kill him. Sevanamma initially understands that Parthi is not at fault and he did this to save her only son. She helps to protect Parthi's mother and arranges for him to escape to Kerala. Parthi lives with Ritu's family for a few days but is forced to live on the streets after his stepmother's nephews track him down using info from Ponram.
Sevannamma, confronted by his brother, helps him lure Parthi out by poisoning Parthi's mother, who currently lives with her. This brings Parthi to his dead mother, and all rituals end. Immediately Veera's sons and cousins lock Parthi inside the house and attack him, with rest of the family waiting outside for one winner to come out. Despite being outnumbered by his cousins, Parthi defeats them. One of Veera's son escapes out and begs Veera to kill Parthi. Veera climbs the house and throws his sickle to Pparthi's neck, and it fatally cuts Parthi. The entire family surrounds Parthi, who dies looking at Sevanamma. Veera and his sons are arrested for murder, and Sevanamma is shown crying while cleaning Parthi's blood.
Cast
*
Kathir
Kathir is an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter who works predominantly in Tamil cinema.
Early life
Kathir was born in kalkarai, a small village in the Radhapuram Taluk of Tirunelveli District, state of Tamil Nadu, India. Kathi ...
as Parthiban
*
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 ' ...
as Ritu
*
Vela Ramamoorthy
Vela Ramamoorthy is a Tamil writer and actor who has appeared in Tamil language films.
Career
Ramamoorthy is a PUC Graduate. He joined the Indian Army and served for five years before being posted in Post office. Since he is a writer, many pe ...
as Veera Thevar
*
Viji Chandrasekhar
Viji Chandrasekhar is an Indian actress. She has appeared in several Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films. She played the female lead role in '' Arohanam'' which had won several awards. She is known for her roles and she has also featur ...
as Sevanamma
*Muruganji as Jayakkodi Thevar
*Vinitha as Ammu
*
Kalaiyarasan
Kalaiyarasan Harikrishnan is an Indian actor, who works in the Tamil film industry. He has collaborated with directors Myshkin and Pa. Ranjith, with whom he worked in ''Madras'' (2014) for which he received acclaim for his performance.
Career ...
as Boologarasa
*
Sreejith Ravi
Sreejith Ravi (born 19 May 1976) is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Malayalam films and also in Tamil films. He is the son of actor T. G. Ravi.
Early life
Sreejith is the son of actor and industrialist T. G. Ravi and V. K. Subh ...
as Ponram
*Anju as Deepa
*Virumandi as Seeraalan
*Jenish as Thennarasu
*Ilavarasu as Ilavarasu
*P. Gopalakrishnan
*Theni Mahalakshmi
*Vaigai Siva Vijay Thevar
Production
After associating
Ravi K. Chandran
Ravi K. Chandran is an Indian cinematographer and film director known for his works in Hindi, Malayalam, and Tamil-language cinema. He is the founding member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC). His most recognized works are '' Minsa ...
for five years, Ragul Dharuman made his debut as an independent cinematographer in this film. The film started in March 2013 in Periyakulam and the second schedule of shooting was underway in April.
Soundtrack
Reception
The film received generally positive reviews from critics.
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 ...
wrote "Vikram Sukumaran’s ''Madha Yaanai Koottam'' reveals in great detail the rites and rituals followed after death and how pride, anger and vengeance can only lead to senseless violence and death".
International Business Times
The ''International Business Times'' is an American online news publication that publishes five national editions in four languages. The publication, sometimes called ''IBTimes'' or ''IBT'', offers news, opinion and editorial commentary on busi ...
wrote "Commendable Effort by Director Vikram Sugumaran", while
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, "Vikram Sugumaran has made a decent first film. He is a good writer." Behindwoods wrote, "MYK has tense and gripping sequences. Vikram Sugumaran’s debut isn’t a bad watch". Indiaglitz wrote, "''Madha Yaanai Koottam'' is a heavy story, with intermediate dark comedy relief on a different genre of entertainment; the film, on the whole, is commendable." ''
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, "The film is hopelessly dark".
The movie has received good rating from the viewers on the opening week.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
2013 films
2010s Tamil-language films
Films about death
Indian thriller drama films
2013 directorial debut films
2013 thriller drama films
2013 drama films