''Nedunchalai'' (

Highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-acces ...

) is a 2014

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 P ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

written and directed by

N. Krishna Krishnan K. T. Nagarajan, commonly known as Krishna, N. Krishna, and Obeli N. Krishna, is an Indian film director and screenwriter, from the Tamil film industry. He made his directorial debut with the 2006 romantic drama, ''Sillunu Oru Kaadhal'' ...

and produced by Aaju, C. Soundarajan and Dheeraj Kher. This film features

Aari Arujunan Aari Arujunan, known by the mononym Aari, is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil language films. He made his lead debut in '' Rettaisuzhi'' (2010) produced by director Shankar, before having a breakthrough performance as Murugan in '' N ...

and

Sshivada K. V. Srilekha Nair (born 23 April 1986), better known by her stage name Sshivada is an Indian actress who appears in Malayalam and Tamil films. Personal life Sshivada was born as K. V. Srilekha Nair to Vijayarajan and Kumari, a Malayali family ...

in the lead roles, with

Thambi Ramiah Thambi Ramaiah is an Indian actor, director and comedian who works in the Tamil film industry. He has also worked occasionally as a lyricist. He directed three films, '' Manu Needhi'' (2000), '' Indiralohathil Na Azhagappan'' (2008) and '' Man ...

and

Prashant Narayanan Prashant Narayanan is an Indian actor, known for his roles in films like ''Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II'', '' Shadows of Time'', ''Bombil and Beatrice'', ''Via Darjeeling'' and ''Murder 2''. He also worked in the telefilm ''Ek Tamanna''. His brea ...

in another pivotal roles. The film released on 28 March 2014.

Plot

Set in 1988, the plot revolves around a dacoit, known as ''Tarpaulin Murugan'' who falls in love with a

motel A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central lobby. Entering dictionarie ...

owner.

Cast

as 'Tarpai' Murugan *

as Manga *

as Masanamuthu *

as Master *

Salim Kumar Salim Kumar (born 10 October 1969) is an Indian actor, comedian, director and writer in Malayalam cinema. Mostly known for his comic and comedy roles, Salim Kumar is considered one of the best and most prominent comedians in the history of Mal ...

as Maattu Sekhar *

Ashvin Raja Ashvin Raja is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil language films. He is the son of film producer Late V. Swaminathan of Lakshmi Movie Makers. Personal life Ashvin Raja is the son of producer Swaminathan, who owns the production house, ...

as Soozhi *

Kishore DS Kishore Shanthi Dhinakaran is an Indian actor, who has appeared in Tamil language films. He made a breakthrough appearing as a child actor, winning a National Film Award for his performance in Pandiraj's ''Pasanga'' (2009). He has since appear ...

as Young 'Tarpai' Murugan * Kishore Kumar as Settu * Ken Karunas as Hotel Assistant * Thavasi as Murugan's Foster father (Chiyaan) * Kannan Ponnaiya (Executive Producer)

Production

The film was announced in February 2012 with director

, of ''

Sillunu Oru Kaadhal ''Sillunu Oru Kaadhal'' () is a 2006 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by N. Krishna from a story by A. C. Durai. It stars Suriya (actor), Suriya, Jyothika and Bhumika Chawla, Bhumika, while Shriya Sharma, Suka ...

'' (2006) fame, choosing to move on to his next venture instead of waiting for his long pending project ''Yen Ippadi Mayakkinai?'' to release.

, who appeared in '' Rettaisuzhi'' (2010) and ''

Maalai Pozhudhin Mayakathilaey ''Maalai Pozhudhin Mayakathilaey'' () is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language romance film written and directed by Narayan Nagendra Rao. It stars Aari Arujunan and Shubha Phutela, with Subbu Panchu, R. S. Shivaji, and Balaji Venugopal in other pivot ...

'' (2012) was cast in the male lead role, with

, who has appeared in Malayalam films pairing opposite him.

was also signed on to play a pivotal role in the film, as well as supporting actor

. The title was revealed to be ''Nedunchalai'' in March 2012 with the makers adamant that the title did not clash with another project titled ''Desiya Nedunchalai'' during the period.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album was composed by C. Sathya. The film's music was released on 1 July 2013 at an event where

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

, who had collaborated with director

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

in ''

'' (2006), was invited as chief guest.

Critical reception

The film released to overall positive reviews.

Baradwaj Rangan Baradwaj Rangan is an Indian film critic, writer, and formerly the deputy editor of ''The Hindu''. He later became a senior editor of Film Companion. Rangan won the National Film Award for Best Film Critic in 2006. Before joining ''The Hindu' ...

wrote, "In his previous film,

, the director Krishna lost his way in trying to balance an intimate story with the overblown must-haves of a star-driven movie. He doesn’t make that mistake in ''Nedunchalai'', which is toplined by

and a terrific newcomer named Shivada", calling it "a rock-solid B-movie" and "one of the season’s happiest surprises".

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 "The over-the-top characters along with their spontaneous dialogues make ''Nedunchalai'' worth a look. Despite its minor flaws, it makes-up with style and excellence".

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 3 stars out of 5 and wrote, "From the characterization of the hero (right down to his costumes) to the tragic climax, the shadow of Ameer's ''

Paruthiveeran ''Paruthiveeran'' () is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Ameer. The film stars Karthi in his feature film debut as the title character, with Priyamani as the female lead and Ponvannan, Saravanan, Ganja ...

'' looms large on ''Nedunchalai'', and this is both its strength and weakness" and stated that "this film is certainly a surefooted effort that shows that this director can tell an engaging tale". Behindwoods gave it 2.75 stars out of 5 and wrote "Although the movie has a few goodies to offer, it lacks those moments that can blow you over The film...doesn’t have too many twists, turns or humps that your eyes might want to look out for". In 2015

SIIMA South Indian International Movie Awards, also known as the SIIMA Awards, rewards the artistic and technical achievements of the South Indian film industry. It was launched in 2012 by Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Brinda Prasad Adusimilli to apprec ...

,the film bagged two nominations including ''The Best Debut Actor'' for Aari and ''The Best Actor in a Negative Role'' for Prashanth Narayanan.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2014 films 2010s Tamil-language films 2010s road movies Indian road movies Films scored by C. Sathya