''Thenmerku Paruvakatru'' () is a 2010 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

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-g ...

written and directed by

Seenu Ramasamy Seenu Ramasamy is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and poet who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Born on October 13, 1973 near Madurai, Tamilnadu, he is known for directing quality films like ''Thenmerku Paruvakaatru'' (2010), ''Neerparavai' ...

and produced by Shibu Issac. The film is named after a song composed by

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 ...

for the film,

Karuthamma ''Karuthamma'' is a 1994 Indian Tamil-language drama film produced and directed by Bharathiraja from a story by M. Rathnakumar. The film stars Raja, Rajashree and Maheswari, with Saranya, Periyar Dasan, Ponvannan, Vadivukkarasi, Vaani, Vadivel ...

. It stars

Vijay Sethupathi Vijaya Gurunatha Sethupathi (born 16 January 1978), known professionally as Vijay Sethupathi, is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Tamil films. He is a recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award. Fo ...

, Vasundhra Chiyertra and

Saranya Ponvannan Saranya Ponvannan (born Sheela Christina) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam language films. Saranya made her debut in a lead role in Mani Ratnam's ''Nayakan'' (1987) and went on to play lead roles from ...

in her 100th film, which won her

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress awar ...

at National film Awards. The music was 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 ...

with cinematography by

Chezhiyan Chezhiyan is an Indian filmmaker and director of photography who works primarily in the Tamil film industry. He received critical acclaim for his work in '' Kalloori'' (2007), '' Paradesi'' (2013) and '' To Let'' (2017). Early life and educat ...

and editing by Mu. Kasivishwanathan. The film released on 24 December 2010 to moderate reviews and did average collections. The film received mixed reviews, but was eventually featured at the 58th National Film Awards ceremony, where it was named the Best Feature Film in Tamil while Saranya Ponvannan and lyricist

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 ...

were awarded the

and Best Lyricist prizes, respectively.

Plot

Set in the backdrop of Theni, the story is about Murugaiyan (aka Murugan), who is a goatherd. He has a loving mother, Veerayi, who is a widow. She struggles hard to raise Murugan but has an overflowing affection for him. Meanwhile, there is a gang which attacks the villagers at night and steals their goats. Murugan, along with his group, manages to catch one of the members in an attack and discovers that it is a girl. Her name is Pechi, and her family steals goats for their livelihood. While Murugan develops feelings for her, Pechi's family is known to be quite dangerous. Veerayi learns of this and asked Murugan to marry a girl of her choice. He refuses to accept her wish. However, complications arise between them. An old lady of her house tells Veerayi to let her son marry the girl whom he loves. A possessive widow tells how her husband was killed to that old lady. Her husband was killed by a group of thieves. The head of the gang is none other than the father of the girl whom her son loves.

Cast

as Murugaiyan * Vasundhra Chiyertra as Pechi *

as Veerayi *

Aruldoss Aruldoss is an Indian actor who has appeared in supporting roles in predominantly Tamil language films. Prior to focusing on an acting career, he worked as a cinematographer for several films. Career After completing school, Aruldoss worked a ...

as Mokkaiyan *

Kadhal Sukumar Kadhal Sukumar is an Indian actor and director who has appeared in Tamil language films. After working as a comedian in films for a decade, notably in Balaji Sakthivel's romantic film ''Kaadhal'' (2004). Career Sukumar, the son of a farmer from ...

Ajayan Bala Ajayan Bala is an Indian writer, film director and screenplay writer from Thirukalukundram, Tamilnadu. His book ''Ulaka cin̲imā varalār̲u : maun̲ayukam 1894-1929'' was awarded as best book in the fine arts section by Tamil Nadu Government ...

Theepetti Ganesan Theepetti Ganesan (October 16, 1990 – March 22, 2021), also known by his birth name Karthik, was an Indian actor. He was known for playing prominent supporting roles in Seenu Ramasamy's directorial films. His breakthrough performance came i ...

* "Stills" Kumar as Marichami * Hemalatha as Kalaichelvi * Jyothi * Meenakshi * Sobana * Kambam Guna *

as Doctor (cameo appearance)

Soundtrack

The music of the film was composed by debutant

. Vairamuthu won the

National Film Award for Best Lyrics The National Film Award for Best Lyrics (the Silver Lotus Award) is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards by the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) to a lyricist who has composed the best song for films produced within the Ind ...

for the song "Kalli Kaattil".

Release

''Thenmerku Paruvakkaatru'' was released on 24 December 2010.

Critical reception

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, "''Thenmerku Paruvakkaatru'' with its mother sentiment makes a mark among films with rural themes".

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 ...

called the film "OK" and wrote, "It is made like a

970s The 970s decade ran from January 1, 970, to December 31, 979. Significant people * Mar Abdisho I, Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, held position 963–986 * Eric the Red (950–1003), Norse Explorer * Richard I of Normandy (933–9 ...

tear jerker with the central character being the all sacrificing mother". ''

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, "A film that has worked out well in all departments, ''Thenmerku Paruvakaatru'' is worth a watch. Behindwoods gave 1 out of 5 stars and wrote, "While the opening scene makes one sit up and take notice, the movie pales into insignificance soon after with nothing much to hold the viewer’s interest. Essentially, ''Thenmerkku Paruvakatru'' is a regular village drama and can easily be written down as one of those small timers aspiring to make a fast buck or two". i

Awards

;

National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

The film won three awards at the 58th National Film Awards: * Won – Silver Lotus Award - Best Actress -

* Won – Silver Lotus Award - Best Lyricist -

- "Kallikattil pirantha Thayae..." * Won –

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil The Indian Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several awa ...

;

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...

* Best Supporting Actress – Tamil –

;

Vijay Awards The Vijay Awards are presented by the Tamil television channel STAR Vijay to honour excellence in Tamil cinema. It has been given annually since 2006, with the latest—the 10th edition—of the award-giving ceremony having been held in ...

* Best Supporting Actress –

* Best Lyricist –

– "Kallikattil Pirantha Thayae..." * Special Jury Award

References

External links

* {{NationalFilmAwardBestFeatureFilmTamil 2010 films Films featuring a Best Actress National Award-winning performance 2010s Tamil-language films Indian drama films Best Tamil Feature Film National Film Award winners Films directed by Seenu Ramasamy 2010 drama films