''Virunthali'' () is a 2010

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 ...

romantic drama film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typica ...

directed by Udayasankaran Whaterman. The film stars newcomer Michael Ishwar and

Vidya Pradeep Vidya Pradeep (born 13 April 1990) is an Indian actress and scientist. She is currently working as a scientist in the United States. Her films include ''Saivam'' (2014), ''Pasanga 2'' (2015), and '' Thadam'' (2019) Career After completing her ...

, with Gopika Rajesh,

Nassar Nassar ( ar, نصار, lit=helper, protector, supporter, victory-maker), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer ...

Bala Singh Bala Singh (7 May 195227 November 2019) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil language films. After making his debut in Nassar's '' Avatharam'' (1995), he appeared as the antagonist in over a hundred films. Early life and career Bala Sing ...

Singampuli Singampuli is an Indian actor and director. After making ''Red'' (2002) and ''Maayavi'' (2005), he has made a career appearing in supporting roles in films. Career Singampuli was born and brought up in Theni, Periyakulam and after studying eng ...

Appukutty Sivabalan, better known as Appukutty, is an Indian actor and comedian, who mainly appears in Tamil films. He became recognized following his performance in ''Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu''. His role as Azhagarsami in ''Azhagarsamiyin Kudhirai'' was prai ...

and

Ambani Shankar Ambani Shankar is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil films. He has appeared in films including '' Ji'' (2005) and ''Ambasamudram Ambani'' (2010), and garnered his stage name from the latter film. Career Shankar grew up in Tirumangalam, ...

playing supporting roles. The film, produced by Rajesh Gopinath, had musical score by S. S. Kumaran and was released on 16 July 2010.

Plot

In a small village in

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

, Ishvar (Ishvar) is a hard-boiled money lender who hangs up with his sidekick Oli Shankar (

) and Ishvar lives in a luxurious bungalow with his mother. Ishvar is eagerly awaiting the release of his father (

) who is in jail for murder and his family is highly respected by the villagers. One day, the law student Archana (

), daughter of the village postman Rangarajan (

), comes to the village. Each encounter between Ishvar and Archana ends up in a quarrel but they eventually fall in love with each other. When Rangarajan falls sick, Archana is forced to do her father's job while Ishvar stops lending money and opens a

pawn shop A pawnbroker is an individual or business (pawnshop or pawn shop) that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. The items having been ''pawned'' to the broker are themselves called ''pledges'' or ...

. In the meantime, Ishvar helps his friend Arun to marry his lover Kanaka. Kanaka was brought up by her aunt and uncle who want to appropriate her inheritance. Meanwhile, Ishvar's father returns from jail. Arun is then killed by Kanaka's family with the help of the corrupt Sub-Inspector Muttaiah (Cheran Raj) and a shocked Archana witnesses it. Kanaka's family abducts Kanaka and forces her to give them her inheritance. Archana then reveals everything to Ishvar and a vengeful Ishvar saves Kanaka. Thereafter, some goons kill Archana in her house and stage the murder to look like suicide by hanging. Overwhelmed by his lover's death, Ishvar becomes mentally ill.

Cast

*Michael Ishwar as Ishvar *

as Archana *Gopika Rajesh as Gopika *

as Ishvar's father *

as Rangarajan, Archana's father *

as Oli Shankar *Cheran Raj as Sub-Inspector Muttaiah *

as Kaadu *

as Parthiban *Harish Ori *Sivathanu *Bhuvan *Bharathi *Prema Priya *Risha in a special appearance

Production

Director Udayasankaran Whaterman, who hailed from Kerala and had worked as an associate director with

A. K. Lohithadas Ambazhathil Karunakaran Lohithadas (10 May 1955 – 28 June 2009) was an Indian screenwriter, playwright, film maker, and producer who worked in the Malayalam film industry. In a career spanning over two decades, his films have won a Nationa ...

, made his directorial debut with ''Virunthali'' under the banner of Gopika International. Ishvar (also known as Anand Michael and Jack Michael) was selected to play the hero while

(credited as Dhyana) who played the second heroine in ''

Aval Peyar Thamizharasi ''Aval Peyar Thamizharasi'' () is a 2010 Tamil romantic drama film directed and written by Meera Kathiravan and starring Jai, Nandhagi, Dhiyana, S. Theodore Baskaran and Ganja Karuppu in lead roles. The film failed commercially. Plot Siva ...

'' (2010) was chosen to play the female lead role. Music baton was wielded by S. S. Kumaran of '' Poo'' fame,

Raja Mohammad Raja Mohammad is an Indian film editor, who works in the Malayalam and Tamil film industries. He won the National Film Award for Best Editing for his work in Paruthiveeran (2007). Career Raja Mohammed primarily edited Malayalam films during h ...

took care of the editing and the cinematography was by Sajan Kalathil.

Soundtrack

The film score and the soundtrack were composed by S. S. Kumaran. The soundtrack, released in 2010, features 6 tracks. The audio was launched by Cheran at Kamala Cinemas 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 ...

Kalaipuli G. Sekaran Kalaipuli G. Sekaran is an Indian film distributor, producer, director and actor who has worked in Tamil language films. Career G. Sekaran began his career as a film financier and distributor, before becoming a producer and a partner at Kalaip ...

, Prasanna,

Karan Karan may refer to: People * Karan (given name), an Indian given name * Karan (caste), an Indian caste * Karan Kayastha, a community of Kayastha in Bihar, India * Karan (surname) Places * Karan, Iran (disambiguation), a name for various vi ...

Ezhil Ezhilmaaran known as Ezhil is an Indian film director who works in the Tamil film industry. He has won 2 Tamil Nadu state awards. He made his directorial debut with the 1999 romantic film ''Thulladha Manamum Thullum'' starring Vijay and Si ...

and Sasi attended the audio launch. A reviewer rated the album 2 out of 5 and said, "Kumaran has added a nice polish to his musical expression in this album. His sense of aesthetics is strong. What he needs is more spontaneity in terms of musical notes".

Release

The film was released on 16 July 2010 alongside three other films.

Critical reception

''Behindwoods.com'' rated the film 0.5 out of 5 and said, "Virunthali is nothing but an attempt at movie making, a bad one at that. In the end, the director might have learnt some lessons".''Indiaglitz.com'' wrote, "Ishvar looks good as rough villager. Dhyana is adequate .What begins on a promising note ends up a tame affair. Though the basic knot is good, Whaterman seems to have watered down the theme and laced it with so-called commercial elements that prove to be a mismatch". ''

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 ...

'' stated, "The film is poor in imagination, content and visuals and you have non-actors in the lead making it tedious to watch. It requires a lot of patience to sit through this big bore, that lacks basic fundamentals of filmmaking". A reviewer rated the film 2 out of 5 and said, "The director has come up with an interesting thought but he failed in the presentation and narrative departments. The dialogues were so-so, the script was spineless, the screenplay was mediocre".

Box office

The film took an average opening at the

box office.

References

{{reflist 2010 films 2010s Tamil-language films 2010 romantic drama films Indian romantic drama films 2010 directorial debut films