''Irumbukkottai Murattu Singam'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language Western comedy film directed by

Chimbu Deven Chimbu Devan is an Indian film director also known as a writer, cartoonist, and screenwriter. His films mostly explore the fantasy and historical genres and also comedy. He debuted with the historical comedy-drama film Imsai Arasan 23 M Pulike ...

, starring choreographer-turned-actor

Raghava Lawrence Lawrence Raghavendra is an Indian dance choreographer, actor, director, composer, dancer and playback singer. After making his debut as a dance choreographer in 1993, he began looking for acting opportunities. He began his career as an actor in ...

Padmapriya Padmapriya (born Padmalochani; died 16 November 1997) was an Indian actress who worked in Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. Her first movie was in Telugu, ''Adapillala Tandri'' (1974). In Kannada, she debuted with ''Bangarada Gudi'' ...

Lakshmi Rai Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with '' Maya'' ("Illusion"). Al ...

, and Sandhya alongside an ensemble supporting cast including Nassar, Sai Kumar, and M. S. Baskar. The film is a "western

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

comedy film" based on cowboy stories, which is set in the 19th century paying homages to many western films. The film's shooting commenced in April 2009 and was released on 7 May 2010 to mixed reviews. In Tamil cinema, after the movie '' Ganga'' (1972) starring

Jaishankar Jaishankar (12 July 1938 – 3 June 2000) was an Indian actor known for his work in Tamil cinema. He was a very popular lead actor in the 1960s and 70s. He was credited onscreen with title of ''Makkal Kalaingnar'' (people's artiste) or '' ...

, this is a full-length Western being taken after 38 years. The film comically highlights the current world politics.

Plot

The town of Jayshankarapuram, home of Tamil-speaking cowboys, is ruled by a one-eyed tyrant named Kizhakku Kattai (literally translating to East Wood as in Clint Eastwood), who rules over other villages as well, and is always surrounded by his assistants: a cowgirl named Pakki and an outlaw named Ulakkai. In order to free their town from Kattai's rule, Bilagiri James, Dagelandi, Jada, and Viruma travel to a neighboring town, Holaypuram, to seek out a savior. There, they encounter Singaram, a man with a noble heart who has been sentenced to death for duty negligence. The gang saves Singaram from execution and explains their situation. Singaram learns why he was chosen. The brave Singam was the previous marshal of Jayashankarapuram who bore a striking resemblance to Singaram, and also was the only one who stood up to Kattai's tyranny. Singam disappeared under mysterious circumstances years ago, and the town was left defenseless. Thus, Singaram is brought to the village and is passed off as Singam. Singaram learns to adapt to his new name, learning all the hero's skills and tricks. He wins the respect of the village seniors, which includes Paandu Paramu and Keluthi Amma. Soon, a girl named Baali falls for Singaram. He later surpasses the original hero's prowess, though initially, it is due to dumb luck. In between the hero's and the villain's camp is a Red Indian village where the tribals are pure

vegetarians Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism ma ...

. With the introduction of this village, Athirikesa, the leader of the tribal group, his father Rangula, and his beautiful daughter Thumbi are also introduced. The villagers at Jayashankarapuram find a map that is hidden in their "MGR Timesquare", but it is only one half they have. They have to find the other half to hunt for treasure that is preserved and hidden somewhere far away. Unfortunately, Kattai has other plans. He negotiates a deal of freeing prisoners in exchange of the treasure. Singaram and the folks find the treasure in an Indiana Jones-esque adventure. They successfully find the treasure and escape the cave. But, it is revealed that Dagelandy is a right-hand man of Kattai, who was spying Singaram's gang all along. Kattai also reveals that he killed Singam a few years ago and challenges Singaaram to a duel in front of the people. While Kattai gains the upper hand initially, the thought of Singam's death in the hands of Kattai infuriates Singaram and he starts beating up Kattai. Kattai is eventually shot dead by Pakki, out of her love for Singaram and she leaves the place with her cronies. Peace prevails within Jayshankarpuram's inhabitants and the red Indians. Singaram is hailed as a hero in Jayshankarapuram and is presented with a large diamond and a platter of gold coins of the treasure as a reward by the people. However, Singaram declines the gold coins for the diamond, instead asking the people to use the coins to build a school for the children, while stating that education is important and is to be imparted to all. He is given a heartful farewell by the people and rides off. On the way, Baali stops him saying that while he took the diamond, he was leaving his "life" behind. Singaram smiles and they both ride off in the sunset.

Cast

as Singam and Singaram *

as Baali *

as Pakki * Sandhya as Thumbi * Nassar as Kizhakku Kattai * Sai Kumar as Ulakkai * M. S. Bhaskar as Athirikesa * Senthil as Rangula Peri * Mouli as Bilagiri James * Ilavarasu as Dagelandi * Ramesh Khanna as Jada *

Vaiyapuri Vaiyapuri (born 23 October 1968 as Ramakrishnan) is an Indian actor who has worked in Tamil-language films. He rose to fame by appearing in supporting roles in the late 1990s and early 2000s, often portraying supporting comedic characters. His ...

as Viruma *

Delhi Ganesh Delhi Ganesh is an Indian actor who mostly acts in supporting roles in Tamil cinema and serials. He has acted in more than 400 films from 1976 to present. Before films, he was a member of the Delhi-based theatre troupe, ''Dakshina Bharata Natak ...

as Paandu Paramu * Manorama as Keluthi Amma *

Chams The Cham ( Cham: ''Čaṃ'') or Champa people ( Cham: , ''Urang Campa''; vi, Người Chăm or ; km, ជនជាតិចាម, ) are an Austronesian ethnic group. From the 2nd century to 1832 the Cham populated Champa, a contiguous territ ...

as Lee *

Mohan Raman Mohan Raman, also known as Mohan V. Ram (born 3 April 1956), is an Indian actor and writer. In 2017 and 2019, he was a Jury member for the National Film Award for Best Writing on Cinema. Raman is a film historian and writes for ''The Hindu''. He ...

as Sheriff *

Besant Ravi Besant Ravi (born R. Ravi Kumar; 1 June 1970) is an Indian actor and stunt choreographer. He has played antagonistic supporting roles in Tamil, Hindi and several other Indian language films. Early life Besant Ravi, who was born and brought up ...

as Color Kathiresan *

V. S. Raghavan V S Raghavan (18 February 1925 – 24 January 2015) was an Indian actor, who has acted both in Tamil films as well as television. He started his career as a dramatist and stage actor and went on to act as a character actor in films, starting ...

(cameo appearance) as an Old man in Jaishankar Puram

Cultural references

* The film features two fictional villages Jaishankarpuram and Ashokapuram which was named after

and Ashokan who played the hero and villain in Ganga which was first of the Genere in India. * In the court sequence you will find Amitabh Bachchan's portrait instead of Gandhi paying homage to ''

Sholay ''Sholay'' (, ) is a 1975 Indian Hindi-language action-adventure film directed by Ramesh Sippy, produced by his father G. P. Sippy, and written by Salim–Javed. The film is about two criminals, Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) ...

''. * The antagonist's name, "Kilakku Kattai", literally translates to Eastwood, in reference to Clint Eastwood. * During their journey to get the treasure they find an ID card which has Indiana Jones's name on it. * In a sequence when the protagonist is explained about the village it said John Wayne and Clint Eastwood are founding fathers of this community.

Production

For the role of a cowboy, Raghava Lawrence grew his hair long and learnt horse riding and gunspinning.

Soundtrack

All the songs' lyrics 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 ...

Release & reception

The film was dubbed into Hindi by Goldmines Telefilms. ''Sify'' wrote "Hats off in cowboy style to writer and director Chimbudevan for doing such good research and bringing about authenticity to his plot and acknowledging great western legendary films of the 60?s and 70?s. But if only he had worked out a better script, it would have been a great fun ride". ''Behindwoods'' wrote "Simbu Devan should certainly be applauded for giving the audience an all new experience and his hard work is palpable. On the flipside, he does not engage the audience completely and loses his grip on them on and off. There are times when the film appears outright childish. The screen play meanders a while and there is a jump of genre here and there".

References

External links

*
Official website

AGS Entertainment Website
{{Use dmy dates, date=August 2019 2010 films 2010s Western (genre) comedy films 2010s parody films Indian Western (genre) comedy films 2010s Tamil-language films Films scored by G. V. Prakash Kumar Indian parody films Films directed by Chimbu Deven 2010 comedy films