Irudhi Suttru - Boxing Its Way To Box Office Success!

We have been seeing sports drama movies in the recent times in Tamizh cinema - Vallinam, Jeeva, Bhoologam to name a few. We have Sudha Kongara's Irudhi Suttru concentrating on issues plaguing Indian Sports industry - Right from political interference to sexual harassment.

Madhavan as an angry, foul mouthed, short tempered boxing coach makes a memorable comeback to Tamizh cinema after 4 years. Prabhu (Madhavan), a boxing coach with allegations of sexual harassment against him goes in search of (is made to go in search of) new boxing trainees. He stumbles upon a "born boxer" (Rithika) in the slums of Chennai. The journey of this born boxer to world championship forms the storyline - a clichéd storyline that differs in the treatment it gets.

How often have we seen screen presence of a woman in Tamizh cinema? Rithvika Singh has delivered aplenty here, especially the "Kannula Gethu" moment. Rithika's portrayal of the bold, defiant and rebellious "Madhi" is definitely laudable. Her lip sync is perfect - the dubbing artist needs a special mention too. She even overshadows Maddy in many scenes.

There is not even a single frame that doesn't belong. A tight screenplay, an honest script, hard hitting dialogues by Arun Madhieswaran makes the movie a must - watch. The film's supporting cast is hand picked and there are no complaints. Kaali Venkat, as Rithika's father provides the humor relief. Nasser, as a boxing coach reiterates that he is one of the best supporting actors Tamizh Cinema has. Radharavi cakewalks his role and no doubt he is Nasser's counterpart in the most sought after supporting actors. The villain gives a performance that makes you hate him, a winner hands down.

Behind the scenes, we have a hero - Santhosh Narayanan. His songs are a huge plus. His background score and placement of lyrics from Muthamizh and Vivek are brilliant. There is a scene where Rithika counters Madhavan after he dictates her to do pushups as a punishment. Santhosh's placement of "Kannula Gethu... Ava kannula gethu... Vaaipilama vechuduvaa vaaiyila kuththu" gives Rithika the best screen presence moment. Be it a foot tapping "Vaa Machaney" or a soul stirring "Ey sandakaara" or an ambitious "Maya Visai", we have typical Santhosh in full form. There are whistles and screams at the start of each of his songs. His background score in the final moments makes your heart race faster - his brilliance in script oriented music revisited. The climax sequence makes you feel as if the moment is live, though we see shades of Chak de India.

Madhavan underplays his role, a much needed performance for the script. Being overshadowed by Rithika's performance in most of the scenes, he makes it even with just one emotional shot in the climax - a knockout performance.

Sudha Kongara delivers an honest script without much fuss and with no compromise. Her detailed research on boxing is clearly evident from the never ending list of boxers in the end credits - a trendsetting lady filmmaker.

Bottomline - Irudhi Suttru, tadoun tadoun tadoun tadoun taaandoun tatatadoun! (Santhosh Narayanan effect)

Indru Netru Naalai

We have seen sci-fi films in tamizh. But, how many have succeeded in entertaining people? Many have failed to reach the masses either because of poor visuals or too much of science-talk which common people have no idea about. I am pretty sure dasavatharam tasted success because of the gripping screenplay and kamal haasan's attention to details while portraying 10 different characters and not because of the sci-fi genre. Enthiran was an instant hit because of the larger than life image which rajinikanth enjoys in tamizhnadu and shankar's portrayal of scientific advancements in robotics in layman terms. Many films like villa (pizza-2) have failed to reach all sections because of lack of connect with the audience as they justify each scene with science. Yes, one has to compromise. That's the tragic truth tamizh cinema faces while making sci-fi films. Which category does "Indru netru naalai" falls into? 
 

The film is realistic as it starts in 2065 unlike many other films where scientific advancements are always made by the protagonist and he spends 10 years without even shaving his beard in a closed lab. The director scores in the very first scene which is portrayed to be in 2065. The intro of the protagonist is innovative as the scenes unfold as recited by an astrologer-friend of his. Later the intro is justified by the astrologer-friend himself which also justifies the superstition behind astrology. The lead characters in the movie portrayed by vishnu and karunakaran get access to a time machine in the current day as the experiment of a 2065 scientist fails. Initially, they find a way to make money with it. But, in the process, they make a mistake which chases them and drives them into the biggest nightmare of their life. Their access to the past helps them to undo their mistake but everything comes with a price. The rest of the film is how these two come out of danger.
 

Vishnu plays his role to perfection. His choice of scripts has been amazing of late with mundasupatti and jeeva both turning out to be well appreciated by the critics. INN would be no exception. Karunakaran is a bundle of talent and this is a comeback for him after soodhu kaavum and yaamiruka bayamae. He is one comedian who can make you laugh with just a blank expression in his face. His timing sense works big time as the crowd erupts for his dialogues at few places. Mia George is okay looks-wise but plays her role aptly. There is always a mad scientist in every sci-fi film and the trademark follows in INN also. All the characters portrayed are apt except for the villain who goes overboard with his villainous expressions at few places. Hip-hop tamizha aadhi's music is a big plus and does disturb the narration in no way. His songs are mediocre but the different tempos of "indru netru naalai" song adds weightage to the visuals. Editing would be challenging in any time travel movie and this film has the best time travel between scenes.

The scene sequence for the time travel can be confusing as there are too many frames travelling between past and the present. But, the director stays on top of his narration and doesn't deviate much from the storyline. INN entertains in all aspects. The CG work for a low budget movie can't be any better than this - e.g. dog chasing a holographic bone in the first scene adds more sense to the ambience. Coming back to the compromise factor, the film does make some compromises to suit the tamizh audience. Dialogues receive applause at many places. The crowd roars for the mention of rajini as Hollywood actor. "Rajini ah? Yaar avar? Aangila nadigaro?"

Innovative scenes make the film gripping though the first half is one and half hours.

Producer CV Kumar's selection of scripts has made him the most promising producer in the recent times. His production house has handled a great variety of scripts with pizza and  soodhu kavvum going big reaching Bollywood. This film is a first of its kind in tamizh cinema and hasn't disappointed the viewers.
 

Indru nadanthathu netru varai nadakaathathu, naalai paesum indrai. Yes, this film is going to be talked about in the future. A must watch in theatres.