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Iraivi

2016 Indian film by Karthik Subbaraj From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Iraivi
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Iraivi (transl. Goddess) is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language crime drama film written and directed by Karthik Subbaraj and produced by C. V. Kumar, K. E. Gnanavel Raja and Abinesh Elangovan under their banners Thirukumaran Entertainment, Studio Green and Abi & Abi Pictures, respectively.[2] The film features an ensemble cast including S. J. Suryah, Vijay Sethupathi, Bobby Simha, Anjali, Kamalinee Mukherjee and Pooja Devariya. It revolves around three financially struggling men trying to overcome their problems through criminal activities, not realising the impact their actions are having on the women in their lives.

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Karthik drafted the script during the production works of Jigarthanda in September 2013 and took more than a year for its completion. The film was formally announced in February 2015, with principal photography beginning that May and ending in September, having taken place primarily in Chennai and Wayanad. The film features music composed by Santhosh Narayanan with cinematography handled by Sivakumar Vijayan and edited by Vivek Harshan.

Iraivi was released on 3 June 2016 and received positive reviews from critics but did not perform well at the box office.[3] In 2017, Anjali was nominated for the Best Actress award at the 2nd IIFA Utsavam awards,[4] and Pooja received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress award at the 6th South Indian International Movie Awards.[5]

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Plot

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Arul was a renowned film director until he fell out with Murugesan, the producer of his latest directorial film, because of which the film remains unreleased. To overcome his sorrow, he became an alcoholic and started harassing his wife Yazhini. Though Yazhini often threatens to divorce Arul for his behaviour, she remains with him out of love.

Michael, an artefact dealer in Chennai, is forced to marry Ponni, despite being in love with Malarvizhi "Malar", a widow. However, Malar has no love for Michael, merely considering their relationship as friends with benefits. Michael openly reveals to Ponni that he is not interested in being her husband and ignores her.

Yazhini tries to convince Arul to seek Murugesan's forgiveness and get his film released so that they both could return to a normal life. When Arul refuses, Murugesan himself steps in and asks Arul to pay him ₹40,000,000 (equivalent to ₹58 million or US$680,000 in 2023) to get his film released. Arul's younger brother Jagan and Michael, with the help of their friend Ramesh, steal a temple idol and sell it for ₹4,00,00,000 so that Arul's film can be released. However, Murugesan has already decided to reshoot Arul's film anew with his own brother as the director. Arul confronts Murugesan, who tries to kill him. Michael saves Arul and bludgeons Murugesan to death, and is sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. Ponni starts ignoring her husband, never visits him in jail, gives birth to their daughter, and eventually returns to her village. Meanwhile, Yazhini returns to her parents' house and files for divorce from Arul, fed up of his alcoholism.

Arul is sent to rehab to overcome his addiction and is released two years later. Now sober, Arul tries to convince Yazhini to return to him, to no avail. Meanwhile, Arul and Jagan bail out Michael, who leaves for Ponni's village in an attempt to reconcile with her. Ponni agrees to come back to him on the condition that he breaks his friendship with Arul. Murugesan's widow and brother meet with Arul and decide to sell the production rights of his film to him for ₹2,000,000 (equivalent to ₹2.9 million or US$34,000 in 2023). To get the money, Michael and Jagan collaborate with Ramesh to steal an idol from a Kerala temple and sell it. However, Ramesh drugs Michael and escapes with the idol. Michael is arrested the following morning, but he escapes from the police and returns to Chennai.

Michael confronts Ramesh, who reveals that Jagan was responsible for getting him arrested. Jagan was also in love with Ponni and was disgusted by the way Michael treated her. When Michael was in jail, Jagan declared his love for Ponni, who reciprocated his feelings but was forced to return to her village the next day as she was unable to decide between Michael and Jagan. Jagan then decided to get Michael arrested so that Ponni could leave Michael for good and start a new life with him. After confronting Ponni over her love for Jagan, both Michael and she decide to forget everything that happened and plan to leave Chennai to start a new life.

Arul, who has successfully acquired the production rights for his film, decides to again convince Yazhini to return to him. Yazhini, who is getting engaged to another man, Vasanth, forgives him and agrees to return as long as Vasanth agrees. Meanwhile, Michael picks up a fight with a drunk Jagan over Ponni and accidentally kills him.

Michael, Ponni, and their daughter board a train. When their train stops at Palur, Michael is intercepted by Arul, who has learnt of Jagan's death, and shoots Michael dead. Under police custody, Arul places a farewell call to Yazhini and pretends to have relapsed into alcoholism to spare her the stigma of being a criminal's wife, effectively ending their relationship.

With their respective husbands out of their lives, Ponni and Yazhini relish their new-found freedom by enjoying the rain. Yazhini only watches the rain, while Ponni allows herself to get drenched.

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Cast

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Production

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Development

While working on Jigarthanda (2014), Karthik Subbaraj began writing for his untitled third project in September 2013.[6] A year later, in September 2014, it was reported that the film would be titled Iraivi and produced by C. V. Kumar via Thirukumaran Entertainment, collaborating with Karthik for the second time after Pizza (2012).[7][8] The producers officially confirmed the project in February 2015, with cinematographer Gavemic U. Ary, editor Vivek Harshan, composer Santhosh Narayanan, art director R. K. Vijay Murugan and sound designer duo Vishnu Govind and Sree Sankar forming the technical crew.[9] Ary was later replaced by Sivakumar Vijayan.[10]

Karthik stated that the film would focus on how women influence men in modern society.[11] Speaking to Vishal Menon of The Hindu, he stated that the films of directors K. Balachander, Balu Mahendra and Mahendran, who often made women-centric films, inspired him to do the film. He said the film was neither "preachy" nor about women's empowerment, but "based on the women we see around us and how certain things are no different, no matter what class or background they belong to".[12] In a 2025 interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Karthik said the film was partly autobiographical.[13]

Casting

In February 2015, Karthik released a press statement confirming the casting of Bobby Simha, Vijay Sethupathi and S. J. Suryah as the lead actors, with Karunakaran in a major role.[9] Karthik described Iraivi as a performance-driven film, where "good actors can make a huge difference to a scene that might sound or read flat". Speaking of Suryah's casting, Karthik stated he had liked Suryah's acting and directorial prowess, but did not want a repeat of the actor's performances in New (2004) and Anbe Aaruyire (2005).[12] Simha rejected the notion that his character was negative, calling him a "loyal guy" who "never understands why his friends treat women the way they do.[14]

In May 2015, Anjali was announced as playing one of the lead actresses; Pooja Kumar had reportedly been considered for the role.[15][16] Kamalinee Mukherjee was confirmed the following month, marking a return to Tamil films after Kadhalna Summa Illai (2009).[17] Pooja Devariya had auditioned twice for the film, but shifted to Mumbai for her theatre career after receiving no response from the makers of Iraivi; however, Karthik's management contacted her a few days after, and she joined the film.[18] Karthik decided to cast Cheenu Mohan after being impressed with his performance in Thalapathi (1991).[19] Mohan, who had been inactive as an actor for years, agreed to Karthik's request to act in the film, making a comeback.[20] Vijay Murugan, besides serving as art director, also portrays the antagonistic role of a film producer.[21]

Filming

Karthik stated that the film would begin production from April 2015.[22] However, principal photography eventually began on 20 May 2015.[15] Scenes featuring Simha and Suryah were first shot during this schedule.[23] By early-September, filming was mostly complete, having taken place primarily in Chennai and Wayanad.[11] Anjali completed shooting her portions in mid-September 2015.[24] Filming wrapped by 30 September, after which post-production works commenced.[25] Dubbing works began in November 2015.[26] In June 2020, four years since the film's release, the makers released a raw footage of the climax sequence performed by Cheenu Mohan and Suryah.[27] According to Karthik, some people suggested he give the film a happy ending, but he found that "tough".[28]

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Soundtrack

Main article: Iraivi (soundtrack)

The soundtrack album is composed by Santhosh Narayanan and featured six songs written by Vivek, Muthamil and Mani Amudhavan.[29] The album was released on 15 April 2016 under the Sony Music India label.[30]

Marketing

In early January 2016, the first look poster was released, and the caption "Sila woMENkalin kadhai" (Story of few woMEN) was highlighted by commentators for the way it capitalised the word "men".[31] As a part of the promotional campaign, the filmmakers premiered a four-episode series, documenting the film's making, starting from 22 May 2016.[32] They also collaborated with The Sight Media to launch an in-auto rickshaw LED branding, with the clips and video promos of the film being available for customers travelling in Chennai auto rickshaws through the LED panels installed there.[33]

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Release

Theatrical

Iraivi was initially scheduled for release on 20 May 2016.[34] Due to the release of Idhu Namma Aalu and Marudhu during the month, the team pushed the release to 3 June.[35][36] In Tamil Nadu, the film was distributed by KR Films in association with Skylark Entertainment and Area 78.[37]

Home media

The film had its television premiere on 5 September 2016 via Jaya TV.[38]

Critical reception

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Iraivi received positive response from critics.[39] M. Suganth of The Times of India gave 3.5 out of 5 and stated, "Karthik's writing is novelistic, with each character having their own well-sketched arcs."[40] In his review for The Hindu, Baradwaj Rangan wrote, "Iraivi is an unusual feminist film, in the sense that it's seen entirely through the prism of sympathetic male characters. This is bound to happen when there are so many people, so many strands, when we don't follow one person's simplistic "you go, girl" journey. But when the parts are so well-crafted, we don't complain as much about their sum not adding up to a satisfying whole."[41] Gauthaman Baskaran of Hindustan Times wrote, "Iraivi in the end seems like a story gone astray, the lives of several people destroyed by male egoistic rage that seeks solution in blood and gore. There is very little to cheer in the 160-minute work, which, though has some interesting performances by Simha, Surya and Anjali."[42] Kirubakar Purushothaman of India Today gave 3 out of 5 and stated, "The story of Iraivi is about the victimisation of the females in the film by the malevolent arrogance of their respective not-so-better halves."[43] J Hurtado of ScreenAnarchy wrote, "Not straight enough to be a great drama, and not out-there enough to be another quirky winner, Iraivi falls flat".[44]

S. Saraswathi of Rediff.com gave 3.5 out of 5 to the film, stating, "The beautifully etched out characters, the performances, the exceptional music and the thought-provoking message makes Karthik Subbaraj's Iraivi a must watch."[45] Giving 3 out of 5 stars, Anupama Subramanian of Deccan Chronicle wrote, "The movie has a feminist theme and the bold characters have semblance to one we used to see in K. Balachander's films."[46] Vikram Venkateshwaran of The Quint wrote, "Iraivi disturbingly tells you that gender is not based on one's plumbing. All of the characters, including the women who are victimised, only seek happiness for themselves. And that's what makes it so real and relatable."[47] Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute wrote that the director "does suggest that women ought to stop depending on men for their happiness but sadly, even then, none of his female characters MAKE that choice actively. The men do it on their behalf. The women are like characters from Waiting for Godot, hoping that someday, things will get better without taking charge of their own lives. This is a very simplistic depiction and does injustice to both genders. It is also unreal though we may be tricked into believing that it is completely realistic."[48]

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Controversies

Post-release, some members of the Tamil Film Producers Council including P. L. Thenappan criticised Karthik for allegedly portraying the producer's character in poor light and also threatened to issue a "red card" against the director. K. E. Gnanavel Raja, who co-produced and distributed the film also expressed his disappointment against the issue. He noted that Karthik had differences of opinion with C. V. Kumar because the former overshot the budget.[49] Some reports claimed that Karthik's fallout with film producer Kathiresan during the production of Jigarthanda is why he portrayed the Iraivi character as such.[50] After Karthik issued a letter to the Tamil Film Directors Union explaining his position, the problem was amicably resolved.[51] Vijay Murugan said he received calls from producers only having praise for his performance, and noted that people had blown a small matter out of proportion.[21]

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Impact

Inspired by the film, a clothes showroom named Iraivi was organised by Vijay Sethupathi's sister in Chennai.[52]

References

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