Ethir Neechal (2013 film)

Plot

In 1985, in rural Thanjavur, a woman named Sivagami has complications while giving birth. Sivagami's husband prays to his native deity that if she delivers his baby successfully, he will name the baby after the deity. The baby is born without any problems, and as per the wish, they name the baby Kunjithapadham. As a boy, Kunjithapadham faces many problems and embarrassments due to his name, as his peers call him "Kunju" or "Kunji" (the private part of the male body). He decides to change his name, but his mother falls severely ill, and he prays to God that he will never change his name. His mother recovers, and they move to Chennai.

Years later, Sivagami dies. Kunjithapadam's friend Peter advises him to change his name to have a change in his life. After meeting an astrologer, Gunasekara Raja, he legally renames himself "Harish." He also changes his residence and job. Luck starts to favour him from that day onwards. He falls in love with Geetha, a schoolteacher, and succeeds in winning her heart. He later gets a job, and life goes smoothly for him. One day, his lottery ticket hits victory, and he must cash it in for a television set as a prize. However, the lottery has registered his earlier name as "Kunjithapadham." He gets the television set using Peter, but Geetha finds out his true name and berates him for lying to her. She tells him that he needs to succeed at something in life to win her heart.

Harish decides to participate in the coming Chennai Marathon. He meets a trainer, J. Prakash, alias JP, who takes him to his former student Valli, who had quit athletics. She agrees to train Harish. Later, he sees her crying on the terrace with a photo of her deceased father. Harish asks her to tell her past. Valli was a naturally talented athlete from her young days. Her father supported her talent and spoke with many men to get her past many tournaments. She got into a state-level tournament where she beat the rookie of a corrupt coach, Raja Singh. Infuriated, Raja Singh accused Valli of failing a gender verification test. The board punished Valli and stopped her from participating. Heartbroken, Valli's father died of a heart attack. JP then met with an accident.

Hearing Valli's story, Harish is moved and decides to win the marathon. Geetha also urges him to win it for the sake of Valli. During the marathon, Harish faces stiff competition from one of Raja Singh's rookies, but he eventually wins the race and tells the media about Valli's innocence. Raja Singh is found guilty and arrested, and Valli resumes athletics. Harish later opens and runs a training academy under his original name, Kunjithapadham. A man named Dinakaran, acting on Harish's advice, proposes his love to Valli, and she accepts.

Cast

• Sivakarthikeyan as Kunjithapadham alias Harish
• Priya Anand as Geetha
• Nandita Swetha as Valli
• Sathish as Peter
• Suza Kumar as Kunjithapatham's love interest
• Jayaprakash as Coach J. Prakash (JP)
• Ravi Prakash as Raja Singh
• Sharath Lohithaswa as Valli's father (dubbed by M. S. Bhaskar)
• Manobala as Numerologist Gunasekara Raja
• Madhan Bob as Kunjithapatham's manager
• Swaminathan as Paavadaisamy, later changed by Numerologist as Google
• Bava Lakshmanan
• Aarthi as lady at cinema
• Surekha Vani as Sivagami, Kunjithapatham's mother
• Gemini Rajeshwari
• Pasanga Sivakumar as Kunjithapatham's father
• Nithya Sree as Geetha's friend
• RJ Balaji as himself (host of Chennai Marathon)
• Dhanush as Soup boy (special appearance)
• Nayanthara as dancer (special appearance in the song "Local Boys")
• Anirudh Ravichander as Bar Waiter (cameo appearance)
• Attakathi Dinesh as Dinakaran (guest appearance)

Production

Development

Ethir Neechal is the directorial debut of R. S. Durai Senthilkumar, a former assistant of Vetrimaaran. It was produced by Dhanush via Wunderbar Films. Senthilkumar initially wanted him as the lead actor, but Sivakarthikeyan was instead cast. Priya Anand, the lead actress, revealed that Ethir Neechal is a city-based story without cheap comedy, vulgar dialogues or inappropriate scenes. The film's title was derived from the 1968 film of the same name. It was reported that Dhansika was cast as the second heroine; however Nandita Swetha was signed on. Anirudh Ravichander was hired as the music composer, after his debut film 3. The technical crew includes Velraj as the cinematographer, Kishore Te as the editor, G. Durairaj handling the art direction, Anu Parthasarathy as the costume designer, Stunt Silva choreographing the action sequences, and Baba Bhaskar as dance choreographer.

Filming

Principal photography commenced on 23 July 2012, with the first shot taken by Balu Mahendra. Dhanush and Nayanthara appeared in a special appearance, dancing together in the dappankuthu number "Sathiyama Nee Enakku (Local Boys)", with Nayanthara designing costumes for herself. The song was shot in Nagercoil at a Punjabi dhabha restaurant. Principal photography wrapped on 22 February 2013, with the post-production activities being commenced after the shoot which was completed on 24 April 2013.

Music

Main article: Ethir Neechal (soundtrack)

The soundtrack features six songs that belonged to varied genres; Vaali, Dhanush and R. S. Durai Senthilkumar penned lyrics for two songs each. For the title track "Ethir Neechal" composer Anirudh hired Punjabi rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh, and Adhi from the duo Hiphop Tamizha, to croon the rap versions of the song. The album's final mixing took place in Mumbai.

It was announced that Sony Music had brought the marketing rights for the film's soundtrack album. The making of the album was launched by the film's crew members, prior to the audio launch.

Release

The distribution rights of Ethir Neechal were secured by Vendhar Movies. The film was initially scheduled to release in April 2013, but later pushed to 1 May. It was given a U (unrestricted) certificate by the censor board with no cuts.

Ethir Neechal was released in 300 screens across Tamil Nadu, clashing with Soodhu Kavvum and Moondru Per Moondru Kadal. Apart from the Tamil Nadu release, the film was simultaneously released in the United States by Gramaphone LLC.

Reception

Critical reception

M Suganth of The Times of India gave 3 out of 5 stars, stating, "The first half of Ethir Neechal follows the current Tamil cinema formula of 'laughs first, plot next'." Baradwaj Rangan for The Hindu wrote "Sivakarthikeyan looks like he's getting there — he's not yet a star, at least in the leading-man sense,[sic] he gets a feature-length platform to display his comic chops". Malini Mannath of The New Indian Express stated "Ethir Neechal is a mild passable entertainer". IANS stated, "The film starts off like every other romantic-comedy with adequate amount of comedy and drama, but there's hardly anything spectacular to rave about, including the story." S. Saraswathi of Rediff.com gave 3.5 out of 5 stating "Ethir Neechal is a simple city-based romantic comedy that is guaranteed to provide some wholesome family entertainment."

Box office

The film opened 80 – 90% occupancy on first day collected . The film collected in UK and in United States in first weekend. The film collected in United States in first day, in three days including Thursday previews, around on 5 April and total collection of . The film's success was celebrated at the Victoria Hall in Geneva, Switzerland.

References

References

1. (31 May 2012). "Priya Anand in Dhanush's home production".
2. (1 June 2024). "Not Sivakarthikeyan, This Actor Was Durai Senthilkumar's First Choice For Ethir Neechal".
3. Jeshi, K.. (17 March 2013). "In a happy place". [[The Hindu]].
4. "Dhanush's 'Ethir Neechal' has Siva Karthikeyan".
5. (2012-07-27). "Dhansika likely in 'Ethir Neechal'".
6. Jeshi, K.. (4 October 2012). "A good start". [[The Hindu]].
7. Manigandan, K. R.. (9 June 2012). "Cool connect". [[The Hindu]].
8. Suganth, M.. (24 July 2012). "Balu Mahendra directs Sivakarthikeyan!". [[The Times of India]].
9. (30 April 2013). "Nayanthara designs her own costume". [[The Times of India]].
10. (22 February 2013). "Ethir Neechal shooting wrapped up". [[The Times of India]].
11. (1 April 2013). "Ethir Neechal nearing completion". [[The Times of India]].
12. (Nov 9, 2012). "Anirudh introduces new talent in Tamil". [[The Times of India]].
13. (18 December 2012). "Listen: Honey Singh raps for Tamil film 'Ethir Neechal'".
14. Suganth, M.. (Nov 16, 2012). "Aadhi raps for Anirudh". [[The Times of India]].
15. (Nov 21, 2012). "Ethir Neechal final mix in Mumbai". [[The Times of India]].
16. (7 December 2012). "Ethir Neechal: Sony Entertainment bags audio rights".
17. (Dec 6, 2012). "Ethir Neechal's funny audio making". [[The Times of India]].
18. (4 March 2013). "Ethir Neechal ready for a summer release". [[The Times of India]].
19. (19 April 2013). "Ethir Neechal on Ajith's birthday!". [[The Times of India]].
20. "Ethir Neechal confirms release on May 1".
21. "Ethir Neechal censored with U!".
22. (22 April 2013). "Ethir Neechal to release in the US". [[The Times of India]].
23. Suganth, M. (2 May 2013). "Ethir Neechal". [[The Times of India]].
24. Rangan, Baradwaj. (5 May 2013). "Run culture". [[The Hindu]].
25. Mannath, Malini. (4 May 2013). "Ethir Neechal (Tamil)".
26. (3 May 2013). "Tamil review: 'Ethir Neechal' nothing exceptional, yet watchable".
27. Saraswathi, S. (May 3, 2013). "Review: ''Ethir Neechal'' is an absolute delight".
28. (3 May 2013). "'Ethir Neechal' spells profit for Dhanush".
29. Adarsh, Taran. "Tamil film #EthirNeechal USA Fri $ 5,696 from 6 locations. Total: $ 10,234 [Rs 5.51 lacs].".
30. (25 May 2013). "Vendhar Movies to hold four functions in Switzerland". [[The Times of India]].