Devarattam

Devarattam (transl.Dance of the Gods) is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by M. Muthaiah produced by K. E. Gnanavel Raja. The film stars Gautham Karthik and Manjima Mohan, while Vinodhini Vaidyanathan, Soori, and FEFSI Vijayan play supporting roles. The film's soundtrack is composed by Nivas K. Prasanna[1] with editing done by Praveen K. L. and cinematography by Sakthi Saravanan. The film released on 1 May 2019. It received mixed to negative reviews but was a box office success.[2][3]

Devarattam
Film poster
Directed byM. Muthaiah
Written byM. Muthaiah
Produced byK. E. Gnanavel Raja
StarringGautham Karthik
Manjima Mohan
Vinodhini Vaidyanathan
Soori
FEFSI Vijayan
CinematographySakthi Saravanan
Edited byPraveen K. L.
Music byNivas K. Prasanna
Production
company
Release date
  • 1 May 2019 (2019-05-01)
Running time
130 mins
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil
Box officeest. 6.5 crore (US$810,000) (1 week collection)

Plot

Past: In the 1990, Kodumpavi Ganesan, a dreaded ruffian in Madurai, perfoms a ritual where he begs for a day, exchanges the changes for wheat and retail sells the wheat, and buys a gold nose ring for the Meenakshi amman temple's main goddess. He gets further help of Kalyani Thevar and his pregnant wife, who exchange Ganesan's newborn for the nose ring in place of the temple management, so that Ganesan's boy will have long life, as Ganesan couple have had 4 stillbirths. Weeks later Kalyani thevar's wife goes into labour and gives birth to a baby boy, while Kalyani Thevar's daughter goes into labour and delivers a baby girl. Months later, after a heated argument with Kodumpavi Ganesan on a different issue, Ganesan covertly stabs Kalyani Thevar and slits his throat, killing him.

Present: Vetri, Kalyani Thevar's son, lives in a casteist-pride (devar) joint family with his six sisters and their husbands. Vetri's eldest sister, Pechi, and her husband nurtured Vetri. His relationship with Pechi is more like that of a mother and son. Vetri is a lawyer. He has anger issues and gets into unnecessary fights. However, his family loves him as he is the first advocate in their family. At the court, Vetri and his family witness Kodumpavi Ganesan stabbing and murdering a guy called Veeran. [Veeran threatened to kill Deivam, the adopted son of Kodumpavi Ganesan]. Vetri is upset that he could not do anything when Ganesan murdered Veeran in court. His brothers-in-law advise him not to get angry for the sake of his family. Pechi's husband tells Vetri about his father's murder and how his mother died after Kalyani Thevar's death. Pechi and her husband are worried that Vetri might end up like his father.

At a shopping mall, Munna downblouses girls on the escalator and sexually harasses a girl, who is Vetri's niece. The girl's friend, Vanitha, slaps Munna, so Munna kidnaps Vanitha. Meanwhile, Vetri falls in love with Madhu, and she reciprocates his love. At the M.G.R. bus stand, Vanitha hugs random people, and Madhu and her friends see her. Later, Vanitha's father sees his daughter and laments over her state. On the news, Munna is labelled a sexual offender for assaulting Vanitha, so Munna and his father meet with Deivam to offer protection to Munna. Deivam and Kaalaiyan, Ganesan's right-hand man, discuss with a police inspector to persuade him to drop the case, but the inspector refuses. Madhu and Vanitha's father meet the police inspector. However, the inspector explains that he cannot help, so they meet Vetri. Vanitha's father explains to Vetri what happened to his daughter.

Vanitha pleads with Munna, but Munna takes her to a warehouse, where she gets drugged and gang-raped by different men. He beats up Munna and Deivam's men and threatens Deivam. The following day, Vetri tries to meet with Vanitha's parents to take them to court. Suddenly, Munna, Deivam, and his men run over and kill Vanitha's parents. Before dying, Vanitha's father tells Vetri not to spare them. Deivam tries to kill Vetri, but Vetri murders Deivam and Munna brutally. While Ganesan is away from the village, he gets informed about Deivam's death.

Ganesan then shaves his head and beard and carries out his adopted son's funeral rites. The police take Vetri to Ganesan's house. Ganesan swears revenge and promises to kill Vetri just like he murdered Deivam in the streets of Madurai in broad daylight. Vetri gets sent to Madurai Central Prison. Vetri's family gets emotional after seeing Vetri in jail. Munna's father pays assassins to kill Vetri, but Vetri fights them off. Ganesan hears about Vetri's murder attempt in prison, kills Munna's father, and dumps his body in front of Vetri's house.

Vetri gets released from prison, and Vetri's family persuades him to go to Kodaikanal. Meanwhile, Ganesan's goons search for him. One day, Ganesan calls Vetri from his uncle's phone and sends a video of Ganesan's goons chasing Pechi's husband and Pechi. Ganesan then kills Pechi's husband and Pechi brutally. Ganesan then calls for Vetri to return, or he will kill other family members.

Vetri and his family are deeply saddened and mourn Pechi and her husband's deaths. Vetri's brothers-in-law tell him not to spare Ganesan. Vetri then tells his brother-in-law to get some water from the fridge and gets shocked at seeing something. The film reveals that Vetri beat Ganesan's goons and beheaded Ganesan, then placed his head inside the refrigerator before Pechi and her husband's funeral. A few months later, Vetri's niece and Vanitha get married, and Vanitha looks at Vetri and sees her dad crying.

Cast

  • Gautham Karthik as Vetri, a criminal lawyer
  • Manjima Mohan as Madhu, Vetri's love interest
  • Soori as Vetri's 4th brother-in-law
  • FEFSI Vijayan as Kodumpavi Ganesan, a dreaded gangster
  • Vinodhini Vaidyanathan as Pechi, Vetri's 1st sister
  • Bose Venkat as Vetri's 1st brother-in-law
  • Saravana Sakthi as Vetri's 2nd brother-in-law
  • Aaru Bala as Vetri's 3rd brother-in-law
  • Vijayakumar as Vetri's 5th brother-in-law
  • Munish Raja as Vetri's 6th brother-in-law
  • Akalya Venkatesan as Vetri's 4th sister
  • Kannika Ravi as Vanitha, a gang rape victim
  • Shenbagam as Vetri's sister
  • Sindhu as Vetri's sister
  • Saranya as Vetri's sister
  • Akila as Vetri's sister
  • Vela Ramamoorthy as Kalyani Thevar, Vetri's father
  • G. Gnanasambandam as Bojarajan, a senior lawyer
  • Chandru Sujan as Deivam, Ganesan's adopted son
  • Veeran Selvarajan as Veeran
  • Hello Kandasamy as Vanitha's father
  • Ragu Aditya as Munna
  • TSR as a judge

Critical reception

Srivatsan.S of The Hindu wrote "Devarattam is yet another Tamil film that uses rape/sexual assault as a ploy to take the story forward. The film comes at a time when the disturbing Pollachi incident is still fresh in our minds."[4] Sreedhar Pillai of Firstpost said "In the end, Devarattam seems like just another film which shows Madurai as a traditional land that is also a blood-soaked, lawless place where cops and gangsters are hand in glove."[5] Janani.K of India Today writes as "Director Muthaiah's films follow the same template. So much so, that you can guess the story even before you have seen the film. Devarattam is the same: a cliched rural entertainer. Skip Devarattam at ease."[6] Subhakeerthana.S of The Indian Express wrote "Mindless violence and bloodshed fill this below-average rural drama".[7] Karthik Kumar of Hindustan Times said "If you are interested in a generic rural masala entertainer but one that has great action, then this Gautham Karthik starrer could be a film for you."[8] Sudhir Sreenivasan of Cinema Express wrote "The film, ostensibly mounted on Thevar pride, makes the sort of association with violence we have generally been used to seeing in such movies"[9] Anjana Shekar of The News Minute wrote "It is not just a sentiment-action-revenge-drama formula. It is the director’s anguish at how men treat women in this society. In the end, the message rings loud and clear for all the men - “Our heroism and courage is for the sake of protecting women, not for raping them!”."[10]

Box office

The film earned Rs 6.5 crore in its opening weekend.[3]

Soundtrack

This film's soundtrack is composed by Nivas K. Prasanna with lyrics written by Yugabharathi, Magizh Thirumeni, Vivek, and Pa. Vijay

Devarattam
Soundtrack album by
Released2019
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length21:00
LanguageTamil
LabelDivo
ProducerNivas K. Prasanna
Nivas K. Prasanna chronology
Kootathil Oruthan
(2016)
Devarattam
(2019)
Hippi
(2019)
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Madura Palapalakkudhu"YugabharathiNivas K. Prasanna, Vijay Sethupathi, Priyanka Deshpande, Niranjana Ramanan3:19
2."Pasampukalli"VivekNivas K. Prasanna, Vijay Antony, Alex Samuel Jenito1:41
3."Enga Attam"Pa. VijayNivas K. Prasanna3:02
4."Azhagaru Vaaraaru"Pa. VijayV. M. Mahalingam2:58
5."Lesa Lesa"VivekChinmayi4:05
6."Aaatha Thottille"YugabharathiNivas K. Prasanna 
7."Ulaagam Unna Vittu"Magizh ThirumeniVijay Yesudas1:55
8."Madura Palapalakkudhu (Karaoke)" Nivas K. Prasanna2:00
9."Pasampukalli (Karaoke)"-Nivas K. Prasanna2:00
Total length:21:00

References

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