Asuran (2019 film)

Asuran (transl. Demon) is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language period action film written and directed by Vetrimaaran and produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu. The film is based on Poomani’s novel Vekkai (transl. Heat). The film stars Dhanush and Manju Warrier, where the latter makes her Tamil debut. G. V. Prakash Kumar scored the music for the film, renewing his collaboration with Vetrimaaran. The cinematography was performed by Velraj, with editing by R. Ramar. Asuran was released on 4 October 2019. The film’s plot is influenced by the real-life Kilvenmani massacre that occurred in 1968. The film was a commercial success. It will be one among ten Indian films to be screened at the 78th Golden Globe Awards (2021) under the Best Foreign Film category. It was also screened at 51st International Film Festival of India at Goa, being selected as one of the films under Indian Panorama section for the year 2020.

Plot

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In 1980s Tirunelveli, a man and a boy are trekking across a river, carrying homemade bombs. In another part of the village, a woman, a man, and a young girl are also hiding from the police.

A narrator reveals in a flashback that the man is Sivasaami and the boy is his son Chidambaram, while the woman, man, and child are Sivasaami’s wife Pachaiyamma, her brother Murugesan and daughter Lakshmi. They also had an older son called Velmurugan. They are a family of farmers living in Thekkoor (lit. southern village). Sivasaami has a close relationship with his older son but is distant, almost abusive with Chidambaram. Sivasami’s family, along with most residents of Thekkoor, are Dalits.

Narasimhan is an upper-caste landlord from Vadakoor (lit. northern village), who needs Sivasaami’s 3 acres of land for a factory, to which the family is against selling, especially Velmurugan. One day Pachaiyamma is attacked by one of Narasimhan’s sons, to which Velmurugan retaliates by severely injuring him and his men. He is arrested, and Sivasaami must touch the feet of every male of the landlord’s village to get him released. When Velmurugan hears of his father’s humiliation, he beats Narasimhan with a slipper. In revenge, Narasimhan’s henchmen, led by a hunter Kariyan, behead Velmurugan. Pachaiyamma is broken, and after a year, Chidambaram is compelled to kill Narasimhan in revenge. Sivasami sees the killing, cuts the lights there, tells the family, and flees with Chidambaram. The film switches back to the present.

Kariyan is asked to find the pair, tracks them down, and almost kills Chidambaram. Sivasami defeats them all but kills none. While the two recover, Sivasaami explains why he spared their lives.

Twenty years before, he was a village-famous moonshine brewer and trusted servant to Viswanathan, a landlord. One day, he convinces his boss to employ Pandiyan (Nitish Veera), Viswanathan’s distant relative, as a clerk. Sivasaami’s brother Murugan and Venugopal Seshadri, a Brahmin Communist lawyer, are attempting to regain their community’s Panchami land from landlords who had seized it illegally. Sivasami’s family repeatedly fails to get him married, as no girl wants to marry a brewer. Sivasami’s elder sister’s daughter Mariyamma, frustrated, proposes to Sivasami and he accepts. The family also accepts. Pandiyan slowly gains Viswanathan’s trust and becomes his Mill accountant. Sivasamy beats Pandiyan inside the mill when he refuses to loan Rs 2 to Sivasami, and plans revenge. Meanwhile Sivasami slowly falls in love Mariyamma. When Sivasaami gives her sandals to wear to High school, Pandiyan hits her and forces her to walk through the village with the sandals on her head. Sivasaami retaliates by hitting him with sandals in middle of the village and ties him up, but is reprimanded by Vishwanathan. Sivasami quits brewing and joins his brother. One night, before a meeting was conducted by Seshadri and Murugan with the other labourers, news arrives that Seshadri was arrested and Sivasaami is sent to get the documents authorising the meeting. When he returns, Murugan and the others have been killed by Pandiyan and his men, while Sivasami’s family (including Mariyamma), along with many others, are burned alive in their huts. Enraged, Sivasami brutally kills Vishwanathan, Pandiyan and their men.

Sivasaami then reveals that he had left his village and months later was found by Murugesan, who taught him farming. He’s also introduced to Pachaiyamma, who is not getting marriage proposals. He narrates his story, and Pachaiyamma admires what he did for his family. He surrenders to the court and is given a light sentence. Afterward, he marries Pachaiyamma. Chidambaram is amazed at his father’s past and starts to admire him. Sivasaami reconciles with his wife and daughter briefly, and he and his son go to Seshadri for help. Seshadri agrees to help them as long as they turn up to court the next day.

The next day, the two get into the court premises but are forced to flee after Narasimhan’s men ambush them. Sivasaami reluctantly sells his land to prevent Narasimhan’s men from targeting his family. However, Chidambaram is abducted and tortured, in direct violation of the agreement. Sivasami kills many of the henchmen and all of Narasimhan’s family male members, though he and Chidambaram sustain serious injuries. Murugesan and their village people arrive armed and defuse the situation.

In the end, it’s revealed that the two villages agreed that the conflict should end and prevented a caste clash. Sivasaami’s family has gathered in the court and he has agreed to go to jail instead of Chidambaram if necessary. He tells his son to study hard, and that unlike land and money, the landlords can’t seize their education. He asks Chidambaram to go to a position of Authority and prevent discrimination from happening to anyone. The film ends with Sivasaami smiling at his family as he enters the court.

Cast

Production

Development

Post the success of Vada Chennai (2018), Vetrimaaran announced about the plans for making the film’s sequel, with Dhanush reprising his role from the original. However, Vetrimaaran and Dhanush agreed to do another film before working with the sequel of Vada Chennai. On 21 December 2018, Dhanush announced the film’s title as Asuran, with a poster release, and makers planned to kickstart the shoot in January 2019. Later, G. V. Prakash Kumar was signed in to compose the film’s soundtrack, collaborating with the director and actor, after Polladhavan (2007) and Aadukalam (2011), except Vada Chennai which was composed by Santhosh Narayanan. The film was reported to be set in the period of 1960s to 1980s, with Dhanush playing a man of his mid-40s.

Casting

Sai Pallavi and Malayalam actress Manju Warrier were selected as the female leads of the film, which marked the latter’s acting debut in Tamil. Later Pallavi was replaced by Ammu Abhirami. Ken Karunas, son of actor Karunas and singer Teejay Arunachalam was roped into essay the role of Dhanush’s sons in the film, with the latter marking his acting debut. Director Balaji Sakthivel, also made his acting debut, essaying an important role in the film. Actor Pasupathy, was also cast in the film as a supporting role, where he joined the sets in February 2019. Later, Aadukalam Naren and Pawan were also cast in the film.

Filming

The principal photography of the film began on 26 January 2019, with the first schedule of the shoot being held at Tirunelveli. Dhanush was reported to play a dual role of father and son in the film as per sources. Initially, the actor was reported to play a dual role in another film directed by R. S. Durai Senthilkumar, which was titled Pattas (2020). While the film’s shoot was progressing in full swing, Dhanush was reported to kick start his shoot for Pattas, later he took a break and resumed shooting for the film in April 2019. The final schedule of the film began in May 2019. It was revealed that the makers planned to wrap the film’s shoot within June 2019.

Music

Asuran
Soundtrack album by G. V. Prakash Kumar
Released	2 September 2019
Recorded	2019
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	28:20
Language	Tamil
Label	Kalaippuli Audio
Producer	G. V. Prakash Kumar
G. V. Prakash Kumar chronology
100% Kadhal (2019) Asuran (2019) Soorarai Pottru (2020)

The soundtrack album and background score is composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar, collaborating with Dhanush and Vetrimaaran for the third time after Polladhavan and Aadukalam. The soundtrack album consists of seven songs, with lyrics written by Ekadesi, Yugabharathi, Eknath, and Arunraja Kamaraj. During the pre-production phase of the film, G. V. Prakash Kumar has been working on the music composition of the film, along with Suriya-starrer Soorarai Pottru (2020), directed by Sudha Kongara.

In an interview with The Times of India, composer Prakash stated “Asuran’s music will be rooted, with raw folk being the dominant element, with earthy songs. But the approach is international. The thought process was about mixing folk and world music; the voices will be folk, but the instrumentation will have an international flavor, like using an electric guitar with this raw folk. I have treated it like a Coke Studio project, which will be exciting for fans and listeners.” Dhanush had crooned two songs for this film, one of the song was titled as a soothing raw number.

The official track list of the film featured seven songs in the film, while composer G. V. Prakash revealed that there are four songs in the album. One of the song is a reprised version sung by Prakash Kumar. The film’s album was launched on 2 September 2019, coinciding with the occasion of Ganesh Chathurthi at a launch event held at Prasad Studios in Chennai, where Dhanush, Manju Warrier, Ammu Abirami, Ken Karunas, singer-turned-actor Teejay Arunachalam director Vetrimaaran, composer G. V. Prakash Kumar, and producer S. Thanu were in attendance, and the album was released in all streaming platforms and on YouTube, the same day.

The film’s music, including the background score, received positive responses from both audiences as well as critics, with songs “Kathari Poovazhagi”, “Yen Minukki” and “Ellu Vaya Pookalaye” were well received by audiences, benefiting to the success of the film. A reviewer from Moviecrow rated 3.5 out of 5 to the soundtrack stating “Vetri Maaran’s, Asuran’s soundtrack composed by G. V. Prakash, is intense, cinematic and drives the listener to witness the rawness of the lands and times where the story is set in!”

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer (s)	Length
1.	“Kathari Poovazhagi”	Ekadesi	Velmurugan, Rajalakshmi, Napolia	3:45
2.	“Polladha Bhoomi”	Yugabharathi	Dhanush, G. V. Prakash Kumar, Ken Karunas, Teejay Arunachalam	3:58
3.	“Yen Minukki”	Eknath	Chinmayi, Teejay Arunachalam	4:32
4.	“Blood Bath”	Arunraja Kamaraj	Arunraja Kamaraj	4:02
5.	“Ellu Vaya Pookalaye”	Yugabharathi	Saindhavi	5.58
6.	“Yen Minukki” (Reprise)	Eknath	Chinmayi, G. V. Prakash Kumar	4:32
7.	“Kannazhagu Raththinamey”	Yugabharathi	Dhanush	1:38
Total length:				28:20

Release

The film was originally planned to be released on 2 October 2019, coinciding with the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti and the weekend of the Vijayadashami festival in India. On 8 August, the makers advanced the release date by one day to 4 October. The film was also dubbed in Hindi and directly released by Goldmines Telefilms on 28 February 2021 on their TV channel Dhinchak.

Reception

Critical reception

The Times of India, rated 3.5 out of 5 stars, stating that “Vetri Maaran delivers yet another solid action drama that keeps us engrossed from start to finish.”

Behindwoods rated 3.25/5, stating that “Asuran is an engaging watch with strong performances, interesting plot and an amazing emotional connect with the audience throughout.”

S. Subhakeerthana from The Indian Express rated the film 4 out of 5 and reviewed it as “With this Dhanush starrer, Vetrimaaran proves he’s one of the finest directors in Indian cinema, yet again. Only a few filmmakers like him can pull off a mainstream cinema, balancing ‘realism’ and commercial elements.”

Sify rated the film 4.5 out of 5, summarising that “Asuran is a must-watch. Dhanush-Vetrimaaran combo who has once again delivered a raw, rustic, and riveting revenge drama. Don’t miss this one!”

Janani K from India Today, rated the film 3.5 out of 5 and stated that “Director Vetri Maaran’s Asuran is a thrilling revenge drama of an oppressed family in a village. With solid writing backed by brilliant performances, Asuran is a classic film.”

Sreedhar Pillai from Firstpost rated the film 4 out of 5 and posted a verdict “ Asuran is one of the best films of the year and a must-watch. Vetrimaran keeps the flag of good cinema flying high.”

Krupa Ge from Silverscreen said, “Asuran is a bloody revenge saga, that’s also weirdly enough about the futility of violence… Watching the film, after reading the book , feels like dipping in and out of the novel, to wander off to the sides of the pages, filled with detours and notes. It starts where the novel starts, but goes back and forth, imagining what could have been.”

Gauthaman Baskaran from News18, gave contrary reviews by rating the film 2 out of 5, stating that “Coming at a time when graphic and lurid on-screen violence is being questioned and even condemned, Asuran would appear needlessly falling back to the old formula.”

Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion South wrote “None of the characters feel fully formed because the timelines feel rushed. We don’t feel time and lives weigh down on us the way it did in Vada Chennai or Visaranai. Maybe it’s the on/off voiceovers, which feel like hastily applied band-aids over sore spots in the storytelling. But the bigger absence is the lack of set pieces. Vetri Maaran seems to be holding back almost deliberately, as though mirroring his leading man”.

Finances

Asuran grossed approximately ₹16 crore in Tamil Nadu in its first weekend. The film collected ₹3.35 crore (US$522,198.1) in Kerala in 10 days. The film grossed around ₹50 crore worldwide according to Firstpost. The film has crossed ₹100 crore revenue which includes theatrical gross and non-theatrical revenue such as satellite, digital and music rights.

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Recipient(s) and nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2019	Behindwoods Gold Medal	Best Director	Vetrimaaran	Won
		Best Actor	Dhanush	Won
		Best Actress – Special Mention	Manju Warrier	Won
		Find of the year	Ken Karunas	Won
2020	Zee Cine Awards Tamil	Best Director	Vetrimaaran	Won
		Best Actor	Dhanush	Won
		Best Background Score	G. V. Prakash Kumar	Won
		Best Costume Designer	Perumal Selvam	Won
		Best Female Playback Singer	Saindhavi	Nominated
		Find of the Year	Ken Karunas	Won
2020	Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards	Best Director	Vetrimaaran	Won
		Best Actor – Male	Dhanush	Won
		Best Art Direction	Jacki	Won
		Best Playback Singer – Female	Saindhavi	Won
		Best Lyricist	Yugabharathi	Won
		Best Makeup Artist	Banu Nellai V. Shanmugam K. Velmurugan	Won
2020	Norway Tamil Film Festival Awards	Best Film	Kalaipuli S. Thanu	Won
		Best Director	Vetrimaaran	Won
		Best Playback Singer – Female	Saindhavi	Won
		Best Stunt Choreography	Peter Hein	Won
2021	National Film Awards	Best Actor	Dhanush	Won
		Best Feature Film in Tamil	V Creations (Producer)Vetrimaaran (Director)	Won

Remake

It is being remade in Telugu as Naarappa starring Venkatesh and directed by Srikanth Addala. Kalaipuli S. Thanu returns as the producer of the film along with Daggubati Suresh Babu under their banners V. Creations and Suresh Productions.