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''Jiivi'' () is a 2019 Indian
Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
-language
thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...
directed by V. J. Gopinath and written by Babu Tamizh. Jointly produced by M. Vellapandian, Sudalaikan Vellapandian and Subramanian Vellapandian. The film stars Vetri in the lead role, alongside an
ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...
including Karunakaran, Monica Chinnakotla,
Rohini Rohini may refer to: People * Rohini (given name), including a list of persons and characters with the name * Rohini (actress) (born 1969), Indian actress, screenwriter, and director * Rohini (Buddha's disciple), female disciple * Rohini (goddes ...
, Ashwini Chandrashekar and
Mime Gopi Mime Gopi (born Gopinathan) is an Indian stage and film actor who has appeared in predominantly Tamil films including ''Madras'' (2014), ''Maari'' (2015), ''Maya'' (2015) and ''Kabali'' (2016). He is also the winner of the reality cooking show ...
. The soundtrack album and background score was composed by K. S. Sundaramurthy, while art work, production controlling, executive production, line production were handled by Vairabalan, S. Nagarajan, Vivin S. R. and I. B. Karthikeyan, respectively. The film released on 28 June 2019 and was a successful venture. A sequel, ''
Jiivi 2 ''Jiivi 2'' is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language thriller film directed and written by V.J Gopinath and produced by Suresh Kamatchi. The film stars Vetri in the lead role, alongside an ensemble cast including Karunakaran, Ashwini Chandrashekar, ...
'', was released in 2022.


Plot

Saravanan comes to Chennai from a small village in Madurai and works in a juice and tea stall where Mani is the "tea master". Though not formally educated, Saravanan is well-read. Saravanan's lover Anandhi jilts him citing his meagre existence, which pushes him into depression. He decides to rob his landlady, Sivagami though she treats him as a brother. He then uses the knowledge that he has picked up over the years to plan and execute the crime, and proceeds to frame a neighbor he does not like. After robbing his landlady's jewels, the incidents which happened in Sivagami's life starts to happen in Saravanan's life. He realizes this and does not want his sister to face the difficulties in life that Sivagami did. So, he starts thinking about how to stop this phenomenon and make things right. Meanwhile Kathir, Sivagami's hot-headed brother starts suspecting Saravanan. The astounding similarities in his and Kathir's life and thought processes propels Saravanan to investigate the latter's past. He comes to the conclusion that Kathir had also committed a theft in his young age, stealing from Saravanan's grandfather, in the process framing Murugan, a colleague that he dislikes. Murugan is publicly arrested and shamed, over the cries of his despairing mother. Shortly after, Sivagami's daughter, Kavitha, was born blind, and Sivagami's husband fell ill and was bedbound. Moreover, Kathir's friend Kumar, whom Kathir repeatedly compares with Mani, dies in a railway accident, leaving his family destitute. Saravanan later receives a call from his sister, who tells him that she is pregnant with a daughter, and that an astrologer has warned her husband to be careful of his health. Meanwhile, Kavitha falls into despair as the jewels that Saravan had stolen had been intended to be her wedding jewels, and her wedding is halted. Saravanan panics, and decides to stop fate's triangle from affecting his family. He quarrels with Mani, who one day takes the stolen jewels and runs away. On the same day, Kavitha attempts suicide and Saravanan rushes her to a hospital. Saravanan promises to marry Kavitha, despite Kathir's protests. Mani returns to see Saravanan, angry that the bag of jewels had been replaced with a bag full of clothing. Both men claim not to have been responsible for the switch and fight. Ten months later, Saravanan is happily married to Kavitha and is a share auto driver. His niece is born with her eyesight and his brother-in-law remains healthy. Saravanan picks up Mani as a fare and the pair reconcile. Saravanan's internal dialogue reveals that he knows that Mani did not steal the jewels. Mani's flashback reveals that the bag full of jewels was accidentally swapped with another passenger's baggage on the bus. He had blamed Saravanan out of embarrassment and shame. A final plot twist reveals that the passenger who had picked up the bag of jewels was, in fact, Murugan's son. Traumatised by how his innocent father had been treated by the police, he decides not to return the jewels and instead keeps them for his young daughter. A photograph on the wall reveals that Murugan's mother had been blind.


Cast


Soundtrack

K. S. Sundaramurthy composed the songs and background score for the film.
Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja (born 31 August 1979), is an Indian composer and playback singer. He mainly scores music for Tamil films along with few Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use o ...
bought the audio rights of ''Jiivi'' under his banner,
U1 Records U1 Records is an Indian music company, founded by music composer Yuvan Shankar Raja. History Yuvan Shankar Raja launched his own music label, U1 Records, and public YouTube page in 2015. The label has associated itself with film soundtrack a ...
. ''
The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'' gave a positive review for the album stating: "A job well done by Sundaramurthy!".


Release

The film released on 28 June 2019, to mostly positive reviews. Aha acquired the streaming rights of the movie and premiered Jiivi on 25 June 2021.


Critical reception

''The Times of India'' gave 3.5/5 stating that "Technically, too, the film is as slick as its writing, turning it into one of the memorable thrillers of the year", The reviewer also added "Jiivi is definitely one of the interesting lead characters we have seen in Tamil cinema in the last few years". ''The Hindu'' wrote "A surprisingly well-made thriller, whose individual parts are more terrific than its whole". Behindwoods rated 3/5 stating "Neat writing and engaging screenplay makes 'Jiivi' a good thriller. Try not to miss." Sify.com noted "Overall, ''Jiivi  ''joins the team of '' ''interesting mystery thrillers released this year". ''Indiaglitz gave'' 3/5 and wrote ''"''But what greets in the theatres is an intelligent little film that culminates to a largely satisfying climax''".'' ''Dinamalar'' rated 3.5/5.
Film Companion Anupama Vinod Chopra () is an Indian author, journalist and film critic who served as the festival director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival from 2015 to 2023. She is also the founder and editor of the now-defunct digital platform Film Compani ...
stated "It’s a marvellous idea, but this is a film you admire more for what it wants to be than what it is. The fabulous conceit needed equally fabulous filmmaking".
Cinema Express ''Cinema Express'' was an Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language entertainment fortnightly magazine published from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was a part of The New Indian Express, The New Indian Express Group, which also publishes ''Samakalika Mal ...
rated 3 out of 5 stars stating "A competent thriller aided by its strong and flawless writing".


Sequel

A sequel to this film called ''
Jiivi 2 ''Jiivi 2'' is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language thriller film directed and written by V.J Gopinath and produced by Suresh Kamatchi. The film stars Vetri in the lead role, alongside an ensemble cast including Karunakaran, Ashwini Chandrashekar, ...
'' was released on 19 August 2022 directly on aha Tamil OTT Platform with all the cast members reprising their roles from this film.


References


External links

*{{IMDb title, tt10556036 2010s Tamil-language films 2010s Indian films 2019 films 2019 thriller films Indian thriller films