''Nedunchalai'' (

Highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

) is a 2014

Tamil language Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...

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. ...

written and directed by N. Krishna and produced by Aaju, C. Soundarajan and Dheeraj Kher. This film features Aari Arujunan and Sshivada in the lead roles, with

Thambi Ramiah Thambi Ramaiah is an Indian actor, director and comedian who works in the Tamil film industry. He has also worked occasionally as a lyricist. He directed three films, ''Manu Needhi'' (2000), ''Indiralohathil Na Azhagappan'' (2008) and ''Maniyaa ...

and

Prashant Narayanan Prashant Narayanan is an Indian actor, known for his roles in films like '' Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II'', '' Shadows of Time'', '' Bombil and Beatrice'', '' Via Darjeeling'' and '' Murder 2''. He also worked in the telefilm ''Ek Tamanna''. His ...

in another pivotal roles. It was released on 28 March 2014.

Plot

Set in 1988, the plot revolves around a dacoit, known as ''Tharpai Murugan'' who falls in love with a

motel A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the Parking lot, parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central Lobby (room), lo ...

owner.

Cast

* Aari Arujunan as 'Tharpai' Murugan ** Kishore DS as Young Murugan * Sshivada as Manga *

as Masanamuthu *

as Master *

Salim Kumar Salim Kumar (born 10 October 1969) is an Indian actor, comedian, director and writer in Malayalam cinema. Mostly known for his comic and comedy roles, Salim Kumar is considered one of the best and most prominent comedians in the history of Mala ...

as Maattu Sekhar * Ashvin Raja as Soozhi * Kishore Kumar as Settu * Ken Karunas as Mani Hotel Assistant * Thavasi as Murugan's Foster father (Chiyaan) * Kannan Ponnaiya (Executive Producer)

Production

The film was announced in February 2012 with director N. Krishna, of '' Sillunu Oru Kaadhal'' (2006) fame, choosing to move on to his next venture instead of waiting for his long pending project ''Yen Ippadi Mayakkinai?'' to release. Aari Arujunan, who appeared in '' Rettaisuzhi'' (2010) and '' Maalai Pozhudhin Mayakathilaey'' (2012) was cast in the male lead role, with Sshivada, who has appeared in Malayalam films pairing opposite him.

was also signed on to play a pivotal role in the film (Tamil debut), as well as supporting actor

. The title was revealed to be ''Nedunchalai'' in March 2012 with the makers adamant that the title did not clash with another project titled ''Desiya Nedunchalai'' during the period.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album was composed by C. Sathya. The film's music was released on 1 July 2013 at an event where

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...

, who had collaborated with director

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

in '' Sillunu Oru Kaadhal'' (2006), was invited as chief guest.

Critical reception

The film released to overall positive reviews. Baradwaj Rangan wrote, "In his previous film, Sillunu Oru Kaadhal, the director Krishna lost his way in trying to balance an intimate story with the overblown must-haves of a star-driven movie. He doesn’t make that mistake in ''Nedunchalai'', which is toplined by Aari Arujunan and a terrific newcomer named Shivada", calling it "a rock-solid B-movie" and "one of the season’s happiest surprises".

Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology (ICT) company providing telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation integration services, and ...

wrote "The over-the-top characters along with their spontaneous dialogues make ''Nedunchalai'' worth a look. Despite its minor flaws, it makes-up with style and excellence".

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 the film 3 stars out of 5 and wrote, "From the characterization of the hero (right down to his costumes) to the tragic climax, the shadow of Ameer's '' Paruthiveeran'' looms large on ''Nedunchalai'', and this is both its strength and weakness" and stated that "this film is certainly a surefooted effort that shows that this director can tell an engaging tale". Behindwoods gave it 2.75 stars out of 5 and wrote "Although the movie has a few goodies to offer, it lacks those moments that can blow you over The film...doesn’t have too many twists, turns or humps that your eyes might want to look out for". In 2015 SIIMA,the film bagged two nominations including ''The Best Debut Actor'' for Aari and ''The Best Actor in a Negative Role'' for Prashanth Narayanan.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2014 films 2010s Tamil-language films 2010s road movies Indian road movies Films scored by C. Sathya