''Thunai Mudhalvar'' () is a 2015 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

political satire Political satire is a type of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics. Political satire can also act as a tool for advancing political arguments in conditions where political speech and dissent are banned. Political satir ...

film written by

K. Bhagyaraj Krishnaswamy Bhagyaraj (born 7 January 1953) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, actor, composer, film producer and politician active mainly in Tamil films. He has also written and directed Hindi films and TV serials. As an actor, he has ...

and directed by R. Vivekanandan. The film stars

Bhagyaraj Bhagyaraj is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *K. Bhagyaraj (born 1953), Indian film director *Poornima Bhagyaraj, Indian actress *Praveena Bhagyaraj (died 1983), Indian actress *Shanthanu Bhagyaraj Shanthanu Bhagyaraj (born ...

and

Jayaram Jayaram Subramaniam, (born 10 December 1965), is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, in addition to Tamil cinema, Tamil, Telugu cinema, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Sanskrit, and Bhojpuri language films. He is also a chenda ...

in the lead roles while

Shweta Menon Shwetha Menon (born 23 April 1974) is an Indian actress, model, television anchor and beauty pageant titleholder. She has won '' Femina Miss India Asia Pacific 1994''. She has predominantly acted in Malayalam and Hindi language films, besides ap ...

, and Sandhya among others form an ensemble cast. Music for the film was composed by four different music directors and the film opened to negative reviews in April 2015.

Cast

as Periya Pandi *

as Chinna Paandi * Sandhya as Rukmani *

Swetha Menon Shwetha Menon (born 23 April 1974) is an Indian actress, model, television anchor and beauty pageant titleholder. She has won '' Femina Miss India Asia Pacific 1994''. She has predominantly acted in Malayalam and Hindi language films, besides ap ...

as Thangam *

Junior Balaiah Raghu Balaiah (28 June 1953 – 2 November 2023), popularly known as Junior Balaiah, was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil language films. The son of actor T. S. Balaiah, he primarily featured in supporting roles throughout his career, whi ...

* Tarun Kumar *

Mohan Raman Mohan Raman, also known as Mohan V. Ram (born 3 April 1956), is an Indian actor and writer. In 2017 and 2019, he was a Jury member for the National Film Award for Best Writing on Cinema. Raman is a film historian and writes for ''The Hindu''. H ...

Kovai Senthil Kumarasamy, known by his stage name, Kovai Senthil, was a Tamil film character artist who appeared in Tamil films starting with Bhagyaraj's '' Oru Kai Osai''. He appeared in over 400 Tamil films. Career During his career, Kovai Senthil mad ...

Nellai Siva Sivanathan Shanmugavelan Ramamoorthy (16 January 1952 – 11 May 2021), better known by his stage name Nellai Siva, was an Indian comedian and actor, who predominantly worked in Tamil cinema. He worked mostly in comedy scenes. His first film wa ...

Manobala Balachandar (8 December 1953 – 3 May 2023), known by his stage name Manobala (), was an Indian actor, film producer, director, comedian, and YouTuber who predominantly played supporting roles in Tamil-language films. He worked predominantly i ...

* T. P. Gajendran * Ranganathan * Sembuli Jagan * Gowtham (vijith) * Koshr *

Raju Jeyamohan Raju Jeyamohan (born 2 July 1991) is an Indian actor, television presenter and model in the Indian film industry, who has worked predominantly in Tamil television shows and films. Raju made his debut in the movie '' Natpuna Ennanu Theriyuma'' in ...

Production

During the audio launch of

Bharathiraja Bharathiraja ( born 17 July 1941) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor who works mainly in the Tamil film industry. Making his debut in 1977 with ''16 Vayathinile'', he is known for realistic and sensitive portrayals of ...

's ''

Annakodi ''Annakodi'' is a 2013 Indian Tamil-language film directed and written by Bharathiraja. The film stars Lakshman Narayan, Karthika Nair and Manoj Bharathiraja. It has music by G. V. Prakash Kumar. The film, earlier titled ''Annakodiyum Kodiveeran ...

'' (2013) in January 2013, Bhagyaraj announced that he was working a script titled ''Thunai Mudhalvar Unopposed'' and that he was finalising the cast for the project. The film was launched in December 2013, with

signed on to appear alongside Bhagyaraj in the lead roles, while newcomer Vivekanandan would handle the film's direction.

was also signed on, marking her fourth film in the Tamil film industry, as was

Meenakshi Meenakshi (, ; also spelled as Minakshi; also known as , and ) is a Hindu goddess. She is the tutelary deity of Madurai and is considered a form of the goddess Parvati. She is the divine consort of Sundareśvarar, a form of Shiva and the si ...

, and the team began shoot in

Pollachi Pollachi is a town and municipality in Coimbatore district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Pollachi taluk. It is situated near the center of the South Indian Peninsula, surrounded by Western Gha ...

. Bhagyaraj "ghost-directed" the film, often changing the script and dialogues of the film on location. Meenakshi later opted out of the project and was replaced by Sandhya, who played Jayaram's wife in the film.

Soundtrack

Music composed by Jai; Balaji; PradeepHarish-Jai.

Release

The film opened to negative reviews in April 2015, with a critic from

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

noting it "is an outdated film that verges on the obscene" and that "its plot, its setting, its pace, its depiction of women — is dated". Likewise, a critic from

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 ...

noted "the whole enterprise feels like some badly made TV serial", particularly criticizing the film's depiction of women.

References

{{K. Bhagyaraj 2015 films 2010s Tamil-language films 2010s Indian films Indian political satire films Films with screenplays by K. Bhagyaraj 2015 directorial debut films