Yuddham Sei

Yuddham Sei
File:Yuddham-Sei-Movie.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mysskin
Written by	Mysskin
Produced by	Kalpathi S. Aghoram Kalpathi S. Ganesh Kalpathi S. Suresh
Starring	Cheran Dipa Shah Y. G. Mahendra Lakshmi Ramakrishnan Jayaprakash Selva Srushti Dange Ineya
Cinematography	Sathya
Edited by	Gagin
Music by	K
Production company	AGS Entertainment
Distributed by	AGS Entertainment Lonewolf Productions
Release date	4 February 2011 (2011-02-04)
Running time	152 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Yuddham Sei (Template:Lang-en) is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language neo-noir film written and directed by Mysskin. It stars director Cheran and debutant Dipa Shah in the lead roles alongside an ensemble cast including Y. G. Mahendra, Lakshmi Ramakrishnan, Jayaprakash, and Selva in supporting roles. The film was released on 4 February 2011 and was remade in Kannada as Gharshane.

Plot

The film opens on a rainy night. A woman trying to hire an auto standing by the curb, notices an unconscious girl in the backseat. She proceeds to call the police upon realizing that something is amiss, but she is chased by a man seated in the driver's seat.

The scene then shifts to a New Year's celebration by the beach where a cardboard box atop a car attracts the attention of revellers. The police are called. A similar box is also found in a park. Amputated male arms are found in the boxes, and the case is put onto Senior Inspector J. Krishnamoorthy, known as J. K. (Cheran), of the CB-CID. He is a brooding ex-cop who shifted from law and enforcement, paying the price for honesty, and at present is searching for his sister Charu (Ineya) who disappeared six months prior. Prakash (Shankar) and Tamilselvi (Dipa Shah) are two juniors who are put onto the case to assist JK. At the morgue, they meet Judas Iscariot (Jayaprakash), a medical examiner, to investigate the hands. Judas, mildly esoteric, often draws parallels between JK and Jiddu Krishnamurthi. JK is able to identify one pair of hands as belonging to auto driver Moorthy and follows the lead. Through a local goon named Surendra, they single out a middleman named Rajamanickam. JK then gets a cop to give him sensitive information stored in files at the ACP's office while still trying to trace his sister. He often goes and visits the place where his sister was last seen in the hope of getting clues. Meanwhile, Rajamanickam is tortured, and his hands are amputated and displayed. A plain clothes constable gives a tip that Rajamanickam's bike is at a lodge in Triplicane. JK goes to investigate but finds a man, Raghu (whom Rajamanickam visited at the lodge), killed in his room. He chases a man who crossed him on his way up, but loses him.

The focus then shifts to John Britto, a missing man who stayed with Raghu. Interviewing Britto's brother, he finds that Britto was the cause of disgrace to Dr. Purushothaman (Y. G. Mahendra) and his family, who all committed suicide the previous September. JK gets permission to reopen Purushothaman's case. Purushothaman had been charged of bribery, and his wife Annapoorni (Lakshmy Ramakrishnan), of instigating a lab attendant, Manikandan, to have sex with her. However, everyone questioned has only nice things to say about the family, while Manikandan is said to be a scoundrel. It is found that Manikandan has been missing since November.

Introduce the green Qualis, which prevents an auto driver from kidnapping a drugged woman and takes him in instead.

Tamilselvi, while looking at old case records of the Purushothaman case, finds that he had a daughter named Suja (Srushti Dange) who disappeared on the same day when Charu did – September 6. JK investigates Purushothaman's house and later goes to get details from a dodgy inspector, Isakki Muthu (G. Marimuthu), who handled the Purushothaman case. JK leads Isakki to give him details about Dorai Pandi (Manikka Vinayagam), a textile shop owner who was accused of peeping at girls in the change room of his shop through a hole in his office (one of whom was Suja).

JK then interviews Dorai Pandi, who was able to get off after his manager Nadhamani took the blame. JK is unfazed and undeterred by what Dorai Pandi has to say and concludes the case is showing resemblances of having the Rashomon effect. He then reconfirms again with Judas on the Purushothaman autopsy. He is able to get a major lead when he finds that there were two people in the auto that took Suja from her dance class. The same is established for his sister's disappearance.

We then find that ACP Trisangu (Selva), Isakki Muthu, Dorai Pandi, Sharif, Inba (Yugendran), Raghu's murderer, and the missing men – Nagoo, Moorthy, and Rajamanickam - are in cahoots. Tirusangu arranges for a few men to deal with JK and keep his nose out of their business. At this time, Sharif is kidnapped by the same Qualis. JK deals with the men (Intermission) and Sharif is executed but not before he names a few men.

A new box appears in a club used by two of the named and Sharif's head with the eyelids cut off is found outside Isakki's police station. JK triangulates all misdeeds to the ACP and Isakki Muthu, but his boss Chandramouli (Aadukalam Naren) refuses to have the officers questioned, fearing higher pressure. Unable to take any further action, JK requests a gun permit.

We then find that Charu is being held captive by Trisangu. It is discovered she is the woman from the first scene. He plans to use her for later. Then, the Qualis comes again and tries to kidnap Isakki, but it is forced to flee when JK intervenes. Trisangu realizes that someone is looking for revenge for Purushothaman's death, and with the help of Purushothaman's ex-classmate, finds out whom. Both Trisangu and JK then find that Purushothaman's family may not be dead. At a party, Judas comes in and tells Dorai Pandi & Co. (the men named by Sharif) that he is willing to sell information about their activities. He leads them to a van where they are gassed in, but while leaving, a shootout takes place between Trisangu and JK, in which Judas dies after confessing.

Trisangu & Co. kidnap and drug virgin girls. They then organize “peep shows” where those girls are stripped naked and raped before Dorai Pandi and others who are impotent, for a huge sum of money. Suja (Srushti Dange) is one such victim (the girl in the auto). It is during her incident that Charu is also apprehended. Unable to bear the trauma, she commits suicide. Her parents and Judas decide to take revenge on all those responsible. They fake their death after meticulous planning. They kidnap Britto and then the peon Manikandan and make them confess. Auto drivers Nagoo, Moorthy, and Rajamanickam were then kidnapped, tortured, and had their arms amputated.

The boy Nishanth (Sunil Choudhary) is caught in the fracas and taken in. JK receives a call from Trisangu's lot who want to trade Charu for Nishanth. Chandramouli refuses to do so. However, his subordinates - Prakash, Tamilselvi, and Constable Kitappa (E. Ramdoss) - bring Nishanth to JK at the cost of their jobs. Nishanth reveals the location of his parents as the old Binny Mills. Both parties head there. Another shootout occurs. Nishanth is caught by Isakki but is distracted by the arrival of a blinded Dorai Pandi & Co., and also Britto and Manikandan, both with their tongues cut off. Purushothaman and Annapoorni rush out and attack Isakki. Irrespective of how many times they are shot, they continue their onslaught, killing Isakki and the others of the gang, one by one. Finally, Tirsangu arrives with Charu. Seeing her as their daughter Suja and this as a chance to save her life, they sacrifice themselves for her as JK kills Tirsangu.

Dorai Pandi is sentenced to 13 years prison. The others have 6–7 years, with the exception of Britto and Manikandan, who are given three years. Nishanth is asked to be produced in court by the police, but JK covertly sends him abroad as Mahesh Muthuswamy, giving him Viktor Frankl’s Man's Search for Meaning, asking him to search for the meaning of his parents' sacrifice. Due to that, JK's team is suspended for six months for letting a convict escape.

Cast

• Cheran as Senior Inspector J. Krishnamoorthy (J.K.)
• Dipa Shah as Thamizhselvi
• Y. G. Mahendra as Dr. Purushothaman
• Lakshmi Ramakrishnan as Annapoorni Purushothaman
• Jayaprakash as Dr. Judas Iscariot
• Selva as Trisangu
• Manikka Vinayagam as Duraipandi
• G. Marimuthu as Esakki Muthu
• Ineya as Charu
• Srushti Dange as Suja
• Shankar as Prakash
• Sunil Choudhary as Nishant
• E. Ramdoss as Constable Kitappa
• Yugendran as Inba
• Naren as Chandramouli
• Charulatha Mani (cameo appearance)
• Neetu Chandra as item number
• Ameer (special appearance)
• Charu Nivedita (special appearance)

Production

Mysskin originally cast Udhayanidhi Stalin as the lead actor of the film, which would have marked his acting debut. After participating in a photoshoot and a few early test shoots, Stalin opted out and cited he wanted his first film to be a comedy rather than a thriller.

Based entirely in Chennai, Yuddham Sei shoot was completed within 50 days.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by K and released by Sony Music India.

Yuddham Sei
Soundtrack album by K
Released	Jan 21, 2011
Recorded	2011
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	31:31
Label	Sony Music India
Producer	K
K chronology
Yuddham Sei (2011) Mugamoodi (2012)

Track list

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Kannitheevu Ponna"	Kabilan	Raqueeb Alam, M. L. R. Karthikeyan	4:34
2.	"Aararo Aariro"	Kabilan	Mysskin	4:43
3.	"Kabhi Jind"	Raqueeb Alam	Raqueeb Alam	4:08
4.	"Vedham Pudhumai Sei"	Mahakavi Bharathiyar	Mysskin	0:58
5.	"A Tale (Dark) Theme"		Instrumental	2:06
6.	"Box (Pandora) Theme"		Instrumental	2:43
7.	"Life (Goes on) Theme"		Instrumental	2:43
8.	"Chaos (Order) Theme"		Instrumental	3:44
9.	"Hope (The Last Resort) Theme"		Instrumental	5:52
Total length:				31:31

Release

Made on a budget of ₹4 crore, Yuddham Sei was a commercial success.

Critical reception

The Times of India gave 4 stars out of 5 and wrote, "With its apt casting and superb performances and direction, Yuddham Sei carries all the weapons needed for it to win its battle at the box-office". Rediff gave 3 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Yuddham Sei may have its flaws, but Mysskin's neat touches of situational humour, clever twists in the first half and convincing characters make this a neat film, if not a classic".

Sify called the film "average" and wrote, "the film has a few gripping moments but suffers on account of inconsistent writing which makes it drag in the second half". The Hindu wrote, "Mysskin is a thinking director, who makes no bones about his yen for makers in the league of Kurosawa and Kitano. The influence is generally seen in his intelligent storylines. Yet the first half of YS hangs in strands and confounds the viewer — ambiguity rules the segment. Nevertheless, the latter half brings you to the edge of your seat, most of the time". IANS gave 3 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Despite slow second-half, the films does impress as a smart and realistic detective story". Behindwoods gave 2.5 stars out of 5 and called it "A slow paced well made thriller". Deccan Herald wrote, "Stylised camerawork, haunting score and decent performances keep one interested, though the film is pulled down by its own weighty expectations. Still, Yuddham... is worth its while and wallet". Indiaglitz wrote, "Yudham Sei is absolutely watchable just for Mysskin and his way of story telling".

External links

• Yuddham Sei at IMDb