Purampokku Engira Podhuvudamai

Development

Three years after his last directorial Peranmai (2009), Jananathan announced that his next directorial would feature Jiiva and Jayam Ravi, who both starred in Jananathan's earlier films, playing lead roles. Yuvan Shankar Raja was reported to be the composer of the film, which was to begin in mid-January 2013. Since the actors were busy with other commitments, the project failed to take off. In 2013, Jananathan announced the project titled Purampokku with Arya and Vijay Sethupathi in lead roles, with newcomer Varshan handling the music direction instead of Yuvan Shankar Raja and N. K. Ekambaram wielding the camera.

Casting

Jananathan revealed that the film would be a political action thriller with Arya portraying role as a social and financial analyst, while Vijay Sethupathi would appear as a railway Khalasi. Posters released from the production unit revealed Arya with a resemblance of Bhagat Singh. In December 2013, Karthika Nair was signed to play the lead female role, as she could speak Tamil fluently and had to share screen space with two tall heroes. Her role was said to be an action-packed one where she would perform her stunt sequences herself. Jananathan stated that though there are two heroes in the film, there will be just one heroine. Later Shaam, who earlier appeared in director's debut film Iyarkai (2003), was selected to play the role of police officer. A promotional photo-shoot with Arya, Vijay Sethupathy and Shaam was held in December.

Filming

Principal photography of the film started on 11 January 2014 in Kulu Manali. The film was shot extensively around Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chennai. When filming an emotional scene involving Shaam and Vijay Sethupathi, Jananathan shot the scene in a unique way such that he allowed the actors to enact the entire sequence at one stretch. Though it was tough to shoot, the method ensured that the improvisations the actors had in mind were implemented on the spot. Later, the director broke the sequence into shots and got exactly what he wanted and made the actors enact certain portions again. The shooting was postponed for a while in June 2014 as the lead actors went to complete their other projects. The lead actors had to learn to ride a camel for a few scenes in the film shot in Jaisalmer. Arya had to perform the risky stunt of running on top of a moving train in an important sequence in the film. A huge prison set was erected in Chennai where an extensive 45-day production schedule was shot with the lead actors of the film. On 4 August 2014, the shooting of the film was temporarily cancelled by the production unit and joined the protest declared by the Tamil Nadu Film Director's union against the Government of Sri Lanka's army for writing articles on their official website degrading the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J. Jayalalitha. The principal photography of the film was completed on 17 December 2014.

Soundtrack

Newcomer Varshan composed the songs. Parinaman, Vijay Sagar and Na. Muthukumar wrote the lyrics. The film score was composed by Srikanth Deva.

Release

The teaser of the film was released on 15 August 2014 in theatres across the country. The trailer of the film was released on 4 February 2015 in theaters and social media platforms. The film was listed in the "Top 10 most anticipated films of 2014". The film released on 15 May 2015 alongside Jyothika's 36 Vayadhinile.

Box Office

The film was successful at the box office, affirms Forbes.

Critical reception

The film received predominantly positive reviews from critics.The Hindu wrote, "The greatness of Purampokku lies not in the fact that it takes complex issues such as death penalty and privatisation to create a superb, entertaining film. On the contrary, Purampokku provides a blue print – evidence, if you like – for filmmakers to show how one can deal with controversial topics without watering down the complexity of the issue or settling for a silly compromise". The Times of India gave the film 3 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Jhananthan takes his own sweet time to get to the crux of the story, spending too much time on songs and establishing the grandness of the prison set, but once the plot gets moving, Purampokku is completely engaging. That the director manages to make it a solid political commentary and also an effective thriller at once is an accomplishment". The New Indian Express wrote, "Informative and entertaining, Purampokku... is one film where the characters and moments linger in the mind, even after one leaves the theatre". Rediff gave the film 3 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Purampokku Engira Podhuvudamai is an honest and compelling political thriller that debates the arbitrary nature of capital punishment against the backdrop of a communist revolution".

Sify, however, wrote, "SP Jananathan's dialogues are splendid, he casually spill all his communism ideologies in every possible scenes but as the concept of the film itself is universal, the execution should have been top notch and flawless but here things are progressively poor and amateurish".

Controversies

In August 2013, cinematographer Natraj Subramaniam claimed that he had already registered the title Purampokku for a future film, and claiming that he did not give anyone permission to use the title, threatened to take legal action against anyone who did so. In November 2013, UTV Motion Pictures confirmed that the title Purampokku will be retained for the film as confirmed by the South Indian Film Chamber, Tamil Film Producers Council and Film & Television Producers's Guild. However, the film was later retitled Purampokku Engira Podhuvudamai, with the director saying, "the word 'Purampokku' has become abusive today...the title was needed to stress upon the forgotten fact that everything is common for all".