Uriyadi

Synopsis

The story revolves around three sets of characters: 1) Four carefree and adventurous friends who are college students in their final year of study, including Lenin Vijay (played by Vijaykumar), Suresh (played by Chandru), Akil (played by Jeyakanth), and Karthi (played by Sivaperumal); 2) a politician named Kumar (played by Mime Gopi) who is eager to begin his own caste-based political party; and 3) Ramanathan (played by Suruli), a part-time engineering student. The movie opens by showcasing the daily lives of the four student friends. The students soon meet the politician, Kumar, who also runs a roadside dhaba frequently visited by the students. Ramanathan, who has little luck with love, yearns for one college student who seems to be the ex-girlfriend of Lenin Vijay. One night, the four friends get very drunk and accidentally annoy some of the caste fanatics. Kumar, along with his uncle, happens to see this and contemplates how to take advantage of this tense situation.

In many subsequent scenes, the students get into trouble with the local residents. In one such instance in the dhaba, the politician comes to their rescue and hence they get in touch with each other. Later that night, however, one of the students is attacked by some of the local residents. The other students become furious, chase the locals, and a fight ensues. Meanwhile, Vijay’s ex-girlfriend is harassed by Ramanathan. This is witnessed by Karthi, who confronts and physically assaults Ramanathan and then narrates these events to Vijay. Later, to their surprise, Ramanathan’s friends wait in the dhaba to ambush Quarter. While all this is happening, the politician drafts plans to initiate a caste-based political party about which he has been dreaming. The plot reaches a climax when all three sets of characters meet and each of them discovers their mutual interconnections.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Masala Coffee and the background score was composed by Vijaykumar. A brief track listing follows:

Portrayal of violence

Many reviews of the film highlight the intense violence portrayed throughout. In an interview with the Business Standard, Kumar relates how actors were actually injured during filming: "I was supposed to hit someone in the back with a rod, and somehow the blow landed on his head, much to my surprise. Although we used a fiber rod, he suffered severe injury." A reviewer writing in Indiaglitz cautions, "even after being warned the violence in the film is excessive and causes the viewers to flinch and squirm." A critic writing in The Hindu noted the level of realism in the fight scenes, "here you see the chaos, you see people scrambling, slipping, falling — not people executing perfect punches."

Political significance

Some critics note the film's commentary on caste-based political parties. Writing in The Hindu, Baradwaj Rangan notes that director Vijaykumar illustrates "how these small outfits form a party whose mission is (apparently) to represent that particular caste, get votes from people belonging to that caste, get elected to power, and trade this power for favours from bigger parties."

Critical response

Uriyadi received strong critical acclaim. The Times of India gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, stating that Uriyadi "displays a daring that belies its small-budget, first-film credentials, and stakes its claim in the list of the best films of the year." Baradwaj Rangan, an Indian film critic and writer for The Hindu, stated that "Vijaykumar doesn't need a condescending pat on the back. He's a solid filmmaker, and he's made a gritty little film." Filmibeat rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, claiming that it "is one of the boldest attempts that exposes the devious nature of politicians who use caste to their advantage. And yes, this one is not for the faint-hearted." Sify's verdict is that the film is a "Violent revenge thriller", and gave the film 4 out of 5 stars; the reviewer also praised the realistic approach, Paul Livingstone’s cinematography, and the razor-sharp editing by Abhinav Sundar Nayak.

Indiaglitz also reviewed the film, describing it as a "gripping saga of extreme violence". A reviewer from Moviebuff.com rated the film 3.5/5, calling it as "the rise of Independent Cinema." A reviewer from Behindwoods noted that, "Cleverly screwing all the nuts and bolts at the right places, the movie encompasses all the elements that are a requisite for a gritty watch". He also noted that, "The theatre showing of Uriyadi was about to be cancelled in Aurora, Mumbai, but the movie-watching audience bought out the theatre so that the show did not get cancelled." In contrast, Gautaman Bhaskaran from Hindustan Times rated it 1/5, calling it as "A socially debase story on caste-based politics." However Uriyadi was listed in the Hindustan Times’ top 10 southern films of 2016 and praised the director Vijaykumar for his solid directorial debut.

The director of the movie, Vijaykumar also had a session with BOFTA direction students on how he went on doing his independent film and got success. After the interaction session, Director Cheran talked about Uriyadi and Vijaykumar and he mentioned that "Uriyadi Is A Film With A Bold Subject" Director Ram also appreciated that "Uriyadi Is A Genuinely Made Film" Also several other directors appreciated Uriyadi and Vijaykumar during the meeting

Uriyadi along with 12 other tamil films has been shortlisted for the competition section at the 8-day Chennai International Film Festival scheduled to begin on 15 December

Accolades

Radio Mirchi Madurai Awards:

Filmibeat Tamil Cinema Awards:

Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards:

Norway Tamil Film Festival:

Uriyadi appeared on many top ten lists of the best films of the year 2016.

India Today mentioned that Uriyadi received unanimous positive reviews from critics and fans and greatly appreciated for its raw and gritty concept and listed it in the "Top 10 South indian films of 2016". Uriyadi was listed in the Hindustan Times’ top 10 southern films of 2016 and praised the director Vijaykumar for his solid directorial debut. The Hindu released their list of best Kollywood films of 2016 where Uriyadi was also a part of it along with 12 other films In the 2016 kollywood rewind by the Deccan Chronicle, it was mentioned that the director Vijaykumar came out with a riveting action thriller. Uriyadi was also one among the eight tamil films in the best 8 Tamil films of 2016 list by the Malayalam Magazine. Behindwoods claimed that though the movie was seen by very few people, it was very well accepted by people and was selected among the 10 best movies of 2016. iFlicks praised Uriyadi and mentioned that the script is the main hero and captured Uriyadi as one of the best tamil cinema of 2016. Uriyadi was selected as one among the top 5 tamil movies of the year 2016 by Studioficks. Uriyadi was one among The Times of India’s top critically acclaimed movies of 2016 and was acclaimed as one of those low budget films that went under the radar but deserves to be applauded.