Yuddham Sei

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

Yuddham Sei (English: Wage War) is a 2011 Indian Tamil neo-noir crime thriller film written and directed by Myshkin.^[1] It stars director Cheran in the lead role along with debutant Dipa Shah, Y. G. Mahendra, Lakshmi Ramakrishnan and Jayaprakash. The film was released on 4 February 2011. The film was remade in Kannada as Gharshane.

Plot

The entire city of Chennai is shaken by news of amputated male arms packed in cartons and left in public places, possibly as a message to both the public and the police. The missing people are identified as Raja Manikam, Moorthy, John Britto and their friends from the slums based on identification from their families. J.K. (Cheran), a brooding CB-CID officer, is assigned to the case. He reluctantly accepts it since his superior promises to reopen the case of his missing sister if he solves this case first.

By triangulating the coordinates, J.K. and his colleagues find a lead in this case. Durai Pandi (Manicka Vinayagam) is a leading textile businessman who was beaten, insulted in public and handed over to the police after it was found that he had used a peephole to look into the women’s dressing room at one of his boutiques. He is caught by the victim Suja's family, who are totally shattered by this incident. The inspector in-charge of this case is Isakki Muthu. However, Durai Pandi's worker accepts the blame for the crime, clearing Durai Pandi's name. Later, Suja's father Dr. Purushothaman (Y. Gee. Mahendra) is arrested on charges of bribery, but is then released due to a lack of evidence. Also, a sexual harassment complaint is lodged against Dr. Purushothaman’s wife (Lakshmy Ramakrishnan) by one of her students who turns out to be John Britto. This chain of tragic events shatter the family, and they commit suicide by setting themselves on fire. But Suja still remains missing, so J.K. reopens her case.

More amputated arms turn up around the city. Even a police officer's arm from ACP Tirisangu's (Selva) team is left at the doorstep of their police station. This terrifies the police department since the criminal is targeting police officers too, and they intensify the investigation. After running a background check on Tirisangu, J.K. beings to suspect that there are some dishonest policemen in Tirisangu's station, as all the crimes have happened in that jurisdiction. In the mean time, Tirisangu’s gang members panic that J.K. would identify them, and try to kill him. As it turns out, J.K’s sister is being held captive by Tirisangu ever since she witnessed one of their crimes. He tells her that someday she would prove useful to him. Mortician Judas (Jayaprakash) offers to show Durai Pandi and his elderly associates a video. He leads them to a van with a laptop, and shuts the door after them. Smoke fills the inside of the van. J.K. appears on the scene, as he has been following Judas. Tirisangu also follows J.K. and shoots Judas. Two of Judas’s associates get into the van and drive away, and the third one, a youngster, is left behind. It turns out that the three of them are Dr. Purushothaman, his wife and their son, who everyone had thought was dead all this time. Before dying, Judas confesses a shocking truth to J.K.

Dr.Purushothaman’s daughter Suja and many other young women have been abducted, drugged and gang raped for the pleasure of several high-ranking men in the city who pay Tirisangu’s gang handsomely for their perverse enjoyment. After her assault, Suja was found wandering the streets while still being high, and was taken home. She commits suicide the following day having remembered what was done to her. The family is devastated and plan to take their own lives after killing everyone responsible for Suja's death. Judas, who is a close family friend, helps them to fake their suicides so that they can carry on with their plans. They kidnap John Britto, Raja Manikam and auto driver Moorthy who were involved in the kidnap and amputate all of them. They then kill the policeman who had arranged for Suja's kidnap. Judas dies after this confession in J.K's arms. Purushothaman’s son Nishanth is now in J.K.’s custody. Tirisangu calls J.K. and tells him that J.K. needs to lead him to the doctor’s family if he wants to see his sister alive. J.K. is devastated and helpless. Nishanth, who hasn’t spoken a word till then, tells Tirisangu where his parents are. J.K. and his subordinates arrive at the same time as Tirisangu and Isakki Muthu. They see that their rich old clients who were kidnapped are now blinded.

The doctor and his wife kill Isakki Muthu, and they approach Tirisangu with intent to kill, his bullets merely slowing them down. When he threatens to kill J.K.’s sister, the doctor’s family see her as their daughter, and give up their lives to protect her. They die with the satisfaction that they have saved the girl’s life. J.K. kills Tirisangu. The older members of Tirisangu’s gang are sentenced to 7 years in prison, and Durai Pandi gets 13 years in prison. The court suspends J.K. and his team mates for letting Nishanth escape. As the ruling is heard, J.K.’s sister and his subordinates are shown playing on the beach, with J.K. watching over them protectively. Then they all gaze at the horizon. J.K. helps send Nishanth abroad, after giving him a book, Man's Search for Meaning, by Holocaust survivor and philosopher Viktor Frankl, and promises to help him deal with his grief. The film ends with Nishanth at the airport, heading off to an unnamed foreign country to begin a new life for himself.

Cast

• Cheran as J. Kannan (J.K.)
• Dipa Shah as Thamizhselvi
• Y. Gee. Mahendra as Dr. Purushothaman
• Lakshmi Ramakrishnan as Annapoorni Purushothaman
• Jayaprakash as Dr. Judas Iscariot
• Selva as Trisangu
• Manicka Vinayagam as Duraipandi
• G. Marimuthu as Esakki Muthu
• Shankar as Prakash
• E. Ramadoss
• Yugendran as Inba
• Aadukalam Naren as Chandramouli
• Iniya as Charu
• Sunil Choudhary as Nishant
• Srushti Dange as Suja
• Charulatha Mani (cameo appearance)
• Neetu Chandra (special appearance)
• Ameer Sultan (special appearance)
• Charu Nivedita (special appearance)

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".^[2] 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".^[3]

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".^[4] 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".^[5] IANS gave 3 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Despite slow second-half, the films does impress as a smart and realistic detective story".^[6] Behindwoods gave 2.5 stars out of 5 and called it "A slow paced well made thriller".^[7] 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".^[8] Indiaglitz wrote, "Yudham Sei is absolutely watchable just for Mysskin and his way of story telling".^[9]

References

External links

• Yuddham Sei at the Internet Movie Database