| Iru Mugan | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Anand Shankar |
| Written by | Anand Shankar |
| Produced by | Shibu Thameens |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | R. D. Rajasekhar |
| Edited by | Bhuvan Srinivasan |
| Music by | Harris Jayaraj |
Production company | |
| Distributed by |
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Release date |
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Running time | 154 minutes[1] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
| Box office | ₹95 crore[2] |
Iru Mugan (transl. Two faced man) is a 2016 IndianTamil-languagescience fictionaction thriller film directed byAnand Shankar and produced by Shibu Thameens under the bannerThameens Films. The film starsVikram indual roles, alongsideNayanthara,Nithya Menen,Nassar,Thambi Ramaiah andKarunakaran in supporting roles. In the film, an ex-R&AW agent sets out to track down a scientist, who has created a hazardous drug that can boostadrenaline levels.
Principal photography commenced in December 2015. The major portion of the film was shot inMalaysia with few sequences inChennai,Bangkok,Ladakh andKashmir.[citation needed]Harris Jayaraj composed the soundtrack and musical score, whileR. D. Rajasekhar andBhuvan Srinivasan handled the cinematography and editing respectively.
Iru Mugan was released on 8 September 2016 to positive reviews from critics and was a commercial success at the box office.
An elderly Malaysian man goes berserk and kills several Indian officers in a span of five minutes at theIndian Embassy inKuala Lumpur before collapsing. A tattoo of a love symbol is present at the back of his neck, leadingR&AW agency to conclude that it is the handiwork of a roguetransgender scientist named LOVE, whose identity and whereabouts are unknown to anyone except their retired agent Akhilan Vinod. Four years ago while on an assignment to bust LOVE, Akhilan's wife Meera George was killed by them. The R&AW operative Malik tracks down Akhilan and convinces him to join the investigation.
On viewing the video footage of the attack, Akhilan concludes that the elderly Malaysian man had taken a mysterious performance enhancing drug which allowed him to attack the Indian officials and decides to investigate the matter further in Malaysia. Since Akhilan is under suspension, Malik assigns him as a deputy to a junior R&AW agent named Arushi and the two of them leave for Kuala Lumpur. At Kuala Lumpur, Akhilan and Ayushi learn that the mysterious drug is inhaled using anasthma inhaler. Further investigations leads them to Peter, a scientist who is on LOVE'S payroll.
Peter becomes an informer and tells them about the drug calledSpeed. The drug causes a person, who inhales it, to have extraordinary strength for five minutes before falling unconscious, and if the person inhales the drug again within a few hours, they will suffer a massive heart attack. Peter also reveals that a shipment of Speed inhalers is to be dispatched to LOVE within the next 15 minutes. Akhilan and Arushi pursue the lorry carrying the inhalers, but a lorry driver inhales Speed and subdues the duo, where they are then taken to LOVE'S hideout. Akhilan goes to arrest LOVE, but is knocked out by Meera, who is still alive and has been working for love as a computer hacker by the nameROSY.
It is then revealed that Meera suffers fromretrograde amnesia after being attacked four years ago and that love took advantage of her situation to employ her as a computer hacker to create an impenetrable firewall. However, when LOVE orders Meera to kill Akhilan and Arushi, she points the gun at LOVE and calls the police, who arrests him. Meera reveals that she had been forced to take Speed by love to work faster, but the drug caused her to regain old memories, including those with Akhilan. Meera had soon regained her full memory after continuous use of the drug. While in custody, LOVE manages to obtain a Speed inhaler and inhales it, helping her escape and destroy the entire police station, killing Arushi and everyone present. Arushi had recorded the whole incident by using abluetooth camera.
Akhilan finds out that Love had made a satellite call to Chang, theTransport Minister of Malaysia, who had allowed LOVE to send shipments of Speed inhalers to India to perpetrate terror attacks there in return for money. Akhilan rushes to the hospital, where Chang is admitted and interrogates him. During the interrogation, LOVE sneaks into the hospital and, hiding in the air conditioning vent, sprays aneurotoxic gas in Chang's room, causing Akhilan and Chang to get paralyzed. LOVE then kills Chang and puts the knife on Akhilan's hand, framing him as Chang's assassin. Akhilan and Meera are declared fugitives, but the duo manages to escape from the Malaysian police.
Akhilan and Meera decide to finish off LOVE using her kill switch activation device, which had been restored and hidden by Arushi before she was killed. As the device can only be opened with LOVE's fingerprint, they plan on obtaining her fingerprint. They sneak into an illegal airfield owned by Chang, where LOVE is planning to leave for India with the shipments of Speed inhalers. Akhilan inhales Speed and fights LOVE, who has also inhaled Speed, and manages to get her fingerprint before collapsing after the drug effect wears off.
On regaining consciousness, Akhilan finds out that LOVE has already left for India. It is shown that Akhilan usedsilica gel to get LOVE's fingerprints. Akhilan then uses the fingerprints to open the kill switch activation device, deactivates Meera's kill switch and kills all of LOVE's henchmen, including those piloting the plane. The plane crashes into a remote jungle, killing LOVE and destroying the Speed shipments. A few weeks later, Akhilan and Meera are enjoying a holiday cruise on a private boat, sponsored by the Government of Malaysia, as a reward for killing LOVE. It is revealed that Akhilan had secretly kept a Speed inhaler.
DirectorAnand Shankar andVikram were first announced to be collaborating in October 2014, with producerS. Thanu financing the venture.[3] Anand Shankar completed the script throughout early 2015 and touredMalaysia to find locations, while Vikram completed his other projects.
Kajal Aggarwal andPriya Anand were signed on to portray the lead actresses, whileManush Nandan andAnirudh Ravichander were approached to be the film's cinematographer and compose the film's music, respectively.[citation needed] The project was titled asMarma Manithan and was reported to begin shooting in Malaysia from June 2015.[citation needed] Instead, production disputes took place during June 2015 after Ayngaran International also announced their interest in producing the film, with Thanu attempting to hand over the rights of the film. Priya Anand also opted out of the film, withBindu Madhavi announced as her replacement. The ongoing changes subsequently stopped the team from beginning their shoot in Malaysia during July 2015, and the production was stalled.[4] The delays meant that Vikram stopped waiting for the makers to begin work, changed his specially-prepared facial hair and went back to add finishing touches to his other ongoing project,10 Endrathukulla (2015).[5][6]
Ayngaran International backed out of the film in November 2015, prompting Anand Shankar to re-approach different producers to find new funding for the project.[7] Later on in the month, Shibu Thameens agreed to produce the film and announced that the film would finally begin its first schedule in Malaysia during December 2015. The change of producer also meant significant changes were made to the cast and crew of the film, with Kajal Aggarwal dropped forNayanthara. Bindu Madhavi was left out of the new team, while the makers discussed the secondary lead role with actressesNithya Menen andParvathy Thiruvothu, before Menen was selected. Likewise,R. D. Rajasekhar andSuresh Selvarajan were brought on board to handle the film's cinematography and art direction, respectively.[8]
Harris Jayaraj was also subsequently confirmed as the film's music composer, and marked a return to signing films after taking a brief sabbatical actressKalyani Priyadarshan worked as aproduction designer for the film.[9]
The film was launched in December 2015, and it was revealed that the film would be shot inChennai,Ladakh,Bangkok and Malaysia.[10] The project was also retitled asIru Mugan and a first look poster was released in early January 2016. In early 2016, the team shot two schedules in Malaysia and then in Chennai, before Anand Shankar headed toKashmir to scout for further locations. A third schedule was completed in Chennai during March 2016.[citation needed]
| Iru Mugan | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | |||||
| Released | 14 August 2016 | ||||
| Recorded | 2015–2016 | ||||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | ||||
| Length | 22:13 | ||||
| Label | Sony Music | ||||
| Producer | Harris Jayaraj | ||||
| Harris Jayaraj chronology | |||||
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Harris Jayaraj composed the film's soundtrack and score, in which the film, marks his sixth collaboration with Vikram. The lyrics for the songs were written byMadhan Karky,Thamarai and Kavithai Gunder Emcee Jesz. The first song, "Halena", featuring Vikram andNayanthara, was shot in various locations aroundBangkok on April–May 2016 and the song's composition takes inspiration from the 2015 song "Trap Queen" performed by American rapperFetty Wap. The second song, "Oh Maya", which also features the lead pair once again, were shot on mid-May 2016 inKashmir, where a subsequent portion of the song was shot inLadakh on June. The recording process for the songs were completed within July 2016.Sony Music acquired the audio rights of the film. The tracklist was released on 11 August 2016, which features five songs in the album, where one was a theme song. The full album was released on 14 August 2016 at a launch event held atSathyam Cinemas,Chennai.[citation needed]
The album received mixed reviews.
Sify rated the album 4.25/5 reviewing that "This is vintage Harris delivering a mellifluous album!"[11]The Times of India rated 2.5/5, stating "Except for two songs, Harris doesn't really make an impact with this album."[12]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Halena" | Madhan Karky | Abhay Jodhpurkar,Ujjayinee Roy, Christopher Stanley | 4:48 |
| 2. | "Oh Maya" | Thamarai | N. C. Karunya,Ramya NSK | 5:03 |
| 3. | "Kannai Vittu" | Madhan Karky | Tippu,Srimathumitha, Praveen Saivi | 6:02 |
| 4. | "Irumugan Settai" | Kavithai Gundar Emcee Jesz | Kavithai Gunder Emcee Jesz, Steeve Vatz, Maalavika Manoj | 4:05 |
| 5. | "Face off (Theme)" | Maria Roe Vincent | 2:14 | |
| Total length: | 22:13 | |||
Irumugan was initially slated to release on 2 September 2016, coinciding withGanesh Chathurthi festival, but was pushed to 8 September 2016. However, the film did not release inKarnataka due to thebandh called byKarnataka Rakshana Vedike and also decided not to release any Tamil films on the state because of theKaveri River water dispute, which also affected several other Tamil films such asThodari,Remo,Rekka andDevi as the films did not have a theatrical release in Karnataka.
Zee Network bought the satellite rights of the film's Tamil and Hindi version, while the Telugu version were sold toDisney Star.[13]
M Suganth ofThe Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote "If Anand Shankar's previous filmArima Nambi had echoes ofK. Bhagyaraj'sRudhra, the set-up ofIru Mugan recalls that ofKamal Haasan'sVikram."[14] Sowmya S ofHindustan Times gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Iru Mugan is not free from commercial cliches but it still is a fun ride as a fast-paced thriller laced with chemistry and history lessons on drugs."[15]
Srivatsan ofIndia Today gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Iru Mugan could've easily been Tamil cinema's answer to Hollywood thrillers but it's neither a damn-good film or a bad one."[16]
Anupama Subramanian ofDeccan Chronicle wrote "Although formulaic in nature, Iru Mugan is a straightforward drug-infused thriller that is high on tempo and very unrelenting."[17] Sreedhar Pillai ofFirstpost wrote "Iru Mugan is a one-time stylish and racy entertainer and an out and out Vikram show, which has its moments."[18]
