Underplayed Gems

Uriyadi (2016)

Uriyadi poster
Original title
உறியடி
Directed by
Vijay Kumar
Genre
action film, political thriller film
Country
India
Runtime
2h 06m
Rated
A
Rating
7.8 of 10 from 24 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

Four young bachelors face a sudden crisis when a corrupt official drags them into dangerous caste politics. Their ordinary lives are upended by this threat.

tensegrittyurgentpoliticalvisceralsuspensefulserious

What happens

Uriyadi (Tamil: உறியடி) (transl. Breaking Point) is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language political action thriller film written, directed, and produced by filmmaker Vijay Kumar under Souvenir Productions in association with Nalan Kumarasamy and Sameer Bharat Ram, presented and co-produced by Satish Swaminathan. Starring Indian actors Vijay Kumar, Mime Gopi, Citizen Sivakumar, Chandru Kumar, Henna Bella, Jeyakanth Velu, and Suruli, its plot revolves around four bachelors whose carefree lives take a drastic turn when a corrupt official ensnares them in caste politics. Vijay Kumar wrote the script when he moved to the United States in early 2011, originally titled as Vidiyum Varai Vinmeengalaavom; however, the scripting process was delayed for more than a year due to Kumar's decision to create a storyboard to aid in its organization. After brief work in scripting, casting and pre-production, the film began principal photography in July 2013 and ended in October 2013. Most of the film's portions were shot in and around Chennai; it was followed by a lengthy post-production phase induced by censorship laws that forced Kumar to make a multitude of cuts and revisions before the final edit could be approved for release. Paul Livingstone handled the cinematography for the film, while editing was done by Abhinav Sunder Nayak. In addition to directing and acting in the film, Kumar also composed its score and oversaw its audio engineering. The film features a soundtrack album composed by Masala Coffee, Anthony Daasan and Vishal Chandrashekhar. Uriyadi was released theatrically on 27 May 2016, to highly positive critical reviews, praising its screenwriting, direction, performances, action sequences, and various technical aspects. Critics praised Vijay Kumar for his realistic filmmaking devoid of clichéd elements present in mainstream Tamil films. Lauded as one of the best political thrillers in Tamil cinema, Uriyadi earned Vijay Kumar his breakthrough in the film industry, granting him many accolades for his work. A spiritual sequel titled Uriyadi 2 was released on 5 April 2019. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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