Tamil actor's last two releases, Soorarai Pottru and Jai Bhim, had their premieres directly on OTT platforms. Soorarai Pottru was about the life and times of G R Gopinath, the man behind India's first budget airline Air Deccan (now defunct). Jai Bhim was about police atrocities against Dalits in Tamil Nadu. Though the films were based on real-life events and people, the movies faced the criticism that Suriya and his team had cunningly tweaked the events to fit the film. But Jai Bhim was also hugely popular, and was one of the biggest hits last year.
Be that as they may, Suriya's first release in theatres in the last three years, Etharkkum Thunindhavan, happened on March 10. The film directed by Pandiraj, however, was underwhelming and turned out to just a middling hit.
Now Etharkkum Thunindhavan, a rural family entertainer, is set for OTT release. It will stream on Netflix from April 7. The the film, which was produced by Sun Movies, will also be available on the OTT platform of the production house. Rajinikanth's Annaatthe, which was also from the same stable, similarly released on the same two platforms simultaneously.
Etharkkum Thunindhavan released in Telugu too, but was a total washout in that language.
A film based on Pollachi scandal
Apart from Suriya, the film stars Priyanka Arul Mohan Vinay Rai, Sathyaraj, Rajkiran, Saranya Ponvannan, among others. Ratnavelu handled the cinematography, and Iman was the music director.
The film is about an influential man, who uses young boys to lure college-going girls into relationships, and then exploits the girls to curry favours with powerful men. This is inspired by the 2019 Pollachi sexual assault case, which involved rapes and extortion from young women.
The film, however, received a lot of flak as lacking in empathy and sensitivity that such a serious subject needed. Director Pandiraj played up the film to Suriya's fan base. The actor has a tendency to 'masalafy' serious incidents for mainstream cinema. It is a failing that we saw in his previous two offerings too.
Etharkkum Thunindhavan, with family sentiments and action sequences, was neither one thing nor the other. It remains to be seen as to what kind of response it gets on the OTT platforms.
On the professional front, Suriya is currently working on Vaadivaasal with Vetrimaaran and another unnamed project director Bala. The actor is shooting simultaneously for both the movies.
