Ethir Neechal (2013 film)

The film's title was derived from the 1968 film of the same name.

In 1987, a woman named Sivagami (Surekha Vani) has complications while giving birth. Sivagami's husband (Pasanga Sivakumar) prays to his native deity that if she delivers his baby successfully, he would name the baby with the name of the deity. The baby is born without any problems and as per the wish, they name the baby Kunjithapadham (Sivakarthikeyan). As a boy, Kunjithapadham faces many problems and embarrassments due to his name, as his peer mates call him "Kunju" or "Kunji" (the private part of the male body). He decides to change his name, but his mother falls ill, and he prays to God that he would never change his name.

Years later, Sivagami dies. Kunjithapadam's friend Peter (Sathish) advises him to change his name in order to have a change in his life. After meeting an astrologer named Gunasekara Raja (Manobala), he renames himself "Harish". Luck starts to him from that day onwards. He falls in love with Geetha (Priya Anand) and succeeds in winning her heart. He later gets a job, and life goes smoothly for him. One day, his lottery ticket hits victory, and he must cash it in for a TV as a prize. However, the lottery has registered his name as "Kunjithapadham". He gets the TV, but Geetha finds out his true name and berates him for lying to her about his name. She tells him that he needs to succeed something in life in order to win her heart.

Harish decides to participate in the Chennai Marathon. He meets with a trainer, Coach J. Prakash alias JP (Jayaprakash), who takes him to his former student Valli (Nandita Swetha), who had quit athletics. She agrees to train Harish. Later, he sees her crying in the terrace with a photo of her dead father (Sharath Lohitashwa). Harish asks her to tell her past. Valli was a naturally talented athlete from her young days. She gets trained under JP. Her father supported her talent and spoke with many men to get her past many tournaments. She got into a state level tournament where she beat the rookie of the corrupt coach named Raja Singh (Ravi Prakash). Infuriated, Raja Singh accused Valli of failing a gender verification test. The board punished Valli and stopped her from participating. Heartbroken, Valli's father died of a heart attack. JP had then met with an accident.

Hearing this flashback, Harish is moved and decides to win the marathon. Geetha also urges him to win it for the sake of Valli. During the marathon, Harish faces stiff competition from another one of Raja Singh's rookies, but he eventually wins the race and publicly reveals Valli's innocence. Raja Singh is arrested, and Valli resumes athletics. Harish later opens and runs a training academy under his original name. A man named Dinakaran (Attakathi Dinesh), acting on Harish's advice, proposes his love to Valli, and she accepts.

Following the success of the soundtrack of 3, Dhanush roped in Anirudh Ravichander to compose the soundtrack album and background score, for Ethir Neechal, marking his second feature film as music director.[13] The soundtrack features six songs that belonged to varied genres; Vaali, Dhanush and R. S. Durai Senthilkumar penned lyrics for two songs each. For the title track "Ethir Neechal" composer Anirudh roped in Punjabi rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh,[14][15] and Adhi from the duo Hiphop Tamizha, to croon the rap versions of the song.[16] The album's final mixing took place in Mumbai.[17]

It was announced that Sony Music had brought the marketing rights for the film's soundtrack album.[18] The soundtrack was initially slated to be released on 20 December 2012. However it was not confirmed from official sources.[19] The making of the album was launched by the film's crew members, prior to the audio launch.[20] The tracklist was released on 9 January 2013.[21][22] The soundtrack album was released on 11 January 2013.[23][24] The release coincided with the promotional launch event held at 92.7 Big FM Radio Station with Dhanush, Sivakarthikeyan, Anirudh, Durai Senthilkumar and RJ Balaji in attendance.[25][26] To make the album launch more unique, Dhanush promoted that the film's album would be released on "Internet, CDs, YouTube and piracy sites" which received attention from movie buffs.[27][28]

The album topped the iTunes charts upon release.[29] Musicperk gave 8 out of 10 starts saying that "Anirudh seals this year".[30] Behindwoods rated 3.5 of 5 saying, "The album does well to consolidate Anirudh's sensational debut."[31] Indiaglitz gave the album 3 out of 5 stating Ethir Neechal re-introduces us to Anirudh's refreshing instrumentals and quick-impact music. Boomi Enna Suthudhe is likely to be enjoyed by most while the title track and Velicha Poove let you tune in to some interesting compositions. The lyrics are natural for most of its part, and will be liked by the youth. Our man Anirudh deserves a pat on his back for all his effort and will have a lot of promising music to offer in the upcoming years.[32] Milliblog gave a verdict "With Ethir Neechal, Anirudh proves that he’s not a one-hit or one-album wonder!"[33] India Study Channel gave 8 out of 10 to the album stating "Anirudh is back with powerful album and Ethitr Neechal is simply the best albums of recent time. It deserves special appreciation as each track belongs to different genre and still keeps the pace and freshness in each track. This is another album that proves that Anirudh is one of the best music directors hat we can rely upon in future."[34] The Times of India gave 3.5 out of 5 stating Ethir Neechal isn’t as rich as 3 in its sounding, but it’s a worthy follow up by composer Anirudh."[35] Kaushik LM reviewed it as "Ethir Neechal is a solid follow-up to 3, though sounding somewhat similar. Anirudh has created a distinct sound for himself very early in his career. Now it’s up to this youngster to prove that he can try different styles and genres."[36]

Initially, it was speculated that, Sun Pictures had acquired the distribution rights of the film.[37] However, it was proved untrue. The distribution rights of the film were secured by Vendhar Movies. The satellite rights of the film were purchased by STAR Vijay. Ethir Neechal was initially scheduled to release on April,[38] later being pushed to 1 May 2013.[39][40] The theatrical trailer of the film was released on 13 April 2013.[41] The film completed its censor formalities on 21 April 2013, where it was given a "U" certificate by the Indian Censor Board. The censors hinted, that the film would be a wholesome family entertainer.[42]

Ethir Neechal was released in 300 screens across Tamil Nadu on 1 May 2013,[43] clashing with Soodhu Kavvum and Moondru Per Moondru Kaadhal.[1] Apart from the Tamil Nadu release, the film was simultaneously released in the US, by Gramaphone LLC, which acquired the distribution rights.[44] The film's success was celebrated at the Victoria Hall in Geneva, Switzerland, along with audio functions of three other films distribuited by Vendhar Movies.[45]

• Ethir Neechal at IMDb