Irudhi Suttru

During the production of her first directorial venture Drohi in 2010, Kongara began writing a sports drama film on boxing after reading an editorial in The Hindu about North Chennai and its boxing culture.[2] Kongara consequently began gathering further information about female boxers and networked with Indian Olympic athletes including Mary Kom, in order to help write her script. In September 2011, she approached Madhavan, who was on a sabbatical from Tamil films, to portray the lead role in the film and his presence in the project helped take the financial viability of the venture to a higher level.[3] The pair had previously collaborated in Madhavan's films under the direction of Mani Ratnam, where Kongara had been an assistant director.[4] Portraying a retired boxer, Madhavan grew a thick beard and sported long hair for his role in the film, while embarking on an intense body conditioning regime in Los Angeles during 2013.[5][6][7] Reports erroneously suggested that Madhavan was playing a role in another sports drama film, a biopic of the Indian boxer Mary Kom, and he clarified that he was acting on a separate film on boxing.[8] Ashvini Yardi was initially announced as the film's producer and began casting real life boxers including fighters from the Super Fight League for the film.[9] However then Y NOT Studios and Thirukumaran Entertainment agreed to jointly produce the film in May 2014, and Santhosh Narayanan was subsequently signed on to compose the film's music.[10] The team also brought in director Rajkumar Hirani, as a result of his close association with Madhavan, to act as creative producer for the film and he helped doctor the script to give it a pan-Indian appeal.[11]

The film's Hindi title was first revealed to be Laal and then was changed to Saala Khadoos in June 2014, with reports suggesting that the film would be loosely based on the life of boxing icon Muhammad Ali, a claim the team denied.[12] The film's Tamil title Irudhi Suttru (Final Round) was announced shortly after, with the team beginning production from 14 July 2014. Two professional boxers from a boxing academy, Ritika Singh and Mumtaz Sorcar, who has done films in Bengali, were signed to play the two female leads.[13] Singh had been initially spotted by Kongara on an advert for the Super Fight League competition, and successfully auditioned for the lead character's role after being reached through the competition's organiser Raj Kundra. Kaali Venkat and Baljinder Kaur were signed to play the parents of Singh and Mumtaz, while veteran actors Nassar, Radharavi and Zakir Hussain were all also signed on to play pivotal roles, and took part in pre-filming rehearsals with the rest of the cast.[14] Action choreographers Stunner Sam from Chennai and Tom Delmar from London were signed on to work on the film, while Alexander Cortes worked as Madhavan's personal trainer.[15] Madhavan's friend, actress Shilpa Shetty, also helped Madhavan gain and lose weight effectively during the period, doubling up as a dietician and fitness coach.[16]

A small official launch event was held on 8 August 2014 and the team began a schedule shoot in Chennai thereafter. Scenes were shot in the tsunami-hit region slums of Srinivasapuram for the initial days of shoot.[17] By October 2014, it was reported that the film was sixty percent complete, with most scenes being shot in the areas surrounding Chennai.[18] The team then shot for a schedule in Dharamshala, before returning to Ooty to finish filming portions.[11] Madhavan suffered a minor injury on the sets during the last week, but continued through the pain to finish the film.[19] Filming portions for the venture were completed in mid-November 2014 after forty two days of shoot.[20][21] Post-production works took place throughout 2015 and several potential release dates were evaded. Rajkumar Hirani's late inclusion in the project meant that he requested the team to re-shoot certain portions, with Madhavan regrowing a long beard after having removed it in December 2014. The team subsequently shot for ten further days in late 2015, while completing patchwork.[22][23] Throughout the production of the film and dubbing purposes, Madhavan wore metal braces inside his teeth, in order to create the effect of having a lisp that most boxers have from sporting injuries.[24]

Varun Manian's Radiance Media initially agreed to distribute the Tamil version of the film, collaborating with Y NOT Studios and Thirukumaran Entertainment, but later opted out of the agreement. The Hindi version was jointly distributed by Rajkumar Hirani's production house and Madhavan's Tricolour Films, for which the film is the first project. A teaser trailer for the Hindi version was attached to the theatrical release of Rajkumar Hirani's PK, while the Tamil version's teaser was also released with Prabhu Solomon's Kayal in December 2014.[27] During the period of post-production work throughout 2015, Madhavan and Hirani held several screenings of the film to select audiences in order to observe opinions and gather feedback.[24] Promotions for the film began again in late November 2015, when UTV Motion Pictures announced that they would also be a part of the production and would distribute the film alongside the other production houses.[28] The trailer of the Hindi version Saala Khadoos released on 15 December 2015, while a differently edited Tamil version was released two days later. The trailers received widespread critical acclaim and were promoted by several members of the Indian film industry.[29][30][31]

In early January 2016, the film began their marketing campaign with the makers travelling to Madurai and Coimbatore for promotions, after launching the Tamil version of the soundtrack in Chennai.[32] With a publicity budget of 9 crore rupees, the promotions were described by The Hindu to be "unlike other film promotions in the South", considering that most film teams in the Tamil film industry do not usually tour around the state publicising their project.[33] During his time in Coimbatore, Madhavan visited a college and delivered a motivational speech, while he also made several television appearances for special shows to be broadcast on Pongal and Republic Day. The team travelled extensively between Mumbai and Chennai to promote the film, while a further trailer for the Tamil version was cut and released ten days before the film opened.[34] Before the release of the film, the team held several screenings to select Hindi and Tamil audiences and edited the film accordingly to the taste of the audiences. The team also held two première shows in Hindi and Tamil for the film industry, in the week leading up to the film's release.[35] The satellite rights of the film's Tamil version were sold to Jaya TV and the Hindi version were sold to SET Max.[36]

Malini Mannath from The New Indian Express stated that Irudhi Suttru had "a finely crafted screenplay, deft treatment and some fine performances which make it an engaging watch", while giving particular praise to Madhavan and Singh's performances.[37] Similarly, Business Standard stated that "Madhavan breathes life into the role of a grumpy coach with ease and élan, while the extremely impressive newbie Ritika Singh steals the show with a knockout performance", adding that "there's no way any other actress could've done a better job than Ritika in this role".[38] Behindwoods noted that "Sudha’s Irudhi Suttru has all the emotional elements in it to strike a chord with the audiences and the lady renders a match winning performance" and particularly praised the "apt casting and performance" stating that "everyone from Madhavan to Ritika Singh to the supporting cast, has rendered their best performances".[39] Sify stated that the film was "a perfect sports drama, which should not be missed" and added that "this inspirational effort has a superb screenplay with all the typical elements of a good sports film in place", while Rediff.com agreed that the film was "not to be missed", adding "its refreshing characters, enjoyable plot, great music and visuals keeps you hooked".[40][41] IndiaGlitz.com rated the film 4.3 out of 5 and wrote it is "a must watch for lovers of good cinema which entertains and engages through out", while Baradwaj Rangan of The Hindu stated it was "a heart-warming boxing drama".[42][43]

Saala Khadoos received primarily mixed reviews.[44] Bollywood Hungama described it as a "euphoric and electrifying film with amazing performances from the lead cast" and "is definitely engaging, and inspiring". The critic added "it truly deserves an ovation and is worth your time and money", while stating Madhavan "delivers an extraordinary and extremely realistic performance", while Singh "is definitely a revelation and a find of Bollywood".[45] Critic Subhash K. Jha wrote "Saala Khadoos promised a rugged sports film and it delivers", while adding "the film itself doesn’t match up to the glory of its stunning visual velocity or its leading man towering performance".[46] Other critics felt that the film "failed to rise above the clichés of a sports film", though CNN-IBN stated it "succeeds in creating a credible world and, thanks to affecting performances from its principal players, gives us characters that we can care about".[47] Similarly, NDTV wrote "it has enough heart, it’s the heat that is missing".[48] Following the success of the film, Kongara remade the film in the Telugu language as Guru (2017) with Venkatesh in the lead role alongside Ritika Singh.[49] Irudhi Suttru was later screened at the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival during October 2016 and was then also selected to be a part of the Indian Panorama section at 47th International Film Festival of India.[50][51] The film also won several awards at ceremonies during the following year, with Kongara, Sashikanth, Madhavan and Singh all recognised.[52] [53]