Pariyerum Perumal

Pariyerum Perumal narrates the story of a youth hailing from Puliyankulam village near Tirunelveli. Pariyerum Perumal alias Pariyan (Kathir) belongs to an oppressed caste. The movie begins with the brutal murder of his beloved black dog 'Karuppi’ (lit. Blackie in Tamil). The canine hunting companion of Pariyan is the first one we see becoming a victim of caste hegemony.

Pariyan moves on to secure a seat in a law college, where he wishes to become a lawyer like B. R. Ambedkar. He meets Jothi Mahalakshmi alias Jo (Anandhi), a naive girl from Ambasamudram who takes it upon herself to teach English to Pariyan. She eventually falls for his innocence and honesty. This newfound friendship irks Sankaralingam (Lijeesh), a fellow law student and Jo's cousin. He awaits a chance to teach a lesson to Pariyan and establish his caste superiority. He does so while the blissfully unaware Jo invites Pariyan to a family wedding.

Pariyan is almost beaten to death by Sankaralingam and his fellows, and they also urinate on him. It was stopped, and Pariyan was warned by Jo's father (G. Marimuthu), who asked Pariyan to stay out of Jo's life. Jo, unaware of all this, yells at Pariyan the next day for not attending her sister's marriage as she had invited only him in the whole college. Pariyan's answers made Jo cry and have a fight with him.

Pariyan, who becomes upset the next day, drinks alcohol and attends the class, which leads him to the principal's (Poo Ram) room. He is asked to bring his father (Vannarpettai Thangaraj), so he bribes a person (Shanmugarajan) to be his father, and the man does the job successfully. Another day, Pariyan's teacher tries to solve out the problem between Pariyan and Jo, but Pariyan points out that Jo gave an invitation only to him, making it clear that he treats her only as his friend, which infuriates her. The very same day as he sits in Sankaralingam's bench, the latter gets infuriated, pushes Pariyan into the ladies' toilet, and locks the door, which once again leads Pariyan to the principal's room. Pariyan is again asked to bring his father. This time, he brings his real father, who is a folk dancer who dances in drag clothing.

The principal understands Pariyan's innocence and asks him to be bold and continue to fight like this. As Pariyan comes out of the principal's room, he finds his father brutally ragged by Sankaralingam and his fellow mates, and they pull Pariyan's father's dhoti. Pariyan's father runs out of college half-naked, followed by Sankaralingam and his group, and Pariyan runs at their back. Meanwhile, Jo's father realizes that his daughter is mad at Pariyan, and he hires an old man who kills lower-caste people without any evidence. That old man is well known to Pariyan. Later, Pariyan admits his father in the hospital and decides to take revenge, but his mother asks him not to do so. He is informed that Jo is waiting in the hospital for him. An emotional Jo makes Pariyan realize how important he is for her, and though she loves him, she asks him to be the same old Pariyan, who was very friendly with her. Pariyan makes a promise to be like that.

The old man asks for a lift in Pariyan's cycle and later pushes him down. The old man then puts Pariyan on a railway track to kill him in the same way that Karuppi was killed, but Pariyan wakes up and escapes, which leads to a heavy fight between the old man and Pariyan. Pariyan realizes that he was sent by Jo's father and Sankaralingam. He beats Sankaralingam and others brutally. He then says to Jo's father that the life he is living is a gift given by Pariyan, because if Jo comes to know the activities of her father, she will not spare him. He asks him to leave him and goes. The old man, who realizes that he has failed in his attempt to kill his mark for the first time, commits suicide on the railway track.

At the end of the movie, Jo brings her father to meet Pariyan, and as she goes to buy tea for them, Jo's father asks for an apology for his mistake. He speaks to Pariyan well and then say, "We can see. We do not know what will happen in the future," to which Pariyan replies, "As long as you remain the same and expect me to remain a dog, nothing will change".

Pa. Ranjith's norm composer Santhosh Narayanan, was assigned to composed the music and background score of Pariyerum Perumal. Santhosh took the project as a mix of folk and conventional music,[17] which is very much prevalent in the southern region of Tamil Nadu, where most of the native singers recorded the album.[2] The songs reflect the theme of the film.[18] The first single "Karuppi En Karuppi" which released on 4 March 2018, was showcased on the life of the dog, who has been killed in caste-breed clashes. Santhosh, the performer of the song, also slated that "the song is dedicated to the lives of innocent little souls that do not know why they’re being killed all over the world."[19] The song "Vaa Rayil Vida Polaamaa" was sung by Super Singer Junior 5 title winner Prithika. The film's album was launched by Dhanush on 24 August 2018.[20]

The album received mostly positive critical reception. Behindwoods gave a rating of 3 out of 5, and stated "The album is a perfect blend of folk, melody, rap and rock music, empowered by powerful moving lyrics."[21] Indiaglitz gave the album 3.75 out of 5 and stated "Santhosh has efficiently churned out an album which has character, soul and hauntingly affecting."[22] Milliblog reviewed as "After Kaala, Pariyerum Perumal is the second whopper from Santhosh Narayanan this year!"[23] Moviecrow gave the album 4 out of 5 and summarised "The Santhosh Narayanan's soundtrack for Mari Selvaraj's directorial debut, 'Pariyerum Perumal' is more of an aural introduction and mood setup for us to know what to look forward in the film. The album seems stunningly story driven and has lyrics that are daringly different from anything we are used to hear in our songs so far."[24]

The film's first promotional poster which released on 14 February 2018, featured a dog with a collar and leash around its neck in the foreground while the silhouettes of a number of people can be seen in the background.[25] The film was originally slated to release in March 2018, but its release was postponed due to the standoff between Nadigar Sangam and Digital Service Providers on the increase of Virtual Print Fee charges.[26] The first trailer of the film was unveiled in June 2018, and received rave response from all corners.[27][28] The movie was released theatrically on 28 September 2018,[29] after receiving a U certificate from the Central Board of Film Certification.[30] Despite being released in 121 theatres, the film got limited screens, due to Mani Ratnam's mutli-starrer Chekka Chivantha Vaanam.[31] However, after the positive response received by the audience, theatre owners increased the number of shows and screens.[32] Many filmmakers and actors heaped praise among the film.[33][34][35] The film opened to theatres across Karnataka on 12 October 2018,[36] and in Kerala on 26 October 2018,[37] following its positive critical acclaim. After its successful theatrical run, the movie was made available to stream on Amazon Prime Video on 12 November 2018.[38] The film was screened at the inaugural New York Dalit Film and Cultural Festival in 2019 along with Masaan (2015), Kaala (2018) and Fandry (2013).[39] Along with few other Tamil films, the movie was showcased at the 49th International Film Festival of India.[40]

The portrayal of the film's central character Karuppi, became popular among audiences.[14][63] Inspired from the famous ‘Dogelore’ (which refers to the meme universe featuring dogs), the character was featured as the new addition.[64] Some of the film's plot inspired the 2020 Telugu film Colour Photo.[65]

• Pariyerum Perumal at IMDb
• Pariyerum Perumal Official YouTube channel