Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Irudhi Suttru - The Final K.O.

I can still remember the girls in my van swooning over Madhavan with his charming smile in Alaipayuthe. The talks were infinitely endless about him. It was literally a nightmare for all the boys! That was 16 years ago. There was no sense of resemblance to that smart and handsome chocolate boy in 'Irudhi Suttru'. Here, Madhavan was really beefy and brawny.  He has stepped up and sweated it out everything for this role. And yes. It was a screamer of a performance only to be eclipsed by the debutant and real life fighter, Ritika Singh. As Ezhil Madhi, she was flawless - be it her free spirited nature or devil-may-care attitude or her self-confessed love towards her master - Oh my goodness. Anushka did not steal our hearts this time but Ritika Singh certainly did!

How she was stubborn as a mule and refused to attend her regular trainings but had a sea change of heart when she learnt that Madhavan had sold his precious bike for her sake and the way she transforms into a proper boxer with her rigorous training under the careful sight of Prabhu and wins the world title in the end, the director has really captured the essence of the fighting soul of the film in a beautiful way. Irudhi Suttru is not only about a slum girl with no chances of even qualifying for a prestigious tourny yet lifting the championship but also the intense sibling rivalry, sleazy and dirty politics as to how the authorities misuse and abuse their power to satisfy their own personal agenda instead of focussing on the larger picture is shown with a great set of characters - be it the girls in the train who tell Ritika that it's only a advisable thing to accommodate with the chief's desires to grow in life or her own sister asking whether Madhi slept with the coach to get a shot at the main event or Dev removing Madhi's name from the list to have a go at Prabhu for his earlier rude and arrogant attitude towards him - the events are very realistic to the core.

Irudhi Suttru is not only a rag to riches story but also it is about having the fire constantly and continuously burning in the belly  to achieve a bigger and meaningful goal in life rather than just to get a railway job or to fulfill materialistic desires . Prabhu notices it instantly in Lux when he see her for the first time and dismisses her for her lack of passion and strong conviction despite she being trained for more than 8 years. Likewise, he sees a tremendous spark in the fiery Madhi who shows great zeal in her hard punches. Santhosh Narayanan's BGM stays attuned with the story and the romantic number "Hey Sandakara" was a rustic delight to the ears. Overall, Irudhi Suttru is a story strongly grounded in reality with well-founded characters anted up further by the commendable performances of Madhavan and Ritika Singh.

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