Nerkonda Paarvai


Nerkonda Paarvai is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language legal drama film written and directed by H. Vinoth. Produced by Boney Kapoor, the film is a remake of the Hindi film Pink. It features Ajith Kumar, Shraddha Srinath, Abhirami Venkatachalam and Andrea Tariang in the lead roles along with Arjun Chidambaram, Adhik Ravichandran, Ashwin Rao, Rangaraj Pandey, Sujith Shankar, Delhi Ganesh, and Jayaprakash in the pivotal roles. Nirav Shah is the cinematographer of the film, while Gokul Chandran is the editor.
The film's soundtrack and background score was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja and was released under the label of Zee Music Company. The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed crores.

Plot

Meera Krishnan, Famitha Banu and Andrea Tariang are three independent young women living in Chennai who are best friends. One night, they happen to attend a party, enjoying themselves. On the other hand, rich boys Vishwa and Venkatesh take their friend, an injured Adhik Ramajayam, to the hospital. Adhik had been hit in the head and is bleeding profusely. However, the boys decide not to file a police complaint. Meanwhile, the women hurriedly return home from the party, agitated over something, but they try to forget it and carry on with their lives.
During her morning exercise, Meera is observed by Bharath Subramaniam, a grim man living in their neighbourhood who was a successful lawyer and a loving husband to his wife Kalyani years ago. Kalyani had died due to pregnancy complications when Bharath had to leave her alone at home due to an important case. This causes Bharath to break down mentally and retire from his profession, coping up with his depression through the use of medications. Bharath senses from the look on Meera's face that something unpleasant had been going on in her life. Later, Meera files a complaint against Adhik and his friend as they had started causing misery in her friends' lives. Learning of this, Adhik orchestrates a gang to kidnap Meera and molest her, while threatening her to withdraw the complaint. She is later dropped back at home, but is arrested the next day on charges of prostitution and attempted murder by Adhik.
Bharath learns of Meera's plight from her friends and fights the gang that aided Adhik's friends, capturing the main goon and handing him over to the police. He also returns to his profession by offering to help the women by representing them in their case. Soon a case is filed. Adhik's side is represented by Sathyamoorthy.
Sathyamoorthy presents the events from Adhik's allegations that Meera and her friends were encountered by Adhik and his friends who then slept with them after having drinks. Adhik is hit on the head by Meera as a result of nonpayment, labelling the women as prostitutes. He bases this on the fact that Meera has a family but lives alone, Famitha having a relationship with an older man, and Andrea moving to Chennai from North India. Meera and her friends deny the allegations and state that the men tried to sexually assault them, prompting Meera to hit Adhik on the head with a bottle in self-defense.
Bharath represents the women and bases their statement on the fact that a woman has the right to say no. Bharath and Sathyamoorthy question the witnesses and the women individually in the subsequent days, with Bharath's investigation proving successful in favour of the women. Towards the end of the trial, Bharath questions Adhik, who arrogantly says that "girls born in good families don't party or drink." Bharath, however, holds a photo of Adhik's sister attending a party and having drinks in the courtroom, causing Adhik to lose his cool and curse Meera and her friends, stating that they "reaped what they sowed." Consequently, he blurts out that he tried to rape Meera, shocking Sathyamoorthy. Bharath concludes the case by criticising the regressed views of the society where women are stereotyped as prostitutes if they come home late, yearn to be independent, drink and so on, but men are not affected by this. He also puts forth the fact that a wrong done is wrong; be it a man or a woman, there is no partiality before the law.
The case ends with Adhik and his friends getting arrested.

Cast

The film was officially launched on 14 December 2018 with a formal pooja in Chennai. Actress Vidya Balan is making her Tamil debut with this film and will be paired with Ajith. This film is a remake of Amitabh Bachchan's Pink. The film producers said that the shooting will start from February 2019 and will hit the theatre screens on 8 August 2019. In January 2019 Kannada actress Shraddha Srinath was finalised to play the role that Taapsee Pannu played in the original version. The film will also have Abhirami Venkatachalam. Andrea Tariang, who was also part of the original film, will reprise her role. It is revealed that Ajith Kumar's 60th film will also be a team-up with Boney Kapoor and will be directed by H. Vinoth once again. Shooting was wrapped up in early April 2019.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album is scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja in his first collaboration with director H. Vinoth. All the songs were released as singles.The soundtrack rights for the movie were acquired by Zee Music Company.

Marketing and release

The official first look poster was released on 4 March 2019. The official trailer was released on 12 June 2019 and gained extremely positive reviews. The first single of this film was released on 27 June 2019, the second song was released on 9 July, the third single was released on 20 July, and the fourth single was released on 25 July.

Marketing

The official trailer was released on 12 June 2019.
The film released on 8 August 2019.
The satellite rights were sold to Zee Tamil.

Reception

Box office

As per trade analyst Ramesh Bala; the film has done very well in Tamil Nadu and in Chennai. It grossed 6.70 crores in the first five days in Chennai itself. The film collected in Tamil Nadu in 4 days and worldwide in opening weekend. It collected in Tamil Nadu, in Karnataka, in Kerala and overseas., after 50 days in theatres, the worldwide gross according to Firstpost was, whereas The Times of India estimated the film had grossed.

Critical reception

We Magazine gave the film 4 out of 5 stars stating "Vinoth has done well to keep the fans engaged. Especially, in the second half of the movie, the courtroom scenes. On the whole, the movie stays true to its original, stays relevant to the current situation. We already know that this movie will be a huge hit and with Ajith as the lead, things only have got better. Once again, huge applause for Ajith. For his acting, for selecting a plot like this." Hindustan Times gave 4 out of 5 stars stating "Ajit and Shraddha Srinath starrer is one of the most socially relevant films to come out of Tamil film industry. Also, it mostly remains true to the story of its Hindi original". Deccan Chronicle gave 4 out of 5 stars stating "A man of Ajith's stature is bound to create ripples in the media and the messages get spread far and wide". The Times of India gave 3.5 out of 5 stars stating "With arresting performances of artistes and an engaging screenplay which touch upon a sensitive issue, H Vinoth manages to stay true to the original version". Firstpost gave 3.5 out of 5 stars stating "Nerkonda Paarvai is Ajith's best movie in recent times and deserves a watch for its daring theme and presentation".
Behindwoods gave 3.25 out of 5 stars stating "Ajith sheds his mass image and effectively delivers a film with a strong social message". The Indian Express gave 3 out of 5 stars stating "Nerkonda Paarvai is a timely film that could significantly contribute to sensitising people to the plight of the victims of sexual violence. When a big star like Ajith says 'No means No', the impact of the punchline on the audience could be immediate and stronger than what Amitabh Bachchan achieved when he said it the first time." CNN-News18 gave 2.5 out of 5 stars stating "A Superbly Subdued Ajith Gets the Film Up and Flying". Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion South wrote "In a sense, Nerkonda Paarvai is a companion piece to Viswasam. Once again, Ajith redeems himself by saving a woman after failing to protect one. It's an admirable admission of vulnerability for a megastar...as Bharath, Ajith gives one of his best performances. He is subdued, dignified—like the courtroom scenes".

Home Media

The film became available as VOD on ZEE5 on 8 August 2019.