Pariyerum Perumal is a 2018 Indian Tamil language drama film produced by Pa. Ranjith under his production banner Neelam Productions and directed by his assistant Mari Selvaraj, making his directorial debut. The film stars Kathir and Anandhi in the leading roles with Yogi Babu in a supporting role. The film features music composed by Santhosh Narayanan. with cinematography handled by Sridhar, and edited by Selva R. K. It was released on 28 September 2018, to critical acclaim and received many awards.
Plot
Pariyerum Perumal narrates the story of a youth hailing from Puliyankulam village near Tirunelveli. Pariyerum Perumal alias Pariyan belongs to an oppressed caste. The movie begins with the brutal murder of his beloved black dog 'Karuppi’. The canine hunting companion of Pariyan is the first one we see becoming a victim of castehegemony. 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, 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, 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, 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 room. He is asked to bring his father, so he bribes a person 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 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. 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 vesti. Pariyan's father runs out of college half-naked, followed by Sankaralingam and his group, and Pariyan runs at their back. 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. Meanwhile, Jo's father realizes that Jo 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. 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".
After setting up Neelam Productions in October 2016, Pa. Ranjith announced in December 2016 that his first production would be Pariyerum Perumal directed by Ram's former assistant, Mari Selvaraj. Set in Tirunelveli, actors Kathir and Anandhi were selected to play the leading roles and Ranjith's regular collaborator Santhosh Narayanan joined the team as the music composer.
Music
The soundtrack was composed by Santhosh Narayanan. One song, "Karuppi En Karuppi", was released on 4 March 2018 as a single. Another song "Vaa Rayil Vida Polaamaa" was sung by Super Singer Junior 5 title winner Prithika.
Track list
Critical reception
Srinivasa Ramanujam of The Hindu wrote "An outstanding anti-caste statement that deserves to be seen by all". M Suganth of The Times of India gave the film 4 out of 5 stars while appreciating the director Mari Selvaraj for presenting a "Tense drama with the message in the foreground, without sacrificing the narrative". Deccan Chronicle said it's a movie you "don't miss at any cost", the review by Anupama Subramanian lauded the performance of Kathir as Pariyan, while heaping praise on the director Mari Selvaraj and his technical team.
