Imsai Arasan 23rd Pulikecei () is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language historical-comedy film written and directed by Chimbu Deven in his directoral debut. The film stars Vadivelu in his debut as a solo lead actor. Monica and Tejashree play the female leads, while Manorama, Nassar, Ilavarasu, Sreeman and Nagesh play supporting roles. Sabesh–Murali composed the soundtrack album and background score. S. Shankar produced and distributed the film under his production banner S Pictures.
Set in the late 18th century during the early stages of the British Raj, the film tells the story of twin brothers separated at birth. Pulikesi XXIII, the foolish elder brother, becomes a puppet of his uncle, the Chief Minister, while Ukraputhan, the wise younger brother, becomes a patriot intent on saving his land and his brother.
Principal photography began in November 2005 at Prasad Studios. Imsai Arasan 23rd Pulikesi was released on 8 July 2006, and was the first historical Tamil film released since Madhuraiyai Meetta Sundharapandiyan (1978). The film received positive reviews, with critics praising the screenplay, the performances, and the dialogues. A box office success, the film won two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and one Filmfare Award.
Plot In the South Indian kingdom of Cholapuram Paalayam in the year 1771, Raja Mokkaiyappar and his queen, Rani Bhavani Ammaiyar, are desperate for a child, as all 22 of their children have died at birth. Unknown to them, Bhavani's brother, Sangilimayan, who is also the Rajaguru (high priest), is responsible for the deaths of their children. Sangilimayan is shocked to see that his sister has given birth to twins. Before informing the king about the birth, he calls the palace astrologer, Chinnavadayaan, who predicts that the elder twin will be incapable of making decisions on his own, while the younger twin will be smarter. Sangilimayan orders the palace doctor, Kailasakaruppan, to kill the younger one, but Chinnavadayaan tells Sangilimayan that his actions would not be good for the kingdom. Instead, Sangilimayan orders Kailasakaruppan to abandon the child in a nearby river. The elder child is named Pulikesi XXIII. Maragathavalli, Kailasakaruppan's childless wife, rescues the abandoned child from the river, and the couple decides to raise him as their own, naming him Ukraputhan.
25 years pass, and Pulikesi is now the king of Cholapuram Paalayam. As foretold, he is foolish and lecherous. He is a puppet in the hands of Sangilimayan, who collaborates with the British for personal gain and does not attend to the needs of his kingdom's people. Pulikesi also tortures his subjects. He creates an outdoor stadium for different castes to fight each other. He punishes his palace guards for making even the slightest mistake; he also uses them as targets for shooting practice. Ukraputhan, now an educated revolutionary, collaborates with his friends to overthrow the British. Ukraputhan falls in love with Vasantha Sundari, who reciprocates his feelings. When Ukraputhan plots to overthrow Pulikesi for serving the British, he is shocked to see that they look alike.
Ukraputhan then learns about his birth from his foster parents and realizes that Pulikesi is his identical twin brother. To save the land from Sangilimayan and the British, Ukraputhan switches places with an unconscious Pulikesi as king while sending Pulikesi to prison. As king, Ukraputhan reveals his true identity to Agandamuthu, the commander-in-chief, and joins forces with him to help bring about new reforms. He turns the palace harem into a playground and helps fund and provide for children's education. To grow crops, he creates fertile land by tilling the soil. Breaking the past kingdom's policies, Ukraputhan refuses to pay tributes and taxes demanded by the British. Bhavani Ammaiyar praises Ukraputhan's reforms, unaware that Ukraputhan is disguised as Pulikesi. In jail, Soolayini tends to Pulikesi and provides refreshments to the soldiers. Eventually, the two fall in love.
All of this happens while Sangilimayan is away on a business trip visiting British officers in Chennai, Pattinam. When he learns of the new reforms, he confronts Ukraputhan, who defies him. Later, Pulikesi escapes from prison and overhears a conversation between Ukraputhan, Agandamuthu, and Chinnavadayaan. Pulikesi learns the truth about his birth and realizes his mistake. He reunites with Ukraputhan to reform the kingdom, but is beaten by one of Sangilimayan's men and is locked up in the palace. However, he escapes with the help of Kollan, the palace blacksmith. Believing Agandamuthu was responsible for Pulikesi's change of mind, Sangilimayan arrests him and Ukraputhan. After escaping, Pulikesi appears before Sangilimayan as Ukraputhan but is recognized by his minister, Mangunipandiyan, when he inadvertently uses his catchphrase. A fight between the twins and Sangilimayan follows; Sangilimayan is overpowered by Ukraputhan and is about to be killed when Bhavani Ammaiyar intervenes. Feeling guilty for betraying his kingdom, Sangilimayan, at the behest of his sister, has a change of heart and apologizes to her; she forgives him. The kingdom attains independence from British rule, and Pulikesi and Ukraputhan marry their respective lovers, Soolayini and Vasantha Sundari. Pulikesi then introduces 10 ordinances for the welfare of the people of Cholapuram Paalayam.
Cast
Production Development Chimbu Deven worked as a cartoonist in the Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan before venturing into mainstream cinema as an associate to director Cheran in three of his films, Vetri Kodi Kattu (2000), Pandavar Bhoomi (2001) and Autograph (2004). Imsai Arasan 23rd Pulikecei draws inspiration from a cartoon created by Deven, which originally appeared in Ananda Vikatan. Deven, who wrote the script, showed it to director S. Shankar. Shankar was impressed with the script as soon as he read it, and offered to produce and distribute the film under his production company S Pictures, making the film his third as producer after Mudhalvan (1999) and Kaadhal (2004).
As a former comic strip illustrator, Deven used the storyboard technique to develop the film. Cinematography was handled by Arthur A. Wilson and editing by G. Sasikumar. Opening credits from 1:25 to 7:25. P. Krishnamoorthy was signed up as the film's art director. S. Naveen, who later directed Moodar Koodam (2013), worked as an assistant director in the film. The dialogues for the film were written in chaste Tamil. Research was conducted at the Roja Muthiah Research Library.
Casting
Deven approached Vadivelu in October 2005 and offered him the lead roles. Vadivelu was initially hesitant to accept the offer as he felt that the audience would not want to see him as the central character, but after Vadivelu read the script, he decided to take up the role. Regarding the selection of Vadivelu for the roles, Deven noted that one of the royal characters from his comic book strip in Ananda Vikatan closely resembled Vadivelu, including his complexion and nativity.
Swarnamalya and actress Nagma were considered for the female leads, but Monica and Tejashree eventually got the parts. Director-actor Ilavarasu played the role of Pulikecei's minister, Mangunipandiyan. Actress M. N. Rajam played Ukraputhan's mother. Nagesh played Raja Mokkayappar.
Filming Principal photography began at Prasad Studios on 16 November 2005, under the working title of Imsai Mannan 23am Pulikesi. It was the first historical film made in Tamil cinema since Madhuraiyai Meetta Sundharapandiyan (1978) almost three decades previously. Shooting also took place at AVM Studios. The second schedule of the film was held in Prasad Studios. The song "Aah Adivaa" was shot at Prasad Studios and choreographed by Sivasankar. Due to poor weather, the outdoor portions of the song were shot indoors.
A total of eleven sets were created for all of the filming schedules. Filming also took place in Chengalpattu, Tiruvannamalai and Pondicherry. Spoofs on Sivaji Ganesan, M. G. Ramachandran and Avvaiyar are seen in the film. Wipes and split screen transitions are commonly used. Principal photography was completed in 5561 days.
Themes and influences
Although Imsai Arasan 23rd Pulikecei is a historical film set in the late 18th century AD, most of the issues it raises are contemporary. Topics discussed include child labour, globalisation, the bureaucratic inefficiency of government, pesticide usage in soft drinks, and divisions in the caste system.
In their 2010 book, Cinemas of South India: Culture, Resistance, Ideology under the section Dualities and Negotiation 23rd Imsai Arasan Pulikesi, Sowmya Dechamma C. C., Elavarthi Sathya Prakash and Jananie Kalyanaraman mention the soft drinks that are satirized include Coca-Cola and Pepsi. The two are called Akka Mala and Gup-C respectively. They also note that Pulikesi and Ukraputhan have contrasting differences with respect to attitude towards women, education, governance, and demonstration of both skill in weaponry and physical prowess. Kalyanaraman compares Vadivelu's balancing of both his comic and heroic abilities through the roles of Pulikesi and Ukraputhan to Nagesh's roles in Server Sundaram (1964) and Ethir Neechal (1968), where Nagesh plays more serious roles.
The mustache sported by Vadivelu is inspired and modeled after mustaches worn by the Spanish Catalan surrealist painter, Salvador Dalí and Tamil poet, Subramania Bharati. Historical references in the film include places like Nalanda University, which was active around the 2nd century AD, and people like Veerapandiya Kattabomman, Robert Clive, and Ettappan.
S. Theodore Baskaran and Malathi Rangarajan called the film a parody of Uthama Puthiran (1958). Malathi Rangarajan said that the sequences in the song "Aah Aadivaa" are reminiscent of scenes from the song "Yaaradi Nee Mohini" from Uthama Puthiran. Theodore Baskaran also compared the film to M. G. Ramachandran films like Malaikkallan (1954) and Nadodi Mannan (1958). Saraswathy Srinivas of Rediff compared the film to Alexandre Dumas's novel, The Man in the Iron Mask.
Music Sabesh–Murali composed both the film's soundtrack album and background score. The soundtrack album features five songs with lyrics written by Pulamaipithan. The songs were rendered in a style authentic to the film's period setting. The soundtrack album was released on 9 June 2006.
The album was received positively by critics. G. Dhananjayan, in his book Best of Tamil Cinema, said the songs contributed to the film's success and were popular during its theatrical run. Praises were directed mainly towards the musicians, the melodious interludes of "Aah Aadivaa" and the fusion of modern western and traditional Indian music in "Vaanam Namakul".
Marketing and release The film was originally scheduled for release on 19 May 2006. However, the film's release was delayed due to its use of animals without prior approval from the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI). According to a rule issued in 2001, film producers must obtain prior approval from the AWBI to use animals in a film. Further, scenes with animals must be filmed with a veterinary physician on the set. Crucial to the film's story, the scenes were not re-edited. In an interview, Deven stated that the elephants and horses in the film were not subjected to any cruelty.