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Tughlaq Durbar

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Tughlaq Durbar
Promotional poster
Screenplay byBalaji Tharaneetharan
Story byDelhi Prasad Deenadayalan
Directed byDelhi Prasad Deenadayalan
StarringVijay Sethupathi
Raashii Khanna
R. Parthiban
Manjima Mohan
ComposerGovind Vasantha
Country of originIndia
Original languageTamil
Production
ProducerS. S. Lalit Kumar
Cinematography
EditorR. Govindaraj
Running time146 minutes[1]
Production companySeven Screen Studio
Original release
NetworkSun TV
Release10 September 2021 (2021-09-10)

Tughlaq Durbar is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language political satire film written and directed by Delhi Prasad Deenadayalan, in his directorial debut, with screenplay and dialogues written by Balaji Tharaneetharan.[2] The film stars Vijay Sethupathi, Raashii Khanna, R. Parthiban, Manjima Mohan, Karunakaran, Bagavathi Perumal and Rajkumar. The music of the film is composed by Govind Vasantha, with Manoj Paramahamsa and Mahendiran Jayaraju handling the cinematography and R. Govindaraj edited the film.[3][4][5]

The film had a direct-to-television premiere on Sun TV during Ganesh Chaturthi (10 September 2021) and released on Netflix, the following day.

Plot

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In 1986, Rayappan, a Tamil Nadu MLA of the ruling party, is delivering a speech at J.K. Nagar, an impoverished suburb in Chennai, where one of the attendants, a pregnant woman, goes into labour. As a publicity stunt for creating sympathy, Rayappan orders his men to help the woman by lending their dhotis. The woman gives birth to a boy, whom Rayappan christens as Singaravelan, or "Singam" on the stage. Singam grows up as an orphan as his mother had died shortly after the birth of his younger sister, Manimegalai, followed by the death of his father due to overdrinking. Singam's relationship with Manimegalai is quite fraught and strained as the former blames her for their parents death and the latter disapproves of the former's obsession towards Rayappan, for whom he even sold her mother's only nosepiece for party promotions. This led them to not be on talking terms for 20 years.

In 2021, Rayappan, now a powerful and influential politician, begins scouting for a suitable candidate to work as a councillor for J.K. Nagar. Vying for attention, Singam strives to seek Rayappan's consideration by performing a media stunt by drinking poison in front of press during Rayappan's arrest and gains his trust, much to the irritation and dismay of Mangalam, Rayappan's right-hand man, who is also vying for the position. Singam manages to emerge as Rayappan's favourite within a short span of time by employing hilarious techniques and his friend Vasu's ideas. Frustrated at being sidelined, an infuriated Mangalam brandishes a bottle at Singam's head; he is subsequently expelled from the ruling party for his ruthless behaviour.

Shortly after the incident, Singam develops an alter ego, presumably from his injuries who does quite the opposite of Singam's doings. The next day he gets nominated for the counsellor chair, but beforehand, Rayappan asks for 50 lakhs as a deposit for his post, which he got from duping Kamatchi, a wealthy daughter of a moneylending businessman who Singam initially kidnapped with Vasu as a pawn for extorting money from her father with the help of Vasu's hired goons, only to be saved by his alter ego who first resurfaces by thrashing the goons and saving her. During elections, both Singam and Mangalam try various corrupt tricks to lure the voters and increase their vote bank. Initially, Singam is lagging behind in public opinion and votes due to the lack of money power but manages to gamble on the sympathy by intentionally carrying a pregnant woman Shanti in front of the people to gain voters recognition and trust of the people, much to the horror and dismay of Vasu, but Singam ultimately beats Mangalam to become the new counsellor of J.K Nagar.

Now enters Damayanthi and Mayor into the fray, who run an illegal construction and money laundering firm for corporate companies under the pretext of NGO named Aashirvaad Foundation. They initially sign a contract with Singam under Rayappan as a mediator for evacuation and demolition of J.K Nagar and offer 50 crores as advance as a bribe. But in the wake of the night, Singam's alter ego again resurfaces and leaks the document to media framing Rayappan, Singam and the ruling party under corruption case. An agitated Rayappan calls for an urgent party meeting to catch the culprit but is shocked to see the vigilante masked in CCTV. He then orders Singam to check the whereabouts of the money hideout, only to find the mask used by the vigilante in there. Now begins the cat and mouse game between Singam and vigilante Singam who flunks out what corrupt Singam's plans to do using various tactics and even causes a distrust with Vasu, who leaves him after seeing his evil intentions and Rayappan questioning his loyalty.

Finally, after getting convinced by the evidence found against Singam, Rayappan deduces that Singam is the masked vigilante who has conked all his wrongdoings and orders his henchmen to abduct him, only to be caught red-handed by the income tax department while exchanging money due to the intelligence of the vigilante Singam. After investigations, it is found that Singam handed over only 1/5th of the money. After being bailed out by Kamatchi, who comes across the truth about him and breaks up with him angrily for playing with her emotions. Meanwhile, an angry and denounced Rayappan orders his henchmen to kill Singam in his own area as a statement for betrayal, only to be saved by Lakshmi (whose pregnancy Singam gambled with for vote) and his area people, but not before passing out due to fatal injuries sustained.

In the hospital, Singam realises his folly for betraying trust of his people against their love they showered over him over the years and inspired by Vasu and the final video recording of his alter ego in which he reveals the hideout of remaining money through Vasu, he reconciles with Manimegalai after thrashing her pervert boss who sexually abused many women thereby shaving is head in public and slowly regains his reputation to emerge as the people's favourite MLA candidate in upcoming state elections by performing his duties with the money he stoved away. Fearing his defeat certain and fumed with rage about loss, Rayappan kidnaps J.K Nagar's 40 children to extract the remaining 40 crores from Singam to avenge his loss only to be exposed to media about his atrocities to public and CM, who orders Rayappan to drop his plans not before sacking him from party and issuing orders to arrest Damayanti. In the meeting with CM Nagarajan Chozlan aka Ammavasa, Singam quickly cements his place as CM's right-hand man and becomes J.K Nagar's MLA by playing in the same manner he did with Rayappan, much to the shock and belief of Vasu, who again questions his personality, to which Singam replies there is always a need for a perfect mix of good and evil to sustain in politics.

Cast

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Production

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Producer S. S. Lalit Kumar, who distributed Vijay Sethupathi's '96 had announced his foray into film production with Sethupathi being cast in the lead role.[9] At the special event to commodate the success of '96, Lalit announced their project being tentatively titled as Thuglak and will be helmed by debutant filmmaker Delhi Prasad Deenadayalan, an assistant of Balaji Tharaneetharan.[9] Prasad in his interaction with The Times of India, stated the film is an "out-and-out mass subject", but still a "sensible film". He further revealed that Sethupathi will play a politician, whose character will have "interesting shades" and an "element of fantasy woven into it".[10][11] Tharaneetharan was chosen to write the screenplay and dialogues, whereas Govind Vasantha who earlier collaborated with Sethupathi in 96 took charge of composing the music.[10]

The film, officially titled Tughlaq Durbar, was launched on 3 August 2019,[12] with Parthiban, Aditi Rao Hydari,[13][14] Gayathrie and Manjima Mohan[15] announced to play pivotal characters.[16][17] Lalit Kumar announced through Twitter in May 2020 that 35 days of shooting was completed before the COVID-19 lockdown in India, with 40 more days of shoot pending.[18] Hydari later opted out of the project citing schedule conflicts,[19] and Raashii Khanna was selected to replace her in October 2020, marking Khanna's second collaboration with Sethupathi, after Sangathamizhan.[20][21][22] Samyuktha Karthik of Bigg Boss fame was announced as a new addition to the film's cast in December 2020.[23] Filming wrapped on 7 January 2021 and the team began post-production.[24]

Music

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Tughlaq Darbar
Soundtrack album by
Released2 September 2021 (2021-09-02)
Recorded2020–2021
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length15:16
LanguageTamil
LabelThink Music
ProducerGovind Vasantha
Govind Vasantha chronology
Navarasa
(2021)
Tughlaq Darbar
(2021)
Madhuram
(2021)
Singles from Tughlaq Darbar
  1. "Annathe Sethi"
    Released: 6 August 2020

The film's soundtrack and background score is composed by Govind Vasantha, and the album featured four songs.[25] The first single titled "Annathe Sethi" which had lyrics written by Karthik Netha and sung by Arivu, was released by Think Music on 28 September 2020.[26] A reviewer from The Times of India, called it as a "spirited political revolutionary song",[27] and Karthik Srinivasan of Milliblog said, "The song wears its 'revolutionary sound' up-front, but Govind's music is pulsating and very catchy, particularly when the chorus joins Arivu's rousing singing."[28]

A year later, the entire soundtrack album was released on 2 September 2021.[29] The album received a positive review from Ramya Palisetty of India Today describing the soundtrack as "compelling".[30]

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Annathe Sethi"Karthik NethaArivu4:19
2."Kaami Kaami"Madhan KarkyGovind Vasantha, Swastika Swaminathan4:22
3."Arasiyal Kedi"Karthik NethaSidVoc, Bhuvana Ananth3:19
4."Dravida Kone"Karthik NethaHariharasudhan3:15
Total length:15:16

Release

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The film was initially scheduled for theatrical release in 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[31] The film premiered directly through Sun TV on 10 September 2021, coinciding with the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi,[32] and began streaming on Netflix from the following day.[33]

Reception

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Haricharan Pudipeddi of Hindustan Times wrote, "With a very promising core idea, the film could’ve been a lot more ambitious, but it settles for less. Nevertheless, Tughlaq Durbar largely entertains with a fun twist on familiar tropes and some highly memorable performances".[34] Baradwaj Rangan wrote for Film Companion, "The second half seems all over the place, like little scenes stitched together instead of one integral, organic screenplay. The ending is funny in a certain way but it also doesn't fit in with the rest of the film. It might work as a standalone scene, but like the rest of the film, it needed far better writing and conceptualization".[35]

References

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  1. ^ "Tughlaq Durbar". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 10 September 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  2. ^ "Vijay Sethupathi gets new look in 'Tughlaq Durbar'". Gulf News. 5 August 2020. Archived from the original on 4 May 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Vijay Sethupathi's Tughlaq Durbar to get a direct OTT release?". Times Now. 22 April 2021. Archived from the original on 4 May 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Vijay Sethupathi announces release date for Laabam as Tughlaq Durbar goes the OTT way". The Indian Express. 22 April 2021. Archived from the original on 4 May 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  5. ^ "Vijay Sethupathi's 'Tughlaq Durbar' skips theatrical release". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 May 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  6. ^ Akshay LK [@lk_akshay] (3 February 2021). "Excited to dub for my role in #TughlaqDurbar..Thanks to my director @DDeenadayaln uncle." (Tweet). Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021 – via Twitter.
  7. ^ "Parthiban joins Vijay Sethupathi's Tughlaq Durbar". Cinema Express. 1 August 2019. Archived from the original on 4 May 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Manjima Mohan onboard for Vijay Sethupathi's Tughlaq Darbar". Cinema Express. 5 August 2019. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Vijay Sethupathi signs a political fiction with '96' distributor Lalith Kumar". The News Minute. 6 February 2019. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  10. ^ a b CR, Sharanya (5 February 2019). "Vijay Sethupathi's next is a political film". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  11. ^ "Vijay Sethupathi's role has a dark side in Tughlaq Darbar". The Times of India. 8 July 2020. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Vijay Sethupathi's 'Tughlaq Darbar' launched with pooja". The Times of India. 3 August 2019. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  13. ^ "Aditi Rao Hydari to star opposite Vijay Sethupathi in Tamil film 'Tughlaq Durbar'". Deccan Chronicle. 2 August 2019. Archived from the original on 1 April 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  14. ^ "Vijay Sethupathi to romance Aditi Rao Hydari in Tughlaq Darbar". India Today. 3 August 2019. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  15. ^ "Manjima Mohan onboard for Vijay Sethupathi's Tughlaq Darbar". Cinema Express. 5 August 2019. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  16. ^ "Aditi Rao Hydari a part of Tughlaq Darbar". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  17. ^ "A new addition to the cast of Tughlaq Darbar". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  18. ^ "Vijay Sethupathi & Aditi's Tughlaq Darbar has 40 more days of shooting!". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  19. ^ Manjula (24 October 2020). "Why Aditi Rao Hydari Walked Out Of Vijay Sethupathi's Tughlaq Durbar". The Hans India. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  20. ^ "Raashi Khanna to team up with Vijay Sethupathi again". The News Minute. 20 October 2020. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  21. ^ "Raashi Khanna replaces Aditi Rao Hydari in Vijay Sethupathi Tughlaq Durbar". Hindustan Times. 20 October 2020. Archived from the original on 4 May 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  22. ^ "Raashi Khanna replaces Aditi Rao Hydari in Vijay Sethupathi's Tughlaq Durbar due to conflicting schedules". Firstpost. 21 October 2020. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  23. ^ "Bigg Boss Samyuktha in Vijay Sethupathi's Tughlaq Durbar". The Times of India. 8 December 2020. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  24. ^ Ratda, Khushboo (7 January 2021). "Tughlaq Durbar: Raashi Khanna and Vijay Sethupathi treat us with an epic selfie as they wrap up the shoot". Pinkvilla. Archived from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  25. ^ "Tughlaq Durbar (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Govind Vasantha". Apple Music. 18 August 2021. Archived from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  26. ^ "'Annathe Sethi': First single from Vijay Sethupathi's 'Tughlaq Darbar' to be out on August 6". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 2 September 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  27. ^ "Annathe Sethi: A spirited political revolutionary song from Vijay Sethupathi's next". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  28. ^ Karthik (9 August 2020). "Milliblog Weeklies, Week 122 – Aug.09, 2020". Milliblog. Archived from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  29. ^ "Tughlaq Durbar Jukebox: All songs from Vijay Sethupathi starrer". MovieCrow. 18 August 2021. Archived from the original on 20 August 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  30. ^ Palisetty, Ramya (18 August 2021). "Vijay Sethupathi's Tughlaq Durbar music album out, melodies by Govind are compelling". India Today. Archived from the original on 14 July 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  31. ^ "Over 10 Tamil films eye direct OTT premiere as Kollywood industry remains divided on influx of digital platforms". Firstpost. 19 June 2021. Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  32. ^ "Tughlaq Durbar to have a television premiere". Cinema Express. 21 July 2021. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  33. ^ "From Laabam to Tughlaq Durbar, here are 4 Vijay Sethupathi films gearing up for September OTT release". Times Now. 7 September 2021. Archived from the original on 9 September 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  34. ^ Pudipeddi, Haricharan (10 September 2021). "Tughlaq Durbar movie review: Vijay Sethupathi's film is a largely entertaining political comedy with a wacky twist". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 10 September 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  35. ^ Rangan, Baradwaj (12 September 2021). "Tughlaq Durbar, With Vijay Sethupathi On Netflix, Has A Great Premise That Needed An Equally Great Screenplay To Exploit Its Potential". Film Companion. Archived from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
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