Gethu

<p>The film opens with a named Craig, who assassinates an army officer from a long distance and is given a new assignment by a traitor to finish off an scientist named Abdul Kamaal within 30 days. The story then shifts to , where a teacher named Thulasi Raman leads a peaceful life with his son Sethu, wife, and daughter. Sethu, who works as a librarian to retired Colonel Matthews, meets a named Nandhini, who steals books from the library. After a few altercations, the two fall in love. Craig, for some unknown reasons, lands in the hill town and is seen wandering and taking photographs of Matthews. Meanwhile, Thulasi Raman complaints about a political based bar owner named Kandhan, and in an ensuing fight, Sethu comes to his rescue by bashing up the goons. Mysteriously, the corpse of Kandhan is pulled out of a waterfall, and a ring belonging to Thulasi Raman is found in his hands. The police then arrests Thulasi Raman. Sethu takes it upon himself to clear his father’s name and set out to find the real killer. In July 2014, Udhayanidhi Stalin revealed that he would collaborate with director Thirukumaran of (2014) fame for his next production. was revealed to be the title in September 2014, with Harris Jayaraj and Sukumar signed on as music composer and cinematographer respectively. Actor Vikranth, previously only seen in leading roles, signed on to appear in the film as an antagonist. Sathyaraj was chosen to play the father of Udhayanidhi’s character and was given top billing in the credits. The film was revealed to be half complete by April 2015, and a first look poster was released to the public. The team began a second schedule in later that month. also marks the first major appearance of Udhayanidhi in a non-comedy film. He stated that he chose to work on the film due to having grown bored of working in comedy films, and his desire to “experiment, try something different”. The film’s soundtrack album and background score was composed by Harris Jayaraj. The soundtrack album consists of five tracks, and Harris is collaborating with Udhayanidhi Stalin for the fourth time in this project. The music rights were purchased by . The soundtrack’s track list was released by on 23 December 2015. The track list was unveiled on using an innovative motion poster technique. The album was released on 25 December 2015, coinciding with . The film was released on 14 January 2016, coinciding with . The entertainment tax exemption request for the film was denied on the basis that the filmmakers misspelled the English title as “Gethu” instead of “Kethu”, the latter being the correct transliteration of a Tamil word. Government officials argued that since films released using Tamil words are entitled to an entertainment tax, and that “Gethu” is not a Tamil word, the film would not be entitled to an exemption. The matter was heard by the Madras State Court, which ruled that the film was entitled to the entertainment tax exemption. M Suganth of rated it 2.5 out of 5, commenting, “Thirukumaran has the essentials for a high-concept thriller — a determined hitman, an ordinary man who stumbles into a nefarious plot by accident, a sub-plot that provides some mystery, and a bit of family drama. It is in his execution that he falters. For a thriller clocking in at under two hours, moves at a pace that is as sleepy as the hill station where the action happens. The director’s choice of slow motion shots as a device to make the action stylish and prolong the tension in the plot works against the film.” Sudhir Srinivasan of stated, “The whole movie bears the flavour of a short-story adaptation, and at a little over two hours, there isn’t too much duration in which to flood the story with elements and thoroughly destroy it, although, to its discredit, certainly does try.” S Saraswathi critic of gave 2 stars out of 5 and stated that “Director Thirukumaran’s fails to live up to its interesting premise; the film is all show and no substance.”. critic gave 2.5 stars out of 5. A critic from noted that the film was a decent watch. gave a mixed review.</p>