Neerparavai

<p>The film is introduced when an old lady’s son and daughter-in-law come to stay in her house in a coastal village, where she lives by herself. The son asks his mother to sell off the house, so that he can build a house in the city with help from his father in law, but the old lady refuses to sell the house. The son and daughter-in-law notice that the lady often goes to the beach, and prays in the garden every night. When they ask her why she goes to the beach, she says that she is waiting for her husband to come. The son gets angry and reminds her that she has been waiting for 25 years, and he is not going to come. Whilst the mother goes to the beach, the couple digs the spot in the garden where she prays and find a skeleton. They report this to the police, and the case is handled by Inspector Agnes, who begins interrogating the old lady. The old lady tells her past. Arulappasamy is a young man who is an alcoholic and wastrel and also a constant embarrassment to his hardworking adopted parents. Esther is an orphan girl who is adopted by a nun named Sister Benita, and she stays in the church. Arulappan slowly gets attracted to Esther, and his love for her changes him. He gives up drinking and wants to work so that he can marry Esther. However, the local fishermen do not allow him to go into the sea. The young man, due to his determination, buys a boat, marries his love, and life is all rosy until fate intervenes. The married couple has a son. One day, Arulappan goes to fish, but after several days, he does not return. Esther is really worried about him. They find his body in a boat shot and bring him home. Esther says to keep him in the house, and it was all her fault because she is the one who sent him to work. The police releases the old lady but asks why she waits for her husband to come if she knows that he is dead. She says that only his body returned to shore, but his soul is still in the sea. chose to pen the dialogues for his film. The lead male role was initially supposed to be enacted by . Later, took over as Vimal was unable to allot dates. It was produced by under the banner. was signed up to portray the lead female role in January 2012. However, she was subsequently replaced by . , who previously appeared in critically acclaimed Tamil films including and , was announced to be joining the team in April 2012. Furthermore, , who previously worked with the director in which fetched her the , was signed for a supporting role. Major portions of the film were shot in and . The film’s shoot was briefly delayed after Vishnu injured his arm while playing in the . composed the soundtrack, teaming up with Seenu Ramasamy for the second time. The soundtrack album consists of 7 tracks. The lyrics were written by . The audio was launched at on 10 October 2012. A few lines in “Para Para” created controversy among , which led them to protest against the song; thus, the objected lyrics were changed. was initially scheduled to release on 23 November 2012, but was pushed by a week to 30 November. Ahead of release, the film was denied entertainment tax exemption despite meeting the eligibility requirements, prompting the director to go on fast and he even approached the commissioner of Chennai Police for help. After Udhayanidhi approached the , tax exemption was granted soon after. gave 4 stars with a “good” verdict and said the film was “a moving drama that will undoubtedly leave you with a lump in your throat. And films like this are hard to find.” Malathi Rangarajan from called the film as “soaring high” and said, “If meaningful cinema matters to you, go for it,” by adding, “as a producer, Udhayanidhi Stalin can be proud of having backed a purposeful film, and as a creator, Seenu Ramasamy makes the water bird preen, and soar with confidence.” Pavithra Srinivasan from gave 3 out of 5 with a “go watch” tag and said “[It] is a beautiful record of the lives of a community, their hopes and dreams, and the harsh reality of their lives.” praised the film by saying, “This Tamil film deserves praise for conviction”</p>