Idiot (2022 film)
| Idiot | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Rambhala |
| Written by | Rambhala |
| Produced by | Siddharth Ravipati |
| Starring | Shiva Nikki Galrani Akshara Gowda |
| Cinematography | Raja Bhattacharjee |
| Edited by | Gingee Madhavan |
| Music by | Vikram Selva |
Production company | Screen Scene Media Entertainment |
| Distributed by | 7G Films |
Release date | 1 April 2022 |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Idiot is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language parody comedy horror film directed by Rambhala and produced by Screen Scene Media Entertainment Pvt Ltd. The film stars Shiva and Nikki Galrani.[1] The film was initially planned for release in theatres in September 2021 but has since been postponed.[2][3] The film was released in theatres on 1 April 2022.[4]
Plot
A royal family is betrayed and tricked into suicide by two subordinates, Sethupathi and Senathipathi. The sole survivor is the family's infant son, whom Sethupathi wants to kill, but Senathipathi convinces him to spare.
Many decades later, Sethupathi's descendant Chinnarasu is the son of Raasu Gounder, who is incompetent head of a village panchayat, and his long-suffering wife Parimalam. The only son of the family, Chinnarasu is despised by his father, who dotes on his daughters. After Chinnarasu disobeys his father and competes in a kabadi game, he is thrown out of the family by his father. Chinnarasu returns drunk and belligerent, and demands a share of his ancestral property from his father. Raasu Gounder spitefully gives him the deeds to the palace of the royal family Sethupathi had killed, a place where he had been warned never to go to. While travelling there, Chinnarasu meets with an accident, becoming a delusional amnesiac.
Meanwhile, Senathipathi's son and granddaughter, Smitha, run a psychiatric hospital named after Senathipathi. After his accident, Chinnarasu is admitted to Smitha's hospital, and given the name Paandi. As Paandi, he befriends fellow patient Burfi, and falls in love with Smitha, who sees him only as a harmless, but delusional, patient
One day, Smitha's father gives her a ring that had once belonged to her grandfather. After Smitha's mother puts the ring on her finger while she is asleep, Smitha is strangled at night by the ghosts of the royal family her grandfather helped to murder, until the ring slips off her finger. The next day, the ring is stolen from Smitha's bag by the attendant of a sinister female patient, but is taken from her soon after by Paandi, who believes that the ring is an engagement ring Smitha has bought for him. The ring is then confiscated from Paandi by a nurse, and then once again stolen, reaching the female patient. The female patient bargains with the ghosts, revealing herself to be a sorceress named Neelagandi. She tells them that she will help them take revenge against Sethupathi's and Senathipathi's descendants in return for them helping her resurrect her dead lover by sacrificing Smitha on the night of an eclipse.
Meanwhile, Thiru Don Sekar and his gang plan to kidnap Smitha for ransom from her father. On the night of the eclipse, Paandi and Burfi hide in Smitha's car in an attempt to smuggle themselves out of the hospital. When Smitha leaves the hospital, Thiru Don and his gang successfully snatch her, but accidentally make their ransom demand to Paandi and Burfi, instead of Smitha's father. They drop off an unconscious Smitha for the ransom at the drop site, but are angered to find that the "ransom" is actually a pile of rubbish. When they return to look for Smitha, they see her being kidnapped by Neelagandi's ghost army and taken to the royal family's palace, but believe the ghosts are another gang of kidnappers in disguise.
Thus, the paths of Neelagandi, the dead royal family, Paandi and Burfi and the kidnappers all coincide at the palace. The kidnappers' attempts to flee the palace are stymied when they realise that the ghosts truly dead, and hilarity ensues due to Paandi's and Burfi's delusions and lack of concern about the ghosts. Meanwhile, Raasu Gounder and Parimalam visit the palace and are offended by their son's refusal to acknowledge them. At the same time, Smitha's father enlists a priest in order to help rescue her from the palace.
Upon their arrival, the dead king recognises Smitha's father as his youngest son, and the family switches sides to rescue Smitha. The priest sets up a ritual to protect and Smitha during the eclipse, but it is destroyed by Burfi, who misunderstands it as Paandi's wedding, to which he hadn't been invited. As Neelagandi begins the ritual, the priest empowers Paandi to fight against her evil powers, then tricks Neelagandi into believing that Paandi is the reincarnation of her dead lover. When Neelagandi embraces Paandi, the priest releases the soul of Neelagandi's lover, who is enraged by her apparent betrayal and kills her. The eclipse ends soon after, and Smitha is rescued.
Cast
- Shiva[5] as Chinnarasu and Paandi
- Nikki Galrani as Smitha
- Akshara Gowda as Neelagandi
- Anandaraj[6] as Raasu Gounder
- Urvashi as Parimalam
- Mayilsamy as Aandavar
- Singamuthu
- Ravi Mariya as Thiru Don Sekar
- Redin Kingsley as Burfi
- Crane Manohar
- R. N. R. Manohar
Production
The shooting of the film was started on 9 November 2021 with the majority of the portions in the first schedule was shot in Tenkasi and the remaining portions in Chennai.[7] The final schedule was commenced in Pollachi by the end of December 2021.[8] The team wrapped up shooting for the film in February 2021.[9]
Release
The trailer of the film was released on 25 April 2021.[10] The film was initially planned for release in theatres on 17 September 2021, but got postponed due to unforeseen situations.[11][12] The film was released in theatres on 1 April 2022.
Reception
Idiot received generally negative reviews from critics. Logesh Balachandran of The Times of India gave the film 2.0 out of 5 stars and said, "Right from the beginning, the film is not sure of its stance, swaying between spoof and comedy of errors... [making it] a tedious watch for viewers..."[13] Navein Darshan of Cinema Express gave the film 1.5 out of 5 stars, and highlights the poor representation of mental illness in the film as a major issue, saying, "Scenes like these are highly insulting to both the LGBTQIA+ community and people suffering from mental illness."[14]
References
- ^ "RJ Shiva and Nikki Galrani's upcoming horror comedy titled 'Idiot'". The News Minute. 27 October 2020. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
- ^ "மிர்ச்சி சிவா - ராம் பாலா கூட்டணியில் உருவான 'இடியட் '". Zee News (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 8 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
- ^ "Famous Spoof Movie Idiot gets a Release this Month?". India Herald. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
- ^ "Horror-comedy 'Idiot' starring Mirchi Shiva to release on this. Movie is remake from kannada moviedate!". The Times of India. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Director Rambhala: Shiva is so casual like a Hollywood actor". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
{{cite web}}:|archive-date=requires|archive-url=(help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "'Idiot will entertain all'". News Today. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
- ^ "Shiva, Nikki Galrani to headline Rambhala's next titled 'Idiot'". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 26 November 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
- ^ "Final schedule of Mirchi Shiva's 'Idiot' commences". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
{{cite web}}:|archive-date=/|archive-url=timestamp mismatch; 16 September 2021 suggested (help) - ^ "Watch: Trailer of Shiva and Nikki Galrani's horror spoof movie 'Idiot' is hilarious". The News Minute. 2 April 2022. Archived from the original on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
{{cite web}}:|archive-date=/|archive-url=timestamp mismatch; 11 September 2021 suggested (help) - ^ "Trailer of Shiva and Nikki Galrani's Idiot out". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- ^ "Horror comedy film 'Idiot' to release this month". Sify. Archived from the original on 10 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- ^ "செப்.17-ல் வெளியாகிறதா 'இடியட்'?". The Hindu Tamil (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 4 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
- ^ Idiot Movie Review: A horror-comedy created in a world of 'Idiots', retrieved 16 April 2022
- ^ "Idiot Movie Review: The joke is on us". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 16 April 2022.