Anger is the predominant emotion in Irudhi Suttru. An angry superstar of a boxer coach who is loved and loathed in equal measures, a foul-mouthed, feisty fisherwoman who stumbles upon boxing; somewhere one is lead to recollect Shah Rukh Khan in Chak De, who asks one of his players to take a gulp of water to down the anger, and wonder whether anger is the necessary propellant when it comes to the game of fist-fight.
The language of the movie being boxing, Prabhu Selvaraj (Madhavan), an infamous boxing coach from the Indian Boxing Federation, mixes it up well with a handful of expletives. He's transferred from Delhi to Chennai, where a classic boxing coach meets potential boxer and story evolves. Madhi (Ritika Singh), whose elder sister is an aspiring boxer, becomes the coach's object of appreciation. Where that leads to, becomes the narrative.
There are miscreants as always inside the game fraternity that make for deliberate hurdles on the way. A largely straight-forward, eyes-on-the-game story that plays around the cliches takes one too many diversions with the surfacing of internal politics and crass expressions of it. The heat of the game is slightly doused by the predictable nature the characters, with even a skewed version of 'love' included, almost just for the sake of it.
The game part of the film is executed commendably; Ritika Singh, a real time MMA fighter, moves swiftly aiming angular punches. Even though her insolence is amusing and a tad over the top, she's a winner in the second half, when all that spunk dissolves to more clarity.
Madhavan, rugged and aggressive, comes off with a clean performance. As usual, Nasser plays his part well as the assistant coach and Radha Ravi takes it all with just one splendid line.
Santhosh Narayanan's score brings to play the otherwise underused emotive elements. 'Ey Sandakara' justifies a love that otherwise looks unreal. 'Usuru Narambile' is the beauty in breakdown, and 'Va Machaney' roots for spunk.
Unlike sports dramas like Foxcatcher or Reel Steel, where there are other strong facets to the story as well, Irudhi Suttrum is all about the game. Even if there were other elements, the narrative hasn't seen any of them through. The last lap shows promise though, for the final redemption to the game is when power gives way to brains, making it a sellout.
Onmanorama Rating: 3/5
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