Devarattam produced by K. E. Gnanavel Raja. The film stars Gautham Karthik and Manjima Mohan in the lead roles, while Vinodhini Vaidyanathan, Soori, and FEFSI Vijayan play supporting roles. The film's soundtrack is composed by Nivas K. Prasanna with editing done by Praveen K. L. and cinematography by Sakthi Saravanan. The film released on 1 May 2019. It received mixed reviews but became a box-office success.
Plot
Vetri lives in a joint family with six sisters and their husbands. He has been brought up by his eldest sister Pechi, and their relationship is more like a mother and son. Vetri has an anger problem and gets into unnecessary fights, but everybody in the family loves him as he is the first advocate in their family. However, soon he takes the law in his hands when he murders a sexual offender - his friend who happens to be the son of Madurai's dreaded gangster, Kodumpavi Ganesan. Ganesan swears revenge and promises to kill Vetri just like he murdered his son in the streets of Madurai in broad daylight. However, Ganesan instead kills Pechi and her husband. As revenge, Vetri kills Ganesan and places his severed head inside the fridgeat home, a deed that he was supposed to have done before the funeral of the deceased relatives.
Cast
Gautham Karthik as Vetri
Manjima Mohan as Madhu
Soori as Vetri's 4th brother-in-law
FEFSI Vijayan as Kodumpavi Ganesan
Vinodhini Vaidyanathan as Pechi, Vetri's 1st sister
Srivatsan.S of The Hindu wrote "Devarattam is yet anotherTamil film that uses rape/sexual assault as a ploy to take the story forward. The film comes at a time when the disturbing Pollachi incident is still fresh in our minds." Sreedhar Pillai of Firstpost said "In the end, Devarattam seems like just another film which shows Madurai as a traditional land that is also a blood-soaked, lawless place where cops and gangsters are hand in glove." Janani.K of India Today writes as "Director Muthaiah's films follow the same template. So much so, that you can guess the story even before you have seen the film. Devarattam is the same: a cliched rural entertainer. Skip Devarattam at ease." Subhakeerthana.S of The Indian Express wrote "Mindless violence and bloodshed fill this below-average rural drama". Karthik Kumar of Hindustan Times said "If you are interested in a generic rural masala entertainer but one that has great action, then this Gautham Karthik starrer could be a film for you." Sudhir Sreenivasan of Cinema Express wrote "The film, ostensibly mounted on Thevar pride, makes the sort of association with violence we have generally been used to seeing in such movies" Anjana Shekar of The News Minute wrote "It is not just a sentiment-action-revenge-drama formula. It is the director’s anguish at how men treat women in this society. In the end, the message rings loud and clear for all the men - “Our heroism and courage is for the sake of protecting women, not for raping them!”."