Ethir Neechal (2013 film)

In 1985, in rural Tanjore a woman named Sivagami has complications while giving birth. Sivagami's husband prays to his native deity that if she delivers his baby successfully, he would name the baby with the name of the deity. The baby is born without any problems and as per the wish, they name the baby Kunjithapadham. As a boy, Kunjithapadham faces many problems and embarrassments due to his name, as his peer mates call him "Kunju" or "Kunji" (the private part of the male body). He decides to change his name, but his mother falls severely ill, and he prays to God that he would never change his name. His mother recovers, and they move to Chennai.

Years later, Sivagami dies. Kunjithapadam's friend Peter advises him to change his name in order to have a change in his life. After meeting an astrologer Gunasekara Raja, he legally renames himself "Harish". He also changes residence and job. Luck starts to him from that day onwards. He falls in love with Geetha, a school teacher, and succeeds in winning her heart. He later gets a job, and life goes smoothly for him. One day, his lottery ticket hits victory, and he must cash it in for a TV as a prize. However, the lottery has registered his earlier name as "Kunjithapadham". He gets the TV using peter, but Geetha finds out his true name and berates him for lying to her about his name. She tells him that he needs to succeed at something in life in order to win her heart.

Harish decides to participate in the coming Chennai Marathon. He meets with a trainer, J. Prakash alias JP, who takes him to his former student Valli, who had quit athletics. She agrees to train Harish. Later, he sees her crying in the terrace with a photo of her deceased father. Harish asks her to tell her past. Valli was a naturally talented athlete from her young days. Her father supported her talent and spoke with many men to get her past many tournaments. She got into a state level tournament where she beat the rookie of the corrupt coach Raja Singh. Infuriated, Raja Singh accused Valli of failing a gender verification test. The board punished Valli and stopped her from participating. Heartbroken, Valli's father died of a heart attack. JP then met with an accident.

Hearing this flashback, Harish is moved and decides to win the marathon. Geetha also urges him to win it for the sake of Valli. During the marathon, Harish faces stiff competition from another one of Raja Singh's rookies, but he eventually wins the race and publicly reveals Valli's innocence. Raja Singh is arrested, and Valli resumes athletics. Harish later opens and runs a training academy under his original name. A man named Dinakaran, acting on Harish's advice, proposes his love to Valli, and she accepts.

The soundtrack features six songs that belonged to varied genres; Vaali, Dhanush and R. S. Durai Senthilkumar penned lyrics for two songs each. For the title track "Ethir Neechal" composer Anirudh hired Punjabi rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh,[14][15] and Adhi from the duo Hiphop Tamizha, to croon the rap versions of the song.[16] The album's final mixing took place in Mumbai.[17]

It was announced that Sony Music had brought the marketing rights for the film's soundtrack album.[18] The soundtrack was initially slated to be released on 20 December 2012. However it was not confirmed from official sources.[19] The making of the album was launched by the film's crew members, prior to the audio launch.[20]

Initially, it was speculated that Sun Pictures had acquired the distribution rights of the film.[21] However, it was proved untrue. The distribution rights of the film were secured by Vendhar Movies. The satellite rights of the film were purchased by STAR Vijay. Ethir Neechal was initially scheduled to release on April,[22] later being pushed to 1 May 2013.[23][24] The theatrical trailer of the film was released on 13 April 2013.[25] The film was given a U certificate by the Censor Board with no cuts.[26]

Ethir Neechal was released in 300 screens across Tamil Nadu on 1 May 2013,[27] clashing with Soodhu Kavvum and Moondru Per Moondru Kaadhal.[1] Apart from the Tamil Nadu release, the film was simultaneously released in the US, by Gramaphone LLC, which acquired the distribution rights.[28] The film's success was celebrated at the Victoria Hall in Geneva, Switzerland, along with audio functions of three other films distribuited by Vendhar Movies.[29]

• List of films about the sport of athletics

• Ethir Neechal at IMDb