Iravin Nizhal

The film opens with Nandu, a film financier, learning that the cops are about to arrest him, and making a run, with a gun, which he hopes to use ostensibly on Paramaanandha, a fake godman, who is one of those to have put him in this precarious position. As he waits at the godman's dilapidated ashram, he recounts his eventful life, the people who pushed him into darkness, his sins and the one flicker of light that's still part of his life.

His birth resulted from his mother's extramarital affair with their landowner. She's murdered by her husband in a jealous rage. He's raised by neighbours until he runs away aged 10. After being raped by a cop, he's given refuge by a trans-woman, who uses him to deal marijuana. At 18 he falls in love with a girl who seems to reciprocate his feelings, but ends up cheating on him for money, breaking his heart. Then he falls in love with Chilakkamma, a devout girl who reciprocates his feelings. They marry and set up a small shop with the help of a trader who encourages him to get involved in the hawala trade which he's forced to quit when the law catches up, rendering him unable to pay loan sharks who abuse his wife causing her to kill herself.

He seeks refuge at the fake godman's ashram, where he's soon disillusioned upon discovering the latter's true colours. An acolyte who was the godman's consort Prema Kumari exposes him, getting him arrested, to get his wealth. Upon discovering this, Nandu, who has a subsequent affair with, and impregnates her, demands half of it, and kills her when she refuses. He's then haunted by the cries of the unborn foetus.

He then becomes a notorious loan shark. He coerces one of his debtors into marrying him and has a daughter Arputha on whom he showers his love. His wife eventually warms to him. But when they find out that a debtor of his killed himself along with his family due to his harassment, they leave him.

Nandu reflects on all this, and out of guilt, pain and hopelessness he shoots himself dead.

The music for the film is composed by A. R. Rahman. Parthiban himself had stated that Rahman was roped in not to give viral hits; but to rather give an album filled with evergreen songs.[13] A single from the music album was released in the presence of A.R. Rahman on 1 May 2022, coinciding with the International Labour Day.[14][15] The official audio launch of the film was held in Chennai on 5 June 2022 in the presence of Abhishek Bachchan and A. R. Rahman.

On 2 February 2022, the filmmakers released a video clip from the film and the first look poster was unveiled on 19 March 2022 by veteran director Mani Ratnam in his official Twitter handle, which was also later unveiled by Madras Talkies in Twitter.[17][18] The official teaser of the film was released on 1 May 2022 in YouTube coinciding with the May Day.[19]

The film received mostly positive reviews. Director Seenu Ramasamy heaped praise on the film calling it as a lighthouse to Tamil cinema.[26] Ganesh Aaglave of Firstpost after reviewing the film wrote "Courage and foolishness sail in the same boat. If an idea works, the ideator will be hailed as a trailblazer. And if it doesn’t work, the ideator will be called a fool. It’s as simple as that. And since Iravin Nizhal comes with many labels attached to it, I’d say it’s a courageous project. It’d have been a better movie, however, if the story had more depth than a two-litre water bottle."[27] Srivatsan S of The Hindu after reviewing the film wrote "Nevertheless, Parthiban does dare to dream big. He seems to enjoy taking risks, outdoing himself. Keep daring, Parthiban."[28] Manoj Kumar R of The Indian Express gave 3 out of 5 stars stating that "Parthiban has a reputation to keep. He is expected to do something different every time he makes a movie. And so he keeps inventing new ways to tell a story. But, it seems he isn’t changing the story much. He is just changing the way he tells it."[29] Bhavana Sharma of Pinkvilla rated 3 out of 5 and wrote "The captain of the ship has done a good job as a director and actor as well. Though there are certain ups and downs in the story, impressive filmmaking is something that you will get bowled over."[30] M Suganth of The Times of India gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and stated "There are several moments when you marvel at the smoothness with which the scenes transition from one time period to the next. Parthiban also uses music (AR Rahman, whose stirring score is like a ray of light in this film's dark world) sound effects cleverly to make us forget that entire film has been shot in one place, inside the huge set that we are shown in the making-of video. In that sense, this 'project' is definitely a success as Parthiban achieves what he set out to do."[31] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV wrote "But in the end, in terms of its style and spunk, Iravin Nizhal ploughs its own distinct furrow. It is a movie unlike any other."[32] R. Krishnakumar of Deccan Herald rated the film 3.5 out of 5 and wrote "Parthiban sets the episodic flashbacks to good pace, their staging elevated by a terrific score from A R Rahman."[33]

Bharathy Singaravel of The News Minute rated 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Iravin Nizhal is at the least a crashing bore; at the worst, single-take magic aside, a noxious mix of misogyny and self-indulgence."[34] Soundarya Athimuthu of The Quint rated 3 out of 5 stars and called the film "A phenomenal addition to Parthiban's unique list of films".[35] A critic for Behindwoods rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Strong performances, technical prowess and Parthiban's craziness makes Iravin Nizhal a film you shouldn't miss!"[36] Gopinath Rajendran of New Indian Express rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote " The film shows that with excellent workmanship and technological mastery, the boundaries of storytelling and filmmaking can be pushed to great limits—and sometimes, even if the story isn’t great, this is its own type of gratification."[37] A critic for India Herald wrote that "In that regard, this "enterprise" is unquestionably a success because parthiban accomplishes his goals."[38] Vijaya Shankar of DT Next rated the film 4.5 out of 5 stars and wrote that "Iravin Nizhal too comes with its flaws like its protagonist Nandhu but is an impressive experiment with technical mastery and unconventional storytelling from a filmmaker who always wants to give the audience something new and unique, which needs to be appreciated."[39] Ananda Vikatan rated the film 42 out of 100.[40]

• Iravin Nizhal at IMDb