From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Imsai Arasan 23m Pulikesi
Directed by	Simbudevan
Produced by	S. Shankar
Written by	Simbudevan
Starring	Vadivelu Tejashree Nassar Manorama Monica Nagesh Venniradai Moorthy
Music by	Sabesh-Murali
Cinematography	Arthur Wilson
Distributed by	S Pictures
Release date(s)	2006
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	$1 million
Gross revenue	$4 million[1]

Imsai Arasan 23am Pulikesi is a 2006 Tamil historical comedy film directed by Simbudevan. The film stars veteran comedian Vadivelu, Tejashree, Monica, Manorama, Nassar and Nagesh. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by Sabesh-Murali. The film was produced and distributed by acclaimed Tamil film director S. Shankar.

Cast

• Vadivelu as Pulikesi and Ukraputhan
• Tejashree as Soolaayini
• Monica as Vasantha Soundary
• Nassar as Raja Guru
• Manorama as Raja Matha
• Nagesh as Raja Mokkaiyappar

Plot

Imsai Arasan 23am Pulikesi is whacky spoof, a satire on the Machiavellian politics practiced in the late 18th century which is laced with present day happenings in politics, sports and all areas in a hilarious manner.

The story is a spoof on many films that we have seen in the past. In a faraway kingdom the ruler (Nagesh) and queen (Manorama) are craving for a child as all their 22 kids die at birth. Little do they know that the queen’s brother Rajaguru Sangilimaayan (Nassar) is behind the death of their children as he wants to be the next ruler! But when the palace astrologer predicts that the 23rd child will be a dimwit, Rajguru is happy. But the queen gives birth to twins and among them the smarter one (according to the astrologer) is ordered to be killed while the dimwit survives.

The child is named 23 am Pulikesi (Vadivelu) and he grows up to be the new king after the Kings death. Pulikesi is a weak, hedonistic bully with grandiose delusions and is a puppet in the hands of Rajguru who is hand-in-glove with the British to loot the state. Meanwhile the other child is adopted by a childless couple and he grows up to be Ugraputran (Vadivelu) an educated young man and a patriot with a lofty vision for his country. Ugrabuddhan tries to kill Pulikesi but when Ugran sees him and realizes that Pulikesi is his twin brother. Soon Ugrabuddhan comes to know about his past and to save the land from Rajguru and British; he replaces Pulikesi as the king. He joins hands with Thalapathi (Sreeman), brings new reforms, exposes Rajguru and saves the land from the British.

Simbudevan has succeeded to a very large extent in making the audience laugh with dialogue oriented comedy and not falling back on slapstick variety. He throws all rules of the book out of the window by his unconventional storyline and presentation. A dumb Pulikesi makes a huge stadium for the public to conduct caste wars between two groups and the man who killed more number of people is awarded something similar to the ‘man of the match’ in one-day cricket matches! In another instance, Pulikesi parcels off a particular area to a bandit to loot the common man, similar to present day politicians giving each dada an area to operate and allowing an aerated drink made out of earthworms (sheer coincidence to pesticides in Cola)to be popularized in the state. All this brings the house down.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features 5 songs composed by Sabesh-Murali and written by Pulavar Pulamaipithan

Reception

Produced on a budget of $1 million, the film was a commercial success grossing $4 million at the box office. The film also received critical acclaim for its clean comedy and Vadivelu's performance.

Vadivelu received the Filmfare Award for Best Comedian for his comic act.

References

Clips from Official Site: Pulikesi.com