Iruvar

Undoubtedly the best movie i have ever watched. Mani Ratnam, Mohanlal, Prakash Raj, A R Rahman & Santosh Sivan at their best. Mohanlals act in this film is a guide for all budding actors. The soundtrack of the film is amazing. Every shot of this masterpiece looks like picture postcards. Thanks to Santosh Sivan. I don't mind watching this film a hundred times. Iruvar is Aiswarya Rai's first film & its definitely her career best film. Mani Ratnam , Mohanlal & Rahman deserved national awards. Its a pity that they were not given national awards.Another thing which surprises me is that the movie was a flop, which is a wonder aspect of Tamil Cinema.

I have seen this movie about 10 times in the last 5 years. One of the most inspiring movie ever made in Indian movie history. The best part which sets this movie apart is the fact that it is in Tamil and about two of the greatest pioneers of Tamil Nadu, yet it is unbiased and brings out the psyche of two of the greatest minds of Tamil Nadu. Although the movie claims that it is not a true story (in the very first scene), it is intuitive to anybody who lived or are aware of the golden age of Tamil Nadu.

Mohanlal and Prakash Rai play Anandan and Tamizh Chelvan respectively. Impeccable performances by them portraying the real life characters. Every bit of this movie says that it is a classic and this will only be realized in years to come. The film showcases the kind of films Maniratnam is capable of making. A.R.Rahman's music will haunt the ears of the viewers.

This movie was not appreciated by the movie goers in India as it was a little too slow. There are no racy songs, unwanted characters or unrealistic scenes to woo the viewers. Suhasini Maniratnam's dialogues in Tamil takes this movie to a pedestal where only the connoisseurs can admire. A very straight forward approach by the best film-maker in India.

Arvind Swami lends his masculine voice to Vairamuthu's verses to bring out the intensity in the scenes that show Thamizh Chelvan's prowess as a poet.

On the whole, a wonderful movie to have in your DVD rack. A classic that will only reveal itself in the years to come.

I think this is one of Mani's best films ever. Everything about it was astounding. Rehman's music - transported you to the period. Prakash Raj's acting was amazing, he's a class act in this one. Mohan Lal, needless to say was sparkling, some of his emotions, like when he says they expelled him for asking a question and in numerous other instances, were superb. Aish was great... and the accolades goes on.

Also the movie was remarkable for Mani's raw power / edge in showing a movie that so loosely piles incident upon incident, scene after scene - more like a real life documentary, and less like a feature film. Great experimenting and also great final product. Was enjoyed more by film scholars and film students, and not so much by the general public. In the end, it's just good to know that one of India's most successful commercial directors is also experimenting with new themes, new presentation styles, thereby pushing the frontiers of what can be done film-wise.

Its the debut movie of Beauty queen Aishwarya Rai Bachan...She is lucky to co-star with the legend Mohanlal.Mohanlal teamed with Mani Ratnam for the first time to make this majestic movie.Mani was forced to cut many scenes from the movie due to some protests from political parties,which badly affects the movie..but still its a class one.Mohanlal was excellent in the role of M.G.Ramachandran,wonder why he didn't get the national award for this movie,but he won South Indian Film Fare Best Actor award..Its one of Prakash Raj's earlier movies and he was awesome!..this one is his best performance and he won Best-supporting actor.Only Mani Ratnam can make such classic..Its a masterpiece movie in all sense....acting..direction..script..cinematography.

Its surely one the must-see movies before you die.

'Iruvar' is easily Mani Ratnam's best work to date- well researched, well planned, tight screenplay, wonderful classic resembling songs, great camera-work, above all, stellar star cast and performances. The scene on the rooftop of Tamil Selvam (Prakash Raj)'s house where Anand (Mohan Lal) is urged to greet his fans is indeed, a masterpiece of a scene. I should say that 11 years has passed since this movie was made but i have loved every one who has worked on this movie. I believe Santosh Sivan is the best cameraman in India, and I am also saddened that he is not doing cemeraworks for Mani Ratnam anymore (this and Dil Se were both class). I loved Mohan Lal, and ever since then, any of his movies failed to come anywhere near as impactful as this. Above all, there is Aishwarya Rai. There are many people who doubt her acting prowess, claiming her to be nothing but glamorous and beautiful. This is, I admit, the second best all-time single film performance by an actress that i have witnessed in my life thus far (ranking first is the Clementine Wozniacki played by Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine). Ash is tremendous in enacting the role of both a village girl and a seductive actress. There is not a single scene which she fails to impress. Considering this her debut movie, i would say that she always carried great potential, i have seen rushes on the sets of the films that she has worked and i observe that she certainly is a very committed lady trying to portray the role in the best way possible. It's only sad that directors get stuck up when giving her roles. Sanjay Leela Bhansali only gave her HDDCS and Devdas where she played beautiful, exuberant young ladies but did not give her the role he gave to Rani in Black. Ash is easily the most talented of all the actresses, not only the most beautiful, her performances in Mani Ratnam's films (Guru) proves that. He seems to be the only director who knows how to use her talent and also beauty both appropriately. The thing about Iruvar is that the songs never look out of place. They are not abrupt nor mindless. This film, as i have witnessed, has changed a common perception that a good movie shouldn't have song and dance sequences. This is a good movie, and it is even a better movie for its song and dances. They are not out of place because all the songs refer to movies which Anand was acting in, and at the same time, all were gorgeously shot. 'Aayirathil Oruvan' had great locations and camera-work, so did 'Venilla', while 'Aayirathil Oruvan' too is the best shot-under-pouring-rain song i have seen so far. And i am writing this 11 years after the movie released, and five years after i watched it for the first time. I still can't erase it off my memory (I played the movie so many times that i ended up tarnishing the VCD), so i feel it deserves an IMDb review.