Iyarkai

Marudhu, a sailor, arrives at Rameswaram port, Tamil Nadu from Rome, Italy after being away for 14 years. At Senthil Aandavar Bar, a popular bar in the port, he meets Nandu while playing cards against Dorai and his posse at the bar. Marudhu asks Nandu where the church is. Nandu directs Marudhu to the church, where he tells the parish priest, Stephen, the story of a captain who attempted to escape from his capsized ship. Marudhu later meets Nancy, who overheard his conversation with Stephen, at a roadside restaurant run by her sister-in-law, Mercy. One day, Nandu comes to the bar with a bandaged nose. After seeing that Nandu is hurt, Marudhu looks for Dorai. A member from Dorai's posse tells Dorai that Marudhu is looking for him and Dorai goes in search of Marudhu. Marudhu finds Dorai fights him and his men. While fighting Dorai, Marudhu asks him who is he looking for, and if it is his lover. Nancy, overhears their conversation and, distracted by her thoughts, gets her dress stuck on train tracks as she is walking. Marudhu saves Nancy from an incoming train. She tells Marudhu to come to the only lighthouse in town at 6p.m. Later that day, Marudhu is directed to remove a stuck object from his ship's propeller. While effecting the repair, the propeller turns on and Marudhu is injured, making him unable to go to the lighthouse. To Marudhu's dismay, Nancy tells Marudhu that she was not waiting for him, but for a ship captain that she had met three years ago while selling mangoes and had fallen in love with. The ship captain had told her not to wait for him because she was too young to make a proper judgement about love, but he gave her a ring. Nancy also persuaded him to promise to return in one year. Marudhu decides to help Nancy in her search for the ship captain. The search proves difficult, however, because Nancy does not know the captain's name, as she only addressed him as "Sir" and "Officer". After Marudhu reveals his love for Nancy, she distances herself from him. One day, Nancy comes across Joe, a crewman who sailed under the ship captain, after recognising him in the bar. Joe tells Nancy that the ship captain's name is Mukundan and that he died in a shipwreck. The next day, Mercy wakes up and realises that Nancy is missing. She tells Marudhu to go find Nancy. He gets on a ship docked at the port going to Sri Lanka after being directed there by one of the people working in the port. He finds an emotionally unstable Nancy sitting in the ship. Marudhu tries to get Nancy off the ship, but a man named Adam tells him that he cannot take her unless he fights him. After they fight, Nancy jumps off the ship and Marudhu follows to save her. At night, Nancy and Marudhu sail on a canoe in search of Mukundan, when Marudhu accidentally loses Nancy's ring. The next day, he returns the ring to Nancy and tells the church father that he and his ship crew are planning to leave Christmas night. He writes his name on one piece of paper and "Captain" on the other and asks the church father to choose one of the papers, which he takes with him. On Christmas Eve, a man, unbeknownst to Nancy, arrives in the port. Marudhu helps the man get off his boat although Marudhu does not know that the man that he helped is Mukundan. Marudhu asks Nancy if she is willing to accept his love. He starts to open the piece of paper to sees whose name is written, before Nancy stops him and agrees to marry him the next day, on Christmas. During their wedding, Nancy sees Marudhu and a group of other men dancing with Santa Claus masks. One of the men kneels and presents a ring on Nancy. To Nancy's surprise, the man removes his mask and reveals that he is Mukundan, not Marudhu. A depressed Marudhu leaves aboard his ship and drops the piece of paper into the ocean. == Cast ==

Development S. P. Jhananathan began work on Iyarkai in 2001. Jhananathan's upbringing on Marina Beachhanging out with fishermen's children, working on the harbor, and hearing stories of his friends from their six month sailing journeysinspired him to make the film set in a ship with the sea as its backdrop. Jhananathan was reported to have taken inspiration for the story from his friend's uncle, who, immediately after getting married, went alone on a boat voyage in the Mediterranean Sea. He was lost and his body was nowhere to be found. Unaware of the situation, his wife awaited his return. Assistant director N. Kalyanakrishnan co-wrote the film with Jhananathan. Casting Suriya turned down the offer to play the lead role, saying he was not interested in doing romantic films. Shaam, whom Jhananathan worked with as an assistant editor on 12B (2001), was cast instead and signed the film prior to the release of 12B. The media referred to her as "Kutti" (; ) Radhika to differentiate her from the Tamil actress of the same name. Jhananathan based Nancy on his friend's uncle's wife and described her as an independent woman with the autonomy to choose the man with whom she wants a relationship. Deepa Venkat dubbed for Radhika in the film. Seema Biswas was cast as Nancy's sister-in-law, who is a chain smoking Anglo-Indian widow. Jhananathan felt that Biswas was apt for the character, and the film marked her Tamil debut. Pop singer Karunas was cast in a singing role in the film. Various foreigners played supporting roles in the film. The film's first schedule was a twenty-one day shoot at Rameshwaram, Tiruchendur, and Tuticorin. Since Jhananathan demanded an abandoned, slanted lighthouse be erected on the Andaman Islands, art director Sabu Cyril spotted an island an hour away from Port Blair and built a five-foot lighthouse there with the help of fellow art director V. Selvakumar and thirty crew members (including ten carpenters, three molders and two painters) in eight days. While shooting in a coastal hamlet, Shaam interacted with the locals to imitate their mannerisms. == Soundtrack ==

The music was composed by Vidyasagar with lyrics by Vairamuthu. The song "Kaadhal Vandhaal" was well received upon release. == Release and reception ==

Iyarkai was scheduled to be released on 24 October 2003, coinciding with the Diwali festival, but the release was delayed due to financial issues. The film was released to positive reviews, but it was a box office failure due to a lack of publicity and its delayed release. The film did not lose money because it was produced on a low budget. R. Rangaraj of Chennai Online gave the film a positive review and wrote: "The debutant director, S P Jhananathan, has handled the build-up to the climax and the climax scenes too effectively. The end is rather stunning and unexpected for a Tamil movie". He also noted that the film may not have succeeded at the box office because it lacked commercial elements. A critic from Sify wrote that "The three characters Shaam, Radhika and Arun Kumar are excellent. Shaam laces his portrayal with seriousness and dry wit, which he has not been able to do earlier. Newcomer Radhika looks fresh but has to improve in her acting. Arun Kumar is a revelation but Seema Biswas is wasted in an insignificant role. The interwoven screenplay is fresh and the climax is strange, intriguing and riveting". G. Ulaganathan of Deccan Herald wrote, "Jananathan has given a neat and laudable film. He looks at the love triangle from a different perspective and [succeeds] in carrying the audience with him". == Accolades ==

Upon release, Ekambaram sent Iyarkai to the National Awards committee. The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil for 2003, competing with Virumaandi and Pithamagan. Jhananathan wanted to return the award in protest of the death penalty for the hanging of Dhananjoy Chatterjee, but he did not do so. That same year, N. K. Ekambaram won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Cinematographer. == Legacy ==

Jhananathan wanted to shoot the film's sequel in Fiji, but the film never entered production due to his untimely death. On 21st November in 2022 and 2023, several netizens celebrated the film on Twitter (rebranded as X in 2023), coinciding with the film's nineteenth and twentieth anniversaries, respectively. As of November 2024, the film is available to stream on Sun NXT and OTTplay Premium. == Notes ==