Nine emotions) is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language anthology television series created by Mani Ratnam, who also collaborated with Jayendra Panchapakesan to produce it through their newly formed banner Justickets.
[1][2] The series features nine stand-alone episodes based on the Indian concept of the Navarasas, filmed by Priyadarshan, Karthik Subbaraj, Vasanth, Arvind Swami, Bejoy Nambiar, Karthick Naren, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Sarjun KM and Rathindran R. Prasad.
It comprises an ensemble cast of Suriya, Revathi, Vijay Sethupathi, Siddharth, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Prayaga Martin, Arvind Swamy, Prasanna, Poorna, Delhi Ganesh, Rohini, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Yogi Babu, Manikuttan, Remya Nambeesan, Aditi Balan, Bobby Simha, Riythvika, Sree Raam, Atharvaa, Nedumudi Venu, Anjali and Kishore, amongst others.
The series was conceived when Mani Ratnam and Jayendra were collaborating on social causes, as a project for a streaming service that could generate funds to help daily-wage workers and other members of the Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI) affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marking the digital debut for Mani Ratnam and the production studio Madras Talkies, the project saw Justickets team up with FEFSI and Bhoomika Trust for fundraising activities.
After an official announcement in October 2020 by the cast and crew, including the directors, writers, composers, cinematographers and editors, production of short film-episodes began during the same month and ended by March 2021.
[3] Each of the nine episodes represent a different emotion or rasa- anger, compassion, courage, disgust, fear, laughter, love, peace and wonder.
Meanwhile, Dheena sends his wife Malli (Sai Tamhankar) and toddler daughter to safety and takes shelter in his grandmother's house in Kerala.
He recalls that during his last year as a 9th grader (1992), he ended up spoiling the chances of an arranged marriage for a teacher – Lakshmi (Remya Nambeesan) – who was also the principal’s (Nedumudi Venu) daughter.
Vishnu invented a machine called Drifter with Kalki (Sai Siddharth) – his research assistant since around 2015 – in which he could travel in time through his mind to study the ‘dream state’.
Bhagyalakshmi is later seen complaining that she wants her braid to be made longer with extensions as the groom, Natarajan (Karthik Krishna), previously saw her with long hair.
As his comrades treat his wounds and chide him for undertaking the risky operation, Nilavan declares that the enemies do not have his name written on their bullets, and "My death has been postponed by this pup".
In the present, the female cop receives a call from her brother (Ramesh Thilak), who says that their ailing mother wants to meet her one last time.
Waheeda (Parvathy Thiruvothu), a rich lady, living in an expensive, art-festooned home in Puducherry, has a visitor Farooq (Siddharth), who requests for her signature on some documents.
She asks who he is, and as he responds the audience learns that a young Waheeda (Ammu Abhirami) originally worked as a servant for a rich elderly man named Maraikkayar (Sheimour Roosevelt), who was suffering from a brain tumor.
In her desperation, Waheeda, on the advice of lover Anwar (Pavel Navageethan), turns to Hussein Hojja (Rajesh Balachandiran) to summon a djinn to kill Maraikkayar.
This disgrace was too much for an honest man to bear, and Jaffar subsequently died of a heart attack, leaving behind his many daughters and an only son, revealed to be Farooq.
After Commander Chakravarthy (Azhagam Perumal) and eight other soldiers are killed in action, Vetri is asked to produce an injured Naxalite (Kishore) at the military base.
[citation needed] Halitha Shameem was replaced by Sarjun KM as the director after she exited the project due to her busy schedule.
[37] In January 2021, veteran filmmaker Priyadarshan announced his part in the project replacing Ponram, whose segment features Yogi Babu in the lead.
Ponram's Town Bus featuring Gautham Karthik, Robo Shankar and Saravanan, was shot and completed in Kodaikanal during October 2020.
[39] The soundtrack and background music is composed by A. R. Rahman, Santhosh Narayanan, Sundaramurthy K. S., Rajesh Murugesan, Karthik, Ron Ethan Yohann, Govind Vasantha and Justin Prabhakaran[44] and featured lyrics written by Madhan Karky, Uma Devi and Soundararajan.
[45] Navarasa was one of the most anticipated Indian projects releasing through digital streaming service[46] and also the second big-budget Tamil original from Netflix, after Jagame Thandhiram.
[47][48] Netflix India released snippets featuring Suriya, Vijay Sethupathi, Aravind Swami, Parvathy and Siddharth on 3 March 2021, during the announcement of their original content for the year.
[55][56] On 7 July 2021,[57] as a part of the marketing campaign, Ananda Vikatan magazine released exclusive stills from the nine short films revealing the titles and cast members.
[58][61] The official teaser of Navarasa directed and edited by Bharat Bala, which featured an original score by A. R. Rahman, released on 9 July 2021.
[68] Ahead of the film's screening, the title logo was showcased at Burj Khalifa, Dubai on 5 August 2021, again a first for a Tamil streaming series.
[69] Summer of '92, the second film in the anthology, has been criticized for its elitist, casteist undertones[70] – portraying Dalits in poor light and for referring to a Christian priest in a derogatory manner.
[71][72][73] The protagonist, likely Dalit, is referred to by dominant caste and Brahmin characters as "panni munji" (pig face) and "sandala" (a casteist slur).
The protagonist loses control of a situation and brings an excrement-covered dog in contact with a Brahmin family who apparently cannot tolerate even well-bathed animals.