Common land)[2] is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language political thriller film co-produced, written and directed by S. P. Jananathan, which stars Arya, Shaam, Vijay Sethupathi, and Karthika.
[3] Also produced by UTV Motion Pictures,[4] the film features cinematography by N. K. Ekambaram and a score by Srikanth Deva, while the soundtrack was composed by newcomer Varshan.
The film, which was earlier titled Purampokku, a term used for a piece of land that is common to all,[5] revolves around the relevance of capital punishment in a democratic and free society.
Despite Balu's request to execute him as a martyr by shooting, the court orders that he be hanged within a month's time by a professional executioner or hangman.
He is escorted to a high security prison complex in Chennai by Macaulay, an honest, law-abiding police officer who is given the charge of monitoring him until his execution.
Meanwhile, Macaulay searches for a hangman and learns of Yamalingam, an executioner who has had a disdain of execution since his teens due to remorse of hanging an innocent man who was wrongly accused.
Elsewhere, Kuyili, Balu's trusted comrade, learns about his conviction and assembles a group of computer hackers to hack into the prison's surveillance system.
Kuyili tells Yamalingam that her refusal to kill Balu and his past guilt of executing an innocent person were the reasons that made them allies.
Yamalingam looks at Balu's eyes and winks at him, assuring him that he shall escape, covers his face and places the noose on him, then proceeds to hang him, being tensed after the process.
In 2013, Jananathan announced the project titled Purampokku with Arya and Vijay Sethupathi in lead roles,[10] with newcomer Varshan handling the music direction instead of Yuvan Shankar Raja and N. K. Ekambaram wielding the camera.
[11] Jananathan revealed that the film would be a political action thriller with Arya portraying role as a social and financial analyst, while Vijay Sethupathi would appear as a railway Khalasi.
[17] Later Shaam, who earlier appeared in director's debut film Iyarkai (2003) and also had collaborated with Arya in Ullam Ketkumae (2005), was selected to play the role of police officer.
A critic from The Hindu wrote, "The greatness of Purampokku lies not in the fact that it takes complex issues such as death penalty and privatisation to create a superb, entertaining film.
On the contrary, Purampokku provides a blue print – evidence, if you like – for filmmakers to show how one can deal with controversial topics without watering down the complexity of the issue or settling for a silly compromise".
[36] A critic from The New Indian Express wrote, "Informative and entertaining, Purampokku... is one film where the characters and moments linger in the mind, even after one leaves the theatre".
[37] A critic from Rediff gave the film 3 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Purampokku Engira Podhuvudamai is an honest and compelling political thriller that debates the arbitrary nature of capital punishment against the backdrop of a communist revolution".
[38] A critic from Sify, however, wrote, "SP Jananathan's dialogues are splendid, he casually spill all his communism ideologies in every possible scenes but as the concept of the film itself is universal, the execution should have been top notch and flawless but here things are progressively poor and amateurish".