Thambi Vettothi Sundaram

Thambi Vettothi Sundaram is a 2011 Tamil docudrama crime film written and directed by V. C. Vadivudaiyan. It stars Karan and Anjali. The film received mixed reviews and became an average grosser. It was later dubbed into Hindi as The Acid of Life.

Plot
Thambi Vettothi Sundaram is set in Kaliyakkavilai, a town set on the state border. This place has a unique distinction: almost everyone here is educated, and quite peculiarly, almost every second person is involved in some kind of illegal business, ranging from smuggling to the brewing of illegal liquor and other such activities. This place is certainly an antithesis for all those who believe that education is the one solution to all social evils. Here, people seem to be corrupt in spite of education. Sundaram (Karan) is one from the town, well-educated, but not yet initiated into any subversive acts.

He has no idea to drift off onto the wrong side of the law, but the place and people are such that he finds it near impossible to follow a straightforward means of livelihood. He is confused, vexed, angry, and then finds Aala (Saravanan), who seems to understand his troubles; they form a jolly good duo. Who is Aala and what does the duo end up doing? Do they cleanse society, join the fray, or make enemies? In the midst of this, there is a love story as Lourd Mary (Anjali) falls for Sundaram, not without good reason.

Finally, in a fight with the don of smuggling, the don burns Sundaram's eyes with a mix of acid and chalk powder and also breaks a part of his spinal cord. Even though Sundaram kills all, he loses his eyesight and cannot stand erect for more than 15 minutes, so he then kills himself by lying under a moving bullock cart. Two years later, Mary gets Sundaram's appointment letter as a teacher and cries.

Production
The movie is about the lives of three people in Kanyakumari district. It is inspired from true life and events and the director even took the consent of the real life people before getting on board with the script.

Soundtrack
This album was composed by Vidyasagar, the soundtrack was released on 10 June 2011. Lyrics were written by Vairamuthu.

Critical reception
The film received mixed reviews. Behindwoods rated it 1 $1⁄2$ out of 5 stars, saying: "Overall, Thambi Vettothi Sundaram is a film that is loyal to its story; there are absolutely no diversions" but Sify rated it as an average fare. while Indiaglitz wrote that "The highlights of the movie are the melodious numbers by Vidyasagar. What begins as a high-voltage action film fizzles out to end as an emotional drama. But still, Vadivudayan can be complimented for an honest attempt". Critic Rohit Ramachandran gave a rating of $1⁄2$ out of 5 stars stating "No film has sunk this low and hit rock bottom with a thud. The only wise decision Vadivuayan has made is assigning Ganjakaruppu the role of an extra instead of a supporting actor. Actor Karan, aiming for feeling rather than expression, is sincerely committed to his role but to no avail while Actress Anjali takes histrionics to a new level by going mentally haywire".