Iruvar

Iruvar
Poster
Directed by	Mani Ratnam
Written by	Mani Ratnam
Dialogues by	Suhasini
Poem by	Vairamuthu
Produced by	Mani Ratnam G. Srinivasan
Starring	Mohanlal Prakash Raj Aishwarya Rai Revathi Tabu Gautami
Cinematography	Santosh Sivan
Edited by	Suresh Urs
Music by	A. R. Rahman
Production company	Madras Talkies
Distributed by	Madras Talkies
Release date	14 January 1997 (1997-01-14)
Running time	158 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Iruvar (transl. The Duo) is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language epic political drama film co-written, produced, and directed by Mani Ratnam. The film, inspired by the lives of M. G. Ramachandran, M. Karunanidhi and J. Jayalalithaa, is set against the backdrop of cinema and politics in Tamil Nadu. It stars an ensemble cast including Mohanlal, Prakash Raj, Aishwarya Rai, Revathi, Gautami, Tabu, and Nassar. Rai, who was crowned Miss World 1994, made her first screen appearance, playing dual characters.

The high-budget film had its original soundtrack composed by A. R. Rahman, and the cinematography was by Santosh Sivan. This film marked Mohanlal's debut in Tamil cinema after having only a cameo in Gopura Vasalile.

The film was screened in the Masters section at the 1997 Toronto International Film Festival. Iruvar went on to become a critical success, winning the Best Film award at the Belgrade International Film Festival and two National Film Awards. In 2012, Iruvar was included by critic Rachel Dwyer in the 2012 British Film Institute Sight & Sound 1000 greatest films of all time.^[1] In a 2013 interview, Ratnam said he considered Iruvar to be his best film. It used DTS 6 track sound recording.