Dharma Durai (2016 film)

Dharma Durai
Poster
Directed by	Seenu Ramasamy
Produced by	R. K. Suresh
Written by	Seenu Ramasamy
Starring	Vijay Sethupathi Tamannaah Radhika Sarathkumar Aishwarya Rajesh Srushti Dange
Music by	Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cinematography	M. Sukumar
Edited by	Kasi Viswanathan
Production company	Studio 9
Release date	19 August 2016
Running time	2h 27m
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Dharma Durai is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Seenu Ramasamy. The film stars Vijay Sethupathi and Tamannaah in the lead roles, with Aishwarya Rajesh, Srushti Dange, Raadhika Sarathkumar, Ganja Karuppu and Rajesh in supporting roles. Produced by R. K. Suresh and featuring music by Yuvan Shankar Raja, the film began production in December 2015. The film released gain mostly positive reviews from critics. This was the 4th release in 2016 for Vijay Sethupathi. Dharma Durai turned out to be a huge grosser in the box office and it was the biggest super hit for Vijay Sethupathi.

Dharmadurai (Vijay Sethupathi) is the village drunkard. His antics are a constant source of embarrassment for his brothers and brother-in-law, who run a chit-fund business. The brothers lock him up partially clothed in an empty outhouse most of the time and thrash him whenever he tries to stand up to them. The only people who sympathise with Dharmadurai are his mother Pandiyamma (Raadhika Sarathkumar) and his close friend Gopal (Ganja Karuppu). One day, fed up of his antics, the brothers plot to kill him, however, Pandiyamma overhears her sons and helps Dharmadurai to escape from the outhouse in the middle of the night, advising him to leave the house for good and lead a good life far away from his brothers. With this in mind, Dharmadurai takes his old clothes and bag and leaves for Madurai. However, unknown to him, the bag contains the chit-fund money. When Dharmadurai's brothers find out that he and the money are missing the following morning, they begin a search for him, but give up eventually.

It is then revealed that Dharmadurai was a doctor and was the first graduate from his village, having pursued his MBBS from Madurai Medical College. During his college days, he was part of a group of friends that included Subhashini (Tamannaah Bhatia) and Stella (Srushti Dange). Both of them were in love with Dharmadurai, and while Stella openly revealed her feelings for him, Subhashini kept her feelings to herself. He was influenced by one of his lecturers Dr. Kamaraj (Rajesh), who believed in serving the poor and helpless in the villages instead of running after money and foreign employment. Inspired by Dr. Kamaraj's ideas, the three friends decided to stay back in India after graduation, but they soon lost contact with each other. Badly requiring Stella's and Subhashini's support and guidance for his current troubles, Dharmadurai manages to get their current addresses from his old college. First, he goes to Stella's house, only to find out that she is no more, having lost her life in a car accident. Then, he goes to the hospital where Subhashini is working. Subhashini, who is now married to a Hyderabad-based doctor, is alarmed at the change in Dharmadurai. Dharmadurai tells her why he had become an alcoholic.