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Blue Star (film)

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For the 2023 Spanish-Argentine drama film, see The Blue Star (film).

Blue Star
Theatrical release poster
Directed byS. Jayakumar
Written byS. Jayakumar
Tamizh Prabha
Produced byPa. Ranjith
R. Ganesh Murthy
G. Soundarya
StarringAshok Selvan
Shanthanu Bhagyaraj
Keerthi Pandian
CinematographyThamizh A. Azhagan
Edited bySelva R. K.
Music byGovind Vasantha
Production
companies
Neelam Productions
Lemon Leaf Creation Pvt Ltd
Distributed bySakthi Film Factory
Release date
  • 24 January 2024 (2024-01-24)
Running time
166 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Blue Star is a 2024 Indian Tamil-language sports drama film directed by S. Jayakumar in his directorial debut and jointly produced by Pa. Ranjith under his production banner Neelam Productions along with R. Ganesh Murthy and G. Soundarya under Lemon Leaf Creation Pvt Ltd. The film stars Ashok Selvan, Shanthanu Bhagyaraj and Keerthi Pandian, with Prithvi Rajan, Bagavathi Perumal, Elango Kumaravel and Lizzie Antony in supporting roles, and Saju Navodaya in an extended cameo. The film features music composed by Govind Vasantha with cinematography handled by Thamizh A. Azhagan and editing done by Selva R. K. It was released on 24 January 2024 to positive reviews from critics.

Plot

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Set in the 1990s, the film is based in Arakkonam and follows the rivalry between two groups belonging to different castes against the backdrop of cricket. The plot follows their transition from enemies to friends and the trope between the different teams, while addressing the sport's segregation and inequalities, explored when both the team captains are exposed to discrimination and segregation from another world of cricket.

Ranjith’s team and Rajesh’s team have a long-standing rivalry, Ranjith’s team coming from the colony side of village lower caste and Rajesh’s team consisting of the richer higher caste. Long back, Immanuel who used to be Blue Star’s star player was about to win a match for Blue Star, a fight breaks out between two teams in which Immanuel’s leg is injured, and he becomes permanently disabled. Since then, the two teams are banned in the village from playing against each other.

Cut to the present, Ranjith is a carefree college going youth in love with Anandhi. He wants to get back at Rajesh’s team and wants Blue star to play and win a match against them to prove their superiority. Once they clash in the village ground over which team gets to play there first, subsequently playing a 3-ball match in which blue star wins. After the incident, both teams get hell bent on playing a match against each other to show their superiority. Rajesh influences his politician Uncle who speaks to the village elders and finally gets a match scheduled. Not to miss any chance of winning, Rajesh recruits some club players from the town cricket league who are professional players, to play the match against Blue Star. Subsequently his team wins the match against Blue Star. Rajesh goes to the league players’ ground to pay back the money and tries his hand at batting in their ground. The league players who come from an even privileged background, who had been skeptical of Rajesh and his team and just came there and played for the money, humiliates him and their coach kicks him out of the ground. Immanuel, who is the ground staff of the league grounds, intervenes, but he too is assaulted by them. At this point, Ranjith intervenes and beats up the coach. Both Ranjith and Rajesh get arrested and later Rajesh’s uncle gets him out on bail. Rajesh has a change of heart due to the turn of events and secretly helps to get Ranjith out also.

Immanuel unites both the teams to play together as one unit and play against the common enemy. They finally team up, overcome their differences and practice hard to reach the semifinal of the match. During the semi-final, the league players coach uses his influence to send another deadly team 11 Bullets to play against Blur Star, but Ranjith and Rajesh somehow manage to play against their star player Bullet Babu and reaches the finals. Finally, they win the match against the league players team, the game finally uniting the village people irrespective of their caste and background.

Cast

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Production

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The film was announced on 15 August 2022 with the character of Ranjith based on Jayakumar's elder brother and Sam based on the director himself.[1][2] Filming commenced in the same month,[3] and concluded in January 2023.[4] The first look and title were revealed on 20 May 2023.[5]

Music

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Blue Star
Soundtrack album by
Govind Vasantha
Released2023 (2023)
Recorded2023
GenreFeature film soundtrack
LanguageTamil
LabelThink Music
ProducerGovind Vasantha
Govind Vasantha chronology
Fight Club
(2023) 		Blue Star
(2023) 		Love Mouli
(2024)
Singles from Blue Star
  1. "Blue Star Anthem"
    Released: 20 May 2023
  2. "Railin Oligal"
    Released: 13 September 2023
  3. "Arakkonam Style"
    Released: 24 November 2023

The soundtrack was composed by Govind Vasantha. The first single "Blue Star Anthem was released on 20 May 2023.[citation needed] The second single "Railin Oligal" was released on 13 September 2023.[6] The third single "Arakkonam Style" was released on 24 November 2023.[7]

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Blue Star Anthem"ArivuArivu1:44
2."Railin Oligal"Uma DeviPradeep Kumar, Shakthisree Gopalan2:37
3."Arakkonam Style"ArivuArivu, Gana Balachander3:11
4."Railai Thallum Meghame"Arivu, Govind VasanthaArivu, Govind Vasantha, Kareeshma3:15
5."Yaar Nee"Arivu, Govind VasanthaArivu, Govind Vasantha, Vedan3:12
Total length:14:04

Release

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Theatrical

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The film was released on 24 January 2024, on the eve of Republic Day.[8]

Home media

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The film began streaming on Amazon Prime Video from 29 February 2024.[9]

Reception

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Blue Star received positive critical reviews.[10]

Bhuvanesh Chander of The Hindu wrote, "Starring Ashok Selvan and Shanthnu Bhagyaraj as two angsty youngsters from rival communities locking horns on and off the cricket ground, Blue Star is a serious film telling a grounded tale that, for over 160 minutes, immerses you into a world so real, so familiar and so imperfect, that nothing shakes you off its spell."[11] Roopa Radhakrishnan of The Times of India rated the film 3/5 praising the performances of the cast, the direction and music.[12] Akchayaa Rajkumar of The News Minute rated the film 3.5/5 and wrote, "Tamil cinema has seen a wave of anti-caste films over the past few years and almost all of them have explored the caste dynamics of and oppression enforced by intermediary castes on Dalits. Blue Star takes this one step forward and explores the discrimination doled out to both intermediary castes and Dalits by a privileged caste".[13]

References

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  1. ^ "Ashok Selvan, Shanthnu Bhagyaraj, and Keerthi Pandian in Pa Ranjith's cricket-based film". The Times of India. 15 August 2022. Archived from the original on 15 September 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  2. ^ Chandar, Bhuvanesh (23 January 2024). "Actors Shanthnu and Prithvi Rajan on 'Blue Star' and learning to play the unorthodox cricket of the '90s". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 23 January 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  3. ^ "Pa Ranjith's Neelam presents new film based on cricket; Shooting commences". Cinema Express. 15 August 2022. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Ashok Selvan and Shantanu Bhagyaraj's sports drama titled 'Blue Star'". The Times of India. 21 May 2023. Archived from the original on 14 July 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Pa Ranjith's next production, starring Ashok Selvan and Shanthnu, titled 'Blue Star'". The Hindu. 20 May 2023. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  6. ^ "Blue Star song Railin Oligal featuring Ashok Selvan and Keerthi Pandian shows a blossoming love story". Cinema Express. 13 September 2023. Archived from the original on 2 February 2025. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  7. ^ "Arakkonam Style, second single from Blue Star, is out". Cinema Express. 25 November 2023. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  8. ^ "Ashok Selvan and Keerthy Pandian's 'Blue Star' trailer looks gripping". The Times of India. 10 January 2024. Archived from the original on 2 February 2025. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  9. ^ "New on Amazon Prime Video this week: 'Reina Roja', 'Paw Patrol', 'Blue Star' and more". The Hindu. 28 February 2024. Archived from the original on 2 February 2025. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  10. ^ "Blue Star Vs Singapore Saloon Box Office Collection Day 4: Tamil Films Hold Steady On 1st Weekend, Add Rs 1 Crore". Times Now. 29 January 2024. Archived from the original on 4 February 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  11. ^ Chandar, Bhuvanesh (25 January 2024). "'Blue Star' movie review: Ashok Selvan, Shanthnu knock it out of the park in this powerful sports drama". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  12. ^ Radhakrishnan, Roopa (25 January 2024). "Blue Star Movie Review : A well-cast sports drama that's simplified, straightforward and splendid". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  13. ^ Rajkumar, Akchayaa (25 January 2024). "Blue Star review: Ashok Selvan's spirited anti-caste cricket film almost hits the right spots". The News Minute. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
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