was on and debut director Gokul instantly felt that she was the one who could carry off the role to perfection. After a discussion with producer RB Choudhury and Jiiva, Gokul signed up Shriya to play Jiiva's pair in Rowthiram. The film was completed in June 2011 after two and a half years in the making. Soundtrack The soundtrack was composed by Prakash Nikki. It was released on 18 July 2011 at Hotel Green Park in Chennai. The song "Maalai Mangum" became popular. The film's score and an extra song in the climax was composed by Mohanji, who later worked on Vidiyum Varai Pesu and Mugam Nee Agam Naan. Release Critical reception Behindwoods gave a 2/5 star rating and said "Rowthiram has positives going in its favor. If the screen play had been more linear and taut, it would have made a huge impact." further citing "Some scenes are neatly done especially the family and the romance blocks. However, these are not sufficient to buoy the story up as there is inconsistency in the pace. While the first half fairly manages to hold the attention, Gokul stutters to keep the audience hooked in the second half and his struggle to move the film forward becomes evident. The long action sequences also exhausts. The snag for Rowthiram comes from its lengthiness." Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff gave a score of 2/5 and stated that "The problem with most Tamil debutant directors trying to ape trend-setters like Mani Ratnam, Sasikumar, Gautam Menon, etc. is that they faithfully imitate the production values, but end up messing up the characterisations and storyline. And when the end product is also supposed to be an old-fashioned masala in a new tetra-pack, even the fact that the hero is someone who can actually act, can't save it. This is pretty much the problem that afflicts Super Good Films' Rowthiram (Fury), written and directed by Gokul. " Malathi Rangarajan from The Hindu said "You understand Gokul's urge to conceive things differently even within the commercial format. But little can be achieved when the narration lacks fizz. And there lies the problem." Another portal, Indiaglitz said "Gokul seems to have done his best in the first half. But a swift screenplay especially in the second half would have made a world of difference." and praised Jeeva stating "Jiiva carries the whole burden on his shoulders. As an angry young man