Kuruvi

''Kuruvi'' () is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Dharani. It is produced by Udhayanidhi Stalin under Red Giant Movies. The film stars Vijay in the main lead role alongside Trisha, Suman, Vivek, Ashish Vidyarthi and Manivannan. It also marked Nivetha Thomas's Tamil debut as a child artist.

''Kuruvi'' released on 3 May 2008. It was a super hit in the box office. It completed a 150-day theatrical run. It was one of the highest grossing Tamil films of 2008 in the United Kingdom alone, collecting £263,919 or 3 crore. The film collected $1,018,120 or 9 crore at the overseas box office. In 2021, The film was re-released in Kerala.

The American media cited Vijay's titular Kuruvi as an Indian Birdman. Some scenes of the movie was inspired from Malayalam Film Vettam (2004) Starring Dileep and Telugu Film Chatrapathi (2005) Starring Prabhas.

Plot

Vetrivel Singamuthu, a Car Racer lives with his large family in Chennai. Velu's father Singamuthu had gone to Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh to work at a colliery and he never returned to Chennai, prompting Velu and his family to think that Singamuthu is dead. Velu learns that a Malaysia-based crime boss named Koccha owed his father a huge sum of money. Velu and his friend Aaps travel to Malaysia as Kuruvi, the trade jargon for low-level contraband carriers. Velu and Aaps come to Malaysia at a time when internal rivalry and problems are surfacing in Koccha's family.

Koccha's younger sister Radhadevi has refused to marry Soori, the brother of Konda Reddy, Koccha's Kadapa-based business associate. Irritated and preoccupied, Koccha doesn't devote any time or attention to resolve Velu's problem. Velu is ill-treated and thrown out of Koccha's place without any help. Determined to return to India only after his father's issue is solved to his satisfaction, Velu conceals himself in Koccha's residence and steals a large diamond owned by Koccha, feeling that it would pay off his father's debt, and returns to India with Aaps. Devi also follows Velu to India, having fallen in love with him, when Velu saves Devi from falling from a tall building during New Year's Eve.

Knowing that Velu has stolen his diamond, Koccha and his gang visit Velu's house and threaten his family with dire consequences unless Velu returns the diamond. After confronting Koccha, Velu learns that his father is alive and is being held as bonded labour along with many innocent people at Kadapa. Singamuthu had discovered diamonds at the colliery, but refused to allow Koccha and Konda Reddy to illegally mine the diamonds for their own benefit. He had been held prisoner in Kadapa ever since. Velu immediately leaves for Kadapa, where he encounters Koccha again. He throws him onto a moving train thereby paralysing him.

Velu soon discovers a slave camp run by Koccha and Konda Reddy at the colliery, where a womanising goon named Kadapa Raja is torturing the inmates. With the help of his uncle Elango ( Ilavarasu), Velu sneaks into Koccha's mansion on the eve of Devi's wedding with Soori to find out his father's whereabouts. With the help of Devi who reveals that Koccha's own fingerprint is his laptop's password, he unlocks Koccha's laptop. On unlocking & seeing Koccha's laptop, Velu and Devi learn that Koccha and his associates have been cheating the government by illegally mining diamonds against the law and also have secret government documents in their possession.

Velu also paralyses Soori by getting him stung by bees on the wedding day thereby stopping the wedding. He single-handedly takes on Konda Reddy, Kadapa Raja and their henchmen, killing them all. He drags Konda Reddy's dead body to Koccha's mansion. Koccha, who now uses a wheelchair, recovers on seeing the dead body of his associate and attempts to shoot Velu. He is arrested at that moment by a STF officer Raj, who reveals that Velu had forwarded all the information to them from Koccha's laptop. Singamuthu and the others are reunited with their families, and Velu reunites with Devi.

Cast

Production

It was announced in June 2007 that Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of M. K. Stalin and grandson of the then-Tamil Nadu Chief minister M. Karunanidhi, would produce films under his production banner Red Giant Movies. The film marked the comeback of Dharani and announced the project titled ''Kuruvi'' featuring most of the cast and crew of his previous film '' Ghilli''. Filming began in July 2007, after Vijay completed the shooting for his previous psychological thriller movie '' Azhagiya Tamil Magan'' (2007), and ended in March 2008. Kuruvi or Pura is a term used by Tamil people in Southeast Asia towards illegal immigrants.

Nayanthara was first approached to be heroine of the film, but Trisha was later selected to be paired with Vijay for the fourth time after '' Ghilli'' (2004), '' Thirupaachi'' (2005) and '' Aathi'' (2006). Vadivelu was initially approached for the film but he was replaced by Vivek.

A stunt scene was filmed with Vijay taking on few men who belong to the African mafia in a huge bar-cum-disco set erected for this purpose. In ''Kuruvi'', the director used a chopper to shoot an entire song sequence to give it a feel of grandeur which was shot in Kuala Lumpur. Another song was shot in New Zealand.

A huge set was erected at the MGR film city for major portion of the film. The team had even erected another set nearby in Sriperumbudur for shooting a song sequence, which featured some models from Bangalore and Mumbai. Sadly, rains held up the shooting for two days – by the time the call sheet of the models ended. Another fight scene was filmed at AVM Studios with a grand set resembling a bar.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack is composed by Vidyasagar. The film's audio launch was held at the Little Flower Convent on 16 April 2008 in Chennai. ''Rediff'' wrote: "Vidyasagar's music has only sheen, no soul". Karthik Srinivasan of ''Millblog'' wrote, "Kuruvi is no Gilli, but does have its own quirky charm".

The song "Mozha Mozhannu" generated controversy because the name of freedom fighter Thillaiaadi Valliammai was mentioned in the song.

Critical reception

''Kuruvi'' received mixed reviews from critics.

''Rediff'' wrote "Kuruvi's got everything to appeal to Vijay fans – but Dharani the director is lost in this melee of fist-fights and elementary comedy". ''Sify'' wrote, "To give Dharani his due, Kuruvi is watchable in parts, for die-hard fans of Vijay. For ordinary viewers, the film lacks a basic story and stretches ones patience for nearly three hours".
'' Ananda Vikatan'' rated the film 39 out of 100. ''The Hindu'' wrote that the film "tries its best to fly high, only that the effort isn’t enough because earlier his eagle (''Ghilli'') had soared much higher. Of course, Dharani keeps up the momentum and things move fast to the midway point".

See also

* List of films featuring slavery

Notes

References

External links

*

{{Dharani (director)

2000s Indian films
2000s masala films
2000s Tamil-language films
2008 action comedy films
2008 films
Films about Indian slavery
Films directed by Dharani
Films produced by Udhayanidhi Stalin
Films scored by Vidyasagar (composer)
Indian action comedy films
Tamil-language action comedy films
Tamil-language Indian films