Thuppakki

Thuppakki
File:First look Thuppakki.jpg Film poster
Directed by	A. R. Murugadoss
Written by	A. R. Murugadoss
Produced by	Kalaipuli S. Dhanu
Starring	Vijay Kajal Aggarwal Jayaram Vidyut Jamwal Sathyan
Cinematography	Santosh Sivan
Edited by	A. Sreekar Prasad
Music by	Harris Jayaraj
Production company	Kalaipuli Films International
Distributed by	Gemini Film Circuit SVR Media (Andhra Pradesh)
Release date	13 November 2012 (2012-11-13)
Running time	165 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	₹70 crore (US$8.4 million)

Thuppakki (English: The Gun) is a 2012 Indian Tamil action thriller film written and directed by A. R. Murugadoss. It features Vijay and Kajal Aggarwal in the lead roles, along with Vidyut Jamwal, Jayaram, Sathyan, Gautham Kurup and Akshara Gowda in supporting roles. The film is produced by S. Thanu and features background score and soundtrack composed by Harris Jayaraj with cinematography handled by Santhosh Sivan, who with Thuppakki will introduce the Arri Alexa camera to Indian cinema.

The story revolves around a youngster from a Mumbai-based Tamil family and his decisions he takes after his life undergoes a sudden turn. The film, which commenced production in December 2011 in Mumbai, was released on 13 November 2012, coinciding with the festival of Diwali. The film opened to highly positive reviews from both the critics and audiences.

Plot

Vijay aka Jagdish, a captain in the Indian army, is currently returning home to Bombay to get married according to his parents wish, to a girl of their choice.Jagdish is seeing Nisha, played by Kajal Aggarwal, at the bride-viewing ceremony. Jagdish says no to Nisha citing reasons that she's too old fashioned and homely for him. But, quite contrary to her image at home, Nisha is a spoilt brat on the outside. Jagdish happens to see her other side at a boxing match and instantaneously falls head over heels for her.Meanwhile, during one of the local commutes in a city bus, Jagdish happens to miss death by a whisker. He sees the bus in which he would have been blown to pieces a few minutes back. But, fortunately Jagdish nabs the guy who planted the bomb and soon finds out he's a sleeper cell. With just few days left, Jagdish should find out what's the next target of several other sleeper cells in the city. Will Jagdish stop what's about to unfold forms the rest of the story.

Cast

• Vijay as Jagadish Dhanapal
• Kajal Aggarwal as Nisha
• Jayaram as V. Ravichandran
• Vidyut Jamwal
• Akshara Gowda
• Anupama Kumar
• Sathyan as Balaji
• Manobala
• Prashanth Nair
• Deepthi Nambiar
• Gautham Kurup
• A. R. Murugadoss (Cameo appearance)
• Santhosh Sivan (Cameo appearance)

Production

Development

In July 2010, sources reported that Vijay and A. R. Murugadoss would collaborate to make an action film, after completing their respective ongoing projects, Velayudham and 7aum Arivu. Vijay's father S. A. Chandrasekhar was to produce the film initially, before Kalaipuli S. Thanu took over the project. Although Maalai Nerathu Mazhaithuli was considered as the title initially, the film became titled as Thuppakki. National Film Award winners A. Sreekar Prasad, Thotta Tharani, who was making a comeback to Tamil films after a three-years hiatus, and Santhosh Sivan were roped in for editing, art direction and cinematography, respectively; all of whom worked on an A. R. Murugadoss film for the first time.

Casting

Deepika Padukone was first reported to essay the female lead. Subsequently several actresses, including Bollywood actresses Sonam Kapoor, and Priyanka Chopra, who later clarified that she was never approached for the film, Priya Anand, who played the female lead in Vaamanan, Pranitha, and Kingfisher Calendar model Angela Jonsson were rumoured to play the role, with the latter even taking part in a brief photo shoot in Chennai. Kajal Aggarwal was eventually confirmed, Akshara Gowda was cast to play the second female lead. Gautham Kurup was chosen to play a significant role, while Vidyut Jamwal, who was simultaneously shooting for Ajith Kumar's Billa II, would be playing a role with negative shades. Sathyan, following several collaborations with Vijay, confirmed that he was part of this project, too. Further Malayalam actor Jayaram also confirmed his presence in this project. Murugadoss denied reports which claimed that Jai was acting in the film, while confirming that he himself would appear in a cameo role. Sarath Kumar was rumoured to be acting in the film, however the actor denied the reports.

Filming

According to early reports, filming was to commence at Thiruchendur and continue in Mumbai. Supposed to start on November 26, 2011, it began on 5 December in Mumbai. Vijay would appear in a completely different with a different hairstyle as well as a facial makeover. The first schedule that lasted for 35 days was completed by January 2012. The climax featuring a stunt sequence involving Vijay and 60 fighters was shot using nearly 7 cameras towards the end of January. At Linking Road in Bandra, Mumbai, Vijay acted and operated the camera himself for one scene with cinematographer Santosh Sivan's assistance, which had to be taken quickly with the unaware public. Sivan commented that it was shot perfectly and decided to retain it in the film. Sivan further told that a major part of the film was being shot in real locations with hidden cameras. He did not use the usual 35 MM camera to shoot the film, but was said to have exploited the latest Arri digital technology that was introduced in 2011, becoming one of the first persons in the world to make use of the technology.

In March, the unit completed a 10 day shoot in Bangkok for a song sequence featuring Vijay and Kajal. The second schedule started on April 12 in Mumbai. The third schedule was wrapped up in May 2012, following which only two songs were remining, both of which had been scheduled to be shot in Thailand. Vijay met with a minor accident during the shoot and hurt his knee. The shooting was stalled following the incident and the actor left to London to undergo treatment. The team then moved on to Pune for canning three songs. One of the songs was shot atop of a train, constructed by art director Sunil Babu. The dance sequence, choreographed by Shobi, was shot in the Mumbai Pune Expressway. The crew then left for Switzerland to shoot a romantic number on Vijay and Kajal Aggarwal at various locations. The final song shoot took place at DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai, with which the entire filming was wrapped up.

Controversies

Thuppakki's first look poster, depicting Vijay holding a cigar in his mouth, created a stir, since the Government of India had imposed a rule that later films should not feature scenes relating to tobacco or smoking. Director Murugadoss however defended the poster, saying that it was only for promotional purposes and that the film had no such scenes.

A city court stayed advertisements of Thuppakki, on a civil suit filed by a former assistant director who has claimed that he had already registered a title Kalla Thuppakki along with the logo now being used in the Thuppakki's advertisements. The II assistant judge of the city civil court granted stay till July 16 after C Ravi, an assistant director-turned producer, complained that though he has registered a title Kalla Thuppakki and has been renewing it every year since 2009, the producers of the had been using a similar title and a gun logo infringing on his rights. Noting that he had renewed the title last on April 27, Ravi said that as per norms a title registered with any of the three bodies; Tamil Film Producers Council, the Film and Television Producers Guild of South India and the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce, cannot be used by another producer unless the original title-holder issues a no-objection certificate. Kalaipuli S Dhanu filed a counter affidavit denying the accusations made against them and said that Thuppakki and Kallathuppakki are not the same and the comparison should not be drawn between the titles. "Thuppakki means a licensed weapon and Kallathuppakki means an unlicensed weapon," he pleaded. The case eventually came to an end on October 5, when the crew of Kalla Thuppaki withdrew the court case.

Another promotional poster, which depicted a police-uniform clad Vijay carrying Kajal Aggarwal on his hands was claimed to have been lifted from a poster of the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman which depicted its lead, actor Richard Gere lifting actress Debra Winger. Murugadoss claimed that Thuppaki [sic] did not have an army backdrop like Gere's film but was set in Mumbai instead, going on to assert that everything in his film was original. He however admitted to "stealing" the poster of An Officer and a Gentleman, and stated, "Sometimes, you admire something so much that sub-consciously it becomes a part of your work."

Marketing

Murugadoss approached a leading Mumbai-based trailer specialist for the first official teaser for Thuppakki. The makers confirmed that it would be released on 22 June coinciding with Vijay's birthday. However, Murugadoss announced that the teaser is to be released on July 1, ten days later. Upon progression, the teaser and poster launch event got delayed following an injunction order from the court, which has directed the makers of the film not to use the Thuppakki title in any form.

The first teaser of Thuppakki, eventually released on 10 October 2012,The teaser of "Google Google" song was uploaded on 22 October 2012 receiving positive response from viewers. The theatrical trailer was released on October 26 and got an overwhelming response as well, fetching over 600,000 hits on YouTube and over 7,000 likes in just three days.

Soundtrack

Untitled

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Behindwoods
IndiaGlitz
Sify
Rediff

Harris Jayaraj composed the soundtrack, teaming up with A. R. Murugadoss for the third time. The soundtrack album consist of 7 tracks. The lyrics were written by Na. Muthukumar, Vivega and Madhan Karky, who had written over 35 pallavis for one of the songs. Reports stating that Senegalese American R&B singer Akon would sing the title song of the film were dismissed later. The audio launch event took place on October 11, 2012. Vijay, 7 years after his last attempt at playback singing, and Andrea Jeremiah lent their voices for track titled Google Google, a party number, in the film.

The album received generally good reviews. Sify wrote: "Overall, it is a classy and refreshing album". Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff claimed that the music had "nothing new to offer" and that "except Google Google and the mildly melodious Poi Varavaa, the rest are all oft-heard, and seem a mish-mash of his (Jayaraj's) earlier tunes. Top10cinema stated that each of the songs was "bursting out like a cannon shot". Behindwoods gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and mentioned: "Overall it’s a good album with tracks that you can trust Vijay to add a lot of weight to with his dancing skills". Indiaglitz gave a 3.5 out of 5 star rating but cited: "Lots of ammo getting packed, but needs to fire better".

Tracklist

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Google Google"	Madhan Karky	Vijay, Andrea Jeremiah, Joe, Krishna Iyer	06:07
2.	"Antarctica"	Madhan Karky	Vijay Prakash, Krish, Devan, Rajeev	04:58
3.	"Kutti Puli Kootam"	Viveka	Hariharan, Tippu, Narayanan, Sathyan, Ranina Reddy	06:06
4.	"Poi Varava"	Pa. Vijay	Karthik, Chinmayi	05:46
5.	"Vennilave"	Na. Muthukumar	Hariharan, Bombay Jayashri	04:47
6.	"Alaikaa Laikka"	Pa. Vijay	Javed Ali, Sayanora Phillip, Sharmila	05:01
7.	"Jagadish on Mission (Theme)"		Instrumental	03:24
Total length:				36:12

Release

The distribution rights for Thuppakki in Tamil Nadu were bought by Gemini Film Circuit, which had produced and distributed Vijay's previous film, Nanban. Several distributors including Bellamkonda Suresh, Geetha Films and Suresh Films were competing for the Telugu dubbing rights, with SVR eventually bagging the rights for ₹ 15 crore. ATMUS Entertainment had reportedly paid the highest price for a Vijay film to distribute the film in North America. It was distributed in France by BR Films International in more than 10 centers. The film's television rights were purchased by Vijay TV for a record price. The film released in more than 1500 screens, becoming the widest release for a Vijay film. Thuppakki was originally passed with a U/A certificate from the Indian censor board, but "slight alterations" were later made to the film in order to get a U certificate. The film was initially due to release on November 9 2012, but was postponed by four days to 13 November, coinciding with Diwali day.

Reception

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics. Behindwoods rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, calling it "A fully loaded festival package from Vijay, Murugadoss and co." Sify said, "Hats off to AR Murgadoss for coming out with a film that not only entertains but is sensible and technically outstanding. Refreshingly original and visually inventive, this film works on many levels and is likely to appeal to one and all." and praised the film's "clever screenplay and slick packaging". OneIndia rated the film 3 out of 5 and said, "Vijay is stupendous in the role of an army officer. He brings a lot of energy to his character and thrills the audience in action sequences. Kajal Aggarwal looks good. Vidyut Jamwal has done decent job and Satyan is good." but pointed out that "Sreekar Prasad could have been sharp in his editing department." In contrast, Rediff rated the film 2.5 out of 5, saying "Vijay fans will find plenty to rejoice in this subdued avatar of their star, but audiences who seek intelligence in their movies will find it rather dull."

Box office

Main article: http://truthdive.com/2012/11/14/box-office-report-thuppakki-beats-jab-tak-hai-jaan-sos-and-podaa-podi-in-tn.html

External links

• Thuppakki at IMDb