Pokkiri (English: Rogue) is a 2007 Tamil action-thriller filmdirected by Prabhu Deva. The film stars Vijay and Asin withPrakash Raj, Nassar, Vadivelu, Sriman and Napoleon playing supporting roles. Mumaith Khan and Prabhu Deva make guest appearances. Nirav Shah handled cinematography while Kola Bhaskar was the film's editor. The film was launched in 6 July 2006. Shooting took place in India and Australia.
It is a remake of Puri Jagannadh's Telugu film Pokiri (2006) starring Mahesh Babu and Ileana D'Cruz. Some changes have been made in the film to suit Tamil Nadu audiences. The strength of the story lies in maintaining the suspense of the true identity of the hero till the end. It is a mix of action and romance with a message about the duty and responsibility of the police force.Prabhu Deva remade the film again in Hindi as Wanted (2009). The film's plot revolves around a young IPS officer who acts as an undercover cop to weed out the anti-socials who are ruling the roost. The film's score and soundtrack, composed by Mani Sharma, released on 15 December 2006. The film was released on 12 January 2007 and became the second highest grossing Tamil film of that year.[2] And this film was declared as an all time blockbuster in Tamil cinema.[3]
 Promotional poster | |
| Directed by | Prabhu Deva |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Singanamala Ramesh |
| Screenplay by | Prabhu Deva V. Prabhakar (dialogues) |
| Story by | Puri Jagannadh |
| Starring | Vijay Asin Prakash Raj Napoleon Mukesh Tiwari Vadivelu Nassar |
| Music by | Mani Sharma |
| Cinematography | Nirav Shah |
| Editing by | Kola Bhaskar |
| Studio | Kanagarathna Movies |
| Distributed by | Aascar Films |
| Release date(s) | 12 January 2007 |
| Running time | 170 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
| Budget |  12 crore[1] |
| Box office | 35 crore[1] |
Plot
The city of Chennai is rife with nefarious activities of land mafia. There are two rival gangs: one under Ali Bhai (Prakash Raj) who resides in Dubai and controls the operation through his capos Guru (Vincent Asokan), Loggu (Subbaraju) and Mona (Brindha Parekh). The other gang is operated by local goon Narasiman (Anand Raj) who operates in the Port areas. Both threaten builders and land owners into giving them hafta/protection money or real estate property, through means of force, extortion or murder. Mohamed Maideen Khan (Napoleon) arrives as the new Commissioner of Chennai and starts cracking on goons in the city.
The movie begins with Thamizh (Sathyamoorthy) (Vijay), a local goon who will kill anyone, anytime given the money is good, being chased by Loggu and his henchmen. Tamizh has taken a contract from Narasiman to beat up Loggu, which he does successfully . Impressed by his ability to handle a seasoned gangster like Loggu and his henchmen, Guru invites Tamizh to join Ali Bhai's gang. Tamizh declines the offer stating that he does not work for any gang, but is ready to do anything, given enough money. Tamizh hangs around with his friends, which include Saravana (Sriman) and Vaiyapuri.
Meanwhile, Tamizh encounters Shruthi (Asin Thottumkal) when he visits his friend's father's (Nassar) aerobics class. He is bowled over by her beautiful face, though she disregards him as a thug. Shruthi, a college going student, lives with her widowed mother and younger brother. Body Soda (Vadivelu), is a cowardly kung fu master who lives next-door to Shruthi and is the main source of comic relief of the film. He is trying to win her heart, but has had trouble doing so. Sub inspector L. Govindan (Mukesh Tiwari), is a corrupt, perverted officer in the colony where Tamizh and Shruthi live. He goes hand in glove with the land mafia, often helping them out in their activities. He is also on the payroll of Ali Bhai. He is also a lecherous man, whose eye falls on Shruthi and he decides to make her his mistress.
Tamizh's first assignment with Ali Bhai's gang is to kill a member of Narasiman's gang. However, police show up at the spot where Tamizh and the other gangsters are waiting for the kill. Tamizh distracts the cops long enough for the others to finish the task and flee. He also helps Shruthi escape from L. Govindan, in the middle of all this. She is impressed by his kindness and starts developing friendship with him. He also starts having feelings for her, which are reciprocated by Shruthi . When she expresses her feelings towards him, they are attacked by members of Narasiman's gang, whom Tamizh single handedly finishes off. Shruthi is shocked to learn that Tamizh is a seasoned gangster and has no qualms in killing people.
L.Govindan starts harassing Shruthi and her mother, and wants them to cater to his lecherous demands. On realizing that Shruthi is about to get married, he arranges to have some thugs put up a mock show of molesting Shruthi, so that no decent family will want to take her as their daughter-in-law and with no other option Shruthi and her mother will accept his demands. Tamizh gets wind of this and trashes L.Govindan's incognito, warning him that if he is responsible for this incident then things will turn very ugly for him. Later, Tamizh finds out the thugs who puts up a mock show of molesting Shruti, came to disturb her in the train. Tamil catches up the train and kills them.There Shruti confesses that she cannot forget Tamizh and she is loves him a lot. They get together.
Unable to withstand the interference by Narasiman into his gangs operations, Ali Bhai comes to Chennai and kills Narasiman alone. He also meets Tamizh to discuss with him the killing of a minister by blowing up a bomb. Tamizh however, disagrees to Ali Bhai's method as it is his principle not to kill women and children. In the middle of their argument, police raid the club and arrest Ali Bhai. His gang members retaliate by kidnapping the Commissioner's daughter and creating a lewd video, which is then released to the public. This forces the police to release Ali Bhai. After coming out, Ali Bhai starts torturing the Commissioner's daughter, who accidentally reveals that her father has placed a mole in Ali Bhai's gang and his name is Tamizh. This causes a lot of tensions and after digging up some old records they find that Tamizh's friend's father, Shanmugavel (Nasser) was formerly a circle inspector and his son Sathyamoorthy (Tamizh's friend, Sriman) is now a part of Tamizh's gang. Assuming him to be the mole, Ali Bhai kills Sathyamoorthy in front of his dad. However, it is then revealed that the person who died is not the son, but the foster son of Shamugavel, who was called Saravannan. It is then revealed that the actual son of the circle inspector, is none other than Tamil. His father explains that Thamizh is a gold medalist IPS officer, who has been masquerading as a thug so that he can penetrate the underworld and wipe it out from the inside.There Ali Bhai kills the father hoping Tamizh will come looking for the father. Tamizh goes to seek revenge of his fathers death where Shruti tries to stop him. He leaves her in the Commissioners protection and goes to find them.
The movie concludes with Thamizh avenging his father's death by finishing off Ali Bhai, his henchmen and the police inspector, Govindan.
Cast
- Vijay as Thamizh (Sathyamoorthy I.P.S )
- Asin Thottumkal as Shruthi
- Prakash Raj as Ali Bhai
- Napoleon as Mohammed Moideen Khan
- Nassar as Shanmughavel
- Sriman as Saravanan
- Mukesh Tiwari as L. Govindan
- Vadivelu as Body Soda (Sunky Monkey)
- Vincent Asokan as Guru
- Subbaraju as Baangu
- Brinda Parekh as Mona
- Anandaraj as Narasimha
Vaiyapuri and Dhamu also appear in supporting roles. Mumaith Khan appears as an item number during the song "En Chella Peru Apple" while Prabhu Deva makes a cameo appearance.
Production
After his film Aathi in January last, For nearly six months he was listening to stories but none appealed. That's when he got to watch the Telugu `Pokkiri.' he felt that it would work.[4] After difficulty in finding directors, Prabhudeva was selected as director directing his first film in tamil after the flop of his telugu film Pournami.[5][6] The movie was launched in 6 July 2006,[7] Vijay's father SAC conducted special puja at the Sri Arunachaleswarar Temple in Tiruvannamalai. On Saturday night, which was the full moon day, which is an auspicious occasion for the presiding deity there, he spent a full hour before the Lord seeking his blessings. He also prayed at the Sacred Church at Velankanni.[8]
Ileana, heroine of the original was selected but due to her busy commitments in Telugu, Trisha was also selected but she withdrawn from the film,[9] Asin was selected pairing with Vijay for second time after Sivakasi[10]
The first day of shoot for the film was held at the new Pillayar Kovil at AVM studios, with various dignitaries gracing the occasion. Vijay's mother Shobha Chandrasekhar gave the clap for the first shot. The first scene shot was with Asin and Vijay, the lead pair in the film, in an elevator that was specially designed for the film.[11]
Soundtrack
The soundtrack has 8 songs composed by Mani Sharma. Two of the songs from the original Telugu version were retained, and remade in Tamil.
| Pokkiri | |
|---|---|
| Studio album by Mani Sharma | |
| Released |
15 December 2006 (India)
|
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack |
| Length | 34:27 |
| Label |
5 star audio
|
| Producer | Mani Sharma |
| Song | Artist(s) | Picturization | Length | Lyrics |
| Dole Dole Than | Ranjith,Suchitra | Vijay, Asin Thottumkal | 4:43 | Pa. Vijay |
| Aadungada Yennai Suththi | Naveen | Vijay,Prabhu Deva | 4:29 | Kabilan |
| Nee Mutham Ondru | Ranjith, Swetha Mohan | Vijay, Asin | 4:52 | Pa. Vijay |
| Mambazhamam Mambazham | Shankar Mahadevan, Ganga | Vijay, Asin,Vadivelu | 4:41 | Snehan |
| En Chella Peru Apple | A. V. Ramanan,Suchitra | Vijay,Mumaith Khan | 4:35 | Pa. Vijay |
| Vasaantha Mullai | Rahul Nambiar, Krishnamoorthy | Vijay, Asin | 4:19 | Na. Muthukumar |
| Nee Mutham Ondru (Remix) | Ranjith,Suchitra | 4:12 | Pa. Vijay | |
| Pokkiri Theme | Mani Sharma | 2:36 |
Release
Pokkiri was released in 2007 at the festival of Pongal, alongside with Ajith's Aalwar and Vishal'sThaamirabharani.The film became the most successful film of the year 2007 and the team celebrated the 200 days run of the film at the boxoffice with Kamal Haasan as chief guest of the function. Pokkiri collected 6.10 crores in Tamil Nadu in its first weekend from 142 screens.[12]
Critical Reception
Pokkiri opened to positive Reviews.Sify said that the film was "enjoyable while it lasts".[13] Indiaglitz stated that Vijay stole the show with his "typical 'Vijayisms' (action, humor and punch dialogues)" and that the show was "action-packed entertainer".[14] Behindwoods review felt that Vadivelu and Prakash Raj’s performances were lackluster, and stated that Raj " might do well to sit back and analyze the roles that he accepts," but concluded that the movie overall "packs a punch."[15] Rediff.com gave the movie one and half stars, stating "there's nothing more tedious than a badly made remake." [16] Nowrunning.com stated that Pokiri' is attractively packaged and presented.[17] Oneindia.in stated that Pokiri' is a full length action movie of Vijay[18]
Awards
| Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vijay Awards | Favourite Film | Pokkiri | Won |
| Favourite Director | Prabhu Deva | Won | |
| Entertainer of the Year | Vijay | Won | |
| Favourite Hero | Vijay | Nominated | |
| Favourite Heroine | Asin | Nominated | |
| Best Actress | Asin | Nominated | |
| Best Villain | Prakash Raj | Nominated | |
| Best Choreographer | Dinesh (Vansantha Mullai) | Won | |
| Best Art Director | Kathir | Nominated | |
| Best Stunt Director | Fefsi Vijaan | Nominated | |
| Filmfare Awards South | Best Actor | Vijay | Nominated |
| Mathrubhumi Film Awards | Best Tamil Film | Pokkiri | Won |
| Best Tamil Director | Prabhu Deva | Won | |
| Best Tamil Actor | Vijay | Won |
Remakes
The original Telugu film Pokiri, directed by Puri Jagannadh, was remade in several other languages and still found success in the respective regional cinemas. Pokkiri is the first remake. The second one was Wanted, the Hindiversion in 2009 which was also directed by Prabhu Deva, Like the two other versions, Wanted had Salman Khanand Ayesha Takia in the lead and has also Prakash Raj as the villain.[19] After that, a Kannada version, Porkhi, directed by M.D. Sridhar, was released in 14 January 2010. Below is an actor map of the lead actors in the story of Pokiri and its remakes.
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