''Pugazh'' () is a 2016 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

-language

action thriller film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

written and directed by

Manimaran Manimaran is an Indian film director, working in the Tamil film industry. Career He made his directorial debut in Tamil, ''Udhayam NH4'' (2013) featuring Siddharth (actor), Siddharth and a newcomer Ashrita Shetty in lead roles. It was simul ...

and co-produced by Varun Manian. The film stars Jai and

Surbhi Surbhi Puranik (born 5 June), known professionally as Surbhi, is an Indian actress who primarily works in Telugu and Tamil films. She made her film debut with the Tamil film ''Ivan Veramathiri'' (2013), for which she received SIIMA Award for ...

, while

Karunas Karunas (born 21 February 1970 as Karunanidhi Sethu) is an Indian actor, politician and comedian in the Tamil film industry. Appearing mostly in supporting roles, he has also played lead roles in films including '' Dindigul Sarathy'' (2008) a ...

RJ Balaji Balaji Patturaj (born 20 June 1985), popularly known as RJ Balaji, is an Indian actor, radio jockey, television presenter, comedian and film director in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He is best known as the host of the 92.7 Big FM shows ''The Night Sho ...

G. Marimuthu G. Marimuthu is an Indian film director and actor, who has worked in the Tamil film industry. After making his debut as a director with ''Kannum Kannum'' (2008), he has gone on to make other ventures including ''Pulivaal'' (2014) and feature in ...

, and

Piraisoodan Piraisoodan (6 February 1956 – 8 October 2021) was a Tamil poet and lyricist. He won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Lyricist for his songs in movies like ''Thayagam'', '' En Rasavin Manasile'' and ''Neeyum Naanum'' in 1996, 1991 and ...

play supporting roles. Vivek-Mervin composed the film's music. The film was released on 18 March 2016 and received mixed reviews from critics.

Cast

* Jai as Pugazhendhi (a) Pugazh *

as Bhuvana *

as Pugazh's brother *

as Balaji *

as Dass *

as Selvanayagam * Vikram as Venkat * Supergood Subramani as Venkat's father * Kannan as Bhuvana's brother * Vijayamuthu as Muthu * Kamal Hassan * Ravisankar * Valliappan * Rajani *

Velraj Rajamani Velraj, ISC is an Indian cinematographer, director and writer who primarily works in Tamil and Hindi cinema. He is well known for his camera work in films like Asuran, Aadukalam, Vada Chennai, Kadaikutty Singam and Komban, and for dir ...

in a cameo appearance * AC Gaayathri in a cameo appearance

Production

The film was first reported in November 2013, when it was revealed that

had cast Jai and

Priya Anand Priya Anand (born 17 September 1986) is an Indian actress and model who predominantly appears in Tamil films. She has also appeared in Telugu, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam films. After pursuing higher studies in the US, she began a career in ...

to star in his second directorial venture.

Anirudh Ravichander Anirudh Ravichander (born 16 October 1990), also known Mononymous person, mononymously as Anirudh, is an Indian film scorer music composer music producer singer and instrumentalist who primarily works in Tamil films. He is the son of actor Ra ...

was suggested as the film's music composer, while a simultaneously shot Telugu version with Siddharth and

Hansika Motwani Hansika Motwani (born 9 August 1991) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil and Telugu films. Hansika began her career as a child actor in Hindi films, and later went on to appear in lead roles in Telugu films, including ''Des ...

was also considered. Manimaran added that his first choice was initially

Dhanush Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja (born 28 July 1983), known professionally as Dhanush, is an Indian actor, producer, director, lyricist and playback singer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Starring in 46 films over his career, among hi ...

, but his busy schedule prompted him to select Jai, while the film would be titled ''Podiyan'', and that filming would begin in 2014. Varun Manian announced in July 2014, that he would produce the Tamil film alongside Sushant Prasad and Govindaraj of Film Department Studios, while

was revealed as the cinematographer. Reports suggested that the film may be re-titled as ''Pugazh'', after the title became re-available following a shelved venture by

Aascar Films V. Ravichandran, is an Indian film producer and distributor in Chennai, India. He is the founder and owner of the production and distribution company, Aascar Films Pvt. Ltd. Ravichandran started his venture in 1998 with the co-production of '' ...

and actor Vijay. The title ''Pugazh'' was also wanted by

Sarathkumar Sarathkumar Ramanathan (born 14 July 1954) is an Indian actor, politician, filmmaker, and singer. He has acted in more than 130 Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. He has won two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and three Filmfare Awards S ...

, who later permitted the film to take it. In August 2014, reports emerged that

Trisha Trisha is a unisex given name, usually derived from the female Latin given name Patricia. Notable people and characters with the name include: People *Trisha (actress), Indian film actress Trisha Krishnan (born 1983) * Trisha Baptie (born 1973 ...

had liked the script of the film and was re-allocating her dates to try and fit the film into her schedule. However, following the end of her engagement with producer Varun Manian, she opted out of the project. Manimaran later stated that he was not interested in casting Trisha, as she did not suit the role, but the producer had been adamant. By November 2014, the film was launched as ''Pugazh'' with

Surabhi Kamadhenu ( sa, कामधेनु, , ), also known as Surabhi (, or , ), is a divine bovine-goddess described in Hinduism as the mother of all cows. She is a miraculous cow of plenty who provides her owner whatever he desires and is often ...

revealed to be the film's lead heroine.

Release

At the

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Box Office, Pugazh took an average opening, with collections of Rs. from 171 shows in the first weekend. However, the film's collections dropped drastically in the second week, and the total collection at the Chennai Box Office was Rs. from 18 shows, settling for a below average verdict. Baradwaj Rangan of the Hindu wrote, "Pugazh is a collection of good bits of writing, good intentions, but they don't add up to a consistently good film because it wants to be both a rooted ensemble drama and a masala-style solo-hero narrative. We get neither."

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Vivek-Mervin in their second venture and collaboration with Jai after ''

Vadacurry ''Vadacurry'' () is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language comedy thriller film written and directed by debutant Saravana Rajan. The film stars Jai and Swathi Reddy and was produced by Dayanidhi Azhagiri's Meeka Entertainment. The film has cinematography ...

''.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 5556110 2016 films Indian political thriller films Indian action drama films Indian action thriller films 2010s Tamil-language films 2016 action drama films 2016 action thriller films Political action films 2010s political thriller films