''Rubaai'' ( Rupees) is a 2017 Tamil-language
action drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...
directed by Anbazhagan and produced by
Prabhu Solomon
Prabhu Solomon (born 7 May 1969) is an Indian film director who has primarily worked on Tamil films. After making his debut in 1999, he had a middling career before rising to prominence with the success of the romantic tragedy film ''Mynaa'' (2 ...
, starring
Chandran
Chandramouli (born 1988), known by his stage name Chandran, is an Indian actor working in the Tamil film industry. After featuring in short films and music videos, Chandramouli made his feature film debut with Prabhu Solomon's romantic film '' Ka ...
and
Anandhi
Anandhi (born Rakshita; 10 December 1996) is an Indian actress who primarily appears in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. After her debut in the Telugu film ''Bus Stop'' (2012), she appeared in Vetrimaaran's Tamil production ''Poriyaalan'' and ...
in the leading roles.
Plot
Two friends Bharani (
Chandran
Chandramouli (born 1988), known by his stage name Chandran, is an Indian actor working in the Tamil film industry. After featuring in short films and music videos, Chandramouli made his feature film debut with Prabhu Solomon's romantic film '' Ka ...
) and Babu (Kishore Ravichandran) drive a commercial mini-truck for their livelihood. Hailing from Theni, they bought the vehicle on a loan and are due for payment. Luckily, they get an order to deliver the goods to Chennai. Despite the order, they fall short of money. To bridge the difference, they accept a "package and movers" job from Kunkumarajan (
Chinni Jayanth
Chinni Jayanth (born Krishnamurthy Narayanan on 26 July 1960) is an Indian film director, producer, comedian, actor and mimicry artist who has appeared in many main, character and supporting roles in Tamil films. He is also a popular televisio ...
). Kunkumarajan is a poor widower who lives with his daughter Ponni (
Anandhi
Anandhi (born Rakshita; 10 December 1996) is an Indian actress who primarily appears in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. After her debut in the Telugu film ''Bus Stop'' (2012), she appeared in Vetrimaaran's Tamil production ''Poriyaalan'' and ...
). While moving the belongings to the mini-truck, Bharani falls in love with Ponni. Due to unforeseen reasons, the destination house is unavailable for rent. An entire night, they wander around Chennai in search of a house to move-in; with their belongings in the mini-truck.
Meanwhile, Mani Sharma (
Harish Uthaman
Harish Uthaman (born 5 April 1982) is an Indian actor who appears in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada films. He made his début portraying the lead role in '' Tha'' (2010), before playing villains in '' Gouravam'', ''Pandiya Naadu'', ''Mea ...
) loots a finance and is forced to kill the security guard. As a result, the police intensifies the search for the accused. Mani Sharma dumps the looted money in the mini-truck to escape from the police checking. Somehow he misses to retrieve the bag from the truck.
Angered that they are stalled in the middle of nowhere, Babu unpacks the belongings on the road. While doing so, they stumble upon the bag loaded with cash. Shocked with joy, Kunkumarajan gets a heart-attack. The friends take him to the hospital for treatment. Ponni is left with no money, so Bharani and Babu spend the cash from the bag for his operation expenses. After he recovers, all four of them spend most of the money in purchasing properties and other stuff.
Using his wits, Mani Sharma tracks down these people. The police department have sketched Mani Sharma's face and is in the lookout for him. Can he retrieve his loot money with the police on his tail? If so, how does he retrieve the money they have already spent forms the rest of the story.
Cast
*
Chandran
Chandramouli (born 1988), known by his stage name Chandran, is an Indian actor working in the Tamil film industry. After featuring in short films and music videos, Chandramouli made his feature film debut with Prabhu Solomon's romantic film '' Ka ...
as Bharani
*
Anandhi
Anandhi (born Rakshita; 10 December 1996) is an Indian actress who primarily appears in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. After her debut in the Telugu film ''Bus Stop'' (2012), she appeared in Vetrimaaran's Tamil production ''Poriyaalan'' and ...
as Ponni
*Kishore Ravichandran as Babu
*
Chinni Jayanth
Chinni Jayanth (born Krishnamurthy Narayanan on 26 July 1960) is an Indian film director, producer, comedian, actor and mimicry artist who has appeared in many main, character and supporting roles in Tamil films. He is also a popular televisio ...
as Kungumarajan
*
Harish Uthaman
Harish Uthaman (born 5 April 1982) is an Indian actor who appears in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada films. He made his début portraying the lead role in '' Tha'' (2010), before playing villains in '' Gouravam'', ''Pandiya Naadu'', ''Mea ...
as Mani Sharma
*
R. N. R. Manohar
R. N. R. Manohar (died 17 November 2021) was an Indian actor and director. He directed films like ''Maasilamani'' (2009) and ''Vellore Maavattam'' (2011).
Career
RNR Manohar started his career as a child artist, having played roles in films suc ...
*
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 ...
*Vetrivel Raja
*Hello Kandasamy
*Parotta Murugesh
*L. V. K. Das
*Munnar Subramani
*Gnanavel
*Mynaa Bala
Production
Prabhu Solomon
Prabhu Solomon (born 7 May 1969) is an Indian film director who has primarily worked on Tamil films. After making his debut in 1999, he had a middling career before rising to prominence with the success of the romantic tragedy film ''Mynaa'' (2 ...
agreed to produce director Anbazhagan's second film and cast
Chandran
Chandramouli (born 1988), known by his stage name Chandran, is an Indian actor working in the Tamil film industry. After featuring in short films and music videos, Chandramouli made his feature film debut with Prabhu Solomon's romantic film '' Ka ...
and
Anandhi
Anandhi (born Rakshita; 10 December 1996) is an Indian actress who primarily appears in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. After her debut in the Telugu film ''Bus Stop'' (2012), she appeared in Vetrimaaran's Tamil production ''Poriyaalan'' and ...
, who had appeared together in Solomon's ''
Kayal'' (2014), in the leading roles. Titled ''Paisa'', pre-production work began in early 2015 and the team completed the first shooting schedule in May 2015. During the period, the film was often incorrectly reported in the media with the titles ''Paisal'' and ''Faisal''. Debutant Kishore Ravichandran also portrayed a supporting role in the film at the insistence of the director and embarked on a six-month acting training programme for the film.
Chinni Jayanth
Chinni Jayanth (born Krishnamurthy Narayanan on 26 July 1960) is an Indian film director, producer, comedian, actor and mimicry artist who has appeared in many main, character and supporting roles in Tamil films. He is also a popular televisio ...
was selected to portray another supporting role, in a serious character, after earlier making his comeback from a hiatus with Solomon's ''
Thodari
''Thodari'' () is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language action-romance film co produced, written and directed by Prabhu Solomon. It stars Dhanush and Keerthy Suresh, with D. Imman composing the film's music. Set on an express train, ''Thodari'' follows a ...
'' (2016). The film progressed slowly through production and underwent a change of name to ''Rubaai'' during mid 2016.
Soundtrack
The film's music was composed by
D. Imman
Immanuel Vasanth Dinakaran (born 24 January 1983), better known as D. Imman, is an Indian film composer and singer, predominantly working in Tamil cinema. Also worked in Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, and Hindi film industry. His first film as mu ...
and the album released on 26 October 2016 by Sony Music India, featuring four songs.
Release
''Rubaai'' was released on 14 July 2017, alongside three other medium budget films, ''
Pandigai
''Pandigai'' () is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by debutant Feroz and produced by his wife Vijayalakshmi Ahathian. The film stars Krishna and Anandhi, while Saravanan, Pandi, Karunas, Madhusudhan Rao ...
'', ''
Gemini Ganeshanum Suruli Raajanum
''Gemini Ganeshanum Suruli Raajanum'' () is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film, written and directed by Odam Ilavarasu and produced by T. Siva. The film stars Atharvaa, Soori, Aishwarya Rajesh, Regina Cassandra, Pranitha and A ...
'' and ''
Thiri
''Thiri'' ( ''Rove'') is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by S. Ashok Amritraj, starring Ashwin and Swathi Reddy in the leading roles. Featuring Jayaprakash, A. L. Azhagappan and Karunakaran in supporting roles ...
''. A critic from the
Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...
wrote "Rubaai has an interesting plot, with a few engaging scenes but the interchanging romantic and thrilling scenes do not work always". The reviewer added that "Anbazhagan has managed to link elements like friendship, deceit, love and greediness and entertain to a good extent" and that "Harish Uthaman as the cruel baddie and Chinni Jayanth, in a different avatar as a doting dad, score above others in the movie", while "though the songs are decent enough and hummable, they mar the narration at times". The
Deccan Chronicle
''Deccan Chronicle'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded by Rajagopal Mudaliar in the 1930s & currently owned by Samagrah Commercial Pvt Limited. It is published in Hyderabad, Telangana, by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited ( ...
wrote the film was "well intended but not without flaws", while The New Indian Express noted the film was not "paisa vasool".
References
External links
{{Prabhu Solomon
2017 films
Indian action drama films
Films scored by D. Imman
2010s Tamil-language films
2017 action drama films