Pokkiri
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPrabhu Deva
Written byV. Prabhakar (dialogues)
Screenplay byPrabhu Deva
Story byPuri Jagannadh
Based on
Pokiri
by
Produced byS.Sathyaramamoorthy
StarringVijay
Asin
Prakash Raj
CinematographyNirav Shah
Edited byKola Bhaskar
Music byMani Sharma
Production
company
Kanagarathna Movies
Distributed byAascar Films
Release date
12 January 2007
Running time
160 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Pokkiri (transl. Rogue) is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Prabhu Deva. It is the Tamil remake of the 2006 Telugu film Pokiri starring Mahesh Babu. The film stars Vijay and Asin with Prakash Raj, Nassar, Mukesh Tiwari, 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. Filming took place in India and Australia.

Pokkiri was released theatrically on 12 January 2007 and received positive reviews with praise for Vijay's performance, action sequences and music.[1] It became a commercial success, running for more than 200 days at the Tamil Nadu box office.[2] Six years later, it was dubbed in Hindi as Wanted Baaghi and was also dubbed in Odia as Wanted Police, as well as Malayalam under the same title as the original Tamil version.

Plot

The city of Chennai is rife with the nefarious activities of land mafia. There are two rival gangs: one under Ali Bhai, who resides in Dubai where he controls the India operations through his skilled henchmen Guru and Korattur Logu as well as his girlfriend Mona; and another operated by a local goon named Narasimhan. They threaten builders and landowners into giving them protection money or property through force, extortion, or murder. Mohammed Maideen Khan IPS takes charge as the new Police Commissioner of Chennai and starts cracking down on crime.

Tamizh, a thug, is abducted by Logu and his henchmen. Tamizh has taken a contract from Narasimhan to beat up Logu, which he does. Seeing Tamizh’s potential, Guru and Mona invite Tamizh to join their gang. Tamizh declines stating that he does not work for any gang, but is ready to do anything for money. Meanwhile, Tamizh falls in love with Shruthi, an aerobics teacher, when he visits his friend Saravanan's aerobics class, but she mistakes him for a pervert. Shruthi lives with her widowed mother Lakshmi and younger brother Pappu. Body Soda, a bogus kung fu master, lives above Shruthi's house and frequently, albeit comically and unsuccessfully, tries to convince her to marry him. Govindan is a corrupt police inspector in the colony where Tamizh and Shruthi live and is on Ali Bhai's payroll. He lusts for Shruthi and decides to make her his mistress, even after she rejects him multiple times.

Tamizh's first assignment with Ali Bhai's gang is to kill a member of Narasimhan's gang. However, the police show up at the spot where Tamizh and the other gangsters are waiting. Tamizh engages the cops long enough for the others to finish the task and flee. He also helps Shruthi escape from Govindan. She is impressed by his kindness, and a friendship soon blossoms between the two, leading to the development of unspoken romantic feelings for each other. When Shruthi tries to express her feelings to Tamizh, they are attacked by members of Narasimhan's gang, whom Tamizh finishes off in the presence of Shruthi. Shruthi is shocked to learn that Tamizh is a cold-blooded gangster with no qualms about killing people. Later, having been rebuked by Shruthi Lakshmi multiple times, Govindan arranges for some thugs to pretend to assault Shruthi so that no decent family will want to take her as their daughter-in-law, as a result with no other option, Shruthi and Lakshmi will accept his demands. Tamizh learns of this and thrashes Govindan incognito. After much ado and mental anguish, Shruthi accepts Tamizh's love. Soon, Guru is found dead, presumably killed by Narasimhan in retaliation against the death of his gang members at the hands of Tamizh earlier, which forces Ali Bhai to come to Chennai from Dubai and kill Narasimhan. He also meets Tamizh to discuss the killing of a minister by blowing up a school. Tamizh disagrees with Ali Bhai's method as it would involve killing women and children which goes against his principles.

In the middle of their argument, the police raid the club and arrest Ali Bhai. His gang members retaliate by kidnapping Maidenn's daughter, drugging her, and creating a lewd video of her which they threaten to release to the media if Ali Bhai is not released, forcing the embattled commissioner to release Ali Bhai. However, in her drugged state, Maideen's daughter reveals that her father had placed an undercover officer as a mole in Ali Bhai's gang. The gang members find out that an IPS police officer by the name of Satyamoorthy, the son of a retired police inspector Shanmugavel, has gone undercover to finish off the underworld mafia gangs and is now a part of their gang. Shanmugavel is revealed to be Saravanan’s father. Ali Bhai kills Saravanan, believing he is Satyamoorthy. However, it is revealed that Saravanan was actually Shanmugavel's adopted son. Ali Bhai then kills Shanmugavel to lure the real Satyamoorthy. When Satyamoorthy actually turns up, everyone, especially Shruthi and Govindan, is shocked to see that he is Tamizh. Satyamoorthy had gone undercover by posing himself as a Thamizh. It is further revealed that Satyamoorthy was the one who killed Guru and not Narasimhan. He killed Guru under the Commissioner's direction. After Shanmugavel and Saravanan's funerals, Satyamoorthy forces Govindan to call Ali Bhai to find out his location, which is Binny Mills. He goes there and starts to kill Ali Bhai's gang members one by one, rescuing the commissioner's daughter in the process. In a final confrontation, Satyamoorthy thrashes and kills Ali Bhai by slashing his throat with a broken glass window, following which he shoots Govindan and says the following words: Oru vaati mudivu panniten na, yaen pecha naanae kekamaatten (transl. Once I make a decision, I won't listen even to my own words).

Cast

Production

Development

After his film Aathi in January 2006, for nearly six months Vijay was listening to stories, but none had appealed; he was supposed to do a Tamil Remake of Dharani's Bangaram, until that film's failure made him look at other options.[4] That's when he got to watch the Telugu Pokiri – he felt that it would work.[5] After difficulty in finding directors, Prabhudeva was selected as director, directing his first film in Tamil after the failure of his Telugu film Pournami.[6][7]

Filming

The movie was launched on 6 July 2006.[8] Vijay's father SAC conducted special puja at the Sri Arunachaleswarar Temple in Tiruvannamalai. On Saturday night, which was the full moon day, 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.[9] Asin was selected, pairing with Vijay for the second time after Sivakasi (2005).[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. Principal photography was completed in late November.[11]

Music

The soundtrack has 8 songs composed by Mani Sharma. Two of the songs from the original Telugu version were retained and remade in Tamil. The soundtrack also features a remix of the song "Vasantha Mullai" from Sarangadhara (1958).[12][13]

SongArtist(s)LengthLyrics
"Dole Dole Than"Ranjith, Suchitra4:43Pa. Vijay
"Aadungada Yennai Suththi"Naveen4:29Kabilan
"Nee Mutham Ondru"Ranjith, Swetha Mohan4:52Pa. Vijay
"Mambazhamam Mambazham"Shankar Mahadevan, Ganga4:41Snehan
"En Chella Peru Apple"A. V. Ramanan, Suchitra4:35Pa. Vijay
"Vasantha Mullai"Rahul Nambiar, Krishnamoorthy4:19Na. Muthukumar
"Nee Mutham Ondru" (Remix)Ranjith, Shweta Mohan4:12Pa. Vijay
"Pokkiri Theme"Mani Sharma2:36

Release

Theatrical

The film was released on 12 January 2007 at the festival of Pongal weekend, alongside Ajith's Aalwar and Vishal's Thaamirabharani.[14] The USA's premiere happened on 11 January 2007, a day before its worldwide release. The film grossed ₹6.1 crore in Tamil Nadu in opening week from 142 screens.[15][16]

In 2019, the film also had a limited re-release on the occasion of Vijay's birthday.[17]

Distribution

The film's distribution rights were sold for around ₹12 crore (equivalent to ₹36 crore or US$4.5 million in 2023) or ₹15 crore (equivalent to ₹45 crore or US$5.7 million in 2023).[18]

Home media

The satellite rights were bought by Sun TV.[19] Ayngaran International released the DVD of the film in 2008.[20] The film also had a Blu-ray release in United Kingdom on 21 June 2009.[21]

Reception

Box office

The film was commercial success and ran for over 200 days in Tamil Nadu.[22] The film completed a 50-day run in 146 centres and a 100-day run in 60 centres. The film completed a 175-day run in 15 centres, and a 275-day run at one theatre. The film ran for 100 days in one centre at Kerala.[23] The film was the third highest grossing Tamil film at that time in Kerala box office after Anniyan.[24]

Critical response

The Hindu wrote, "After watching the Telugu Pokkiri, one wondered how it could be rehashed to suit Vijay. Well, kudos to Prabhu Deva for doing a fine job of the remake".[25] Sify said that the film was "enjoyable while it lasts".[26] Indiaglitz stated that Vijay stole the show with his "typical 'Vijayisms' (action, humor and punch dialogues)" and that the show was "action-packed entertainer".[27] 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."[28] Rediff.com gave the movie two stars, stating "there's nothing more tedious than a badly made remake."[29] Nowrunning.com stated that "Pokkiri is attractively packaged and presented".[30] Oneindia.in stated that "Pokkiri is a full length action movie of Vijay."[31] Ananda Vikatan rated the film 42 out of 100.[32] Malini Mannath of Chennai Online wrote "'Pokkiri' is not much different from the earlier gangster films. And if it manages to hold interest to a point, it's mainly due to the Vijay-factor and it's racy narrative style."[33]

Accolades

Award Category Recipient Result Ref
Vijay Awards Favourite Film Singanamala Ramesh Won [34]
Favourite Director Prabhu Deva Won [34]
Entertainer of the Year Vijay Won [34]
Favourite Hero Vijay Nominated
Favourite Heroine Asin Nominated
Best Actress Asin Nominated
Best Villain Prakash Raj Nominated
Best Choreographer Dinesh
("Vasantha Mullai")		 Won [34]
Best Stunt Director Fefsi Vijaan Nominated
Filmfare Awards South Best Actor Vijay Nominated [35]
Best Actress Asin Nominated [35]
Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards Best Comedian – Male Vadivelu Won

Legacy

Some of the quotes from the film that became popular were: "Vada Poche",[36] "Plan Panni Pannanum" spoken by Vadivelu[37] and Vijay's dialogue "Oru Vaati Mudivu Panta, Yen Pecha Naane Kekka Maaten" (transl. Once I have made a decision, I won't listen to my own voice) became popular and was repeated multiple times in his 2022 film Beast.[38] One of Vadivelu's dialogue "Vada Poche" inspired a comedy show in Sun Music with same name. The dialogue also inspired a song sung by Velmurugan and Powerstar Srinivasan in Arya Surya (2013).[39] Other dialogue of Vadivelu, "Plan Panni Pannanum" (transl. Make a plan and execute it) also inspired a film of the same name.[37]

The intro fight scene was shown in the Malayalam film Daddy Cool (2009).[40] The scenes from the film were parodied in Thamizh Padam as hero being an undercover cop.[41] The song "Pokkiri Pongal" is mentioned during the song "Adada" in Pokkiri Simon (2017),[42] where Asin's jogging scene is also parodied.[43] Vijay's dialogue before entry fight "Nee adicha piece naan adicha mass"(transl. Your hit would tear me into piece but mine would be a mass hit) is referenced in the Shylock (2020) Malayalam movie during Mammootty's second entry fight. Nelson acknowledged Pokkiri as an inspiration for his directorial Beast (2022).[44] Pokkiri was also parodied in the Star Vijay comedy series Lollu Sabha, in an episode named Bakery.[45][46]

References

  1. ↑ ""Pokkiri is turning out to be my biggest hit": Vijay". Sify. Archived from the original on 23 March 2007.
  2. ↑ "The Top 7 Vijay Movies – Pokkiri". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  3. ↑ "7 1/2, காமெடி காலனி". Vikatan (in Tamil). 11 June 2008. Archived from the original on 30 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  4. ↑ rediff.com: Vijay and Asin sizzle in Pokiri Archived 25 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Specials.rediff.com (13 July 2006). Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  5. ↑ "Friday Review Chennai : Scaling heights with 'Pokkiri'". The Hindu. 26 January 2007. Archived from the original on 9 November 2007. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  6. ↑ "Prabhudeva directs Tamil 'Pokiri'". Cinesouth. Archived from the original on 9 September 2006. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
  7. ↑ "Prabhu Deva as a Director in Tamil". IndiaGlitz. 8 June 2006. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  8. ↑ "Events – 'Pokiri' Movie Launch". IndiaGlitz. 15 June 2006. Archived from the original on 13 September 2010. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  9. ↑ "Tamil movies : Pokiri announced! Vijay's father offers prayers at temples!!". Behindwoods.com. 13 June 2006. Archived from the original on 6 October 2010. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  10. ↑ "Asin in 'Pokiri' remake!". Sify. 21 January 2006. Archived from the original on 2 February 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  11. ↑ "Tamil movies : Vijay's Pokkiri sold at record price!". Behindwoods.com. 6 July 2006. Archived from the original on 30 August 2010. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  12. ↑ "'Vasantha Mullai' song recreated for Pokkiri". Chennai Mirror. 6 December 2006. Archived from the original on 16 April 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  13. ↑ Srinivas, Saraswathy (18 December 2006). "Pokkiri has racy music". Rediff. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  14. ↑ "Pokkiri Tamilnadu collection". IndiaGlitz. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  15. ↑ "Pokkiri Tamilnadu collection". Behindwoods. Archived from the original on 4 January 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  16. ↑ "Pokkiri Tamilnadu collection". screendaily. Archived from the original on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  17. ↑ "Actor Vijay's films to be re-released in many theatres across Kerala as throwback". Behindwoods. 17 June 2019. Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  18. ↑ "Comparison and analysis of Pokkiri and Alwar". Behindwoods. 6 January 2007. Archived from the original on 11 February 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  19. ↑ "KNOW WHO OWNS THE SATELLITE RIGHTS OF VIJAY FILMS SINCE 2000?". Behindwoods. 7 March 2018. Archived from the original on 23 September 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  20. ↑ "Amazon.in: Pokkiri DVD". Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  21. ↑ "Pokkiri Blu-ray Release Date June 21, 2009 (United Kingdom)". Blu-ray.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  22. ↑ "Looking at Vijay's TOP 7 landmark films". Rediff. 23 June 2014. Archived from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  23. ↑ "Tamil movies big grossers in State". The Hindu. 19 June 2007. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  24. ↑ MK Surendhar (22 June 2019). "Tracing Vijay's exponentially increasing box office dominance over the years in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and overseas". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  25. ↑ Ashok Kumar, S. R. (19 January 2007). "With lots of punch—Pokkiri". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 24 December 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  26. ↑ "Movie Review:Nanban". Sify. Archived from the original on 23 January 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  27. ↑ Pokkiri – Action aplenty Archived 6 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine Indiaglitz 15 January 2007
  28. ↑ "Tamil movie : Pokkiri Review". BehindWoods. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  29. ↑ "Pokkiri: Watch only for Vijay, Asin". Rediff.com. 15 January 2007. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  30. ↑ "Movie Review:Pokkiri". Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  31. ↑ "Movie Review:Pokkiri". Oneindia.in. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  32. ↑ சார்லஸ், தேவன் (22 June 2021). "பீஸ்ட் : 'நாளைய தீர்ப்பு' டு 'மாஸ்டர்'... விஜய்க்கு விகடனின் மார்க்கும், விமர்சனமும் என்ன? #Beast". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  33. ↑ Mannath, Malini (30 January 2007). "Pokkiri". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 14 July 2007. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  34. 1 2 3 4 "Star Vijay awards | Vijay TV awards| Vijay awards gallery | Kollywood films". 26 July 2008. Archived from the original on 26 July 2008.
  35. 1 2 "The 55th Filmfare South Awards in Chennai on July 12". Televisionpoint. Bhash Media Private Limited. Archived from the original on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  36. ↑ "Filmi dialogues used in everyday lingo". The Times of India. 15 January 2017. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  37. 1 2 C R, Sharanya (12 January 2020). "Rio and Ramya's next takes a cue from Vadivelu's lines". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 23 August 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  38. ↑ Says, Putlocker toda (23 May 2018). "Thalapathy Vijay's most iconic punch dialogues". Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  39. ↑ Kumar, S. R. Ashok (31 August 2013). "Audio beat: Arya Surya - Songs to lighten the mood". The Hindu. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  40. ↑ "Thalapathy Vijay reference in Megastar Mammootty Malayalam Movie". YouTube. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  41. ↑ "Clash of the spoof boys – 9 years of Goa and Thamizh Padam!". IndiaGlitz. 29 January 2019. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  42. ↑ "Pokkiri Simon is about Surya and Vijay fans". Cinema Express. 22 August 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  43. ↑ "Pokkiri Simon Review". Indiaglitz. 23 September 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  44. ↑ "Nelson speaks to us about Beast, says 'script of Beast is influenced by Pokkiri'". Cinema Express. 8 April 2022. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  45. ↑ "Bakkiri out of Pokkiri: someone does not like the mockery". Behindwoods. 27 March 2007. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  46. ↑ S, Srivatsan (9 April 2020). "The rise and fall of 'Lollu Sabha': Director Rambala on the untold story". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 19 July 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.