| Directed by | S. P. Jananathan |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Siddharth Roy Kapur S. P. Jananathan |
| Written by | S. P. Jananathan (Story & Dialogue) |
| Screenplay by | Roghanth |
| Starring | Arya Shaam Vijay Sethupathi Karthika Nair |
| Music by | Varshan (soundtrack) Srikanth Deva (score) |
| Cinematography | N. K. Ekambaram |
| Edited by | N. Ganesh Kumar |
Production
company |
Binary Pictures
UTV Motion Pictures |
| Distributed by | UTV Motion Pictures |
Release dates
| 15 May 2015 [1] |
Running time
| 159 Minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Cast
- Arya as Balusamy
- Shaam as Macaulay IPS
- Vijay Sethupathi as Yemalingam
- Karthika Nair as Kuyili
- Rama as Yemalingam's mother
- Krishnamoorthy as Chellakunjan
- Bharathi Murugesh as vedigundu
- Naveen as Naathampidichavan
- Sri Vetri as Vetri
- Theekoluthi
- Erimalai
- Trichy Saravanakumar (TSK) as Saravanakumar
- Vishwa Kumar as Vishwa
- Kicha
- Rasheek
- Yaar Kannan as himself
- Annadurai Kannadasan as himself
- Veerapandiyan
- Sivagnanam
- Divya
Production
Development
Three years after his last directorial Peranmai (2009), Jananathan announced that his next directorial would feature Jiiva and Jayam Ravi, who both starred in Jananathan's earlier films, playing lead roles.[6] Yuvan Shankar Raja was reported to be the composer of the film,[7] which was to begin in mid-January 2013.[8] Since the actors were busy with other commitments, the project failed to take off. In 2013, Jananathan announced the project titled Purampokku with Arya and Vijay Sethupathi in lead roles,[9] with newcomer Varshan handling the music direction instead of Yuvan Shankar Raja and N. K. Ekambaram wielding the camera.[10]
Casting
Jananathan revealed that the film would be a political action thriller with Arya portraying role as a social and financial analyst, while Vijay Sethupathi would appear as a railway Khalasi.[11] Posters released from the production unit revealed Arya with a resemblance of Bhagat Singh.[12][13] In December 2013, Karthika Nair was signed to play the lead female role, as she could speak Tamil fluently and had to share screen space with two tall heroes.[14] Her role was said to be an action-packed one where she would perform her stunt sequences herself.[15] Jananathan stated that though there are two heroes in the film, there will be just one heroine.[16] Later Shaam, who earlier appeared in director's debut film Iyarkai (2003), was selected to play the role of police officer.[17] A promotional photo-shoot with Arya, Vijay Sethupathy and Shaam was held in December.[18]
Filming
Principal photography of the film started on 11 January 2014 in Kulu Manali.[19] The film was shot extensively around Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chennai.[19] When filming an emotional scene involving Shaam and Vijay Sethupathi, Jananathan shot the scene in a unique way such that he allowed the actors to enact the entire sequence at one stretch. Though it was tough to shoot, the method ensured that the improvisations the actors had in mind were implemented on the spot. Later, the director broke the sequence into shots and got exactly what he wanted and made the actors enact certain portions again.[20] The shooting was postponed for a while in June 2014 as the lead actors went to complete their other projects.[21] The lead actors had to learn to ride a camel for a few scenes in the film shot in Jaisalmer.[22] Arya had to perform the risky stunt of running on top of a moving train in an important sequence in the film.[23] A huge prison set was erected in Chennai where an extensive 45-day production schedule was shot with the lead actors of the film.[24][25][26] On 4 August 2014, the shooting of the film was temporarily cancelled by the production unit and joined the protest declared by the Tamil Nadu Film Director's union against the Government of Sri Lanka's army for writing articles on their official website degrading the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J. Jayalalitha.[27] The principal photography of the film was completed on 17 December 2014.[28]
Soundtrack
Newcomer Varshan composed the songs. Parinaman, Vijay Sagar and Na. Muthukumar wrote the lyrics. The film score was composed by Srikanth Deva.
| Tracklist | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "Marina Beachula" | Parinaman | Diwakar, Mukesh | |
| 2. | "Kalaasi Kalaasi" | Vijaya Sagar | M.L.R. Karthikeyan, Malathy Lakshman, Tirukumar Thiagarajah & Diwakar | |
| 3. | "Orea Oru Murai" | Na. Muthukumar | Vijay Prakash, Sunitha Sarathy & Ranjana | |
| 4. | "Dhaegam Thaakkum" | Eknaath | K. Krishna Kumar & Ramya NSK | |
| 5. | "Aaja O Re" | Munnah | Abhay Jodhpurkar, Amirthavarshini & Haritha | |
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