Soodhu Kavvum (transl. Evil Engulfs) is a 2013 Indian Tamil-language crime comedy film written and directed by Nalan Kumarasamy in his directoral debut.[2] The film stars Vijay Sethupathi, Bobby Simha, Ashok Selvan, Ramesh Thilak, Karunakaran and Sanchita Shetty.[3] It revolves around a gang who kidnap a politician's son, and the troubles that ensue thereafter.
| Soodhu Kavvum | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Nalan Kumarasamy |
| Screenplay by | Nalan Kumarasamy |
| Story by |
|
| Produced by | C. V. Kumar |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Dinesh B. Krishnan |
| Edited by | Leo John Paul |
| Music by | Santhosh Narayanan |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Studio Green |
Release date |
|
Running time | 128 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
| Box office | est. ₹12 crore[1] |
The film was released on 1 May 2013. Soodhu Kavvum received positive reviews from critics and became a big blockbuster.[4] The film was remade in Telugu as Gaddam Gang and in Urdu as the Pakistani film Chupan Chupai. A sequel titled Soodhu Kavvum 2 was released in 2024.
Plot
editFriends Kesavan, Sekar, and Pagalavan meet Das, a middle-aged man who does low-profile kidnappings for a living with his imaginary girlfriend Shalu. Since they are broke, the trio decides to become his assistants. Das follows five rules of kidnapping, the first of which is to avoid abducting people with political background.
One day, the gang kidnaps a boy and successfully extorts ransom from his father, Nambikkai Kannan. Nambikkai's contractor brother has been arrested for attempted bribery by State Minister Gnanodayam, an honest politician. Impressed with Das's kidnapping skills, Nambikkai asks him to kidnap Gnanodayam's son, Arumai Pragasam, as revenge and offers to pay Das up to ₹20 million (equivalent to ₹34 million or US$410,000 in 2023). Das initially hesitates, but eventually agrees after being convinced by Kesavan, Sekar, and Pagalavan.
The next day, the gang sets out to kidnap Arumai but is astonished to see him get kidnapped by another group. They kidnap Arumai from the other kidnappers and discover that the first kidnapping was staged by Arumai himself to extort money from his father. Arumai manages to convince Das and his men to collude with him to obtain ransom money from his father. The group demands ₹20 million from the minister and receives the money.
An argument over splitting the cash arises between Arumai and the rest, during which their van loses control and falls from a bridge. Arumai runs away with all the money. The minister seeks the assistance of encounter specialist Bramma, a ruthless policeman, to hunt down the kidnappers. Arumai returns to home and hides the money in his room. Das devises a plan to kidnap Arumai again to retrieve the money. They accidentally meet Arumai and kidnap him again. Das lets Arumai go free, after making him promise that he should not tell anything about them to the police. Arumai also promises to return their share of the money. Bramma learns that Arumai staged his own kidnapping and uses this information to threaten Arumai into testifying against the Das gang.
Arumai perjures that the Das gang did not kidnap him, leading to their acquittal. Enraged, Bramma takes the gang to a remote location, and brutally beats them in a dark room with the aid of night-vision goggles. Instead of shooting them with the officially issued gun, he goes out and retrieves from his police jeep an illegal homemade gun that he had seized from a crook. When he tucks it behind his back in his trousers, the rusty gun misfires into Bramma's buttocks, allowing the Das gang to escape. Arumai's father breaks in and takes the money bag to the chief minister, who provided the ransom money. When he opens the bag, the minister is shocked to find it filled with newspapers instead. Arumai transferred the cash to another bag and gave the Das gang their share.
The chief minister calls Arumai to his office and asks him to stand as a candidate in the upcoming general elections in lieu of his father, who never brought much income to the party due to his refusal to be corrupt. The chief minister praises Arumai's shrewdness and believes that he can rake in a substantial income of ₹3 billion (equivalent to ₹5.1 billion or US$61 million in 2023) in five years for the party, as a young minister. Arumai wins the elections, becomes MLA, immediately gets a ministerial post, and appoints Sekar and Kesavan as his personal advisers, while Pagalavan becomes an actor. Das continues his kidnapping business with a new band of young men. They kidnap a woman who looks exactly like Shalu, belatedly realising that she is Shalini Gupta, a minister's daughter. Thus, Das has broken his first rule of kidnapping again.
Cast
edit- Vijay Sethupathi as Das
- Bobby Simha as Pagalavan
- Ashok Selvan as Kesavan
- Ramesh Thilak as Sekar
- Karunakaran as G. Arumai Pragasam
- Sanchita Shetty as Shalu / Shalini Gupta
- M. S. Bhaskar as Finance Minister Gnanodayam
- Yog Japee as Inspector K. Bramma
- Radha Ravi as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
- Munishkanth as Drug Seller
- Aruldoss as Rowdy Doctor/Das's brother
- Anjali Rao as Kesavan's colleague
- Karthik Subbaraj as Jaguar Car Owner
- Yogi Babu as Rowdy Doctor's henchman
- Shivakumar as Nambikkai Kannan
- Boys Rajan as C Manikandan
- Radha as Arumai's mother
- Gajaraj as lawyer
- Sai Priyanka Ruth as Volleyball Player (failed kidnap)
- Noble K James[5] as Nambikkai Kannan's son
- Mippusamy as Bystander/irritated drunkard
- Gaana Bala in special appearance in the song 'Kaasu Panam'
- Anthony Daasan in special appearance in the song 'Kaasu Panam'
Soundtrack
editThe soundtrack album and background music was composed by Santhosh Narayanan. The audio rights were purchased by Think Music.[6] The soundtrack album was released on 27 March 2013 at Sathyam Cinemas, Chennai.[7][8]
Top10 Cinema gave a favourable review, stating that "On the whole, the album introduces some new genre of music and Santhosh Narayanan deserves a special pat for this. Much alike his previous album Pizza, the visuals would add more beautifications to his music" and gave a verdict "Buy it for Come Na Come & Sudden Delight".[9] Karthik Srinivasan of Milliblog wrote, "With Soodhu Kavvum, Santhosh proves that his unconventional style is here to stay".[10]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Come Na Come" | Ganesh Kumar B | Ganesh Kumar B, Chinna | 3:55 |
| 2. | "Mama Douser" | Nalan Kumarasamy | Andrea Jeremiah | 3:20 |
| 3. | "Ellam Kadanthu Pogumada" | Rr | Koavai Jaleel | 2:41 |
| 4. | "Sudden Delight" | Adhi | Rob Mass | 2:37 |
| 5. | "Sa Ga" | Muthamil | Divya Ramani | 1:43 |
| 6. | "Kaasu Panam" | Gaana Bala | Gaana Bala, Anthony Daasan | 2:27 |
| Total length: | 16:43 | |||
Release
editSoodhu Kavvum was released on 1 May 2013 alongside Ethir Neechal and Moondru Per Moondru Kadhal.[11] In 2014, it was selected for screening in the Zurich Film Festival, being the only Tamil film of 2013 to be screened there.[12]
Critical reception
editBaradwaj Rangan stated, "Nalan Kumarasamy's Soodhu Kavvum is a demonstration of what's possible when films are made for the sheer joy of making films. There isn't a single calculated moment, something cynically aimed to satisfy this segment of the audience or that one. Everything is organic, the events rooted in a nutty story and sprouting through a brilliant screenplay".[13] S. Saraswathi from Rediff.com gave 3.5 stars out of 5 and wrote "Soodhu Kavvum is an engaging film, with ingenious characters and entertaining situations" and called it a "must-watch".[14] N Venkateswaran from The Times of India gave 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Nalan Kumarasamy establishes himself as a director to watch out for in this laugh riot of a debut film. Carrying off a dark comedy is no mean task, but Nalan hits the target right in his first attempt. His writing is crisp, the lines are down to earth and funny, the characters well-etched and the screenplay has no dull moments".[15]
Sify wrote, "Soodhu Kavvum works big time due to smart writing and perfect characterisation. Final verdict on Soodhu Kavvum is that it is a gutsy great film. It is one of the best films to have emerged out of Kollywood in a long, long time".[16] Malini Mannath from The New Indian Express wrote "Engaging screenplay, deft narration, well-etched characters and twists and humour generated at unexpected moments, make Soodhu Kavvum a wacky jolly fun ride".[17] Vivek Ramz from In.com rated the film 3.5 out of 5 and wrote "The film is technically rich even with the budget constraints. Except the poor graphics in the pre-interval scene [...] the film looked neat with some fine shots by Cinematographer Dinesh Krishnan". He also appreciated the writing, cast performances, editing and music.[18]
Box office
editSoodhu Kavvum grossed ₹11.5 lakh (US$14,000) in Chennai theatres on its first weekend.[19] In its opening weekend it grossed ₹15.7 lakh (US$19,000) in the US which was a disappointing result.[20] The film had collected ₹5.2 crore (US$620,000) in two weeks in Tamil Nadu, according to IANS.[21] In June 2013, IANS reported that it had earned ₹12 crore (US$1.4 million) against a budget of under ₹5 crore (US$600,000).[1]
Legacy
editSudhish Kamath picked Soodhu Kavvum as one of five films that have redefined Tamil cinema in 2013, writing, "This film is a joy to watch, full of laughs and unpredictable situations with great wit, dark humour and satire. Writer-director Nalan Kumarasamy, the winner of the first season of Nalaya Iyakkunar, is one of the most exciting filmmakers of our times with his ability to turn a cliché on the head".[22] Soodhu Kavvum was featured in Indo-Asian News Service's 10 best southern films of 2013, who called it "unarguably the funniest film of the year".[23] Sify and Rediff listed it in the year-end top Tamil films lists, too.[24][25]
Sequel and remakes
editThe film was remade in Telugu as Gaddam Gang (2015),[26] and in Pakistan in Urdu as Chupan Chupai (2018).[27] In June 2013, the Kannada remake rights were bought by Rockline Venkatesh.[28] By October the same year, Rohit Shetty had bought the Hindi remake rights.[29] A sequel titled Soodhu Kavvum 2 was released on 13 December 2024.[30]
References
edit- ^ a b Pudipeddi, Haricharan (11 June 2013). "(after 12) Tamil cinema trading off quality with quantity?". Sify. IANS. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
- ^ "Sanchita Shetty in Soodhu Kavvum". The Times of India. 22 November 2012. Archived from the original on 12 August 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
- ^ Manigandan, K. R. (22 November 2012). "Shot Cuts: The wait continues". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 February 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
- ^ "Keen to do 'Soodhu Kavvum' in other languages: Sanchita". Sify. IANS. 28 October 2013. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
- ^ "Loved 'Super Deluxe'? Meet the film's unsung heroes". The Hindu. 3 April 2019. Archived from the original on 18 December 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
- ^ "Soodhu Kavvum". JioSaavn. 27 March 2013. Archived from the original on 21 August 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
- ^ "Soodhu Kavvum music launch tomorrow". The Times of India. 26 March 2013. Archived from the original on 8 November 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
- ^ "Soodhu Kavvum audio launched". Sify. 27 March 2013. Archived from the original on 20 October 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
- ^ "Soodhu Kavvum – Music Review". Top10 Cinema. 29 March 2013. Archived from the original on 20 October 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Karthik (27 March 2013). "Soodhu Kavvum (Music review), Tamil – Santhosh Narayanan". Milliblog. Archived from the original on 22 May 2024. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
- ^ "May Day releases!". Sify. 30 April 2013. Archived from the original on 1 May 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- ^ "'Soodhu Kavvum' to be Screened at Zurich Film Fest". The New Indian Express. IANS. 13 September 2014. Archived from the original on 15 December 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
- ^ Rangan, Baradwaj (4 May 2013). "Soodhu Kavvum: Crime does pay!". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 7 May 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- ^ Saraswathi, S. (3 May 2013). "Review: Soodhu Kavvum is a class apart". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- ^ Venkateswaran, N (4 May 2013). "Soodhu Kavvum". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 7 May 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- ^ "Soodhu Kavvum". Sify. 4 May 2013. Archived from the original on 4 May 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- ^ Mannath, Malini (4 May 2013). "Soodhu Kavvum (Tamil)". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 8 May 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- ^ Ramz, Vivek (3 May 2013). "Tamil movie review: Soodhu Kavvum is a total laugh riot!". In.com. Archived from the original on 22 June 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- ^ "Soodhu Kavvum completes 50 days". The Times of India. 19 June 2013. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
- ^ "'Soodhu Kavvum', 'Sukumarudu' disappoint in overseas market". Sify. IANS. 14 May 2013. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
- ^ "'Soodhu Kavvum' , 'Sukumarudu' disappoint in overseas market". IBNLive. IANS. 15 May 2013. Archived from the original on 18 June 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
- ^ Kamath, Sudhish (28 December 2013). "A shot at standing out". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 15 July 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
- ^ "'Soodhu Kavvum' to 'Lucia': 10 southern films that wowed audience (2013 In Retrospect)". Sify. IANS. 21 December 2013. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
- ^ "Critics` choice- 10 best Tamil films of 2013". Sify. Archived from the original on 4 January 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ^ "The Top Tamil Films of 2013". Rediff.com. 30 December 2013. Archived from the original on 1 December 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
- ^ Kumar, Hemanth (6 February 2015). "Gaddam Gang Movie Review". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
- ^ Jawaid, Mohammad Kamran (7 January 2018). "THE ICON REVIEW: HIDE AND STEAL". Dawn. Archived from the original on 8 June 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
- ^ "'Soodhu Kavvum' to have Kannada remake". Sify. 5 June 2013. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
- ^ "Rohit Shetty to remake Soodhu Kavvum". The Times of India. 12 October 2013. Archived from the original on 15 December 2024. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
- ^ M, Narayani (20 November 2024). "Soodhu Kavvum 2 gets a release date". Cinema Express. Archived from the original on 27 November 2024. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
