Gorilla (film)

2019 film directed by Don Sandy

This article is about the Tamil language film. For other media with a similar name, see Gorilla (disambiguation).

Gorilla

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Don Sandy
Written by| Don Sandy
Produced by| Vijay Raghavendra
Starring| Jiiva
Shalini Pandey
Cinematography| R. B. Gurudev
Edited by| Ruben
Music by| Sam C. S.

Production
company

All In Pictures

Distributed by| Seven Screen Studio

Release date

* 12 July 2019 (2019-07-12)

Running time

| 126 minutes
Country| India
Language| Tamil

Gorilla is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language heist comedy film written and directed by Don Sandy. The film stars Jiiva and Shalini Pandey, while Yogi Babu, Radha Ravi, Sathish, Rajendran, Vivek Prasanna and Madhankumar appear in pivotal roles. It also features a chimpanzee named Kong in a prominent role.[1] The music was composed by Sam C. S. with lyrics penned by Yugabharathi, while cinematography was handled by R. B. Gurudev and editing by Ruben. The film was released on 12 July 2019.

## Plot

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Jeeva is a petty criminal, but has fallen in love with Jhansi, who is being pressured to get married. Sathish, who is his family's sole breadwinner, is fired from his place of employment, and Venkat is an aspiring actor who hopes he can become a hero if he has money. Into their life walks Sadhic, a farmer who is on the verge of committing suicide after being turned down by the banks. All four hatch a plan to rob a bank, in an inebriated state, and circumstances force them to follow through with a chimpanzee as an accomplice.

## Cast

[edit]

* Jiiva as Jeeva
* Shalini Pandey as Jhansi
* Kong as the chimpanzee
* Radha Ravi as Assistant Commissioner Shanmugam
* Sathish as Sathish
* Yogi Babu as Pickpocket
* Rajendran as Barber
* Vivek Prasanna as Venkat
* Pari Elavazhagan as Sadiq
* Santhana Bharathi as Minister Ramaiah
* Radhakrishnan Gopal as Bomb maker
* Swaminathan as Bank customer
* Venkat Subha as Chief Minister
* Cinemawala Sathish as Police Inspector
* Vishnu as Ramaiah's son
* Ashritha Sreedas as Jhansi's friend
* Rahul Thatha as Bank security guard
* KPY Sarath as Barber's son
* Boys Rajan as Commissioner

## Production

[edit]

The production of the film commenced in February 2018 by director Don Sandy who rose to prominence in Tamil cinema with his directorial debut Mahabalipuram in 2015. This film also brought the thought of having a gorilla in a key role which was the first ever instance in Indian film history. It was also revealed that the chimpanzee named Kong was hired from the Samut training station of Thailand, which is a world renowned destination for training animals like chimpanzees, gorillas for mainly American films.[2] The production team also initially cast RJ Balaji for the film but he was later replaced by Sathish.[3] The first look poster of the film was released on 21 June 2018.[4] The teaser of the film was unveiled by actor Suriya on 16 September 2018 through his Twitter account.[5][6][7] Most of the sequences related to the chimpanzee were shot in Thailand and the remaining portions were shot in Chennai.[8] Though the film prominently features a chimpanzee despite its title, Jiiva said the title is a reference to guerrilla warfare.[9]

## Soundtrack

[edit]

The music was composed by Sam C. S. Sony Music India hold the music rights.[citation needed]

Track listingNo.| Title| Lyrics| Singer(s)| Length

|
|
|
|

1.| "Yaaradiyo"| Sam C. S.| Sid Sriram|
2.| "So Mitta"| Logan| Guna, Mukesh Mohamed|
3.| "Gorilla Theme"| Yugabharathi, Aishwarya| Aishwarya, Anthony Daasan|
4.| "Chimp Song"| Sam C. S.| Anthony Daasan, Poovaiyar|

## Release

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Gorilla was initially scheduled to release on 21 June 2019, then 5 July, but finally released on 12 July.[10]

## Critical reception

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 20% of 5 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.3/10.[11]

Vishal Menon of Film Companion wrote, "There's something seriously amiss with a film when you look back at M. Rajesh's comedies and think that those were the good old days".[12] Janani K of India Today wrote, "Gorilla is a lazily made film that takes the audience for granted. Do not expect any logic or quality comedy from Jiiva in his latest release".[13] M Suganth of The Times of India wrote, "It would be easy to dismiss Gorilla as a silly, far-fetched film, but the fact is that the film works. The chief reason for this is that the director, Don Sandy, understands the silliness and gets the the [sic] cast and crew to tag along for this fun ride".[14]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Pudipeddi, Haricharan (23 June 2018). "Gorilla, Haathi Mere Saathi, Kumki 2, Adhugo: Animals are the stars of upcoming Telugu, Tamil films". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 5 October 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
2. ^ C R, Sharanya (29 December 2017). "Jiiva's next movie will feature a live chimpanzee". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 5 November 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
3. ^ "Jiiva and Shalini Pandey start shooting for 'Gorilla'". The News Minute. 5 February 2018. Archived from the original on 5 February 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
4. ^ "'Gorilla': First look of Jiiva-starrer to release on June 22". The Times of India. 20 June 2018. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
5. ^ "ஜீவாவின் 'கொரில்லா' பட டீசரை வெளியிட்ட சூர்யா". NDTV (in Tamil). 17 September 2018. Archived from the original on 5 October 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
6. ^ "'கொரில்லா' டீசரை வெளியிட்ட சூர்யா!!". Samayam (in Tamil). 16 September 2018. Archived from the original on 5 October 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
7. ^ "Suriya unveils Jiiva-starrer 'Gorilla' teaser". The Times of India. 16 September 2018. Archived from the original on 5 October 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
8. ^ CR, Sharanya (22 June 2018). "Jiiva's 'Gorilla' revolves around a bank robbery with a chimpanzee". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 5 October 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
9. ^ Rajendran, Gopinath (12 February 2018). "If my films didn't go well, I wouldn't be getting work: Jiiva". Cinema Express. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
10. ^ "Jiiva's 'Gorilla' to release on July 12". The Times of India. 6 July 2019. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
11. ^ "Gorilla". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media.
12. ^ Menon, Vishal (12 July 2019). "Gorilla Movie Review: A Painfully Messy Heist Film Which Succeeds In Robbing Our Patience". Film Companion. Archived from the original on 3 July 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
13. ^ K, Janani (12 July 2019). "Gorilla Movie Review: Jiiva's film is an utterly pointless and tedious watch". India Today. Archived from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
14. ^ Suganth, M (12 July 2019). "Gorilla Movie Review". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2024.

## External links

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* Gorilla at IMDb
* Gorilla at Rotten Tomatoes

*[No.]: Number