Kuruvi

2008 film directed by Dharani

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Kuruvi

Theatrical poster

Directed by| Dharani
Screenplay by| Dharani
Dialogues by|

* B. Babusivan

Story by| Dharani
Produced by| Udhayanidhi Stalin
Starring| Vijay
Trisha
Suman
Cinematography| S. Gopinath
Edited by| V. T. Vijayan
Music by| Vidyasagar

Production
company

Red Giant Movies

Distributed by| Red Giant Movies

Release date

* 3 May 2008 (2008-05-03)

Running time

| 170 minutes
Country| India
Language| Tamil
Budget| ₹18 crore[1]
Box office| est.₹40 crore[a]

Kuruvi (transl. Sparrow)[b] is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Dharani. It is produced by Udhayanidhi Stalin under Red Giant Movies. The film stars Vijay in the main lead role alongside Trisha, Suman, Vivek, Ashish Vidyarthi and Manivannan. It also marked Nivetha Thomas's Tamil debut as a child artist.

Kuruvi was released on 3 May 2008 and became profitable after it completed a 150-day theatrical run.[5] It was one of the highest grossing Tamil films of 2008 in the United Kingdom alone, collecting £263,919 or ₹3 crore.[6] The film collected $1,018,120 or ₹9 crore at the overseas box office.[3][7] In 2021, The film was re-released in Kerala.[8]

The American media called Vijay's titular Kuruvi an Indian Birdman.[9]

## Plot

[edit]

Vetrivel Singamuthu, a Car Racer lives with his large family in Chennai. Velu's father Singamuthu had gone to Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh to work at a colliery and he never returned to Chennai, prompting Velu and his family to think that Singamuthu is dead. Velu learns that a Malaysia-based crime boss named Koccha owes his father a huge sum of money. Velu and his friend Aaps travel to Malaysia as Kuruvi, the trade jargon for low-level contraband carriers. Velu and Aaps come to Malaysia at a time when internal rivalry and problems are surfacing in Koccha's family.

Koccha's younger sister Radhadevi A.K.A Devi has refused to marry Soori, the brother of Konda Reddy, Koccha's Kadapa-based business associate. Irritated and preoccupied, Koccha doesn't devote any time or attention to resolve Velu's problem. Velu is ill-treated and thrown out of Koccha's place without any help. Determined to return to India only after his father's issue is solved to his satisfaction, Velu conceals himself in Koccha's residence and steals a large diamond owned by Koccha, feeling that it would pay off his father's debt, and returns to India with Aaps. Devi also follows Velu to India, having fallen in love with him, when Velu saves her from falling from a tall building during New Year's Eve.

Knowing that Velu has stolen his diamond, Koccha and his gang visit Velu's house and threaten his family with dire consequences unless Velu returns the diamond. After confronting Koccha, Velu learns that his father is alive and is being held as bonded labour along with many innocent people at Kadapa. Singamuthu had discovered diamonds at the colliery but refused to allow Koccha and Konda Reddy to illegally mine the diamonds for their own benefit. He had been held prisoner in Kadapa ever since. Velu immediately leaves for Kadapa, where he encounters Koccha again. He throws him onto a moving train thereby paralyzing him.

Velu soon discovers a slave camp run by Koccha and Konda Reddy at the colliery, where a womanising goon named Kadapa Raja is torturing the inmates. With the help of his uncle Elango (Ilavarasu), Velu sneaks into Koccha's mansion on the eve of Devi's wedding with Soori to find out his father's whereabouts. With the help of Devi who reveals that Koccha's own fingerprint is his laptop's password, he unlocks Koccha's laptop. On unlocking & seeing Koccha's laptop, Velu and Devi learn that Koccha and his associates have been cheating the government by illegally mining diamonds against the law and also have secret government documents in their possession.

Velu also paralyzes Soori by getting him stung by bees on the wedding day thereby stopping the wedding. He single-handedly takes on Konda Reddy, Kadapa Raja and their henchmen, killing them all. He drags Konda Reddy's dead body to Koccha's mansion. Koccha, who now uses a wheelchair, recovers on seeing the dead body of his associate and attempts to shoot Velu. He is arrested at that moment by a STF officer Raj, who reveals that Velu had forwarded all the information to them from Koccha's laptop. Singamuthu and the others are reunited with their families, and Velu reunites with Devi.

## Cast

[edit]

* Vijay as Vetrivel Singamuthu
* Trisha Krishnan as Radhadevi (voice dubbed by Savitha Radhakrishnan)
* Suman as Kocha, Devi's brother and Kadappa Diamond quarry's illegal business owner, the main antagonist
* Vivek as Aaps, Velu's friend
* Ashish Vidyarthi as Konda Reddy, Kocha's Diamond quarry illegal business partner and the secondary antagonist
* Manivannan as Singamuthu, Velu's father and Kocha's Diamond quarry worker
* T. K. Kala as Parvathi, Velu's mother
* Saranya Ponvannan as Kocha's wife, Devi's sister-in-law
* Nivetha Thomas as Velu's sister[10]
* Ilavarasu as Elango, Velu's uncle and Diamond quarry worker
* Sujatha Sivakumar as Singamuthu's 2nd Wife, Velu's Aunt
* S. N. Lakshmi as Singamuthu's Mother, Velu's Grandmother
* Chitti Babu as Kocha's P.A.
* Aarthi as Constable
* Pawan as Soori, Konda Reddy's brother
* G. V. Sudhakar Naidu as Kadappa Raja, Kocha's diamond quarry workers' head
* Narsing Yadav as Moneylender
* G. M. Kumar as Abdul Razak (Bhai)
* Lollu Sabha Jeeva as Bujjibabu
* Kalpana Shree as Vetrivel's sister
* Birla Bose as Hotel Manager
* Cell Murugan as Malaysian Tamil
* Sravan as Sravan, Rival Racer
* Kottachi as Kottangachi
* Chaplin Balu as Slave
* Maran
* Irfan Zaini as Devi's brother (uncredited)[11]
* Vimal as Slave (uncredited)
* Vidharth as Slave (uncredited)
* Nassar in a cameo appearance as Raj, DGP of Encounter squad targeting business mafia
* Poetic Ammo (Yogi B, Dr. Burn and Emcee Jesz) in a cameo appearance in the song "Happy New Year"
* Malavika in a cameo appearance in the song "Dandaana Darna"
* Japan Kumar in a cameo appearance in the song "Dandaana Darna"

## Production

[edit]

It was announced in June 2007 that Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of M. K. Stalin and grandson of the then-Tamil Nadu Chief minister M. Karunanidhi, would produce films under his production banner Red Giant Movies.[12] Nayanthara was first approached to be heroine of the film, but Trisha was later selected.[13] The film was predominantly shot in Chennai and Malaysia, while a song was shot in New Zealand.[14]

## Soundtrack

[edit]

The soundtrack is composed by Vidyasagar.[15] The film's audio launch was held at the Little Flower Convent on 16 April 2008 in Chennai.[16] Rediff.com wrote: "Vidyasagar's music has only sheen, no soul".[17] Karthik of Milliblog wrote, "Kuruvi is no Gilli, but does have its own quirky charm".[18]

The song "Mozha Mozhannu" generated controversy because the name of freedom fighter Thillaiaadi Valliammai was mentioned in the song.[19][20]

Song | Singers | Lyricist | Length

|
|
|

"Happy New Year" | Yogi B, Dr. Burn, Emcee Jesz, Sunidhi Chauhan | Na. Muthukumar | 04:05
"Dandaana Darna" | Sangeeth Haldhipur | Kabilan | 03:40
"Thaen Thaen Thaen" | Udit Narayan, Shreya Ghoshal | Yugabharathi | 03:38
"Palaanadhu Palaanadhu" | Vidyasagar, S. Rajalakshmi | Pa. Vijay | 04:05
"Kuruvi Kuruvi" | Benny Dayal, Praveen Mani, Dr. Burn, Vetri Boys, SuVi | Na. Muthukumar | 02:00
"Mozha Mozhannu" | Kay Kay, Anuradha Sriram | Pa. Vijay | 03:55

## Critical reception

[edit]

Kuruvi received mixed reviews from critics.[21]

Rediff wrote "Kuruvi's got everything to appeal to Vijay fans – but Dharani the director is lost in this melee of fist-fights and elementary comedy".[22] Sify wrote, "To give Dharani his due, Kuruvi is watchable in parts, for die-hard fans of Vijay. For ordinary viewers, the film lacks a basic story and stretches ones patience for nearly three hours".[23] Ananda Vikatan rated the film 39 out of 100.[24] The Hindu wrote that the film "tries its best to fly high, only that the effort isn’t enough because earlier his eagle (Ghilli) had soared much higher. Of course, Dharani keeps up the momentum and things move fast to the midway point".[25]

## See also

[edit]

* List of films featuring slavery

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ The gross collection was ₹31 crore domestically[2] whereas its overseas collection was ₹9 crore taking its worldwide total to ₹40 crore.[3]
2. ^ In Tamil, "Kuruvi" correctly means "sparrow", but it is also trade jargon for low-level contraband carriers.[4]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Udhayanidhi Stalin : Kuruvi is a Profitable Venture For Me made on a budget of 18 crore says the producer. Cinema Pesalam. 6 March 2024. Archived from the original on 5 June 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024 - via YouTube.
2. ^ "Vijay Kuruvi collected 31 crore at the domestic box office". YouTube. 6 March 2024. Archived from the original on 23 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
3. ^ a b "Kuruvi". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
4. ^ Srinivasan, Sudhir (18 January 2015). "Going wild over titles". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 2 July 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
5. ^ Mitr (6 October 2008). "Kuruvi - 150 Days At The Box Office!". extraMirchi.com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2025. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
6. ^ "Kuruvi". Box Office Mojo. 19 May 2021. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
7. ^ "Kuruvi- 150 days". Sify. Archived from the original on 27 August 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
8. ^ KERALA VIJAY FANS CLUB [@KVFC_Official] (31 October 2021). "Kuruvi and Vettaikaran Movie Re-released today in Kollam as a part of kerala theatre reopenings 🔥💥 More celebrations videos soon 💥" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 January 2024 - via Twitter.
9. ^ "Vijay as Birdman in Kuruvi". Cartoonvibe. 22 June 2023. Archived from the original on 15 May 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
10. ^ "Nivetha Thomas made her Tamil debut in "Kuruvi'". The Times of India. 25 January 2018. Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
11. ^ "'Acting Alongside Thalapathy Vijay Inspired Me to Become an Actor': Irfan Zaini Recalls". Astro Ulagam. 23 June 2021. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
12. ^ "Gilli's magic triumvirate returns!". Rediff.com. 18 April 2008. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
13. ^ "Did you know Nayanthara and Trisha Krishnan had a fallout due to personal misunderstandings?". The Times of India. 22 June 2024. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
14. ^ "Kuruvi". Sify. Archived from the original on 14 November 2021. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
15. ^ "Kuruvi". JioSaavn. 16 April 2008. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
16. ^ "Simple Audio Launch for Kuruvi". Chennai365. 17 April 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
17. ^ Srinivas, Saraswathy (22 April 2008). "Kuruvi's music is a letdown". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
18. ^ Karthik (16 April 2008). "Kuruvi (Tamil, Vidyasagar)". Milliblog. Archived from the original on 10 August 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
19. ^ "Kuruvi sings troubled tune!!". Chennai365. 23 April 2008. Archived from the original on 22 November 2024. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
20. ^ "Controversy over 'Kurivi' kuthupattu". Cinesouth. 22 April 2008. Archived from the original on 24 April 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
21. ^ Prasad, Ayyappa (26 September 2022). "Cinema-Snippets: Vijay starrer Varisu begins final leg of shoot in Hyderabad". The South First. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
22. ^ Srinivasan, Pavithra (3 May 2008). "Vijay fans will love Kuruvi". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
23. ^ "Kuruvi". Sify. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
24. ^ 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.
25. ^ "What happened Dharani? – Kuruvi". The Hindu. 9 May 2008. Archived from the original on 14 May 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2014.

## External links

[edit]

* Kuruvi at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Dharani

* Ethirum Puthirum (1999)
* Dhill (2001)
* Dhool (2003)
* Ghilli (2004)
* Bangaram (2006)
* Kuruvi (2008)
* Osthe (2011)

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*[transl.]: translation
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