Even as the mercury soars, there’s another kind of heat that turns on full blast tomorrow. Yes, it’s the season’s most eagerly awaited Tamil film — Ilayathalapathy Vijay’s Kuruvi, which will see a worldwide release.
The trade rates Vijay as the hottest star in Kollywood who, after Rajinikanth, has the Midas touch at the box-office. Vijay, with his typical boy-next-door Dravidian looks, is a big draw with youth audiences in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka. Vijay also has a huge fan following internationally.
The lucky triumvirate of Vijay, Trisha and music director Vidyasagar has once again teamed with director Dharani, of the blockbuster Ghilli fame.
The film rides on other big names too. It happens to be the maiden venture from Red Giant Movies, the production house of Udhayanidhi Stalin, grandson of chief minister M Karunanidhi and son of MK Stalin, the local administration minister. Last week, Vijay sitting in his caravan during the patchwork shoot of Kuruvi told Chennai Times, “The film is a rollicking entertainer with all essential commercial ingredients to make it a joyride. The film has shaped out well. While I was doing it, I had an intuition that it’s going to be a big hit. I really hope for the sake of Udhay, who is a thorough professional and a dream producer, that my intuition turns out right.”
The film, touted as typical mass masala fare, is targeted at Vijay fans who are likely to lap it all up. “The film is fun unlimited.
A rollercoaster replete with pure unbridled fun that will keep you glued to your seats for two hours and 40 minutes,” says a visibly excited Dharani.
When you quiz him about the storyline of the film, he is a little guarded. “It is the story of Vetrivel, affectionately called Kuruvi, who struggles to achieve something in life and how he accomplishes it despite all odds. The movie is liberally sprinkled with fights, sentiments, songs, romance and comedy. Above all, there’s Vijay, the one-man entertainment troupe, who is the main pillar around whom the story
revolves.”
In the male-dominated superstar- driven Kollywood, Vijay is the movie’s soundest bet. His larger-than-life on-screen image will be Kuruvi’s USP. Dharani, who has worked with southern superstars like Vijay, Vikram, Pawan Kalyan and Mammootty points out, “The story is centred on Vijay who is macho, is terrific in fight scenes, dances like a dream, romances the glamorous Trisha, and brings the house down with his comedy scenes with Vivek.”
In Vijay films, music always plays a big part. More than anything, the songs have to have mass appeal. In Kuruvi, a folksy Mozha Mozannu…” ,sung by Kay Kay and Anuradha Sriram, is already climbing up the charts.
Says Dharani, “This song will send fans into a frenzy and I have used a new dance choreographer Prem Rakshit, who has made Vijay do some difficult dance steps, which the latter has pulled off effortlessly. The audio of the film is a big hit and it has sold more CDs than any other film in recent times”.
The usually media-shy Udhyanidhi Stalin says, “I saw the film and it simply rocks. Vijay has done a terrific job and, as the tagline of the film says, it is a non-stop rollercoaster entertainer”.
Other than this, Udhyanidhi would rather the film do all the talking once it’s released. Vijay’s punch line in the film (seen in the trailer) — Pechu thaan silent, aana adikkira ovaru adiyum saravedi, has already become an instant hit with the fans. In the next few days we’ll know how far Vijay takes off with Kuruvi.
