Pokkiri

 

Pokkiri is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Prabhu Deva. A remake of the 2006 Telugu-language film Pokiri, it stars Vijay and Asin with Prakash Raj, Nassar, Mukesh Tiwari, Vadivelu, Sriman and Napoleon playing supporting roles. Mumaith Khan and Prabhu Deva make guest appearances. Nirav Shah handled cinematography while Kola Bhaskar was the film's editor. Filming took place in India and Australia.

Set in Chennai, the film revolves around a thug willing to do anything for the sake of money, including killing. His killer instincts help him win the attention of two rival gangs, out of which he joins one and helps its members finish off their rivals. On the other hand, he also attempts to save his girlfriend, who disapproves of his violent behavior, from a corrupt cop hellbent on marrying her against her will.

The film was released theatrically on 12 January 2007 and received praise for its action sequences, humor and songs. It became a commercial success, running for more than 200 days at the box office. The film also had a Blu-ray release in United Kingdom on 21 June 2009. In 2019, the film also had a limited re-release on the occasion of Vijay's birthday.

 

Plot

The city of Chennai is rife with the nefarious activities of land mafia. There are two rival gangs: one under Ali Bhai, who resides in Dubai and controls his India operations through his brothers Guru and Korattur Logu as well as his girlfriend Mona; and another operated by a local goon named Narasimhan. They threaten builders and landowners into giving them protection money or property through force, extortion, or murder. Mohammed Mohideen Khan IPS takes charge as the new Police Commissioner of Chennai and starts cracking down on crime.

Tamizh, a thug, is abducted by Logu and his henchmen. Tamizh has taken a contract from Narasimhan to beat up Logu, which he does. However, Guru and Mona invite Tamizh to join their gang. Tamizh declines stating that he does not work for any gang, but is ready to do anything for money. Meanwhile, Tamizh falls in love with Shruthi, a aerobic teacher, when he visits his friend Saravanan's aerobics class, but she mistakes him for a pervert. Shruthi lives with her widowed mother Lakshmi and younger brother Pappu. Body Soda, a bogus kung fu master, lives above Shruthi's house and frequently, albeit comically and unsuccessfully, tries to convince her to marry him. Govindan is a corrupt police inspector in the colony where Tamizh and Shruthi live and is on Ali Bhai's payroll. He lusts for Shruthi and decides to make her his mistress, even after she rejects him multiple times.

Tamizh's first assignment with Ali Bhai's gang is to kill a member of Narasimhan's gang. However, police show up at the spot where Tamizh and the other gangsters are waiting. Tamizh engages the cops long enough for the others to finish the task and flee. He also helps Shruthi escape from Govindan. She is impressed by his kindness, and a friendship soon blossoms between the two, leading to the development of unspoken romantic feelings for each other. When Shruthi tries to express her feelings to Tamizh, they are attacked by members of Narasimhan's gang, whom Tamizh finishes off. Shruthi is shocked to learn that Tamizh is a gangster with no qualms about killing people. Later, Govindan arranges for some thugs to pretend to rape Shruthi so that no decent family will want to take her as their daughter-in-law, as a result of which with no other option, Shruthi and Lakshmi will accept his demands. Tamizh learns of this and thrashes Govindan incognito. After much ado and mental anguish, Shruthi accepts Tamizh's love.

Soon, Guru is found dead, presumably killed by Narasimhan in retaliation against the death of his gang members at the hands of Tamizh earlier, which forces Ali Bhai to come to Chennai from Dubai and kill Narasimhan. He also meets Tamizh to discuss the killing of a minister by blowing up a school. Tamizh disagrees with Ali Bhai's method as it would involve killing innocents including women and children. In the middle of their argument, the police raids the club and arrests Ali Bhai. His gang members retaliate by kidnapping Mohammed's daughter, drugging her, and creating a lewd video of her which they threaten to release to the media if Ali Bhai is not released, forcing the embattled commissioner to release Ali Bhai. However, in her drugged state, Mohammed's daughter reveals that her father had placed an undercover officer as a mole in Ali Bhai's gang.

The gang members find out that an IPS police officer by the name of Satyamoorthy, the son of a retired police inspector Shanmugavel, has gone undercover to finish off the underworld mafia gangs and is now a part of their gang. Ali Bhai kills Saravanan, believing he is Satyamoorthy. However, it is revealed that Saravanan was actually Shanmugavel's adopted son. Ali Bhai then kills Shanmugavel to lure the real Satyamoorthy. When Satyamoorthy actually turns up, everyone, especially Shruthi and Govindan, are shocked to see that he is Tamizh. Satyamoorthy had gone undercover by posing himself as a criminal. It is further revealed that Satyamoorthy was the one who killed Guru and not Narasimhan. He killed Guru under the Commissioner's direction.

After Shanmugavel and Saravanan's funerals, Satyamoorthy forces Govindan to call Ali Bhai to find out his location, which is Binny Mills. He goes there and starts to eliminate Ali Bhai's gang members one by one, rescuing the commissioner's daughter in the process. In a final confrontation, Satyamoorthy kills Ali Bhai by slashing his throat with a broken glass window, following which he kills Govindan as well.

 

Cast

·         Vijay as Satyamoorthy IPS, the undercover Assistant Commissioner of Police (Tamizh) . He is Shanmugavel's biological son and an undercover police officer.

·         Asin as Shruthi, Tamizh's love interest

·         Prakash Raj as Ali Bhai, the international mafia don

·         Mukesh Tiwari as Inspector L. Govindan

·         Vadivelu as Body Soda

·         Napoleon as Mohammed Mohideen Khan IPS, Commissioner of Chennai city

·         Nassar as Shanmugavel, Tamizh's biological father and Saravana's adopted father

·         Sriman as Saravana, Shanmugavel's adopted son and Tamizh's friend

·         Anandaraj as Narasimman

·         Vincent Asokan as Guru

·         Subbaraju as Korattur Logu

·         Master Bharath as Pappu

·         Sriranjini as Lakshmi

·         Ajay Rathnam as Assistant commissioner

·         Brinda Parekh as Mona

·         G. V. Sudhakar Naidu as Das

·         Dhamu as Juice Shop Owner

·         Vaiyapuri as Tamizh's friend

·         Karate Raja as Tamizh's friend

·         Rekha as Mrs. Mohammed Maideen Khan

·         Pandu as Elevator Operator

·         King Kong as Lorry Driver

·         Scissor Manohar as Colony Member

·         Besant Ravi as Ali Bhai's henchman

·         Soundhar as Veluchamy

·         Sampath Ram as Narasimman's henchman

·         Japan Kumar as Kannayiram

·         G. K. as Vishwanath

·         Bobby as Thamba

·         Mumaith Khan (special appearance in the song "En Chella Peru Apple")

·         Sridhar (special appearance in the song "En Chella Peru Apple")

·         Ashok Raja (special appearance in the song "Aadungada Yennai Suththi")

·         Prabhu Deva (special appearance in the song "Aadungada Yennai Suththi")