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Thangalaan () is a 2024 Indian Tamil language-language action adventure film directed by Pa. Ranjith, who co-wrote the script with Tamizh Prabha and Azhagiya Periyavan. It is produced by K. E. Gnanavel Raja under Studio Green. The film stars Vikram in five roles, along with Pasupathy, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Malavika Mohanan and Daniel Caltagirone. During the British Raj era, a fierce tribal leader sets out to stop an apparent sorceress, after earning her wrath when assisting a British general in tracing gold in their village.
The film was officially announced in December 2021 under the tentative title Chiyaan 61, as it is Vikram's 61st film as a lead actor, and the official title was announced in October 2022. Principal photography commenced the same month. It was shot sporadically in several legs, and wrapped by early-July 2023. Filming locations included Chennai, Andhra Pradesh, Madurai and Karnataka. The film has music composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar, cinematography handled by A. Kishor Kumar, and editing by Selva RK.
Thangalaan was released worldwide on 15 August 2024 in standard, 3D and EPIQ formats, coinciding with India's Independence Day. The film received mixed from critics who praised Vikram's performance, GV Prakash Kumar's music, the storyline and action but criticized the historical inaccuracies, visual effects, pacing and writing. The film underperformed at the box-office.
Thangalaan's great-grandfather, Kaadaiyan, belonged to a tribe skilled in extracting gold from the Ponnar river sand. When a king, passing through the area, discovered the mountain's gold veins, he sought Kaadaiyan's expertise to retrieve the gold. However, Aarathi had set up obstacles, including snakes, to safeguard the territory. Kaadaiyan initially refused to help the king but was promised the land his forefathers had lost to the king's ancestors, which had been Brahmadeya. Kaadaiyan eventually agreed, but the king found the retrieved gold rocks fake, attributing it to Aarathi's sorcery. The enraged king beheaded a The Buddha statue after being urged by a Brahmin priest, who cited Buddha as a sorcerer. A fierce battle ensued between Aarathi and Kaadaiyan's men, resulting in Kaadaiyan slitting Aarathi's abdomen, unleashing a torrent of blood that flowed over the land, transforming the sand into gold.
Gengamma interrupts Thangalaan's storytelling as their children have already fallen asleep. In an attempt to seize Thangalaan's land, the zamindar's men set fire to the farm produce, rendering Thangalaan unable to pay the taxes. Consequently, his land is transferred to the zamindar, and Thangalaan and his family are forced into debt bondage. Meanwhile, British Raj Lord Clement arrives in Veppur, seeking gold, and is aware of the villagers' ancestral expertise in tracing it. The villagers fear Aarathi, but Thangalaan, his son, Asokan, fellow villagers Varadhan, Gengupattar, and others embark on a journey northwest. Thangalaan begins Hallucination Aarathi's presence, warning him away from the forest, but he presses on, overcoming challenges like a river, a black panther, a sandstorm, and snakes.
Upon reaching a trench created by a lightning strike, Asokan discovers the beheaded Buddha statue, and Aarathi frightens him from underwater. Undeterred, they find the remaining remnants of the statue with gold traces at the bottom. However, during the gold extraction, lightning strikes Clement's son. Clement vows to find the gold ore at any cost, thanking Thangalaan for leading them to the site and gifting him his son's clothes. Clement also provides daily wages, while Thangalaan returns to the village, boasting of better pay and respect. He gifts the village women Blouse, tempting them to join the gold mining effort. The entire village, including the women, set off to the barren forest, only to meet their fellow villagers lamenting for being exploited by British and Indian middlemen, who had deprived them of necessities, as they had only found a few iron and silver ores. Thangalaan remains resolute in his gold pursuit at the same site despite Asokan getting possessed with Aarathi and warning the group to abandon the mining work and return to their village. Thangalaan, however, recalls his dream and finds a small rock matching the one in his dream, insisting on digging the lode nearby.
But, snakes attack him, one of which fatally bites his younger daughter. Aarathi's intervention prevents Thangalaan from saving her. Despite the lack of food, wages, and amenities, Clement, with Thangalaan's help, continues the work, and they discover a deep, abandoned mine. As they enter it, Thangalaan recognizes a place similar to his dream and finds streaks of gold. In the chaos that follows, the British claim the gold as their own, leading to a fight in which Arasani is shot. However, the gold stones were just clay, courtesy of Aarathi's sorcery. Their settlements are destroyed in a fire, but they are given hope to continue mining. The starving population spots a True buffalo, which Thangalaan reminisces of Aarathi and kills the buffalo, after which they all consume. Later, he motivates the group to dig deeper, where Aarathi, in her present birth, appears with her men, attacking them ruthlessly. Aarathi subdues Thangalaan, using her sorcery to reveal his past lives. Thangalaan recalls being Arasan "Aaran", a tribal king, and his wife, Aarathi, in the 5th century, protecting the land's resources, mainly gold. Aarathi safeguarded the land while Aaran set off to fight trespassers but was defeated and, in his subsequent births as Adhi Muni, Kaadaiyan, and Naga Muni, he became a slave to dominant communities, facing discrimination and ostracism.
Their oppressors forced him and his men to labour and extract gold. Thangalaan pleads with Aarathi, acknowledging their duty to protect the land and prioritising the community's welfare, which was neglected. The dying Aarathi grants permission for Thangalaan to fetch the gold, but only for his community's benefit. Enraged by Clement's attack on Aarathi, which fatally slit her abdomen, Thangalaan kills him and the other officers, declaring that the land and its resources are hereby their own, not to be exploited by foreigners. With newfound determination, Thangalaan single-handedly ventures deep into the mine and finally discovers an abundance of native gold, bringing joy to his community. At the end of the film, when another group of British and Indian troops arrived, Thangalaan and the villagers were defending the place.
G. V. Prakash Kumar was assigned as the film's music composer, dismissing initial reports stated that Anirudh Ravichander would score music for the film. A. Kishor Kumar handled the cinematography, after previously working with Ranjith on Natchathiram Nagargiradhu (2022) and planned to shoot the film in 3D formats, instead of traditional 2D to 3D conversion. Editor Selva R. K., production designer S. S. Moorthy, stunt choreographer Sunner Sam and costume designers Aegan Ekambaram and Anitha Sundaresan were recruited as a part of the technical crew. Sivakumar and Sanjay Rupesh were appointed as the production controller and executive producer, respectively.
In October 2022, Pasupathy was cast in a supporting role collaborating with Vikram after Dhool (2003), Arul (2004), Majaa (2005) and 10 Endrathukulla (2015) and Ranjith after Sarpatta Parambarai (2021). English actor Daniel Caltagirone was cast as Clement, ex-army officer who visits the gold fields to discover gold. Caltagirone further attributed that his character would be different from other white characters which were portrayed in a stereotypical manner. He added "I spoke to Ranjith, and he explained how these stories are India-centric and the idea was to bring in an English actor to portray a British colonialist. There might have been some great performances by British actors in earlier such films, but what Ranjith has done with my role is something quite different."
Filming for the second schedule commenced at a film city in Chennai on 5 January 2023, where all the principal character's portions were filmed in this schedule, with the exception of Malavika's, who joined the shoot in February. The month-long schedule ended in mid-February, and subsequently filming for the third schedule began at the Kolar Gold Fields that continued for six weeks. Caltagirone started shooting for his portions the same month, with other principal characters. By March 2023, only fifteen days of the shoot were left for the film, with ten days in Chennai and five days in Madurai. The third schedule was completed on 7 April, with the team taking a month-long break as Vikram was attending the promotions of (2023).
The final schedule began on 2 May 2023. During the schedule, Vikram suffered a rib injury while rehearsing for the role, that resulted in the shooting being temporarily halted. He was advised to take a month-long rest for recovery, ultimately delaying the production. Filming resumed on 12 June, with Vikram, Malavika, Parvathy and other supporting cast members participating. Filming wrapped on 5 July, with the completion of the schedule. Reshoots for the film conducted on late December, after Ranjith felt unsatisfied with few portions. Ranjith, in a media interaction, claimed that most of the supporting cast had returned to other projects, except Vikram, who had cooperated for the reshoot. The film was shot within 120 working days.
Pre-release events were conducted in Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore from 4–6 August. Promotional events for the film was initially intended to commence in Kochi on 1 August, but was cancelled out of respect for the victims of the 2024 Wayanad landslides. Kerala distributor Gokulam Gopalan further added that the expenses for the promotional programs will be given to the Kerala Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF).
It was featured in the Limelight section of the 54th International Film Festival Rotterdam to be screened in February 2025.
M Suganth of The Times of India gave 4/5 stars and wrote "The film is a true-blue big-screen experience that immerses us into its world and keeps us glued with arresting visuals and intense drama." Rohit Panikker of Times Now gave 4/5 and wrote " Thangalaan is a well-thought-of and well-produced experience in both visual and cerebral storytelling. What this film has managed to do is prove that magical realism and period dramas can work as well as any mass masala flick as long as the story is delivered with conviction. All in all, a definite theatre watch to feel the full effect of what the film's team has put together." Avinash Ravichandran of The Indian Express gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Some of his Ranjith audacious attempts at storytelling in Thangalaan get overburdened by the novelty factor. He isn't always ably supported by the technicalities of the film that keep us at an arm's length at times."
Gopinath Rajendran of The Hindu wrote "The impressive performances and memorable sequences stand apart like gold nuggets in a muddled sieve in Vikram and Pa Ranjith's intriguing yet incoherent Thangalaan." Sudhir Srinivasan of The New Indian Express gave 3/5 stars and wrote that although "not sparkly", Thangalaan was gold for its experimental story, clever craft and striking climax. Janani K of India Today gave 2/5 stars and wrote "However, Thangalaan seems to be the weakest work in director Pa Ranjith's filmography. The film's screenplay is too abstract, which might not be everyone's cup of tea." Latha Srinivasan of Hindustan Times wrote "Vikram has outdone himself in this film as Thangalaan and shows us how talented and committed he is, yet again. Whether it the emotional scenes or the action ones, Vikram makes you feel every emotion he goes through."
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