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Thuppakki ( ) is a 2012 Indian Tamil language-language action thriller film written and directed by AR Murugadoss. Produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu, the film stars Vijay and Kajal Aggarwal, with Sathyan, Vidyut Jammwal, Jayaram, Manobala and Zakir Hussain in supporting roles. It revolves around an intelligence officer in the Indian Army, who seeks to track down, destroy and deactivate a Sleeper agent, after witnessing and barely escaping a bombing carried out by the cell.
The project, which marked the beginning of a collaboration between Vijay and Murugadoss, was reported in July 2011, and the film's title was formally announced that December. Principal photography commenced in January 2012 and ended that October. Filming mostly took place in Mumbai, except for two song sequences which were filmed in Bangkok and Switzerland respectively. The film's soundtrack was composed by Harris Jayaraj with cinematography handled primarily by Santosh Sivan and editing by A. Sreekar Prasad.
Thuppakki was released on 13 November 2012, Diwali day, and distributed by Gemini Film Circuit. The film went through numerous controversies, including protests from Minor party who objected to the portrayal of the Islamic community in the film. Nevertheless, it received mostly positive reviews and became a major commercial success. A recipient of various accolades, the film received seven Filmfare Awards South nominations in the Tamil branch, but did not win in any category. In 2014, the film was remade in Bengali language as Game and in Hindi as by the same director.
One day, Jagadish witnesses the explosion of a bus in which he and his police officer-friend Balaji had travelled. He manages to capture the man who laid the bomb, who later escapes from the hospital where he was kept under custody. Jagadish captures the bomber again, and also forces the security chief, who helped the bomber escape, to commit suicide. Jagadish learns that the bomber is a mere executor, a sleeper agent, whose only role was to plant the bomb. He also discovers that the terrorist group that the bomber belongs to, has planned twelve such attacks in the city, in a couple of days. Jagadish enlists the help of his fellow army men and manages to kill the sleeper agents planting the bombs, including the sleeper agent leader's brother, Afsar Ali, and the previously captured sleeper agent.
When the leader of the sleeper cell learns about Jagadish's role in thwarting the attack, he begins to target the families of the army men, except Jagadish, by kidnapping someone close to them. When Jagadish realises the plan, he substitutes one of the people to be kidnapped, with his younger sister Sanjana. Using his pet dog and his sister's dupatta, Jagadish manages to reach the sleeper cell's hideout, rescuing his sister, who was about to be killed after Jagadish's bluff was exposed, and the other victims and eliminates the sleeper agents assembled there. The second-in-command of the sleeper agents is captured and killed by Jagadish. With this attack too having failed, the sleeper cell leader decides to target Jagadish himself. He kills one of Jagadish's friends and asks Jagadish to surrender or else there would be more attacks.
Jagadish decides to sacrifice his life and devises a plan with his fellow army men. He also breaks up with Nisha, wanting to keep her away from the truth. Jagadish meets the leader in a ship, which has been rigged with a bomb planted by another friend of Jagadish. When he learns about the leader's plan of infiltrating the Indian Army with sleeper agents with the help of a traitor in the Indian Defense – Kameeruddin IAS, the current Joint Secretary in Defence, Jagadish decides to abandon his suicidal plan. After an extensive beating, he mocks the leader and compels him to a fight. He gains the upper hand before escaping in a boat, with the leader as a hostage. After the ship explodes, he kills the bewildered leader. Jagadish confronts Kameeruddin and forces him to commit suicide, and later returns to Kashmir along with his fellow army men after reconciling with Nisha.
In March, the unit completed a 10-day shoot in Bangkok for "Google Google", picturised on Vijay and Aggarwal. In Mumbai, while Vijay was filming a sequence which involved him jumping from a height, he slipped and injured his knee; he was not wearing a knee-pad at the time. Shooting was stalled following the incident and Vijay left to London to undergo treatment. One of the film's songs was shot atop of a train, along with 300 dancers constructed by art director Sunil Babu. The dance sequence, choreographed by Shobi, was shot in the Mumbai–Pune Expressway. Another song, "Vennilave" was shot in Switzerland; since Sivan was unable to give dates, Natty Subramaniam shot it instead. The song "Antarctica" was shot at DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai, with which principal photography wrapped. The budget of the film was estimated to be .
A major thematic element is the clash between duty to the nation and personal life. As noted by film critic Baradwaj Rangan, the protagonist's internal conflict between his career and his relationship provides a layer of human depth to an otherwise high-octane narrative.
Murugadoss has acknowledged that the film was partially inspired by the idea of covert war and counter-terrorism strategies, especially in urban Indian contexts. The concept of sleeper cells, rarely touched upon in mainstream Tamil cinema until then, was central to the plot and led to a surge in similar themes in later Tamil action thrillers.
The film also draws influence from Western spy thrillers and action films, using a sleek visual style and narrative pacing akin to Hollywood productions. Film Companion observed that Thuppakki combines "the intelligence of a chess match with the energy of a blockbuster," blending local sensibilities with global action tropes.
Post release, Minor party protested against the film and its makers, claiming that it portrayed Muslims as terrorists and traitors. Some of the activists gathered near Vijay's residence at Neelankarai on 14 November 2012, a day after its release, and raised slogans against him and the film in Arabic and Urdu. Later, Murugadoss, Thanu and S. A. Chandrasekhar later apologised openly to representatives of 23 different Muslim outfits, and agreed to delete the scenes to which objections were raised.
Another poster, released later in the year, depicted a police-uniform clad Vijay carrying Aggarwal on his hands, was believed to have been lifted from a poster of An Officer and a Gentleman (1982). Murugadoss claimed that Thuppakki did not have an army backdrop like An Officer and a Gentleman, but was set in Mumbai instead, going on to assert that everything in his film was original. He, however, admitted to having used the poster of An Officer and a Gentleman, and told The Hindu, "Sometimes, you admire something so much that sub-consciously it becomes a part of your work".
The makers initially announced that the film's first trailer would be released on 22 June 2012, during Vijay's birthday. However, the teaser release was postponed to 1 July, to avoid clashing with the theatrical release of Saguni. It was further delayed after a lawsuit was filed against the makers, by filmmaker Ravi Devan, who claimed that the title bore a similarity to his film Kalla Thuppakki. This suit caused the film's promotional activities to be suspended. After Ravi Devan withdrew his case in early October, the first trailer was released in the same month on 10 October, and the second trailer on 26 October.
Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu commented: "One of the first promos of the film, with snapshots of Mumbai, lurking terror, the antagonist threatening Vijay to which he responds 'I am waiting' went viral on social networks. The wait, clearly, has been worth it for the audience. And the man who's probably having the last laugh is Murugadoss". For the same newspaper, Karthik Subramaniam wrote, "One can only wonder just how much better Thuppakki would have been if it had done away with the song-and-dance-and-romance and such trappings." Haricharan Pudipeddi of The New Indian Express said, "Most of the characters are made to look dumb as Vijay steals all the attention. Kajal's role as a boxer, which she squanders with her clichéd performance, is definitely a turn off in the film. Jayaram and Sathyan, who're supposed to make us laugh, fail miserably in the process" and concluded, "In essence, " Thuppakki" has the energy of Vijay and intellect of A.R. Murugadoss".
J Hurtado of Screen Anarchy called the cinematography "astonishingly good" and added that, "Murugadoss and Vijay have never worked on a better-looking movie", but called the film "an enjoyable, though largely forgettable film". N. Venkateshwaran of The Times of India said, " Thuppakki will definitely be picked up by a big Bollywood star for a remake. For, the gun was bang on target". In contrast, Vivek Ramz from in.com rated it 3 out of 5 and said that it "doesn't meet the huge expectations it had created for itself", calling it "another regular commercial film which entertains in bits and pieces". Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff.com rated the film 2.5 out of 5, saying "Vijay fans will find plenty to rejoice in this subdued avatar of their star, but audiences who seek intelligence in their movies will find it rather dull". S. Viswanath of Deccan Herald wrote, "While Vijay gives it all to live up to his fans' expectations, Kajal Aggarwal is just a pretty prop to pep up the proceedings. Despite boasting of ace cinematographer Santosh Sivan and Harris Jeyaraj as the music composer, this Thuppakki is not the Deepavali dhamaka it had promised with its promos". Ananda Vikatan rated the film 44 out of 100. In 2021, Nithisha Nanda Kumar of The Michigan Daily stated that "While it may have portrayed the story of an Indian officer well to some extent, Jagadish and Nisha's relationship felt extremely forced into the plot".
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