Puli (2015)

Interesting facts

Puli (transl. Tiger) is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language fantasy action adventure film written and directed by Chimbu Deven. It is produced by Shibu Thameens and P. T. Selvakumar under Thameens Films and SKT Studios. The film stars Vijay in a dual role, alongside Sridevi, Prabhu, Sudeep, Shruti Haasan, Hansika Motwani, and Nandita Swetha. It marks Sridevi's return to Tamil cinema and her final Tamil film before her death. The film revolves around the clash between humans and demons (Vedhalams) in a Kingdom ruled by demons, where the protagonist fights for justice, of the ruthless slaughtering of humans by demons, but his ancestry turns out to be a mystery.

Production

Chimbu Deven was reported to be working on a "fantasy film set in contemporary times" in January 2011 for UTV Motion Pictures, and Dhanush was subsequently signed on to play the leading role. The film was titled as Maareesan, with G. V. Prakash Kumar and Kathir signed on as composer and cinematographer respectively. At the same time, the team revealed filming would start in late 2011.

Although early reports suggested that A. R. Rahman would be the film's music composer, the team later confirmed Devi Sri Prasad had been signed. Natty Subramaniam chose to continue his work as a cinematographer with the film, despite his acting success in Sathuranga Vettai (2014), revealing he was excited to work alongside such an ensemble cast. T.

In April 2014, reports suggested Kannada actor Sudeep was approached to play a parallel leading role in the film, while contrasting reports noted he would play the lead antagonist. Sudeep later confirmed his participation in the film, adding it would see him in a "first of its kind" role.

Chimbu Deven revealed that the film would feature two leading female roles to appear alongside Vijay. Initial reports had linked Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone to the roles, but high remuneration subsequently meant neither were signed. Shruti Haasan confirmed that she had signed the film in July 2014, making a comeback to Tamil films after a two-year hiatus following 3 (2012).

The team began filming on 10 November 2014 at the Aditya Ram Studios on the East Coast Road, Chennai, where a song featuring Vijay and Hansika Motwani was shot in a set replicating a castle put up by art director, T. Muthuraj. The team then set up base in Pannaiyapuram for a forty-five-day stint, with hundreds of extras and technicians gathered from neighbouring states.

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