The project between Suriya and Siva was originally announced in April 2019 but was shelved due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India and the actor and director's other commitments. It was relaunched in August 2022 as Suriya 42,[b] with principal photography commencing that month and lasted for seventeen months wrapping up in January 2024. The film was shot in Chennai, Goa, Kerala, Kodaikanal and Rajahmundry. The technical crew includes Devi Sri Prasad, Vetri Palanisamy and Nishadh Yusuf, as music composer, cinematographer and editor, respectively. Made on a budget of around ₹300–350 crore, Kanguva is one of the most expensive Indian films ever made.
Kanguva is scheduled to theatrically release on 14 November 2024 in standard and 3D formats.[10][11]
Two months after the release of Siva's Viswasam (2019), reports claimed that Suriya would collaborate with the former for a film to be produced by K. E. Gnanavel Raja of Studio Green.[14][15] The project was in talks for quite a few months and Siva had committed to do a film with Studio Green for more than a year.[16] On 22 April 2019, the film was announced under the tentative titleSuriya 39, being the 39th film of Suriya in a leading role. The project was confirmed to be bankrolled by K. E. Gnanavel Raja under the banner of Studio Green and was supposed to go on floors after Suriya had completed filming for Soorarai Pottru (2020).[17] During May, Nayanthara was in talks to be paired opposite Suriya. According to sources, the film would be a family drama set in a village, similar to Viswasam.[18][19] However, before filming could begin, Siva had gotten a chance to direct Rajinikanth's 168th film, later titled Annaatthe (2021). Rajinikanth asked Suriya if he could postpone his film with Siva to which the latter agreed.[20] The filming date was later pushed to November 2021 as Siva was busy with promotions of Annaatthe.[21] Then onwards, there was no development and Suriya 39 would later become Jai Bhim (2021).[22][23]
Pre-production
Siva had already begun the pre-production works of the film in January 2021 when filming of Annaatthe was suspended by the COVID-19 pandemic.[24][25] During that September, sets were erected in EVP Film City in Chennai.[21] In January 2022, Suriya affirmed that his film with Siva was still underway.[26][27] That March, either Anirudh Ravichander or Ravi Basrur was reported to be replacing D. Imman, who was initially announced as the music composer.[28] However, the makers chose Devi Sri Prasad.[29]
The film was launched on 21 August in Agaram Foundation, Chennai with a customary pooja ceremony and was tentatively titled Suriya 42, as it became Suriya's 42nd film in a leading role.[30] On 24 August, Studio Green and UV Creations announced that they would jointly produce the film.[31]Vetri and Richard Kevin were recruited to handle the cinematography and editing, respectively. Supreme Sundar was reported to have been chosen as the stunt choreographer.[30] The film's motion poster was released on 9 September and revealed that it was a period action film, which would be released in 3D. Nishadh Yusuf, of Thallumaala (2022) fame, replaced Kevin as the editor.[32]
On 16 April 2023, the title was announced as Kanguva through a title announcement teaser.[6] In an interview with Kumudam in late April, G. Dhananjayan, who is in constant communication with the film's producers, said that the film could have a sequel. He said that the film's story is quite extensive, and the producers were unwilling to shorten it. Both Siva and Gnanavel Raja have been planning to create a sequel and Suriya has already agreed to it. He further added that the decision to make a sequel will be made after filming ends.[33][34]
Casting
Suriya will be seen in 13 different looks in the film. Earlier in Ayan (2009), he was seen in ten different looks and that record will be broken through this film.[35] The makeup artist Ranjith Ambady and his team took references from Apocalypto (2006) for designing one of Suriya's looks for the periodic portions.[36] For his role, Suriya further shed 5 kilograms for his role in the film.[37]
In August 2022, Disha Patani was reportedly paired opposite Suriya, marking her Tamil debut.[29] Patani's inclusion was confirmed on 9 September.[38]Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley, Kovai Sarala and Anandaraj were reportedly cast in late-August to play supporting roles.[39] That September, Ravi Raghavendra revealed his participation in the film,[40] while K. S. Ravikumar was reported being part of the cast in October, after he had shot for his portions in the second schedule of the film.[41][42] Kannada actor B. S. Avinash was cast in late April 2023.[43] It was only by late June that he announced his participation.[43][44]
Towards the end of July 2023, Bobby Deol was brought on board as the main antagonist, making his Tamil debut.[45] Deol signed the film long before the release of Animal,[46] and described his role to be "out of his comfort zone" as he had to be fluent in Tamil and learning it within two months was difficult which made the role even more challenging.[47] During the same period, Natarajan Subramaniam was signed on to play one of the antagonist roles.[48] Deol in an interview to Bollywood Hungama admitted that his role required significant physical preparation, where he had to wear a hairpiece, apply scars and use custom-made contact lenses.[46]
In late-July 2024, it was speculated that Karthi would make a cameo appearance in the film.[49] At the end of the film's trailer, a blurred visual shows a tribal man seated on a horse approaching Suriya, where fans claim it to be Karthi.[50][51]
Filming
Filming was intended to begin in November 2021 after Siva's commitments in Annaatthe. Later, it was pushed to July 2022 after Suriya had completed the shooting schedule of Bala's Vanangaan in June and test shoot of Vetrimaaran's Vaadivaasal in July.[52] But that too didn't happen. The film's principal photography ultimately began with the first schedule on 24 August 2022 in Chennai with a customary pooja ceremony.[53][54] The first schedule was concluded in five days there.[55]
The second schedule commenced in Goa on 20 September.[40] Patani joined the sets the very next day.[56] A massive set was erected in the outskirts where most portions had been shot. A stunt sequence involving more than 250 extras was also shot there.[57] During this schedule, pictures and footage from the sets were leaked and went viral, causing the studio, Studio Green, to warn of legal action against the ones responsible.[58][59] The second schedule was completed on 11 October and the team took a break for a couple of weeks on the account of Diwali.[60][61] The next and third schedule was reported to commence again in Chennai and also in Pondicherry post-Diwali,[62] while the subsequent schedule was set to be held in Sri Lanka for 60 days.[63] Since the film is reportedly set in two timelines and has a 1000-year old backstory, most parts filmed during the second schedule in Goa makes up the present day portions while the ones in the Sri Lanka schedule would make up the period ones. However, the film was eventually not shot in Sri Lanka.[64][65]
For the next schedule, Suriya trained hard to sport a six pack look.[66][67] The third schedule began on 16 December in Ennore, Chennai as reported,[68] with Patani and Yogi Babu being included in this schedule.[69][70] Few days later, the team started shooting action sequences at a grand set erected at Ennore Port, which were choregraphed by Supreme Sundar, who was hired during this schedule.[71][72] It was a short schedule which was completed by late-December.[35] By January 2023, 60% of shooting was completed. Filming resumed on 4 January 2023 at EVP Film City in Chennai.[73][74] It was completed by January end.[75] In early February, the makers erected a set resembling an aeroplane for shooting action sequences.[76] Few days before that, an action sequence with around 50 extras clashing with Suriya was filmed in a gym.[76]
On 10 February, the concurrent schedule commenced yet again in Chennai. The team had started shooting action sequences from that day onwards.[77] Cinematographer Vetri brought Alexa Super 35 and Alexa LF camera versions for a better output of the action sequences. Kanguva is the second Tamil film to use the Alexa Super 35 camera after Leo (2023).[78] In early March, Suriya was spotted hitting a gym, preparing for a massive action scene along with 200 bodybuilders.[79] Few days later, Siva took a short break from filming after his brother Bala had been hospitalised due to liver disease.[80][81] After the completion of this schedule, Siva and Suriya started filming the title teaser.[82] It was completed on 12 March.[83] After a 10-day break,[84] shooting took place for one day in Kerala on 19 April.[85] The next day, a new phase started in Kodaikanal at the forest areas.[86] It was supposed to go on for about 20 days, but the team finished the schedule on 7 May.[87]
The subsequent schedule started on 20 June 2023, at a grand set mounted in EVP Film City which was constructed that month start, in Chennai.[88] A song, set in the period, featuring more than 1500 background artists and choreographed by Prem Rakshith was shot at the set, and the schedule was completed before the end of the month.[88][89] The crew moved to Kodaikanal again for the next phase of filming and wrapped it up by the beginning of the coming month.[90] Following their time in Kodaikanal, the production team returned to EVP Film City to commence the successive phase of filming, on 5 August.[91] On 16 August 2023, production shifted to Rajahmundry where filming held for two weeks.[92] On 5 October 2023, following a brief break, the team moved to Bangkok for the penultimate schedule which was completed within three weeks.[93][94] In late-November 2023, Suriya sustained a minor injury during a fight sequence when a rope camera fell on his shoulder.[95] Shortly thereafter, he took off from filming for two weeks to recover, thereby halting the production temporarily,[96][97] before returning to the sets by mid-December.[98] Principal photography wrapped in January 2024.[99][100]
Post-production
Post-production started in late June 2023 in Mumbai with work on the visual effects being commenced and Harihara Suthan serves as the visual effects supervisor.[101] It will go on for several months as the film involves extensive visual effects and computer-generated imagery, which had been progressing simultaneously.[84] Several international companies came on-board to enhance the visual effects process.[102] On 14 February 2024, Suriya watched the final edit of the film with Siva and the rest of the technical crew members and appreciated the crew for their work.[103][104] It was also revealed that the post-production has been progressed into the next stage, with digital intermediate, colour grading, previsualisation happening parallelly.[105]
On 21 February, Suriya began dubbing for his portions at Gnanavel Raja's then newly constructed post-production studio Aadnah Arts in Mumbai.[106][107] It was completed on 18 September 2024.[108] Gnanavel Raja affirmed that Suriya's voice would be enhanced via artificial intelligence for dubbing in multiple languages.[109][110] On 1 October, the film was converted into 3D formats by the stereoscopic conversion studio Rays 3D.[111]
Music
The soundtrack and film score is composed by Devi Sri Prasad, in his fifth collaboration with Suriya after Maayavi (2005), Aaru (2005), Singam (2010) and Singam II (2013) and second with Siva after Veeram (2014).[112] The film's music rights were purchased by Saregama.[113] The first single "Fire Song" was released on 23 July 2024, coinciding with Suriya's 49th birthday.[114] The second single "Yolo" was released on 21 October 2024.[115][116] The audio launch was planned to be held on 26 October at Nehru Stadium, Chennai.[117] It was initially reported that the audio launch was scheduled on 20 October 2024.[118] The third single "Thalaivane" was released on 29 October 2024.[119] The fourth single titled "Mannippu" was released on 7 November 2024.[120]
A 94-second glimpse video revealing Suriya's appearance from the periodic portions released on the midnight of 23 July 2023, coinciding with the actor's birthday, along with the film's first teaser poster also being unveiled on the same day.[121][122] The teaser received praise for the visuals and setting.[123][124] On 19 March 2024, 52-second teaser trailer was showcased at an event hosted by Amazon Prime Video in Mumbai,[125] where the streaming platform announced their acquisitions of big-budget Indian films, with Kanguva being one of them.[126] Within three days, the teaser garnered 20 million views.[127] The film's first theatrical trailer was released on 12 August receiving positive reviews from the audience.[128][129] However, netizens noted that the trailer only focused on the periodic portions and the sequences set in the present timeline were not showcased.[130] An Release trailer was released on 10 November 2024, at the end of the trailer, they confirmed that karthi 's inclusion in the film as a cameo in post-credits.
Promotional activities for the film kickstarted from 17 October, with a press interaction held at the MovieMax theatre in East Andheri, Mumbai that saw the attendance of Suriya and Deol.[131] It was followed by another event held at the outskirts of Delhi on 21 October,[132] and the team then promoting the film at the Fun Republic Mall in West Andheri, Mumbai, on 23 October, by unveiling 30-feet tall hoarding of the poster featuring Suriya and Deol.[133] A fan interaction was held at the Cinépolis theatre in the mall with the cast.[134]
On 24 October, another event was conducted at the AMB Cinemas theater chain in Hyderabad with Suriya, Siva and the producers and distributors.[135][136] The same day, Suriya and Deol shot for an episode featured in the fourth season of the talk show Unstoppable hosted by Nandamuri Balakrishna.[137] The episode is set to be aired on 8 November through aha.[138] The team further appeared on the eighth season of Bigg Boss Telugu hosted by Nagarjuna.[139] Another fan meet event was hosted at Gokul Park, RK Beach Road, Visakhapatnam on 27 October.[140][141]
Promotional activities resumed on 4 November, with the team hosting two meet-and-greet events in Bangalore: one at the Phoenix Mall of Asia and another at the Orion Mall.[142][143] On 5 November, another event was held at the Lulu International Shopping Mall, Kochi.[144] More than 5,000 fans arrived at the venue which resulted in overcrowding.[145] The film's second trailer was released on 10 November 2024.[146]
Release
Theatrical
Kanguva is scheduled to release worldwide on 14 November 2024.[10] It was initially scheduled for theatrical release on 10 October 2024, coinciding with Dusshera, but was postponed to its current date to avoid clashing with Rajinikanth-starrer Vettaiyan.[147] The film will release in conventional 2D and 3D formats.[148] The film will not be released in IMAX formats.[149] It received a UA 16+ rating from the Central Board of Film Certification on 5 November 2024.[150]
Originally the film was set to be released in 10 languages, including dubbed versions in Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, English and other Indian languages.[c][151] In November 2023, the makers announced that the film will be released in 38 languages.[152] Speaking of this decision, Gnanavel Raja revealed that he was ambitious on "expanding the film’s marketing and distribution to new territories, thereby opening doors to unparalleled box office success and broader international reach for Tamil cinema".[152] Later, it was confirmed that the film would be released in 8 languages theatrically, which includes French, Spanish and Russian languages.[153][154] A Chinese and Japanese version is also planned for theatrical release.[109]
Screenings and statistics
Speaking at a press conference, Studio Green's CEO G. Dhananjayan assured that the film would be released in 10,000 screens worldwide.[155] This included 2,500 screens across South India and 3,000–3,500 screens across North India.[155][156] In Tamil Nadu, the film would be released across 700 screens,[155] while in Kerala, over 500 screens had been planned for theatrical premiere.[157]
Distribution
The Tamil Nadu distribution rights were acquired by Abinesh Elangovan's Abi & Abi Entertainment and Sakthi Film Factory.[158]AA Films was initially revealed as the theatrical distribution partner for the Hindi-dubbed versions,[c] but in January 2023, Pen Studios reportedly acquired the Hindi theatrical distribution rights.[159] The Karnataka theatrical rights were sold to KVN Productions.[160] The film's co-producers UV Creations handled the acquisition for the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana distribution rights, while the theatrical rights for Nizam regions were acquired by Mythri Movie Makers.[161] The Malayalam theatrical rights were sold to Sree Gokulam Movies through Dream Big Films.[162] The international overseas rights were acquired by Phars Films, with UK and Europe distribution in association with Yash Raj Films[163] The North American distribution rights were acquired by Prathyangira Cinemas.[163]
Pre-release business
Kanguva was reported to have made a pre-release recovery of over ₹500 crore (US$60 million) which includes digital, audio, satellite and distribution rights, becoming the first Tamil film to do so, surpassing the previous record of vijay's Leo (2023), which reportedly did ₹400 crore (US$48 million).[164] The South Indian digital rights of the film were sold for ₹80 crore (US$9.6 million).[165] The Hindi satellite, digital and theatrical rights were reportedly sold for ₹100 crore (US$12 million).[159] The theatrical rights in the Telugu-speaking regions ranged from 25–30 crore (US$3.0–3.6 million).[d] Kerala theatrical rights were sold to ₹10 crore (US$1.2 million).[168] Overseas theatrical rights for the film were sold to ₹40 crore (US$4.8 million), which was the second-best for a Tamil film.[163]
Home media
The digital streaming rights of the film for its Indian South region languages were acquired by Amazon Prime Video.[169]
Sequel
In July 2024, Gnanavel Raja stated that the sequel to Kanguva can be expected to release in the first half of 2027; either in January or the summer holidays.[170]
^ abAs showcased in the film's motion poster released on 9 September 2022.[38]
^Deccan Chronicle initially reported that the makers quoted ₹30 crore (US$3.6 million) as the initial price for the film, but was eventually revised to ₹25 crore (US$3.0 million), according to The Hans India.[166][167]