countrypowerful

Kumki (English: Trained elephant) is a 2012 Tamil musicaladventureromantic drama film written and directed by Prabhu Solomon.The films soundtrack composed by D. Imman was commended by the audience and critics. The film marked the debut of Vikram Prabhu.^[1][2] The story revolves around a mahout (portrayed by Vikram) and his trained elephant.^[3][4] The film was produced by director N. Lingusamy on his banner Thirupathi Brothers. The filming was launched in July 2011.^[5] It was released on 14 December 2012. The film also released in Telugu as Gajaraju.^[6] Kumki ran successfully in the cinema halls.^[7]

• 4Release

Plot[edit]

The film starts with an introduction to the main characters: the protagonist Bomman (Vikram Prabhu), his pet elephant Manickam, his uncle Kothali (Thambi Ramaiah), and his sidekick Undiyal (Ashvin Raja). Bomman spends most of his time with Manickam and earns his livelihood by hiring it out for festivals in temples and wedding celebrations. Meanwhile, in a village dominated by old principles, a rogue elephant (Komban) ravages crops and ambushes its people. Frustrated by this and without any help from the forest officers, their leader decides to bring a kumki elephant to tame Komban. Bomman and his crew reach the village as placeholders to stay for a couple of days until the real mahout and kumki elephant arrive. Life begins to change for Bomman when he falls in love with Alli (Lakshmi Menon), the daughter of the village leader. She is at first reluctant keeping in mind the village’s principles but she soon starts to fall for Bomman. Life goes on smoothly, until Komban starts attacking the village. Komban kills Kothali and Undiyal and injures Bomman. In the ensuing fight between Manickam and Komban, Manickam kills Komban but suffers serious injuries and dies. Bomman then cries out loud, regretting that his love had led to the death of his crew and Manickam. Alli's father then recognizes that Alli and Bomman are in love. The film then ends abruptly, leaving Bomman's fate to the viewer's imagination.

Cast[edit]

— Prabhu, on Vikram's experience of playing the character of Bomman.^[8]

• Vikram Prabhu as Bomman
• Lakshmi Menon as Alli
• Thambi Ramaiah as Kothalli
• Joe Malloori as Maathayaan
• Ashvin Raja as Undiyal
• Sreejith Ravi as Forest Officer

Production[edit]

In a December 2012 interview to Nikhil Raghavan of The Hindu, Prabhu Solomon felt that the success of his previous film Mynaa was because by producing and directing the film, it helped him have creative freedom and pay more attention to detail. He realised that Kumki would be a bigger venture and that he 'didn’t want anything to go wrong.'^[9] At that time, director N. Lingusamy and N. Subash Chandrabose, owners of the production company Thirrupathi Brothers offered to bankroll the film, much to Solomon's delight.^[10]

Solomon wanted a new face for the role of Bomman, for which over 60 auditions were held. Vikram Prabhu, who participated in the auditions, was selected.^[10] Vikram had earlier worked as an assistant director for films like Sarvam (2009) and Aasal (2010).^[11]

The film which was earlier titled as Komban, was shot across the forests of Kerala and Karnataka.^[12] The film was shot at athirappalli falls at Munnar.^[13] Later, some scenes were shot in Kerala in dense jungles as well as at Jog Falls and on the Orissa border.^[11][14] For the climax portion, producers bought two-acres of land to shoot a scene where elephants destroy the land.^[15] Solomon shot the film mostly during the day, especially in morning and evening time, to create the right feel for the scenes. Solomon also wished to explore his love of nature through Kumki. The elephant, Manickam, was around 12 feet tall.^[9]

Release[edit]

The satellite rights of the film were sold to STAR Vijay. The film was given a 'U' certificate by the Indian Censor Board.^[16] Release was initially scheduled for Diwali but due to post-production works,^[17] it was postponed to 14 December 2012.^[18] K. E. Gnanavel Raja's Studio Green has acquired the distribution rights.^[19]

Critical reception[edit]

Kumki received critical acclaim.^[20] Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu compared the film's similarities to M. G. Ramachandran's Nalla Neram (1972) and Rajinikanth's Annai Oru Aalayam (1979) in terms of the protagonist's relationship with Elephants. Rangarajan praised the performances of Vikram and Menon, noting that while Vikram 'makes an impact with effective underplay', Menon showed 'apt expressions'; she found Ramaiah's dialogues to be a bit 'contrived' after a certain point of time.^[21]Oneindia gave Kumki a 3 out of 5 saying that while the movie is at times 'dragging', the subject makes it an 'engaging affair although the climax is predictable'.^[22]Behindwoods also gave the film a 3 out of 5 saying that 'Kumki definitely lives up to the hype. It is a beautifully shot movie with good performances and an emotional core'.^[23]

Box office[edit]

Kumki was made with the budget of ₹ 5 crores. The film was a success at the box office.^[24] The film grossed ₹ 10 crore in 3 days.^[25] The film grossed more than ₹ 40 crore at the box office.^[26] The film got Super Hit status at the box office.^[27][28][29]

Sequel[edit]

Prabhu Solomon has confirmed the sequel of this film, titled Kumki 2. This sequel will feature newcomers in lead roles as the first part.^[30]

Soundtrack[edit]

The film's music has been composed by D. Imman, who joined with Prabu Solomon. The audio was launched on 26 July 2012.^{[31][32][33][34][35]}Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and Suriya had participated in the function.^[36]

Behindwoods wrote: 'The Imman - Prabu Solomon combo has come up with another huge winner. There are tasteful melodies spread across the album while one nice foot tapping number is there as well'.^[37]Indiaglitz wrote: 'All the 10 numbers make 'Kumki' a jumbo album'.^[38]

All lyrics written by Yugabharathi.

Awards and nominations[edit]

Notes[edit]

1. ^Date is linked to the article about the awards held that year, wherever possible.
2. ^Also for Sundarapandian.

References[edit]

1. ^'Kumki - Movie Reviews, Story, Trailers, Wallpapers, Tamil, Pictures'. Movies.sulekha.com. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
2. ^'Tamil director, Linguswamy signs three film deal'. CNN IBN. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
3. ^'Prabhu solomon finally finds his hero'. Archived from the original on 25 June 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
4. ^TNN 24 Jun 2011, 12.39pm IST (24 June 2011). 'Prabhu's son turns hero'. The Times Of India. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
5. ^'Kumki confirmed for December 14 re'. IndiaGlitz. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
6. ^TNN 5 Dec 2012, 10.53AM IST (5 December 2012). ''Kumki' is 'Gajaraju' in Telugu'. The Times Of India. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
7. ^'Kumki declared a hit'. The Times of India. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
8. ^Srinivasan, G. (17 January 2013). ''Kumki' star celebrates 'Maattu Pongal''. The Hindu. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
9. ^ ^abRaghavan, Nikhil (13 December 2012). 'A jumbo ride'. The Hindu. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
10. ^ ^abRaghavan, Nikhil (4 August 2012). 'Etcetera'. The Hindu. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
11. ^ ^abKumar, S. R. Ashok (11 August 2012). 'Audio Beat: Kumki'. The Hindu. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
12. ^'Prabhu Solomon's jumbo jamboree'. Sify.com. 11 June 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
13. ^'Prabhu Solomon Makes It With A Difference'. Behindwoods. 8 September 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
14. ^'What Is Up With Kumki?'. Behindwoods. 23 September 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
15. ^'Two-acre Land Destroyed For Prabhu Solomon's Kumki'. Behindwoods. 25 January 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
16. ^'Vikram Prabhu's 'Kumki' gets clean 'U' certificate'. Cinemahour.com. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
17. ^'Kumki might get postponed'. IndiaGlitz. 30 October 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
18. ^'Kumki from Dec 14th'. IndiaGlitz. 1 December 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
19. ^'Studio Green takes over Kumki distribution!'. Sify.com. 16 September 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
20. ^https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/news/Kumki-climax-is-the-same/articleshow/17648504.cms
21. ^Rangarajan, Malathi (15 December 2012). 'Kumki: Close encounters'. The Hindu. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
22. ^'Kumki Movie Review'. Oneindia Entertainment. 15 December 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
23. ^'Kumki Movie Review'. Behindwoods. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
24. ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2013.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
25. ^http://www.metromasti.com/kollywood/gossip/Kumki-day-1-day-2-total-box-office-Tamil-Nadu-collections-851/23196
26. ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2013.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
27. ^http://behindwoods.com/tamil-movies/kumki/kumki-box-office-jan-06.html
28. ^http://www.bharatstudent.com/news/3-116386/kumki-becomes-a-huge-blockbuster-super-hit
29. ^http://entertainment.oneindia.in/tamil/news/2012/kumki-start-box-office-102000.html
30. ^Subhakeerthana, S (31 July 2017). ''Kumki sequel isn't like the Singam franchise''. Cinema Express. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
31. ^'Vikram blessed by Rajini'. IndiaGlitz. 4 June 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
32. ^'Kumki -The mother of all audio launches!'. 26 July 2012. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
33. ^'A legendary feast for the eyes'. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
34. ^: Ramchander (27 July 2012). 'Rajinikanth-Kamal Hassan-Surya launch Kumki audio'. Oneindia Entertainment. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
35. ^'In pics: Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan at 'Kumki' audio launch: South Cinema Photos'. CNN IBN. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
36. ^'Rajini, Kamal at 'Kumki' audio release'. Nowrunning.com. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
37. ^'Kumki Music Review'. Behindwoods. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
38. ^'Kumki Music Review songs lyrics'. IndiaGlitz. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
39. ^'விகடன் விருதுகள் 2012' [Vikatan Awards 2012]. Ananda Vikatan. 16 January 2013. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
40. ^'Winners List 2012'. Ananda Vikatan. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
41. ^'Chennai Times Film Awards 2012 nominations'. The Times of India. 6 July 2013. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
42. ^'The Chennai Times Film Awards 2012 goes to...'The Times of India. 4 November 2013. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
43. ^'6th Edison Awards'. Edison Awards. Chennai. 10 February 2013. Astro.
44. ^'Filmfare Awards 2013 (South): Complete List of Nominees'. International Business Times. 6 July 2013. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
45. ^'60th Idea Filmfare Awards 2013 (South) Nominations'. Filmfare. 4 July 2013. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
46. ^'List of Winners at the 60th Idea Filmfare Awards (South)'. Filmfare. 21 July 2013. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
47. ^'Mirchi Music Awards 2012 Introduction'. Radio Mirchi. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
48. ^'Mirchi Music Awards 2012 Nominations'. Radio Mirchi. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
49. ^'Mirchi Music Awards 2012 Winners'. Radio Mirchi. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
50. ^''Kumki' sweeps Norway Film Festival'. The Times of India. 1 May 2013. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
51. ^'NTFF 2013: Program scheduled for 27th.April'. Norway Tamil Film Festival Awards. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
52. ^'2nd South Indian International Movie Awards'. South Indian International Movie Awards. Emirate of Sharjah. 2013. Sun TV Network.
53. ^'Winners List – 2013'. South Indian International Movie Awards. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
54. ^Seshagiri, Sangeetha (15 September 2013). 'SIIMA 2013 Winners List: Dhanush, Pawan Kalyan, Mohanlal, Shivarajkumar Bag Awards'. International Business Times. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
55. ^'Tamil Nadu announces the State Film Awards for six consecutive years in surprise move. Here's the complete list of winners'. The Indian Express. 14 July 2017. Archived from the original on 21 July 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
56. ^'TN Govt. announces Tamil Film Awards for six years'. The Hindu. 14 July 2017. Archived from the original on 21 July 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
57. ^'7th Vijay Awards'. Vijay Awards. Chennai. 11 May 2013. Star Vijay.

External links[edit]

• Kumki on IMDb