Suriya's Make-Or-Break Time

All eyes are on Suriya’s Kaappaan, directed by KV Anand, one of the most awaited movies of the year, which is set to hit screens worldwide in a few hours from now.

- Sreedhar Pillai

The film is releasing in over 3,500 plus screens in Tamil as well as its Telugu-dubbed version Bandobast. It is Suriya’s 37th film in a career spanning 22 years. Kaappaan has to be a hit not only as it is crucial to Suriya’s box office ratings — considering his last two films have been just average, and did not make the trade happy — but because the actor needs a big hit that will once again place him in the top bracket of South Indian heroes.

But in KV Anand, Suriya has a director who understands him, and knows how to project his mass image — as proved by the blockbuster Ayan (2009) and the above-average Maattrraan (2012) in the past. Anand explains: “Suriya is a fantastic actor, and the all important family audiences love him and the youth has made him a role model. From a shy youngster who I first met for a photoshoot on the set of Vasanth’s Nerukku Ner (1997), to playing an SPG officer protecting the Prime Minister of India in Kaappaan, he has evolved as an actor of substance who has that mass appeal one associates with stars.”

Tier upgrade

Kaappaan releases at a time when the Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners’ Association has decided to categorise top stars in brackets like tier-1, 2 and 3 based on their theatre revenue share.