Suriya in Karuppu, and Vijay in Jana Nayagan. (Credit: Facebook/@dreamwarriorpictures, @tnvfc)
Not just Suriya’s fans, but even the Tamil star himself has pinned high hopes on the upcoming action drama Karuppu, expecting it to finally let him break free from his ongoing dry spell. Following the colossal bombing of director Siva’s Kanguva (2024) and the underperformance of Karthik Subbaraj’s critically acclaimed Retro (2025), Suriya is in dire need of a bona fide success and is hopeful that the RJ Balaji directorial will be it.
Unlike his previous filmmaking ventures, such as the Nayanthara-starrer Mookuthi Amman (2020) and his own Veetla Vishesham (2022), Balaji has opted for a larger canvas this time, aiming to ensure that Karuppu exudes mass appeal and impresses a wide range of audiences. While the movie will encompass everything one would expect from a Balaji directorial, he recently revealed that Karuppu would also fully satisfy Suriya’s fans. In a conversation with Times of India, he also mentioned that his aim was to create something like ‘Superstar’ Rajinikanth’s Baashha (1995), Muthu (1995), and Padayappa (1999), which were out-and-out entertainers.
Referring to his hero, named Saravanan — the embodiment of the guardian deity Karuppuswamy — the director described him as a great-looking man who fights powerfully, acts brilliantly, dances well, smiles, is funny, and can do pretty much everything. Pointing out that acting isn’t just about crying loudly or shouting, Balaji maintained that it’s also about screen presence, which he said Suriya has in abundance. This, he stated, helped him realise Karuppu in the way he envisioned.
When asked what his “style” as a filmmaker is, Balaji stated that he wants to create entertainers that engage the entire audience. Citing movies like Padayappa, Mudhalvan (1999), and Ghilli (2004) that still have high rewatch value, Balaji expressed his desire to make such films that people love watching, even for the nth time.
Despite Karuppu being a large-scale, big-ticket movie, RJ Balaji asserted that he hasn’t followed the pan-India formula, thus avoiding its pitfalls, such as bringing in actors from various industries just for the sake of it. He maintained, however, that he expects the movie to perform well across South India, as all states have deities that resemble Karuppuswamy in spirit.
During the conversation, Balaji also commented on how he ended up at Suriya’s doorstep with the project after initially trying to launch it with actor-politician ‘Thalapathy’ Vijay. Mentioning that he started writing Karuppu in 2023, Balaji said he approached Vijay with it after realising it needed a star of significant stature, and also since the latter had already asked him for a script around 2021-22. Upon hearing the subject, Vijay exclaimed that it was a massive film and asked if he could start right away. However, the director wasn’t ready to rush, as helming a Vijay movie was a huge responsibility.
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“He felt it was a big idea… and it was. He told me he was looking for something in my style — like LKG (2019) or Mookuthi Amman — something satirical, something that families could watch in a light, enjoyable way,” Balaji noted. He mentioned that although they met and discussed the project a couple of times afterwards, it didn’t materialise, and he eventually parted ways with Vijay, satisfied that the star liked his story. He then narrated it to Suriya, who agreed to do it, and that’s how Karuppu took shape.
Also starring Trisha Krishnan, Indrans, Natty, Swasika, Sshivadha, Anagha Maya Ravi, and Supreeth Reddy, Karuppu features cinematography by GK Vishnu, music by Sai Abhyankkar, production design by Arun Venjaramoodu, and editing by R Kalaivanan.
