Kolamavu Kokila

<p>The film opens with the killing of a police officer by a -dealer named Bhai and his henchmen. Kokila struggles to find a job to take care of her parents and sister. She stumbles on the cocaine smuggling business of Mohan. When her mother is diagnosed with lung cancer, Kokila is forced to work for Mohan. Her cunningness earns her a name in the business. The new inspector Guru is a no-nonsense cop who cracks down on drug dealers. Kokila is almost caught a couple of times but manages to evade the authorities. She convinces Mohan to kill two of his henchmen suspected of leaking information and then decides to quit the business. Mohan seemingly agrees but tries to kill her, however an enraged Kokila brutally murders Mohan and his men and tries to flee with her family but is caught by Bobi, who had recruited her initially. He demands that she deliver one last consignment of 300 kilos to Alphonse. Kokila is forced to accept and enlists the help of her family. Shekhar and Lakshman Kumar join them unaware of their smuggling. She delivers the load, but it is revealed that she switched most of it for salt. She then tricks Bobi to double-cross Bhai and then frames him for swindling Bhai. She has him killed and continues the shipment run. On the way, she is caught by the police, who are Alphonse’s men in disguise. She manages to avoid getting tortured and kills off her captors with the help of her family. Guru tracks her down and arrests her. Kokila makes a deal with him to nab Bhai and bring the whole drug business down. The plan works out, Bhai is shot dead by Guru, and Kokila and her family escape punishment with Guru’s reluctant help as the latter’s wife was tricked into being on the location during the drug bust. In the end, the family starts a legitimate business of powder, calling it ‘Kolamaavu Kokila’. announced a project in 2010 titled , which was to have been his directorial debut. But the film ran into production trouble and was shelved, despite some filming being completed. Later, on the recommendation of composer , hired Nelson to direct a female-oriented film starring , which became his actual directorial debut. In late July 2017, sources from the production house announced that the film would be a black comedy like the actor’s earlier film (2015). It further added that Nayanthara was impressed with the script and the production house had her dates as the actress relieved off all her other commitments. and R. Nirmal were announced as the cinematographer and editor. While the title was initially announced as , it was revealed to be short for . began in Chennai in late August 2017, and was completed by early January 2018. The film’s six-song soundtrack and score is composed by Anirudh Ravichander, in his first collaboration with Nelson Dilipkumar. Lyrics for the songs were written by , , and actor , in his first stint as lyricist. After three songs — “Edhuvarayo”, “Kalyana Vayasu” and “Orey Oru” — were released as singles on 8 March, 15 May and 13 June 2018, the soundtrack was released by on 5 July 2018. was released theatrically on 17 August 2018. It is the first Tamil film distributed by . M. Suganth of gave the film 3.5 out of 5 praising the direction and technical aspects and wrote “The film is an out-and-out star vehicle that keeps giving its star whistle-worthy moments. And most remarkably, it manages to stay true to its genre and ensures that the script comes before the star.” Ashameera Aiyappan of gave the film 3 out of 5, praising the performances, writing and technical aspects. Vishal Menon of noted the film’s similarities to such as the protagonist’s moral decline, “Yet what sets it apart is how the film treats even the darkest situations with humour”. He said it is “one of the better films we’ve seen this year and a departure from the sermons that have come to be defined as feminist films”, calling it “quirky, ridiculous and fun”. wrote for , “The suspense factor is criminally low and this film could have been so much more, but it’s so different in so many ways that I’m just glad it exists”. Kirubhakar Purushothaman of wrote, ” had all the potential of becoming a tear-jerker, but it avoids those cliches like a plague and stays true to the tone of the film — dark and fun. And that’s what makes it unmissable”. Priyanka Sundar of wrote, ” proves what spectacular writing can achieve. What could have otherwise been macabre becomes a great piece of black humour”. Sudhir Srinivasan of wrote the film’s “inefficient digressions into comedy are a big problem” because “You get joke attempts where they scarcely seem to belong”. Writing for , Sreedhar Pillai wrote, “The drawbacks are there in plenty. After a racy first half, the pace slackens in the second half, along with some logical loopholes in the plot. However, at the end of the day, it is a Nayanthara show and she shines bright once again”. Vikram Venkateswaran of wrote, “Only in an evolved movie can you switch from deep sorrow to fits of laughter. And Nelson wields this power over the audience with abandon”, and rated the film four stars out of five. Anupama Subramanian of wrote, “There is a lot of quirky moments in this dark comedy and much of the hilarity comes from unexpected instants. The first half is entertaining with the director sticking to his genre, treating even the darkest situations with humor. However, in the second half, the film meanders a bit without any solid comic relief and the climax is also unconvincing”. collected close to (equivalent to 6.4 crore or US$760,000 in 2023) on the opening day. In its first nine days, the film had grossed (US$2.4 million). It ended its theatrical run having collected (equivalent to 117 crore or US$14 million in 2023) worldwide. was remade in as (2022). In July 2023 Yogi Babu said it would have a sequel at the audio launch of Nelson’s . Later that August, Nelson confirmed the sequel was in development.</p>