Kuttram 23

Kutram 23
Poster
Directed by	Arivazhagan
Screenplay by	Arivazhagan
Produced by	Inder Kumar
Starring	Arun Vijay Mahima Nambiar
Cinematography	Bhaskaran K. M.
Edited by	Bhuvan Srinivasan
Music by	Vishal Chandrasekhar
Production company	Redhan The Cinema People
Distributed by	Across Films
Release date	March 3, 2017 (2017-03-03)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Kuttram 23 (English: Crime 23) is a 2017 Indian Tamil crime thriller film written and directed by Arivazhagan. The film stars Arun Vijay and Mahima Nambiar in the lead roles, with Vamsi Krishna, Aravind Akash and Thambi Ramaiah amongst others in supporting roles. Produced by Inder Kumar along with Arun Vijay, the soundtrack album and background score for the film is composed by Vishal Chandrasekhar. The film was released worldwide on 3 March 2017 to critical acclaim and became a profitable venture at the box office.

Cast

• Arun Vijay as Vetrimaaran
• Mahima Nambiar as Thendral
• Thambi Ramaiah as Thirupathi
• Aravind Akash
• Vamsi Krishna as John Matthew
• Amit Bharghav as Aravind
• Abhinaya as Sri Abhinaya
• Kalyani Natarajan as Tulsi
• Suja Varunee as John Matthew's wife
• Misha Ghoshal as Jessica
• Vijayakumar as the commissioiner

Production

In January 2016, Arun Vijay and director Arivazhagan announced that they would collaborate to work on a "high-octane action thriller" with a medical backdrop, which would begin in the following months. The script was developed in early 2016, with the story being inspired by a novel by writer Rajesh Kumar, which in turn was based on real events. Arivazhagan developed Rajesh Kumar's novel into a screenplay within fifteen days of gaining approval from the writer to use the story. A formal launch event was held in March 2016, with Arun Vijay announced producer his friend, Inder Kumar, while Vishal Chandrasekhar was signed as the music composer, after Arivazhagan's regular collaborator S. Thaman was busy with other commitments. During April 2016, the team shot scenes in the dumpyard of Pallikaranai with Arun Vijay reportedly working for thirty six hours at a single stretch. Following the completion of the schedule, thirty percent of the film was revealed to be over. Actress Mahima Nambiar joined the cast to play the lead female role, while Vamsi Krishna and Amit Bhargav were selected for further supporting roles. The shoot continued throughout mid-2016, with the team filming climax scenes during nighttime in the Padur region of Chennai. The team finished further sequences in July 2016, while taking a day off to give technicians the opportunity to watch the Rajinikanth-starrer Kabali (2016) on the day of release. The shoot finished thereafter, taking 45 days from start to finish and costing 3.5 crore rupees, and a theatrical trailer was released during September 2016.

Soundtrack

Untitled

The audio launch of Kuttram 23 was held on 1 September 2016 at Satyam Cinemas in Chennai, with the event being attended by several film personalities from the Tamil film industry.

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Pori Vaithu"	Viveka	Vijay Prakash, Shweta Mohan	4:29
2.	"Mugam Theriyaa"	Viveka	Ranjith	4:03
3.	"Thoduvaanam"	Viveka	Sinduri Vishal	2:25
4.	"K23 Theme"	—	—	3:07
5.	"Pori Vaithu (Karaoke)"	—	—	4:31

Release

The producers initially announced a release date of 14 January 2017 but later opted out as they failed to get as many screens as they had desired, owing to the proposed release of several films including Bairavaa (2017). Prior to the official release, a premiere was held for media personalities and the film drew positive reviews. Kuttram 23 was subsequently released on 3 March 2017 and won positive reviews from critics, with the Hindustan Times noting "it is brilliantly scripted and directed – and of course ably acted out by especially Vijay". The Deccan Chronicle noted it was "a welcomed relief from the recent drab of Kollywood", while The New Indian Express stated it had a "coherent screenplay which could have been better". Sify.com's reviewer wrote the film was "a good example of an entertaining cop thriller" adding "this sharply written slick investigative thriller, comes as a huge relief at a time where Tamil audiences are bombarded with several middling movies of big stars" and that "the film is also a perfect case study on how good writing and a technically sound team can offer quality entertainment, which is a rarity in Kollywood". Likewise, Sreedhar Pillai of FirstPost wrote "Kuttram 23 has a compelling story and is packaged in an entertaining format by Arivazhagan" and that "it is one of the better movies in recent times". Following the release of the film, several Tamil film personalities including Rajinikanth and Shankar publicly appreciated the film.

The film gained more screens following positive reviews, and it subsequently went on to become Arun Vijay's most profitable film till date.