Thoranai

Thoranai
Theatrical release poster of Tamil version
Directed bySabha Ayyappan
Written bySabha Ayyappan
Produced byVikram Krishna
StarringVishal
Shriya Saran
Prakash Raj
CinematographyPriyan
Edited byV. T. Vijayan
Music byMani Sharma
Production
company
Release date
  • 29 May 2009 (2009-05-29) (India)
Running time
148 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguagesTamil
Telugu

Thoranai (transl. Posture) or Pistha (transl. Person with attitude) is a 2009 Indian masala film directed by Sabha Ayyappan and produced by Vikram Krishna under the banner G K Film Corporation. It stars Vishal and Shriya Saran in the lead roles, while Prakash Raj, Kishore and Santhanam in another pivotal roles. The film was simultaneously shot in Tamil and Telugu languages with different supporting cast in the Telugu version.

Thoranai/Pistha was released on 29 May 2009 and received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

Murugan is a native of Madurai who arrives at Chennai to find his long-lost brother Ganesan, who had run away from home about two decades ago. Murugan gets stuck in a rivalry between gangsters Guru and Tamizharasu, where he learns that Guru is actually Ganesan. Murugan decides to protect Guru/Ganesan from Tamizharasu and a cat-and-mouse game ensues. Guru/Ganesan finally decide to reform himself where he reunites with Murugan and his mother, while Tamizharasu is killed in a police encounter.

Cast

Actor (Tamil) Actor (Telugu) Role (Tamil) Role (Telugu)
Vishal C. Murugan (CM) C. Muralikrishna "Krishna" (CM)
Shriya Saran Indu
Prakash Raj Tamizharasan Suryaprakash
Santhanam Ali Vellaichamy Chittibabu
Kishore Ganesan (Guru) Rambabu (Guru)
Sriman Ganesan Rambabu
Aarthi Indu's friend
Geetha Murugan's mother Muralikrishna's mother
Sayaji Shinde Minister Sivanaandi
M. S. Bhaskar Tanikella Bharani Tamizharasan's assistant Suryaprakash's assistant
Paravai Muniyamma Telangana Shakuntala Pachamma Patti
Livingston Surya Murugan's father Krishna's father
Pandiarajan Krishna Bhagavaan Walter Vetrivel Walter Rangaraju
Lal Chennai Police Commissioner Vizag Police Commissioner
Suruli Manohar Srinivasa Reddy Constable
Mayilsamy M. S. Narayana Watchman
T. P. Gajendran Kondavalasa Apartment Secretary
Suman Shetty Murugan's friend Krishna's friend
Nellai Siva Resident
Shanmugarajan Corrupt inspector
Muthukaalai Kallu Chidambaram Bike customer
Besant Ravi Guru's henchman
Sampath Ram Guru's henchman
Aryan Tamizharasan/Suryaprakash's henchman
Periya Karuppu Thevar Rallapalli Panchayat Man
Swaminathan Cashier
Senthi Kumari Indu's friend
Manobala Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam Birth and Death administration officer
Boys Rajan Police officer
Dhadi Balaji Chitram Seenu Bystander who pretends to be blind
Kullamani Cyclist who laughs at Indu
Karate Raja Rowdy
Kadhal Saravanan Waiter
Scissor Manohar Duvvasi Mohan Man who asks for lift
Raviraj
Unknown Annapoornamma Krishna's grandmother
Unknown Gautam Raju Traffic police officer
Meenakshi Item number

Production

The film was initially to be produced by Singanamala Ramesh with Reema Sen as another heroine but, later got shelved and Shriya was confirmed as the single pair for Vishal.[1]

Music

Tamil version[2]
Song Singers Length Lyrics
"Vedi Vedi Saravedi" Naveen, Ranjith 4:26 Viveka
"Vaa Chellam" Udit Narayan 5:07 Pa. Vijay
"Pattucha" Vijay Yesudas, Janani Madhan 3:58 Kabilan
"Peliccan Paravaigal" Ranjith, Rita, Rahul, Jai 4:07 Vaali
"Manjasela Mandakini" Tippu, Saindhavi 4:20 Pa. Vijay
"Vaa Chellam" (Version 2) Ranjith 5:07
Telugu version[3]
  • "Pidi Pidi" - Ranjith, Naveen
  • "Naa Maharani" - Udit Narayan
  • "Pattuko Pattuko" - Narayanan, Janani Madhan
  • "Oka Pelican" - Rahul, Suchithra
  • "Naa Maharani" - Ranjith
  • "Mandakini" - Tippu, Saindhavi

Reception

Critical response

Tamil version

Sify wrote "Arbitrarily packing in elements of every genre without actually bothering to stop and see if the mix does work, Thoranai is like an overcooked stew."[4] Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff wrote "Thoranai's only merit is that it's marginally better than Sathyam.[5] The Times of India gave 2/5 stars and wrote "It is a formidable star cast that you see in Thoranai. However, what is missing is a convincing story".[6]

Telugu version

BVS Prakash of The Times of India gave 1.5/5 stars and wrote "Inspite of a dud like Salute, Tamil star Vishal hasn't realised the significance of a solid plot even for a star-centric film."[7]

References

  1. ^ "Vishal as a playboy". Idlebrain.com. 27 May 2009. Archived from the original on 11 November 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Thoranai (2009)". Music India Online. 15 November 2019. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  3. ^ "Pista songs". Raaga. 15 November 2019. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  4. ^ "Review: Thoranai (2009)". Sify. 29 May 2009. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  5. ^ "Thoranai: Not good, but not bad either". Rediff. 29 May 2009. Archived from the original on 1 January 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  6. ^ "Thoranai Movie Review". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  7. ^ Prakash, BVS (30 May 2009). "Pistha Movie Review". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2019.