Kumki (film)

Plot

The film starts with an introduction to the main characters: Bomman (Vikram Prabhu), the protagonist, his pet elephant Manickam, his uncle Kothali (Thambi Ramaiah), and sidekick Undiyal (Ashvin Raja).Bomman spends most of his time with his pet and earns his livelihood by hiring out his elephant for festivals in temples and wedding celebrations. Meanwhile, in a village dominated by old principles, a rogue elephant (Komban) ravages crops and ambushes its people. Frustrated by this and without any help from the forest officers, their leader decides to bring a kumki elephant to tame Komban. Bomman and his crew reach the village as placeholders to stay for a couple of days until the real mahout and kumki elephant arrive (the villagers don't know this). But life begins to change for Bomman when he falls in love with Alli (Lakshmi Menon), the daughter of the village leader. She is at first reluctant keeping in mind the village’s principles but she soon starts to fall for Bomman. Life goes on smoothly, until Komban starts attacking the village. Komban kills Kothali and Undiyal, and injures Bomman. In the ensuing fight between Manickam and Komban, Manickam kills Komban but suffers serious injuries and dies. Bomman then cries out loud, regretting that his love had led to the death of his crew and Manickam. Alli's father then recognizes that Alli and Bomman are in love. The film, then ends abruptly, leaving the fate of Bomman to the viewer's imagination.

Cast

Production

The film which was earlier titled as Komban, was shot across the forests of Kerala and Karnataka. The film was shot at athirappalli falls at Munnar. Later, some scenes were shot in Kerala in dense jungles. For the climax portion, producers bought two-acres of land to shoot a scene where elephants destroy the land.

Release

The satellite rights of the film were sold to STAR Vijay. The film was given a "U" certificate by the Indian Censor Board. Release was initially scheduled for Diwali but due to post-production works, it was postponed to December 14, 2012. K. E. Gnanavel Raja's Studio Green has acquired the distribution rights.

Critical reception

Kumki received generally positive reviews from the critics.

Oneindia gave Kumki a 3 out of 5 saying that while the movie is at times "dragging", the subject makes it an "engaging affair although the climax is predictable". Behindwoods also gave the film a 3 out of 5 saying that "Kumki definitely lives up to the hype. It is a beautifully shot movie with good performances and an emotional core".

Box office

Kumki was made with the budget of ₹ 5 crores. The film was a success at the box office. The film grossed ₹ 10 crore in 3 days. The film grossed more than ₹ 40 crore at the box office. The film got Super Hit status at the box office.

Sequel

Prabhu Solomon has confirmed the sequel of this film, titled Kumki 2. This sequel will feature newcomers in load roles as the first part.

Soundtrack

The film's music has been composed by D. Imman, who joined with Prabu Solomon. The audio was launched on July 26, 2012. Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and Suriya had participated in the function.

Behindwoods wrote: "The Imman - Prabu Solomon combo has come up with another huge winner. There are tasteful melodies spread across the album while one nice foot tapping number is there as well". Indiaglitz wrote: "All the 10 numbers make 'Kumki' a jumbo album".

All lyrics written by Yugabharathi.