Fight Club | |
---|---|
Directed by | Abbas A. Rahmath |
Screenplay by | Abbas A. Rahmath |
Story by | Sasi Nandhagopal |
Dialogues by | Vijay Kumar Sasi Nandhagopal Abbas A. Rahmath Vishnu Edavan Nijanthan |
Produced by | Aditya Lokesh Kanagaraj (presenter) |
Starring |
|
Cinematography | Leon Britto |
Edited by | P. Kripakaran |
Music by | Govind Vasantha |
Production companies | Reel Good Films G Squad |
Distributed by | Sakthi Film Factory |
Release date |
|
Country | India |
Language | Tamil |
Fight Club is a 2023 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Abbas A. Rahmath in his directorial debut and produced by Aditya and Lokesh Kanagaraj under Reel Good Films and G Squad. It stars Vijay Kumar and Monisha Mohan Menon in the lead roles, along with Kartheekeyan Santhanam and Shankar Thas in supporting roles.
The film was announced in November 2023, along with the title of the film. Principal photography commenced and wrapped before the announcement. The film has music composed by Govind Vasantha, with cinematography handled by Leon Britto and editing by P. Kripakaran.
Fight Club was theatrically released on 15 December 2023 to positive reviews from critics and became a commercial success at the box office.[ citation needed ]
In North Chennai, Benjamin alias "Benji", a former talented boxer, gets sidelined by drugs and liquor. Despite his struggles, Benji aims to provide a chance to mentor young talented boys in their region to stay away from crime. Trouble arises for Benji as his brother Joseph joins Kiruba, a notorious gangster and drug peddler, in committing illegal activities. Benji learns about this and warns Joseph and Kiruba. Later, Kiruba and Joseph succeed in finishing Benji, but Kiruba betrays Joseph and sends him to prison.
Selva, a hot-headed football player who idolised Benji, gets disillusioned with life due to Benji's death and becomes an alcoholic. Joseph returns to his neighbourhood after completing his prison sentence, where he learns that Kiruba has become a politician. To exact vengeance against Kiruba, Joseph manipulates Selva, along with other youths; Robert, Mani and Murthy, to wage a war against Kiruba. Selva clashes with Karthi, Kiruba's brother-in-law, as Karthi was after a girl Selva liked.
Kiruba warns Karthi to not fight with Selva and his gang, but Karthi fights with Selva regarding a loudspeaker issue and Robert's brother Viji ends up in the hospital. Kiruba wanted to stay away from Selva as he could kill him for Benji's death, where he makes a deal with Selva that Karthi will not trouble him any more. However, the agreement did not hold for too long and the fights continued between Selva and Karthi. In the midst of the mayhem, Joseph gets Robert, Mani and Murthy to sell weed to Karthi’s men, knowing that Karthi would thrash them.
Joseph supplies weapons to kill Karthi, but the plan backfires and Kiruba kills Robert. Mani and Murthy tell Selva about Joseph using Robert’s anger to finish Kiruba. Selva realises that the mayhem had increased after Joseph's return and the boys would not live peacefully in the neighbourhood due to Joseph and Kiruba. Selva kills Kiruba and Joseph, where he becomes a football coach and also fulfill's Benji's goal of mentoring and training young talented boys.
In November 2023, Reel Good Films announced their maiden venture titled Fight Club, which features Vijay Kumar in the lead role and Abbas A Rahmath in his directorial debut. The technical crew consists of music composer Govind Vasantha, cinematographer Leon Britto and editor P. Kripakaran. [2] Vijay Kumar wrote the first draft around 2014-15, with the focus being on football and how many juveniles turn to crime. The project did not enter production, and with the release of Bigil , Vada Chennai and other similar-themed films over the next few years, Vijay had to rewrite the script substantially. [3] The film was intentionally titled after the 1999 American film, but serves as a tribute rather than a remake. [4]
The music and background score is composed by Govind Vasantha. [5] The song "Thaalam" samples "En Jodi Manja Kuruvi" from Vikram (1986). [6]
No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Yaarum Kaanadha" | Karthik Netha | Kapil Kapila, Keerthana Vaidyanaathan | 3:47 |
2. | "Viyugam" | Asal Kolaar | Asal Kolaar | 2:38 |
3. | "Raavanamavan" | Arivu | Arivu | 3:11 |
4. | "Thaalam" | GKB | Govind Vasantha, Anthony Daasan | 3:11 |
Total length: | 12:37 |
Fight Club was released on 15 December 2023. [7]
The streaming and satellite rights of the film were acquired by Disney+ Hotstar and Star Vijay. [8] The film began streaming from 27 January 2024. [9]
M. Suganth of The Times of India gave 3.5/5 stars and described "Sasi's story is familiar, but the filmmaking makes the film engaging." [10] Siddarth Srinivas of Only Kollywood rated 3.25/5 stars and described "Fight Club turns out to be a really good ‘boys action film’ that is worth watching for its action sequences. If we don’t mind the wafer-thin plot, the film is one to spike up your adrenaline." [11]
Kirubhakar Purushothaman of The Indian Express gave 3/5 stars and wrote "A lot of Fight Club can be brushed aside as redundant fight scenes, but each one of them increases the intensity of the problem that warrants its existence." [12] Bharathy Singaravel of The News Minute gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Fight Club quickly becomes too much of an ‘excellent thing’ and in the absence of a consistently-paced story, it is exhausting trying to remain emotionally invested amid all the sound and fury." [13]
Hridayambika. A. Manu of OTTplay gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Although Fight Club has good performances and cinematography, the Abbas A. Rahmath directorial’s storyline makes it a confusing watch. If you're looking for a screenplay-based action drama, you can skip this one." [14] Janani. K of India Today gave 2/5 stars and wrote "'Fight Club' could have been much more impactful had it given more importance to the screenplay as much as it had given the technical aspects." [15]
Gopinath Rajendran of The Hindu wrote "Despite some impeccable action sequences, Vijay Kumar’s ‘Fight Club’ doesn’t live up to its true potential thanks to the wafer-thin plot and predictable writing." [16] S. V. Harshini of Film Companion wrote "The film 'tells' more than it 'shows', which leaves you disappointed because its action-packed atmosphere is clever and engrossing." [17]
Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar, known professionally as Vijay, is an Indian actor and playback singer who works in Tamil cinema. In a career spanning in just over 3 decades, Vijay has acted in over 65 films and is one of the most commercially successful actors in Tamil cinema with multiple films amongst the highest-grossing Tamil films of all time and is amongst the highest paid actors in India.
Venkat Kumar Gangai Amaren, better known by his stage name Venkat Prabhu, is an Indian director, actor and playback singer in Tamil film industry. After completing his education, he began pursuing an acting career, with his first three ventures featuring him in a starring role, failing to release, following which he began appearing in character roles.
Maanagaram (transl. Metropolis) is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, and produced by S. R. Prabhu. The film stars Sri, Sundeep Kishan, and Regina Cassandra, and its soundtrack was composed by Javed Riaz. It is the feature directorial debut of Lokesh Kanagaraj. The film was released on 10 March 2017 to positive reviews from critics. It was remade in Hindi as Mumbaikar (2023).
Vijay Kumar is an Indian actor, writer, director, lyricist and producer. His directorial debut, Uriyadi, a political thriller set in the 1990s, was released in 2016 and was lauded as one of the best political thrillers in Tamil cinema. His second project Uriyadi 2 released in April 2019.
Kaithi (transl. Prisoner) is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj. It is produced by S. R. Prakash Babu and S. R. Prabhu under Dream Warrior Pictures and co-produced by Tiruppur Vivek under Vivekananda Pictures. It stars Karthi in the lead role, along with Narain, Arjun Das, Harish Uthaman, George Maryan, and Dheena in pivotal roles. In the film, a recently released prisoner races against time to drive poisoned cops to a hospital in exchange for meeting his daughter while evading criminals chasing him.
Lokesh Kanagaraj is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer who works in Tamil cinema. He started his career with a short film in the 2016 anthology Aviyal. He later directed his first feature film Maanagaram (2017).
Thambi is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Jeethu Joseph. Co-written by Rensil D'Silva, Sameer Arora, Jeethu Joseph and K. Manikandan, it was jointly produced by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and Parallel Mind Productions. The film stars Karthi, Jyothika, Nikhila Vimal and Sathyaraj. The music and background score was composed by Govind Vasantha.
Arjun Das is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Tamil films, along with a few Telugu films. He has garnered major attention for his bass voice.
Master is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj and produced by XB Film Creators. The film stars Vijay in the titular role, alongside Vijay Sethupathi, Malavika Mohanan, Andrea Jeremiah, Arjun Das, Shanthanu Bhagyaraj, and Gouri G. Kishan. It is also co-produced by Vijay's manager, Jagadish Palanisamy, jointly with Seven Screen Studio, which also distributed the film. The film follows John Durairaj "J.D.", an alcoholic professor, who takes a three-month teaching job in a juvenile home and clashes with a ruthless gangster named Bhavani, who uses the children as the scapegoat for his criminal activities.
Vikram is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj and produced by Raaj Kamal Films International. The film stars Kamal Haasan in the titular role, alongside Vijay Sethupathi, Fahadh Faasil, Narain, Kalidas Jayaram, Gayathrie, Chemban Vinod Jose, Santhana Bharathi and Elango Kumaravel. It is the second instalment in the Lokesh Cinematic Universe and is a spiritual successor to the 1986 film of the same name. The film follows Vikram, a former commander of the black-ops squad's pilot batch, and his efforts to take down Sandhanam, the runner of a drug syndicate Vetti Vagaiyara.
Bakkiyaraj Kannan is an Indian film director who works in Tamil film industry. He has directed two films: Remo (2016) and Sulthan (2021).
D Block is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language coming-of-age thriller film written and directed by debutant Vijay Kumar Rajendran and produced by cinematographer Aravinnd Singh under the banner MNM Films and presented by Sakthi Film Factory. The film stars Arulnithi and Avantika Mishra with a supporting cast including Karu Palaniappan, Charandeep, Thalaivasal Vijay, Ramesh Khanna and Uma Riyaz Khan. The film's soundtrack and background score are composed by Ron Ethan Yohann and Kaushik Krish respectively, with cinematography by Aravinnd Singh and editing by Ganesh Siva. The film was released in theatres on 1 July 2022. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics and audience, praising the cinematography, background score, plot, and Arulnithi's performance, but criticizing the screenplay and pacing. In December 2022, the Hindi dubbed version of the movie, under the same name, was released.
Vikram is the soundtrack album composed by Anirudh Ravichander for the 2022 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film of the same name directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj. Produced by Raaj Kamal Films International, the film features an ensemble cast with Kamal Haasan, Vijay Sethupathi and Fahadh Faasil in lead roles. The film marks Anirudh's second collaboration with Lokesh after Master (2021), and his first with Haasan, respectively.
The Lokesh Cinematic Universe (LCU), also known as the Loki Cinematic Universe or Lokiverse, is an Indian media franchise and shared universe of Tamil-language action thriller films created by Lokesh Kanagaraj. It is currently the highest grossing Tamil film franchise.
Gulu Gulu is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language road action comedy film written and directed by Rathna Kumar and produced by Raj Narayanan's banner Circle Box Entertainment. The film was distributed by Udhayanidhi Stalin under his banner Red Giant Movies. The film stars Santhanam and Athulya Chandra. The music is composed by Santhosh Narayanan with cinematography handled by Vijay Kartik Kannan and editing by Philomin Raj. The film was released theatrically on 29 July 2022 to mixed to negative reviews from critics and audiences.
Japan is a 2023 Indian Tamil-language heist action comedy film written and directed by Raju Murugan. It is produced by S. R. Prakash Babu and S. R. Prabhu under Dream Warrior Pictures. The film stars Karthi and Anu Emmanuel, alongside Sunil, Vijay Milton and Jithan Ramesh.
Leo is a 2023 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj and produced by Seven Screen Studio. The film stars Vijay in the titular role, alongside Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Sarja, Trisha, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Mysskin, Madonna Sebastian, George Maryan, Mansoor Ali Khan, Priya Anand and Mathew Thomas. It is the third instalment in the Lokesh Cinematic Universe and is inspired by A History of Violence. The film follows Parthi, a café owner and animal rescuer in Theog, who is pursued by gangsters Antony and Harold Das who suspect him to be Antony's estranged son, Leo.
"Naa Ready" is a 2023 Indian song and the first single in the soundtrack of the Tamil-language film Leo, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj. Starring Vijay, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun, and Trisha, the film is produced by S. S. Lalit Kumar under Seven Screen Studio. The track is composed by Anirudh Ravichander, and is sung by Vijay himself with the former as the co-singer and rap verses written and performed by Asal Kolaar, while the lyrics for the track were written by Vishnu Edavan.
Meiyazhagan (transl. Sweetheart) is an upcoming Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by C. Prem Kumar. The film is produced by Jyothika and Suriya under 2D Entertainment. It stars Karthi in the titular role, alongside Arvind Swamy, Rajkiran and Sri Divya.
Monisha Mohan Menon is an Indian filmmaker, actress and screenwriter who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. She directed New Normal.