Thodari

Thodari
Poster
Directed by	Prabhu Solomon
Written by	Prabhu Solomon
Produced by	T. G. Thiyagarajan (Presenter)[clarification needed] Sendhil Thiyagarajan Arjun Thiyagarajan Prabhu Solomon
Starring	Dhanush Keerthy Suresh Thambi Ramaiah Ganesh Venkatraman
Cinematography	Vetrivel Mahendran
Edited by	L. V. K. Doss
Music by	D. Imman
Production companies	Sathya Jyothi Films God Pictures
Distributed by	Ayngaran International
Release date	September 22, 2016 (2016-09-22) [1]
Running time	167 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Thodari (transl. Train) is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language action romance film^[2] written, directed and co-produced by Prabhu Solomon. It stars Dhanush and Keerthy Suresh, with D. Imman composing the film's music. Set on an express train, Thodari follows a pantry worker who tries to save the passengers and his girlfriend from hijackers and a politician's bodyguard amid a runaway train incident.

Thodari was released theatrically on 22 September 2016. An action mobile video game, Thodari Official Game, based on the film was released by Mobi2Fun as a tie-in with the film.^[3]

Plot

At New Delhi Railway Station, Poochiyappan is a railway catering company server on duty on the New Delhi-Chennai Express. He works with his team member and best friend, Vairam, under his supervisor, Chandrakanth.

During the journey, he meets Saroja, actress Srisha's make-up artist, and falls in love with her at first sight. She wants to become a successful singer. Poochi tells Vairam about Saroja, who promises to help him woo her. Poochi devises a plan and makes her talk on the phone to Vairam, who acts as the renowned Tamil poet Vairamuthu. However, he soon discovers that Saroja is not good at singing, despite continuing to support her. Saroja remains close to Poochi, as she wants to enter the singing industry without knowing that Vairam is Vairamuthu.

The train stops at Jhansi Junction (in Uttar Pradesh), where Union Minister Rangarajan boards the train with his two bodyguards. One of them, Nandhakumar, doesn't get along with Poochi and Saroja. The minister humiliates him in front of Poochi, and he wants to take revenge. Poochi asks him to apologise to Saroja for hitting her earlier, to which he agrees to get his lost gun back. He soon discovers that the firearm is with the minister. He vows to murder Poochi and Saroja. Meanwhile, at Nagpur Junction (in Maharashtra), robbers board the train without anyone's knowledge as the driver celebrates his retirement.

The following morning, Srisha's mother spots Saroja with Poochi and informs Saroja's uncle, who then asks him to call singer Vairamuthu in front of them, which leads to the truth. After discovering the truth, Saroja's uncle scolds her. Saroja, now devastated, asks him never to show his face again. When he goes to apologise to Saroja, Nandhakumar confronts him and locks him in a room. The train stops after hitting wild bulls. The driver blames the assistant driver, who failed to alert the driver. Nandhakumar tries to attack Saroja, but she escapes. Due to a fight between the train guard and the assistant driver, the deputy driver waves a green flag; the locomotive driver notices, and, thinking that the deputy driver has checked the brakes' connection, the engine driver starts the train. She boards the engine instead of the passenger compartment as she fails to get on the moving train. At the same time, the guard and the assistant driver fall off the train, leaving them behind. The train ticket examiner passes a message to the railway administrator that the guard is not on the train. However, the driver, numb from thinking of the incident, does not hear it. After a few moments, the driver dies of a heart attack. While falling, he pushes the controls forward, making the train speed up, which Saroja watches, much to her horror. The train starts to skip stations, much to the stationmaster's alarm and the railway administrators' dismay. At the same time, the burglars attack the passengers and order the train not to stop. The passengers get terrified due to the high speed. Poochi then overpowers Nandhakumar and attempts to save Saroja. He kills all the burglars and gives Saroja a walkie-talkie to communicate. Nandhakumar tries to kill Poochi but dies after hitting an oncoming rail tunnel.

News circulated that the train driver died and that terrorists hijacked the train. Several people mistake the robbers for terrorists and consider Saroja to be their leader. The government gave responsibility to officers from the police and railway administration to bring down the train. When they realise that the train is out of control and not hijacked, they take help from Poochi and Saroja to stop the train by guiding Saroja on how to turn on the emergency brake. However, due to a short circuit earlier, the brakes do not work. They devise a plan to detach the engine from the passenger compartment. Poochi succeeds after a long attempt and jumps onto the locomotive to save Saroja. Saroja realises her love for Poochi. At Chennai Central Railway Station (in Tamil Nadu), police evacuate the whole station as the oncoming train approaches. The locomotive crashes into the station, and Poochi and Saroja are injured but alive. The separated passenger compartments arrive in Chennai, safe with passengers unscathed. The media interviewed them, and Poochi was named a national hero.

Cast

Production

In early 2015, Prabhu Solomon approached Dhanush to play the lead role in his next film and by February 2015, the director had started pre-production work with a recce in North India.^[4] Keerthy Suresh was signed to play the leading female role.

Thodari is the first Indian film that was shot entirely on a train.^[5] The film's shoot took place predominantly on the Duronto Express, and the film features the lead pair travelling from Delhi to Chennai.^[6] Hence, initially, a grand train set was put up at Binny Mills, Chennai during July 2015 for the film's initial schedule.^[7] Production continued for sixty days straight, with the makers alternating between shooting the film in sets and on a live train.^[8] Shoot progressed through the middle of 2015, with scenes also filmed in Goa and Hyderabad. In October 2015, a schedule was shot in Orissa, after which production was completed for scenes featuring Dhanush.^[9][10][11] Prabhu Solomon continued to shoot further scenes featuring parallel stories throughout late 2015 and early 2016, with Ganesh Venkatraman filming scenes during January 2016.^[12]

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics and audience.^[13]

Box office

The film collected ₹15 crore (US$1.8 million) to ₹17 crore (US$2.0 million) in Tamil Nadu in five days and ₹1.7 crore (US$200,000) in Chennai in first weekend. The film collected ₹17.2 lakh (US$20,000) in United States, ₹3.32 lakh (US$3,900) in UK and ₹46.87 lakh (US$55,000) in Malaysia.^[14]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film is composed by D. Imman.^[16] The last time he scored music for a film starring Dhanush was in 2006 for Thiruvilaiyaadal Aarambam, and this is the fifth time Prabhu Solomon is collaborating with Imman.

* First of its Kind: Thodari is often cited as the first Indian film to be shot almost entirely inside and on top of a train for its entire runtime.
* Real-Life Inspiration: Director Prabhu Solomon was inspired to write the script based on his own first long train journey. After graduation in 1991, he traveled from Neyveli to Ghaziabad for his first job, a trip that lasted two days and one night. The people and experiences from this journey formed the core idea for the film.
* The Train Route: The film's story takes place during a journey on an express train, representing the route from Delhi to Chennai. The actual shooting involved different trains and locations, including the Duronto Express, and filming on various railway corridors (Northern, Eastern, Western, and Southern).
* Challenging Shoot: Shooting was extremely difficult and dangerous, as the crew spent approximately 110 days filming on moving trains.
  * Dhanush performed high-risk action sequences, including running and fighting on top of the speeding train, sometimes in the rain.
  * The crew had to contend with the strict schedules and clearance issues of the Indian Railways, often having limited time (sometimes just five hours a day) for shooting.
* Sets and Locations: A large train set was constructed at Binny Mills in Chennai to shoot interior and complicated action sequences. The outdoor locations included scenic spots like the Dudhsagar waterfall (on the Goa-Hubli route) and sections in Odisha.

* Director's Choice: Prabhu Solomon is known for introducing new faces in his films (Mynaa, Kumki). Thodari was a rare instance where he chose an established star, Dhanush, noting that the actor perfectly fit the simple but intense role of the pantry worker.
* The Title: The initial working title for the film was reportedly Rail. However, the title was changed to the Tamil word Thodari, which means "train," in order to qualify for tax exemption in Tamil Nadu (which typically favors films with Tamil titles).
* Mobile Game Tie-in: An action-based mobile video game called Thodari Official Game was released by Mobi2Fun as a promotional tie-in with the film.
* Character Nickname: Keerthy Suresh's character, Saroja, dreams of becoming a singer and is nicknamed "Chitra Ghoshal" (a portmanteau of renowned singers K. S. Chithra and Shreya Ghoshal).

References

External links

• Thodari at IMDb
• Thodari on Facebook