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Ko (film)

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Ko
Theatrical release poster
Directed byK. V. Anand
Written by
Dialogues by
Produced byElred Kumar
Starring
CinematographyRichard M. Nathan
Edited byAnthony
Music byHarris Jayaraj
Production
company
Distributed byRed Giant Movies
Release date
  • 22 April 2011 (2011-04-22)
Running time
165 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil
Budget₹20 crore[1][2]
Box office₹50 crore[1][2]

Ko (transl. 'King') is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language political action thriller film directed by K. V. Anand, and written by him and the duo Subha. The film stars Jiiva, Ajmal Ameer, Karthika Nair (in her major Tamil debut), and Piaa Bajpai, while Prakash Raj and Kota Srinivasa Rao appear in supporting roles.The film follows Ashwin (Jiiva), a photojournalist working for Dina Anjal who covers the Tamil Nadu State Election.

The film features music composed by Harris Jayaraj, with cinematography handled by Richard M. Nathan and editing done by Anthony. The film was released on 22 April 2011 to mostly positive reviews,[3] and became a commercial success. It was dubbed in Telugu as Rangam, and released on the same date, which also becoming a success at the box-office.[4]

The film won two Filmfare Awards South, three Vijay Awards, two SIIMA Awards, and four Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. Based on an online poll conducted by The Times of India, it won the Chennai Times Best Film Award for 2011.[5] The film was remade in Bengali as Kanamachi (2013).[6] A standalone sequel to the film titled as Ko 2 was released in 2016, with Prakash Raj reprising his role.

Plot

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Ashwin Kumar is a photojournalist working for the private newspaper Dina Anjal. He witnesses Naxalites robbing a local bank. He chases them and manages to click photos of the robbers. When he tries to escape, he is stopped by a woman Renuka 'Renu', who assumes he is the culprit and helps the robbers take his camera. However, he is able to secure the camera's memory card. The police catch Ashwin, and to prove that he is a press photographer, he shows the photos to them. The police identify everyone except the gang leader (whose face is covered by a mask). At his office, he again meets Renu, who has newly joined as an article editor. He slowly falls in love with Renu. Saraswathi 'Saro' also works in his office and has feelings for Ashwin, who does not reciprocate.

Settled in her new job, Renu writes a cover story about a politician Aalavandhan, describing his attempt to marry a minor. Enraged by this, Aalavandhan barges into the newspaper office and shouts at Renu. The audio recording of her interview disappears (courtesy of Aalavandhan), and she is fired from her job for falsified reporting. Ashwin later risks his life to capture the pictures of Aalavandhan, who actually engages in child marriage in a temple at midnight. Later the story with the photos is printed in their newspaper, and this makes Renu reciprocate Ashwin's love. Saro is initially jealous of the love between Ashwin and Renu but later accepts it and gets over Ashwin. Meanwhile, Vasanthan Perumal, an engineer and recent graduate, strives hard to enter politics by contesting in the upcoming election. He is contesting against more experienced politicians who capture the people by giving freebies and money.

Nobody cares about Vasanthan and his team of graduates, who promise a healthy government to people. Their party name is Siragugal. Ashwin and Renu find out about Vasanthan's election campaign, and they and the entire Dina Anjal team extend their support to the campaign, covering it extensively, much to the chagrin of Aalavandhan and the CM Yogeswaran. One night, Vasanthan's party organizes an election campaign meeting. While photographing the event, Ashwin receives a text message from Saro that states there is a bomb underneath the stage where Vasanthan is speaking. Ashwin manages to save Vasanthan just before the bomb explodes. Later, Ashwin finds Saro fatally wounded near the blast site. Saro struggles to tell something to Ashwin and Renu before she dies. Ashwin, through a video clip recorded by another photographer, discovers that Saro was intentionally killed by someone. He later notices a resemblance between the leader of the bank robbery and this unknown killer, concluding that the Naxalite leader killed Saro.

A few days later, Renu notices that Vasanthan's photo in their newspaper was cut from a college class photo, where Ashwin is also present. It is revealed that Vasanthan is Ashwin's former college mate. Confronted by Renu, Ashwin tells her that he and Vasanthan studied in the same college and were best friends. He also tells her that he is happy for Vasanthan's success and is wholeheartedly supporting his election campaign. In the election, Vasanthan's party wins by a huge majority, and Vasanthan becomes the Chief Minister. He orders the release of 20 Naxals on Republic Day, citing humanity. Shocked on hearing this news, Ashwin rushes to the secretariat to meet Vasanthan. In Vasanthan's office, Ashwin notices that the Naxalite leader who killed Saro is there, talking with Vasanthan. Ashwin airs his grievances to Vasanthan, who ignores him. Ashwin follows the leader to his hideout.

At the same time, Vasanthan orders the Tamil Nadu Police (T.N.P) to go kill the Naxals at their hideout, and the commandos surround the perimeter of that place. Ashwin, already at the hideout, confronts the Naxalite leader Kadhir, and finds out from him that Vasanthan had made a deal with the Naxalites to help him win the election. They orchestrated events such as the burning of a hut and saving the woman in that hut (who was also a Naxalite) to win people's sympathy. In the same vein, they had planted a bomb on the stage where Vasanthan was speaking during his meeting. Saro had found out the truth about Vasanthan but was fatally assaulted by him so that she does not reveal his intentions to anyone. Ashwin realises that Saro had tried to warn him and Renu about Vasanthan's true character before dying and also that now Vasanthan is double-crossing the Naxalites and is planning to kill them as a show of achievement.

Ashwin records this confession using his mobile phone camera and sends it to Renu, who plans to publish this story in their newspaper. Vasanthan then arrives and kills Kadhir. He also tries to kill Ashwin. However, Ashwin triggers a land mine there, which explodes, killing Vasanthan, while Ashwin manages to escape. Vasanthan's party members arrive at the hideout on hearing the news that Vasanthan had died. Seeing their innocence, Ashwin forces Renu not to reveal the truth about Vasanthan because his party members would get into serious trouble and lose their seats just for supporting him. They did not know about Vasanthan's intentions and supported him, believing his false claims of a "healthy government". Renu publishes an article saying that Vasanthan had sacrificed his life fighting the Naxalites and died as a martyr. Ashwin and Renu submit their resignations to the editor, S. Krishnakumar 'Krish', for falsified reporting, but he rejects their resignations and tells them to cover the next CM.

Cast

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Cameo appearances in the song "Aga Naga"

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Production

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Jiiva during the filming of Ko at Bergen

Casting

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Initially the film was rumored to have Karthi in the lead. However, it was later officially announced that Silambarasan would play the lead in the film,[7] but was later replaced by Jiiva.[8] Actors Ajith Kumar and Suriya were also considered for the role.[9] The lead female role was initially supposed to be enacted by Tamannaah Bhatia, who was replaced by actress Karthika Nair. Piaa Bajpai and Ajmal Ameer in pivotal roles.[8]

KV Anand approached Dravidian ideologue Suba Veerapandian ("Subavee") for casting him as Krish, but the latter declined the offer after showing some initial interest,[10] resulting in Achyuth Kumar taking the role instead. Had Subavee accepted the offer, Ko would have been his second film as an actor, after Ilakkanam (2006).

Filming

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The film was shot on location in Chennai, Harbin in China[11] as well as in Western Norway at Trolltunga, Stalheim, Bergen and Prekestolen,[12] becoming the first Tamil film to be shot in Norway and places of Bangalore near Nayandahalli under bridge.

The trailer of this film was played during the screening of Manmadan Ambu and got a favourable response.[13][14]

Music

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Main article: Ko (soundtrack)

For the film's soundtrack and score, K. V. Anand, roped in composer Harris Jayaraj, who previously worked with the director on Ayan (2009).[15] The composition of the songs took place in Macau.

Release

[edit]

Theatrical

[edit]

Ko was originally scheduled to release on 11 February 2011, the film was postponed due to the 2011 Cricket World Cup which was held in India,[3] and as it ended on 2 April, the makers fixed the release to 14 April 2011.[3] This was again postponed due to the 2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Election, which was held at that time, and was finally slated to release on 22 April 2011.[3] The film was opened in nearly 2230 theatres worldwide, making it Jiiva's biggest release ever.[16] It was also released in multiplexes across metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chandigarh, Lucknow and Vadodara with English subtitles to attract the non-Tamil audience.[16]

The Telugu dub of this movie Rangam was released on May 13, 2011 after success in Tamil Nadu. This movie is presented by Super Good Films in Telugu states.[17] Rangam also received great response from all centres in Telugu.

Home media

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The satellite rights of the film were secured by Kalaignar while Ayngaran International released the film on DVD and Blu-ray. The film was later dubbed and released in Hindi as The Real Leader on YouTube in 2018.[18]

Reception

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Box office

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The film opened 95–100% occupancy on first day collected ₹2.5 million (equivalent to ₹5.2 million or US$62,000 in 2023). The film first weekend collection is ₹7.4 million (equivalent to ₹15 million or US$180,000 in 2023). The film first week collection is ₹54.9 million (equivalent to ₹110 million or US$1.4 million in 2023).[19] In Chennai, it collected ₹7.34 million (equivalent to ₹15 million or US$180,000 in 2023) in the opening weekend.[20] After 9 weeks, it collected ₹79.9 million (equivalent to ₹160 million or US$2.0 million in 2023) in Chennai[21][22] The film's total worldwide collection is ₹250 million (equivalent to ₹520 million or US$6.2 million in 2023) at the box office thus being biggest blockbuster ever in Jiiva's career,[23] and completed 100-day run at the box office.[24][25]

The Telugu version, Rangam collected ₹209.5 million (equivalent to ₹430 million or US$5.2 million in 2023) at the box office and also declared Blockbuster, with distributors organizing celebrations in Tirupati on its 100th day of theatrical run.[4][26]

Critical response

[edit]

The film opened to positive reviews. Behindwoods wrote "The director has aptly mixed intelligent and commercial cinema in Ko. The film making is nearly flawless and excels in places where he brings in slice of life incidents to invoke humor".[27] The Hindu described the film as a "tale with a realistic twist" and praised Anand who "strikes gold with Ko. Blending the commercial with the realistic is a challenge, but K. V. Anand proves adept at it."[28] Indiaglitz wrote "Anand deserves all accolades for rendering a brisk entertainer that is devoid of cliches. Racy all through, it is a movie that is worth a watch, if you are really not bothered about logic at certain places".[29] The Times of India gave three and a half citing: "With Ko, director Anand gives notice of his immense talent once again, making a movie that is all set to lord over the box office this summer".[30] Nowrunning wrote "Ko staggers throughout, pretending to take risks and after the first misstep; it's nothing but a free fall, all the way. The funny thing is the free fall isn't a smooth ride either. It hits every protruding rock".[31] National Film Award-winning critic, Baradwaj Rangan wrote: "If someone wants to make a case for the abolishment of song and dance from our cinema, Ko would be Exhibit A." He also went on to state that Ko was "a series of big scenes with no transitions, no segues, no scenes that just stop to smell the scenery."[32]

Accolades

[edit]
Award Category Nominee Result
59th Filmfare Awards South Best Actor Jiiva Nominated
Best Director K.V. Anand Nominated
Best Film Ko Nominated
Best Male Playback Aalap Raju
(Enamo Aedho) 		Won
Best Music Director Harris Jayaraj Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Ajmal Ameer Won
2011 Vijay Awards Best Actor Jiiva Nominated
Favourite Director K. V. Anand Nominated
Favourite Film RS Infotainment Won
Favourite Song Enamo Aedho Won
Best Background Score Harris Jayaraj Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Ajmal Ameer Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Piaa Bajpai Nominated
Best Male Playback Aalap Raju
(Enamo Aedho) 		Nominated
Best Costume Designer Nalini Sriram Nominated
Best Story, Screenplay K.V. Anand
Subha 		Nominated
Best Editor Anthony Nominated
1st South Indian International Movie Awards Best Actor in a Negative Role Ajmal Ameer Won
Best Film Elred Kumar Won
The Chennai Times Film Awards 2011 Best Film Elred Kumar Won
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Best Music Director Harris Jayaraj Won
Best Stunt Coordinator Peter Hein Won
Best Art Director D. R. K. Kiran Won
Best Costume Designer Swetha Srinivas Won
Maa Music Awards 2012[33] Best Dubbing Song Enduko Emo Won

Remakes

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The film was remade in Bengali as Kanamachi (2013) by Raj Chakraborty. It stars Ankush Hazra, Srabanti and Abir Chatterjee.[34]

Standalone sequel

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Main article: Ko 2

A standalone sequel to the film titled Ko 2 was announced by the producer Elred Kumar, which features a different cast and crew, starring Bobby Simha and Nikki Galrani, except Prakash Raj, who reprised his role from the original. The film was released in May 2016.[35]

Legacy

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The song "Ennamo Edho" inspired a 2014 film of same name starring Gautham Karthik and the Telugu version Enduko Emo inspired a 2018 film starring Nandu. Brahmanandam performed a parody of the song in Telugu film Naayak (2013).[36] The song placement of "Venpaniye" was widely criticised,[37] and KV Anand made a humor of it in his film Maattrraan (2012).[38][39]

References

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  1. ^ a b Vanita Kohli-Khandekar (21 October 2011). "B-town taps festive joie de vivre". Business Standard India. Archived from the original on 21 December 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Fans Are Friends For This Star!". Behindwoods. 5 August 2011. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  3. ^ a b c d Ko Release Postponed – Ko – Kv Anand – Jiiva – Tamil Movie News Archived 2 May 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Behindwoods.com (11 April 2011). Retrieved on 2015-05-20.
  4. ^ a b Rangam to celebrate victory in 20 centres – Telugu Movie News. Indiaglitz.com (30 July 2011). Retrieved on 2015-05-20.
  5. ^ "The Chennai Times Film Awards 2011". The Times of India. 22 June 2012. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013.
  6. ^ "Kanamachi creates a buzz". The Times of India. 28 February 2012. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  7. ^ "Simbu walks out of KV Anand's Ko!". Sify. 4 February 2010. Archived from the original on 7 February 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
  8. ^ a b "Simbu 'OUT' Jeeva 'IN'". IndiaGlitz. 5 February 2010. Archived from the original on 7 February 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
  9. ^ "Ajith missed Ko". The Times of India. 13 September 2013. Archived from the original on 14 September 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  10. ^ எம்.ஜி.ஆர் -க்கு பிறகு நடிகர் சூர்யா தான் பிடிக்கும் | Man vs Mike | 21.08.21, archived from the original on 26 August 2021, retrieved 29 August 2021
  11. ^ Raghavan, Nikhil (29 January 2011). "Itsy Bitsy". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 November 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  12. ^ "Ko at Western Norway Film Commission". Western Norway Film Commission. 23 October 2010. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  13. ^ "'Manmadhan Ambu' comes with 'Ko'". IndiaGlitz. 23 December 2010. Archived from the original on 24 December 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
  14. ^ "Five reasons to watch K.V. Anand's Ko!". Indiaeveryday.in. 8 March 2011. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  15. ^ "'Ko', a political thriller". IndiaGlitz. 31 August 2010. Archived from the original on 1 September 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
  16. ^ a b Ko opening big worldwide. Sify.com (23 April 2011). Retrieved on 2015-05-20.
  17. ^ "Rangam to release on May 13| AndhraBoxOffice.com". andhraboxoffice.com. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  18. ^ Srivastava, Nishant (24 July 2018). "List of 50 Best Hindi Dubbed South Indian Movies to Watch Online". Filmy Keeday. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  19. ^ Cakewalk for Ko – Tamil Movie News. Indiaglitz.com (12 May 2011). Retrieved on 2015-05-20.
  20. ^ Ko – Behindwoods.com – Tamil Top Ten Movies – Kullanari Kootam Vikatakavi Ponnar Shankar Mappillai Ko Archived 25 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Behindwoods.com. Retrieved on 20 May 2015.
  21. ^ Ko – Behindwoods.com – Tamil Top Ten Movies – 180 Pillaiyar Nootrenbadu Theru Kadaisi Veedu Udhayan Avan Ivan Aaranya Kaandam Azhagarsaamiyin Kudhirai Aanmai Thavarel Kanden Engeyum Kadhal Ko Vaanam Archived 3 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Behindwoods.com. Retrieved on 20 May 2015.
  22. ^ "Ko Completes 175 Days!". Behindwoods. 29 July 2011. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  23. ^ Tamil movie 'Ko' to be remade in Hindi – IBNLive. Ibnlive.in.com (14 July 2011). Retrieved on 2015-05-20.
  24. ^ 'KO completes 175 days' Tamil Movie, Music Reviews and News Archived 8 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Moviecrow.com (13 October 2011). Retrieved on 2015-05-20.
  25. ^ 'KO Completes 100 days.' Tamil Movie, Music Reviews and News Archived 8 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Moviecrow.com (18 September 2011). Retrieved on 2015-05-20.
  26. ^ 'KO Completes Double Century' Tamil Movie, Music Reviews and News Archived 8 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Moviecrow.com (30 August 2011). Retrieved on 2015-05-20.
  27. ^ "Ko Review". Behindwoods. 4 April 2011. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  28. ^ "Tale with a realistic twist". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 24 April 2011. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013.
  29. ^ "Ko Tamil Movie Review". IndiaGlitz. 22 April 2011. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  30. ^ "Ko". The Times of India. 23 April 2011. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  31. ^ "Ko Review – Tamil Movie Review by Rohit Ramachandran". Nowrunning.com. 23 April 2011. Archived from the original on 25 September 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  32. ^ Baradwaj Rangan (22 April 2011). "Bullet-point Report: Ko « Blogical Conclusion". Baradwajrangan.wordpress.com. Archived from the original on 28 August 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  33. ^ "Maa Music Awards 2012 - Best Dubbing Song Harris Jayaraj". YouTube. Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  34. ^ "Kanamachi Movie Review {2.5/5}: Critic Review of Kanamachi by Times of India". The Times of India. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  35. ^ "RS Infotainment's next venture is titled KO 2 with Bobby Simha and Nikki Galrani in the lead". www.behindwoods.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  36. ^ "Bramanandam Dance in Naayak Movie". Aditya Music. 15 January 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2024 – via YouTube.
  37. ^ "Kollywood's commercial fare". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 5 May 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  38. ^ "Ko Review - Ko Movie Review". Archived from the original on 5 November 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  39. ^ "Suriya teases KV Anand in Maatraan - iFlickz". Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
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