As the landmark genre-specific film completes 24 years, we give you some interesting trivia about the film's making. Read on..

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25 Years of Kuruthipunal: 25 lesser-known facts about Kamal Haasan's trendsetting spy-thriller

Team CE

Updated:16th Dec, 2020 at 5:30 PM

Kuruthipunal, an adaptation of the Hindi film, Drohkaal, was shot simultaneously in Telugu.

Kuruthipunal, an adaptation of the Hindi film, Drohkaal, was shot simultaneously in Telugu.

The film background score was composed by Mahesh Mahadevan, who also composed the music of Nammavar and the background score of Aalavandhan. He died of cancer in 2002.

Kurudhipunal's story is credited to Govind Nihalani, the director of the original.

Kuridhipunal met with widespread critical acclaim upon release and became a trendsetter for action films during that period. It was promoted in papers as the changing face of South Indian cinema.

Kuruthipunal was India's official entry for the 68th Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film category, but was not nominated.

Kamal approached Arjun to portray a police officer and the actor agreed to do the film even without even hearing the narration.

Kuruthipunal was the first Indian film to use Dolby Stereo surround SR technology, just three years after 'Batman Returns'.

Nassar, who portrayed the role of the Naxal commander, Badri, revealed that he had the freedom to interpret the character in his own way and also said he 'didn't act in the film',

'The context of every scene was so well established, that I did nothing more than maintain a stoic expression in most scenes,' Nassar had been quoted as saying.

'Pudupettai' cameraman Arvind Krishna appears as Dhanush, an undercover cop posing as a terrorist in the film.

Chiyaan Vikram rendered his voice to John Edathattil, who plays the Asst commander of the terrorist group under Nasser.

Actress Rohini rendered her voice to Gautami in the Tamil version.

In the early 90s, Kamal was doing light-hearted entertainers and serious cinema alternatively. Kuruthipunal, a content-driven film, came after Sathi Leelavathi (1995)

To further back our claim, here's the chronology. After the intense Mahanathi (1994), Kamal switched to a light entertainer Magalir Mattum, and followed it up with Nammavar, before moving on to Sathi.

Foreign make-up artists flew down to Chennai to sculpt Kamal's battered looks in the final interrogation scenes.

Amongst the many awards that the movie received, the most prestigious were the Cinema Express Award for Best Film - Tamil, while Kamal won Filmfare Award for Best Actor - Tamil for his performance.

Made at a budget of 5 crores, Kuruthipunal movie was a blockbuster and completed 175-days run.

The film made 20 crores at the box-office.

Kuruthipunal became Kamal Haasan's first film at the time to beat the record set by his phenomenally successful Apoorva Sagodharargal, which released six years earlier.

Govind Nihalin,i the director of the original, lauded Kamal for making a far superior film than his Drohkaal.

Television actor Subhalekha Sudhakar was selected to play the terrorist, who lands up in Kamal's home, after a long nation-wide hunt.

Kuruthipunal went on to become a superhit, without the presence of songs, which surprised many producers, and went on to inspire many future filmmakers.

The film's director PC Sreeram also shot the film. The cinematographer, who directed Vikram-starrer Meera prior to Kuruthipunal, went to make only one another film after this, Vaanam Vasappadum.

The film was featured as part of a retrospective to Kamal Haasan under the category 'Director in Focus' at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

A critic from New Straits Times called it an 'American action movie made in Tamil'

Here are a few more memorable snapshots from the movie and its making