Among the many films of actor-turned-CM Vijay that continue to be discussed even today, Chimbu Deven's 2015 film Puli remains one of the most talked-about, owing to its ambitious scale and the box-office disappointment that followed its release. Cinematographer-turned-actor Natty, who cranked the camera for the movie, has now shed some light on film's failure and what could have contributed to it.
Speaking in a recent interview, Natty said the film's reception was affected because of "wrong publicity". "When the movie was being made, Vijay sir told me that he has made many movies for his fans, but hasn't made even one project for children in the age group of 8-15. He said that is what drew him to the project and told me the story which has several talking animals like tortoise, frog and crows. It was intended like the English movie Willow (1988)," he explained.
"However, when the movie was being promoted, it was being publicised as a big action film because it was made on a massive budget. They wanted to recover the costs. If they had promoted the movie as a story that would draw kids to the theatres, families would’ve made it a big hit as many would have watched it for their kids," he added.
Reportedly mounted on a budget of over Rs 100 crore, making it one of the most expensive Tamil films at the time of its release, Puli recovered its investments through satellite and digital rights although it was considered a commercial disappointment at the box office.
It featured a star-studded cast which included Sridevi, Prabhu, Sudeep, Shruti Haasan, Hansika Motwani, and Nandita Swetha. The film marked Sridevi's re-entry into Tamil movies after a long gap. It was also her final Tamil film before her death.
Besides the box office failure, the film has faced a series of long-standing tax and financial controversies. At the time, the Income Tax Department conducted a raid at Vijay's house and reportedly found that the actor had unaccounted cash transactions in connection to the renumeration issued for him for his work in Puli. Allegedly, it included Rs 16 crore through cheque transfers and an additional Rs 4.93 crore in cash. The cash payments were found to have no TDS deductions. The case is still ongoing in the court.