RJ Balaji's latest film Karuppu with Suriya playing lawyer Saravanan and Lord Karuppusamy has been having enjoying commercial success at the box office. Parallely, the film has also been garnering a myriad of reactions from the public, from praise to criticism. In a recent press interaction, the director was probed about being labelled as 'sanghi' for making movies with Gods as protagonists.
Responding to the criticism, RJ Balaji dismissed the allegations, stating that he does not pay attention to labels or political assumptions. “I’ve been called a BJP and RSS worker, a DMK supporter, and more. But the public knows me well. A day before the film’s release, I broke down in a video unknowingly. The entire state wished for Suriya sir and me to succeed. That, to me, reflects the genuine sentiment of the people,” he said.
He further added that those making such criticisms appear disconnected from the larger public sentiment. “You can see how audiences are celebrating the film in theatres. What is being shared online feels completely unrelated to reality. I only seek the love of the people, and I’m grateful to be receiving that,” he added.
Suriya stars as the titular guardian deity in Karuppu, who assumes the form of a lawyer after a devotee in distress, pleads for justice.
The cast of the film also includes Trisha, Indrans, Swasika, Sshivada, Anagha Maya Ravi, Supreeth Reddy, Natty Natraj, among others. RJ Balaji, who has written as well as directed the film, portrays the antagonist, Baby Kannan.
Nayanthara's Mookuthi Amman released directly on JioHotstar in 2020. Urvashi, Smruthi Venkat, Madhu Mailankody, Abinaya, Moulee and Ajay Ghosh played leading roles in the film which revolves around RJ Balaji teaming up with Nayanthara to expose a godman's fraudulence. A sequel for the film Mookuthi Amman 2 is currently in production with Sundar C as the director.
