Pulimurugan
Pulimurugan is a 2016 Indian Malayalam-language action film directed by Vysakh and starring Mohanlal in the title role. It was produced by Tomichan Mulakuppadam through Mulakuppadam Films and was written by Udayakrishna—half of the duo Udayakrishna and Sibi K. Thomas—in his first independent screenplay. The film also stars Kamalinee Mukherjee, Jagapati Babu, Lal, Namitha, Vinu Mohan, and Bala in supporting roles. The film score and soundtrack were composed by Gopi Sundar, while cinematography was handled by Shaji Kumar and edited by Johnkutty.
Principal photography commenced on 16 July 2015 in Hanoi, Vietnam, and was completed in early February 2016. The film was released in India on 7 October 2016. Made on a budget of ₹25 crore, it became the first film in the Malayalam film industry to earn more than ₹100 crore and ₹150 crore, and was the highest-grossing Malayalam film ever until 2019 and the third highest-grossing South Indian film of 2016.
Two songs from the film—”Kaadanayum Kaalchilambe” and “Maanathe Maarikurumbe” were selected among the 70 eligible songs contending for the Academy Award for Best Original Song nomination in the 90th Academy Awards.[5] The film score was also selected among the 141 eligible scores contending for the Academy Award for Best Original Score nomination.[6]
Murugan (Mohanlal) lives in Puliyoor, a small forest village that is vulnerable to man-eating tigers— called Varayan Puli (striped tiger) by the villagers—and frequent human–wildlife conflicts. When he was young, Murugan’s mother died after his brother Manikuttan was born. Soon after, his father was killed by a tiger; in vengeance, Murugan traps and kills the tiger with the help of his uncle Balaraman.
Years later, Murugan is a lorry driver, has married Myna (Kamalini Mukherjee), and has a daughter, Chakki. He hunts and kills rogue tigers whenever they invade the village. Acknowledging his skills in hunting Varayan Puli, the villagers call him Pulimurugan (Leopard-Murugan). Murugan is grateful to the villagers who cared for him after his parents’ deaths, and is obsessively protective of Manikuttan, who is about to finish his MBA graduation in Mangalore.
One day, Kadutha, the village chief, meets a hooded stranger who asks the whereabouts of Murugan for a hunting assignment. Murugan has been away from Puliyoor for days and many people have been killed by tigers. According to Kadutha, Manikuttan’s friends Benny and Shiva have arriving at Puliyoor, sent by Manikuttan to see Balaraman. Shiva’s father Daddy Girija owns a pharmaceutical company that is developing a drug to treat cancer and they need ganja (marijuana) from the forest. If the medical research succeeds, Manikuttan will be offered a job in the company, so Balaraman helps them. They make a contract with Ramaiya, an illegal ganja dealer in the forest; on their return to the village they encounter a tiger but are saved by Murugan, who kills it.
