Kurangu Bommai (Eng: Monkey Doll) is a 2017 Indian Tamil drama thriller film, written and directed by Nithilan Swaminathan. Kurangu Bommai features Vidharth, Delna Davis and Bharathiraja in the lead roles, with Elango Kumaravel and P. L. Thenappan in supporting roles. Kurangu Bommai Features music composed by Ajaneesh Loknath and cinematography by Udhayakumar, Kurangu Bommai released on 1 September 2017 to positive reviews from film critics.
Ekambaram is a don in Thanjavur who smuggles expensive idols and artifacts. Sundaram is one of his worker and a long time friend. Sundaram has a son, Kathir, who is a cab driver in Chennai. One day, Kathir once goes to a girl named Viji for her hand in marriage, only to be rejected by her father, as he comes to know that Sundaram’s father works for the local don, Ekambaram. In the ensuing conflict, Kathir slaps Viji’s father and leaves. However, he still proposes to Viji.
From here on, the movie is narrated in a non-linear plot. Sindhanai, a pick pocket suffers from insomnia. An astrologer tells him that he can only be cured when he makes a bed out of 1 Crore rupees and sleeps on top of it. Sindhanai then makes it his life’s goal to steal 1 Crore.
Meanwhile, Kathir, who has returned to Chennai, is waiting at a bus stop and sees a middle-aged man carring a bag with the picture of a monkey on it. Sindhanai, who believes the bag is full of money, steals it and runs away. Kathir chases him and manages to get the bag back. When he returns to the bus stop to give it back to the man, he is not there. Kathir posts a picture of the bag on Facebook in hopes of the owner contacting him. Later, Kathir bumps into Viji and follows her to the hospital her father is admitted at to apologize to him, but is insulted. Kathir leaves and forgets the bag. Later that day, Kathir’s mother phones him and reveals that his father. who left for Chennai without informing him, has not returned home for two days. Kathir starts to search for him and comes across a woman, who has his father’s phone, but with no sim card inside.Kathir informs Viji about the bag he forgot in the hospital and asks her to keep it safe. However, her spiteful father angrily throws the bag from the top of the hospital balcony and into a trash bin below.
The film then flashes back to a few days ago in Thanjavur. One of Ekambaram’s henchmen is seen buying this very bag from a shop and uses it for smuggling a golden idol worth 5 Crore from Thanjavur to Chennai. Ekambaram asks Sundaram to complete the task. He has to take it to Chennai and hand it over to a man named Sekar. Sundaram hands it over to Sekar’s man , who is the very same middle-aged man who lost the bag at the bus stop. Sundaram goes to Sekar’s house and he stays there, so that Sekar will complete the transaction and exchange the idol with a wealthy pawn shop owner and give the money back to Sundaram.
Back in the present, Sundaram reaches Chennai and goes to Sekar’s house as per Ekambaram’s instructions. However, unknown to anyone, Sekar is a manipulative characher with a more sinister idea. He plans to steal the money for himself. He contacts Ekambaram and tells him that Sundaram never arrived and he is yet to get the idol, implying that Sundaram ran away with it. Worried, Ekambaram comes to Chennai in search of his friend. Sekar, who still has Sundaram in his house, steals the old man’s phone and gets rid of it. He makes his own deal with the pawn shop owner and gets 2 crores in advance for the idol. The remaining 3 crores will be given upon handing over the idol in person. Sundaram, believing Sekar is a good man, continues to stay in his house. Sekar then finds out that Ekambaram is on his way to Chennai. Knowing that he will be killed if Ekambaram finds out his plans, he decides to get rid of Sundaram.
After asking his wife and children to leave the city for a few days, he talks to Sundaram in a charming way and asks him if he can take care of the money or he needs someone to be sent with him. By now Sundaram realizes that Sekar wants to kill him and steal the money for himself. Sundaram narrates a story. He tells Sekar that Sundaram was an orphan and he was brought up by Ekambaram and they have been the closest of friends for so long. Sekar asks Sundaram for his forgiveness as he desperately wants the money to give his wife and children a wealthy life. He then knocks Sundaram unconscious and keeps him locked up in a room in his house.
Kathir now gets a call from one of Ekambaram’s henchmen, who saw the Facebook post about the bag and assumes that both father and son have been scheming all along to steal the idol. However, Ekambaram believes there is a misunderstanding since there is no reason for Kathir to post the picture on Facebook if he plans to steal the bag. Nevertheless, the henchman orders Kathir to get the bag back to him within an hour’s time and meet them at Sekar’s house. Ekambaram, now at Sekar’s place, questions him. Sekar pretends to be innocent and claims that Sundaram might have run away with the idol. Ekambaram replies that he has not come for the money but for his friend. Then the pawn shop owner arrives and gives the remaining 3 crores to Sekar, breaking the bubble/ Ekambaram is enraged and he attacks Sekar. Sekar eventually confesses that he made a mistake but manages to kill Ekambaram and his aide in an ensuing fight by distracting them. With all his opponents dead, Sekar escapes with the money.
Meanwhile, Kathir comes to the hospital to get the bag back, but he manages to come across the man who lost the bag in the bus stop and concludes that he must have some connection with his father. He beats him up and makes him confess the truth. He reveals everything that happened and says that Sekar killed his father and he had been roaming around with his father’s remains in the bag all along. Kathir is shocked and he finds the bag in the nearby trash bin. Sindhanai, the pickpocket also sees the bag and comes to take it, still believing there is money in it. But he changes his mind when he sees Kathir crying over his father’s remains in the bag.
Months later, Sekar is living a lavish lifestyle when he hears a knock on the door of his new apartment. He sees Kathir there and assumes that he must be the cab driver he had asked for and lets him in. Kathir attacks Sekar and ties him to a chair, demanding to know why he killed his father. Sekar replies that he would have killed his own father to become a billionaire and shows no sign of remorse. Sekar tells Kathir that he knows he is going to kill him and he is not afraid of it.
Kathir and Sindhanai are then shown disposing of a suitcase in a nearby river which has blood stains on it. The scene then shifts to Sekar who is lying down on a mat and hears this and sheds tears. As the camera pans out, Sekar is shown to be a quadraplegic, with his arms and legs being cut off. He lives, but is unable to do anything. His wife, who know has to work as a prostitute to support their family, is shown contacting a client as he finally feels guilty for all the crimes he has committed.
Directed by Nithilan Swaminathan
Written by Nithilan Swaminathan & Madonne Ashwin (dialogues)
Starring Vidharth, Bharathiraja, Delna Davis
Music by Ajaneesh Loknath
Cinematography N. S. Udhayakumar
Edited by Abhinav Sunder Nayak
Production Shreya Sri Movies LLP
Release date 1 September 2017
Running time 105 minutes
Country India
Language Tamil
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