Thagaraaru

Ganesh Vinayaac, associate of Silambarasan, Tharun Gopi and SJ Suryah was supposed to direct Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal but was ultimately removed from the film.[6] He then announced a project called Madayan with Simbhu but project never took off[7] and then he was approached by Dayanidhi to direct a film for his cousin Arulnidhi.[8] Arulnidhi who was fresh after the success of Mouna Guru was supposed to do a project called "Ashokamithran" with Karu Pazhaniappan which was dropped accepted to do the project. The film was initially titled as Sambhavam and Pagal Kollai but later changed as Thagaraaru.[9] Pooja was initially approached to play the lead female role but she was busy with other commitments and thus recommended Poorna for the role.[10]

The first day of shoot was held at location where the opening scene of producer's previous film Mankatha was shot, since the producer considered it as "sentimental".[11] The film was entirely shot at Madurai. The last schedule was commenced at 3 June, in Red Hills, Chennai.[12]

The songs were composed by Dharan. Initially Raghunanthan was credited as music composer but he was replaced by Dharan as he was busy with other work.[3] Dharan again was not available to compose the score, which was completed by Praveen Sathya.[3] The album have five songs and Ganesh Vinayaac wrote two of them, Super Thirudan and Thiruttu Payapulla.[3] The audio was launched on 18 November 2013 at an FM station through Sony Music.[13] Behindwoods wrote:"Dharan continues to show promise with an album that has some impressive highlights".[14] Milliblog wrote:"Standard fare from Dharan".[15]

• Annanadai - Velmurugan, Chinnaponnu
• Nanba Nanba - Ananthu
• Super Thirudan - Haricharan
• Thiruttu Payapulla - Karthik
• Thagaraaru Theme music

The satellite rights of the film were sold to Sun TV. Trailer of the film was screened during the intermission of Udhayam NH4.[16] The film was given a "U/A" certificate by the Indian Censor Board.[17]

Thagaraaru opened to generally positive reviews from critics.[18] Sify wrote "Thagararu is a well-made fast moving thriller with a terrific climax twist. It's an unpredictable crime drama that combines violence and friendship set in Tamil cinema’s favourite milieu-Madurai".[19] The Hindu wrote, "For quite a while the film meanders through a path of romance and robbery before the director actually decides to steer the course of the story to a bloody end. Writer-director Ganesh Vinaayac gets himself stuck with a story that isn’t convincing and characters that lack stability".[20] The New Indian Express wrote, "Thagararu may be a Madurai story, but it manages to keep one engrossed for the most part, and is worth a watch".[21] Deccan Herald wrote, "Thanks to ensemble performances, snazzy camera work, slick editing, deft direction by Vinaayak, while it sizzles, what, however, makes the experience a bit deja vu is, it reminds Subramaniapuram and a slew of Madurai films. Despite the fussy title, the film is worth a watch".[22] Behindwoods gave 2.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Thagaraaru has its share of madurai violence, friendship and cliches, but is a one time watch for its climax".[23]

• Thagaraaru on IMDb