Suriya's Karuppu not for social media people, RJ Balaji's remark sparks row

At a promotional event in Hyderabad, RJ Balaji said Suriya's Karuppu was made for cinema hall audiences, not social media users. The trailer positions the May 14 release as a mass entertainer built around Suriya's action star image.

In Short

• The trailer shows Suriya mixing street fights with courtroom confrontations
• Trisha Krishnan stars opposite Suriya in the RJ Balaji directorial
• RJ Balaji said that the film is not for people on social media

Director RJ Balaji has described Suriya's upcoming film Karuppu as a theatrical entertainer meant for cinema-going audiences rather than for "people on social media". Speaking at a promotional event held in Hyderabad ahead of the film's May 14 release, Balaji said the film was designed as a "mass masala" outing built around the version of Suriya that audiences have enjoyed in commercial hits.

Addressing the crowd at the pre-release event, Balaji said, “I don't want to overpromise and underdeliver. It is a very entertaining, mass masala film with Suriya sir we always love. Ayan, Singam and all the films that we have seen of him - I wanted to show that Suriya sir in the film."

He then added, "The film is made for people of Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra [Pradesh]. It is not made for people on social media. It is made for those who celebrate cinema in the darkness of cinema halls, not for those who do postmortems or dissect the film on social media. Not for them. This is for all of us to celebrate.”

Here's the video:

RJ Balaji's comments have sparked a debate about film criticism, with users pointing out that those who discuss films on social media have also paid for the tickets. Take a look at some of the comments:

The trailer underlines Balaji's approach, with Suriya leading the action-heavy moments and Sai Abhyankkar's lively background score driving the scenes. Karuppu is directed by RJ Balaji and is based on a screenplay by Ashwin Ravichandran, Rahul Raj, TS Gopi Krishnan, and Karan Aravind Kumar. The film is produced by Dream Warrior Pictures.

The trailer presents Suriya in full action mode, making a splashing entry and taking on his opponents in a series of fight sequences. The film also shows him as a lawyer, suggesting that his character takes on battles both on the streets and in court. Trisha Krishnan stars alongside him in the film.

Here's the trailer:

Along with Suriya and Trisha, the cast includes Swasika, Indrans, Yogi Babu, Sshivada, Natty Subramaniam, and Supreeth Reddy. Cinematographer GK Vishnu also reacted after the trailer launch and thanked Balaji in a post on X.

He wrote, “It was always a wishlist for me to do a proper mass entertainer with @Suriya_offl sir. Working with Mera Bhai @RJ_Balaji has been such an amazing fun filled journey. You moved me in so many ways. We carried this film with a lot of love, emotion and belief from the heart to the screen. Seeing the trailer finally come out is a very emotional moment for all of us. Very happy to be doing this big film with my thambi @SaiAbhyankkar such a pure energy and brings so much positivity wherever he goes. Big thanks to our producers @prabhu_sr and Prakash sir for trusting me. Hope you all enjoy the #KaruppuTrailer. Watch it on your HDR phones and TVs with full brightness ON.”

Here's the post:

With its trailer now out, Karuppu has been positioned by its makers as a commercial entertainer centred on Suriya's action star image, with the team stressing that the film is aimed at audiences who want to experience it in cinema halls when it releases on May 14.

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