Penguin (film)

Penguin is a 2020 Indian mystery thriller film written and directed by Eashvar Karthic in his directorial debut and co-produced by Karthik Subbaraj. The film stars Keerthy Suresh. The film was made in Tamil and Telugu and was released on Prime Video on 19 June 2020.

Penguin
Poster
Directed byEashvar Karthic
Produced by
Written byEashvar Karthic
StarringKeerthy Suresh
Music bySanthosh Narayanan
CinematographyKharthik Palani[1]
Edited byAnil Krish[1]
Production
company
Stone Bench Films
Passion Studios
Distributed byPrime Video
Release date
  • 19 June 2020 (2020-06-19)
Running time
132 minutes[2][3]
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil
Telugu

Plot

Rhythm, who is about to have her second child from a second marriage, is traumatised by the nightmares in which she sees a man with umbrella harming her lost son Ajay from her first marriage.The movie then goes to the past where Rhythm goes to a friends father's funeral where her son Ajay goes missing, he then is found crying. After that incident she goes to the school to pick up Ajay where a small girl comes and tells that Ajay is not playing with her. Rhythm then says that she will tell Ajay to play with her extra before asking the girl where Ajay is. The girl replies that Ajay went with a Charlie Chaplin masked man. Rhythm then searches for Ajay but he does not come back. She is constantly reminded of her lost son which depresses her. She is still determined to find her son believing him to be alive. She keeps getting back to the lake where Ajay was lost.

On one such evening when she drives past the lake, she is reminded of him and she sees a man about to die. He tells her that he saw a lost child with a man donning a Charlie Chaplin outfit and asks her to escape before he comes to kill her. She runs to save herself, but notices the mystery man killing the other man.Having found a clue about the kidnapper of her son, she informs the police who tells her that a child named Anjana was kidnapped that evening in the similar fashion as that of Ajay her son. Despite the warnings from the officers, she gets back to the lake again to retrieve her kid. There she finds her son Ajay all grown up.

They get him back to only understand he is tamed like an animal,who works only on commands. To bring him back, Rhythm and Gautham (her current husband), Raghu (Ajay's father) join hands to help, but in vain. Ajay draws few pictures of the kidnapper. The picture reveals that the kidnapper is still stalking him. Dr. Mathi helps them. Rhythm comes close to finding the kidnapper's identity when he pays visit to Ajay, but is attacked by him.

The rest of the plot deals with whether Rhythm find her nemesis and to what extent she travels to safeguard her loved ones.

Cast
  • Keerthy Suresh as Rhythm (Ritu)[4]
  • Linga as Raghu[5]
  • Madhampatty Rangaraj as Gautham Siddharth[5]
  • Master Advaith as Ajay[5]
    • Umar as young Ajay
  • Mathi as David
  • Muthazhagan as Charlie Chaplin and stranger in the lake
  • Nithya Kriupa as Bhavana[6]
    • Sai Jivitha as young Bhavana
    • Shakthi as teenage Bhavana
  • Harini Rameshkrishnan as Abhi[6]
  • Thejank as Kathir
  • Maddy as Cyrus
  • Murali as Bhavana's father
  • Aishwarya Ramani as Anjana
  • Uma Shankar as Bhavana's mother
  • Tharini Suresh as Anjana's mother
  • Thilak Rammohan as an inspector
  • Vadivel as a cab driver

Production

In August 2019, it was announced that Keerthy Suresh had signed on an untitled "mystery thriller" film to be produced by Karthik Subbaraj under his banner Stone Bench Films, and directed by debutant Eashvar Karthic.[7] The film, which was Stone Bench Films' third production venture,[8] was also produced by Kaarthekeyen Santhanam, Sudhan Sundaram and Jayaram under Passion Studios.[9] Principal photography began in September,[8] and the film was made in Tamil and Telugu languages.[10] The title Penguin was announced on 17 October, Keerthy Suresh's birthday.[11] Principal photography wrapped up in November.[1] The film features Madhampatty Rangaraj and Linga in pivotal roles in addition to several newcomers.[12]

Soundtrack
Penguin
Soundtrack album by
Santhosh Narayanan
Released2020
Recorded2020
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length5:01 (Tamil, Malayalam)
5:03 (Telugu)
LanguageTamil
LabelSony Music South
ProducerSanthosh Narayanan
Santhosh Narayanan chronology
Oththa Seruppu Size 7
(2019)		 Penguin
(2020)
Singles from Penguin
  1. "Kolame"
    Released: 16 June 2020

The music was composed by Santhosh Narayanan.[1] The song "Kolame" was released on 16 June 2020 as a single,[13] along with its Telugu version "Praname",[14] and Malayalam version "Omale".[15]

Tamil
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Kolame"VivekSusha5:01
Total length:5:01
Telugu
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Praname"VennelakantiSusha5:03
Total length:5:03
Malayalam
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Omale"VivekSusha5:01
Total length:5:01

Release

Penguin was released on 19 June 2020 on Prime Video in Tamil and Telugu with a Malayalam-dubbed version.[16] It was originally scheduled for a theatrical release,[17][18] but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this was dropped in favour of a digital release.[19]

Reception

The film received mixed reviews.[20] S. Srivatsan of The Hindu wrote, "Penguin is not a bad film but Eashvar’s idea of writing suspense gets clumsier as the story progresses."[21] Shubra Gupta of The Indian Express gave the film one and a half out of five stars stating that the film had a "weak" plot.[22] M Suganth of The Times of India gave the film two-and-a-half out of five stars stating that the thriller was underwhelming.[5] Karthik Keramalu from The Quint gave the film three out of five stars and stated that Keerthy Suresh gave a good performance but the thriller itself was "lazy".[23]

References
  1. "Penguin shoot wrapped up". The Times of India. 3 November 2019. Archived from the original on 22 May 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  2. "PENGUIN [Telugu]". British Board of Film Classification.
  3. "PENGUIN [Tamil]". British Board of Film Classification.
  4. S, Srivatsan (15 June 2020). "Keerthy Suresh on finding rhythm to her character in 'Penguin'". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  5. "Penguin Movie Review: Some chills and many cheats in this underwhelming emotional thriller". The Times of India. 19 June 2020. Archived from the original on 19 June 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  6. Ramachandran, Mythily (17 June 2020). "South Indian actress Keerthy Suresh takes on role as a mum in thriller 'Penguin'". Gulf News. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  7. "Karthik Subbaraj announces film with Keerthy Suresh". The Hindu. 13 August 2019. Archived from the original on 22 May 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  8. "Karthik Subbaraj's fourth production venture starts rolling in Nilgiris". The News Minute. 17 September 2019. Archived from the original on 22 May 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  9. Pecheti, Prakash (11 June 2020). "Penguin trailer: Hunt for a ruthless monster". Telangana Today. Archived from the original on 11 June 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  10. "Now, PVR "disappointed" with films going directly to streaming platforms". Outlook. PTI. 15 May 2020. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  11. "Karthik Subbaraj unveils the title of Keerthy Suresh's upcoming film on her birthday". The New Indian Express. 17 October 2019. Archived from the original on 22 May 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  12. Karthi, E. Sudharshan (4 November 2019). "``ஏழே கேரக்டர்ஸ்... கொடைக்கானலில் 32 நாள்... பென்ச்மார்க் கீர்த்தி! - `பெண்குயின்' அப்டேட்ஸ்" [`` Seven Characters ... 32 Days in Kodaikanal ... Benchmark Keerthi! - `Penguin 'Updates]. Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  13. Balachandran, Logesh (16 June 2020). "Kolame song out: Keerthy Suresh and team treat us to first track from Penguin". India Today. Archived from the original on 16 June 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  14. "Penguin: Anirudh Ravichander releases first track Praname from Keerthy Suresh's next". The Times of India. 16 June 2020. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  15. Rhode, Shruti. "Penguin song Kolame out! Susha adds melody and life to Keerthy Suresh's role as a mother". Zoom TV. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  16. Amazon Prime Video (6 June 2020). "Expect the unexpected. #PenguinOnPrime premieres June 19 in Tamil and Telugu, with dub in Malayalam". Facebook. Archived from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  17. "Keerthy Suresh next titled Penguin". The Times of India. 17 October 2019. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  18. "'Penguin' trailer: Keerthy Suresh stars in an intriguing case of a missing child". The Hindu. 11 June 2020. Archived from the original on 11 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  19. "It's Official: Keerthy Suresh's Penguin to release on June 19". The Times of India. 15 May 2020. Archived from the original on 22 May 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  20. "Keerthy Suresh's Penguin leaked online on TamilRockers, other torrent sites". Business Today. 19 June 2020. Archived from the original on 23 June 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  21. S, Srivatsan (19 June 2020). "'Penguin' movie review: A confusing thriller with great visuals". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 20 June 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  22. Gupta, Shubra (20 June 2002). "Penguin movie review: The Keerthy Suresh-starrer is quite ludicrous". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 20 June 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  23. "'Penguin' Review: Keerthy Suresh Is the Star in a Lazy Thriller". The Quint. 19 June 2020. Archived from the original on 23 June 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
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