Thoranai () or Pistha () is a 2009 Indian masala film directed by Sabha Ayyappan and produced by Vikram Krishna under the banner G K Film Corporation. It stars Vishal and Shriya Saran in the lead roles, while Prakash Raj, Kishore and Santhanam appear in other pivotal roles. The film was simultaneously shot in Tamil and Telugu languages with different supporting cast in the Telugu version. Thoranai and Pistha were released on 29 May 2009.
Plot Murugan is a native of Madurai who arrives at Chennai to find his long-lost brother Ganesan, who had run away from home about two decades ago. Murugan gets stuck in a rivalry between gangsters Guru and Tamizharasu, where he learns that Guru is actually Ganesan. Murugan decides to protect Guru/Ganesan from Tamizharasu and a cat-and-mouse game ensues. Guru/Ganesan finally decide to reform himself where he reunites with Murugan and his mother, while Tamizharasu is killed in a police encounter.
Cast Actor (Tamil) Actor (Telugu) Role (Tamil) Role (Telugu) Vishal C. Murugan (CM) C. Muralikrishna "Krishna" (CM) Shriya Saran Indu Prakash Raj Thamizharasu Suryaprakash Santhanam Ali Vellaichamy Chittibabu Kishore Ganesan (Guru) Rambabu (Guru) Sriman Ganesan Rambabu Aarthi Indu's friend Geetha Murugan's mother Muralikrishna's mother Sayaji Shinde Minister Sivanaandi M. S. Bhaskar Tanikella Bharani Tamizharasan's assistant Suryaprakash's assistant Paravai Muniyamma Telangana Shakuntala Pachamma Patti Livingston Surya Murugan's father Krishna's father Pandiarajan Krishna Bhagavaan Walter VetrivelWalter Rangaraju Lal Chennai Police Commissioner Vizag Police Commissioner Suruli Manohar Srinivasa Reddy Constable Mayilsamy M. S. Narayana Watchman T. P. Gajendran Kondavalasa Apartment Secretary Suman Shetty Murugan's friend Krishna's friendNellai SivaResident Shanmugarajan Corrupt inspector Muthukaalai Kallu Chidambaram Bike customer Besant Ravi Guru's henchman Sampath Ram Guru's henchman Aryan Tamizharasan/Suryaprakash's henchman Periya Karuppu Thevar Rallapalli Panchayat Man Swaminathan Cashier Senthi Kumari Indu's friend Manobala Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam Birth and Death administration officer Boys Rajan Police officer Dhadi Balaji Chitram Srinu Bystander who pretends to be blindKullamani Cyclist who laughs at InduKarate Raja RowdyKadhal Saravanan WaiterScissor Manohar Duvvasi Mohan Man who asks for liftRaviraj Unknown Annapoornamma Krishna's grandmother Unknown Gautam Raju Traffic police officer Meenakshi Item number in "Vedi Vedi" and "Pidi Pidi"
Production Among the forty scripts that he heard, Vishal okayed Sabha Ayyappan as the director. Ayyappan had previously worked as an assistant director to Boopathy Pandian for Malaikottai (2007).
Music The music was composed by Mani Sharma. In a music review, Karthik of Milliblog wrote, "Thoranai has what a Vishal starrer deserves – massy and straight forward songs that aim at your feet with Manisharma scoring better than his other recent Tamil soundtracks".
Tamil version Song Singers Lyrics Length "Vedi Vedi Saravedi" Naveen, Ranjith Viveka 4:26 "Vaa Chellam" Udit Narayan Pa. Vijay 5:07 "Pattucha" Vijay Yesudas, Janani Madhan Kabilan 3:58 "Peliccan Paravaigal" Ranjith, Rita, Rahul, Jai Vaali 4:07 "Manjasela Mandakini" Tippu, Saindhavi Pa. Vijay 4:20 "Vaa Chellam" (Version 2) Ranjith 5:07
Telugu version "Pidi Pidi" - Ranjith, Naveen "Naa Maharani" - Udit Narayan "Pattuko Pattuko" - Narayanan, Janani Madhan "Oka Pelican" - Rahul, Suchithra "Naa Maharani" - Ranjith "Mandakini" - Tippu, Saindhavi
Critical reception Sify wrote "Arbitrarily packing in elements of every genre without actually bothering to stop and see if the mix does work, Thoranai is like an overcooked stew." Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff wrote "Thoranai's only merit is that it's marginally better than Sathyam. The Times of India gave 2/5 stars and wrote "It is a formidable star cast that you see in Thoranai. However, what is missing is a convincing story". Reviewing the Telugu version, BVS Prakash of The Times of India gave 1.5/5 stars and wrote "Inspite of a dud like Salute, Tamil star Vishal hasn't realised the significance of a solid plot even for a star-centric film."
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