RJ Balaji wrote Karuppu for Vijay first, found its climax in Kantara

Karuppu was first written for Vijay, RJ Balaji has revealed, meant as the actor’s last film before he left cinema for politics. In interviews after the film’s success, the director said he narrated the story to Vijay, who asked for a week to think it over and then called back to decline, pointing to his political plans and his own thinking on which film should be his last. Balaji said he found the reasons entirely fair. He had pitched two scripts, at Vijay’s request, and said the detailed questions Vijay put to him after the narration helped him rewrite and strengthen the screenplay.

The climax, Balaji added, came to him while he was watching the Kannada hit Kantara. He also spoke about how quickly Suriya committed to the project, a contrast with the three years the actor had given Kanguva, and responded to the comparisons some viewers have drawn between Karuppu and Ajith’s Good Bad Ugly.

The film meant to send Vijay into politics instead went to Suriya and Trisha and became his highest grosser.