Thunivu
Thunivu () is a 2023 Indian Tamil-language action heist film written and directed by H. Vinoth and produced by Boney Kapoor. It stars Ajith Kumar in lead role with Manju Warrier, Samuthirakani, John Kokken, Ajay and Veera in supporting roles. The film was announced with the tentative title AK61 (Ajith's 61st film in a leading role) in February 2022, the third collaboration between Ajith, Vinoth and Kapoor after Nerkonda Paarvai (2019) and Valimai (2022). Principal photography commenced in April and ended that October, taking place in Hyderabad and Bangkok. The title Thunivu was announced in September. Post-production works began in late-October and were completed that December. Thunivu was released theatrically in the week of Pongal on 11 January 2023. It received mixed reviews from critics. Plot 
 
Radha, a dreaded gangster, and his men plan a heist at "Your Bank", one of the biggest privately-owned banks in Chennai, with the support of ACP Ramachandran. They plan to rob 500 crores on 21 May, coinciding with the Governor's party event at his residence. On the day of the heist, Radha and his men hijack the bank, only to discover that the bank is already hijacked by a mysterious man nicknamed Michael Jackson and his partner, Kanmani. The commandos arrive inside the bank but get defeated. Jackson later makes a deal with Radha to help him rob 5000 crores, in exchange for a share of the money, for which Radha and his men reluctantly agree. When Radha finds that the bank locker contains only 1,510 crores, they decide to kill Jackson, only to be defeated. Jackson insists that Antony alias Anto, a police constable, be the negotiator, much to Ramachandran's ire. He uses a voice changer of Michael Jackson, tricking the people and the media into referring to him as Michael Jackson. Ramachandran tries to kill Jackson with a sniper, only for him to make an explosion in a car parked near the bank using a bomb. With the events being leaked to the media, city commissioner Dayalan is called in to handle the situation. While inspecting the bank, Jackson finds explosives, disguised as fire extinguishers, and deduces that a third team has also entered the bank, without him knowing. The police track a van where Kanmani is guiding Jackson, but Kanmani destroys the van and escapes. Ramachandran sends his men to trace Kanmani, but she kills them and exposes Ramachandran's involvement in the heist to Dayalan, who interrogates him. Ramachandran confesses that he along with his childhood friend Shyam, the Tamil Nadu Branch Head of Your Bank, planned the heist. Ramachandran tried hiring Jackson, who goes by the name "Dark Devil", for the job, but he refused. Ramachandran later hired Radha's gang for the job, without revealing that they would be killed after the heist. Radha and his gang join and assist Dark Devil after hearing Ramachandran's confession through bugs planted on Dayalan's base. Shyam flees from the police after they learn about his involvement but is captured by Kanmani. Meanwhile, Dayalan finds that Valavan was the one who wired and planted explosives in the drainage and begins to search for him. He also learns that Dark Devil and his team actually died a few months ago. Ramachandran tries to prove that Dark Devil is alive by detonating a dummy bomb only to get killed when the bomb turns out to be a real one and explodes after the wire in it gets detached. Dark Devil learns from Kanmani that there are 25,000 crores available in the bank. Dark Devil tells Dayalan to arrange a meeting between him and the chairman of Your Bank, Krish. As Dark Devil deduced, the third team, revealed to be some of the bank's staff, attacked Radha and his team in the locker, before assaulting Dark Devil and holding him captive. Krish arrives and reveals that the third team was hired by him and tells them to destroy the bank's chest with explosives with hostages inside. Krish also forces Dark Devil to reveal himself, where Dark Devil reveals that he and his teammates lived happily together like a family. After having committed a heist in Bangkok, Dark Devil's members Jijo and Achara planned to get married. They all travelled to Araku Valley to arrange their marriage and celebrate, but they were ambushed by assailants sent by Krish and Shyam, who feared that they would reveal their heist plan to others. Jijo and Achara got killed, but Dark Devil and Kanmani managed to escape, and the killers faked their deaths for the rest of their real money. The duo reached the house of an old couple, who tended their wounds and revealed about his son Kavin, an honest bank official, who wanted to return the money to the people who invested in mutual funds. However, Kavin was killed by Krish, who made it look like a mob did this during a strike. Having learnt about this, Dark Devil and Kanmani decided to bring Krish and the bank officials to justice. After the revelation, Dark Devil defeats Krish and his team, where he forces him on live to reveal his financial scam of the 25,000 crore, which was invested in the mutual funds, and the atrocities committed against people by the bank officials. Shyam, who was made to wear a bomb vest is sent to Dayalan, where he reveals everything about the heist and Krish's involvement in it before he is killed by Kanmani's phone call. Dark Devil also brings mutual funds chairman Harsha, who was abducted by Kanmani at gunpoint and Sunil Dutta, who was abducted from Mauritius by Dark Devil's men and was also responsible for stealing data from the NSE backup server of the Indian Stock Exchange. Sunil confesses that he invested in 10 companies belonging to Krish and reveals that the 25,000 crore is in the bank's secret chest locker. With the help of a mole in the media, Krish falsely frames Dark Devil and his team as terrorists and cuts the live telecast. Dayalan learns from Rajesh that everyone in the bank except Krish is going to be killed before commandos arrive and take control of the situation, and Dayalan is suspended. In the bank, Dark Devil opens the secret locker with the help of Radha and his men, only to find that the money is counterfeit money. Dark Devil locks Krish, Sunil and Harsha in the secret locker, before Krish reveals that the money is stacked in 25 of the 1500 containers of his ship, which he discreetly records as a video. The commandos opened fire, with the bank severely damaged. Krish, Sunil and Harsha are killed in the secret locker by an explosive. Kanmani arrives in a fire truck stuffed with RDX and threatens to detonate them, unless the hostages are released, forcing the commandos to cease fire. She along with Dark Devil, wearing masks, escapes with the help of the public and reaches a boat, planning to escape by sea, while Radha and his gang also escape in the ensuing chaos. A chase ensues where Dark Devil, Kanmani, and the rest of their team shoot the commandos and coast guards, using an M2 Browning. However, they get shot and fall into the sea. Later, the media broadcasts the video which Dark Devil discreetly recorded, and Dayalan's suspension is revoked. Meanwhile, Dark Devil and Kanmani fake their deaths and escape using sea scooters and reach their boat, settling in international waters. Dayalan and his team board a helicopter to the ship, where they find the 25,000 crore. 