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.