Kick (2023 film)

Kick is a 2023 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Prashant Raj. It is produced by Naveen Raj under the production banner Fortune Films. A remake of the director's Kannada film Zoom (2016) which itself is a remake of Lover Come Back (1961), the film stars Santhanam and Tanya Hope in the lead role, Ragini Dwivedi, Brahmanandam, Mansoor Ali Khan, Senthil, Thambi Ramaiah, Kovai Sarala, and Manobala in supporting roles.

The film was announced in January 2022 under the tentative title Santa15, while the official title Kick was revealed in August. Principal photography commenced in April 2022, and wrapped in July. The music is composed by Arjun Janya, while the cinematography and editing are handled by Sudhakar S. Raj and Nagooran Ramachandran, respectively. The film was released theatrically on 1 September 2023 and received negative reviews from critics.

Development
On 20 January 2022, Sandalwood director Prashant Raj, via Twitter, said that he was doing a Tamil film for the first time starring Santhanam in the lead role. He further on said that the film is produced by Naveen Raj under Fortune Films. Tanya Hope, in March, announced her commitments to the film as the lead female role. A muhurat puja was held on 22 April in Chennai. On 31 August, coinciding Ganesh Chaturthi, the official title Kick was revealed.

Filming
Principal photography commenced on 22 April 2022, with the first schedule in Bangalore. A song sequence was shot at the start of schedule. The film was shot in Chennai, Bangkok and London before the principal photography wrapped in July.

Music
The music is composed by Arjun Janya, in his Tamil debut. The film marks as his first collaboration with both Prashant and Santhanam.

Theatrical
Kick was released on 1 September 2023, clashing with Amitash's Paramporul, Samantha's Kushi and Hamaresh's Rangoli.

Reception
A Srinivasa Ramanujam of The Hindu stated that "Santhanam’s film is yawn-inducing and terrible" .Avinash Ramachandran of Cinema Express gave 1 star out of 5 and noted that "we see the cast and crew laughing their hearts out while filming Kick, one can’t help but think why didn’t these laughs translate onscreen, only to realise the actual joke was on us."