Kuththu

Kuthu is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language masala film directed by A. Venkatesh, starring Silambarasan in the lead role alongside Ramya and Kalabhavan Mani. It is a remake of the 2003 Telugu film Dil. The music was composed by Srikanth Deva.

Released on 14 April 2004, it received mixed reviews and was a hit. The film was later dubbed in Telugu as Dheerudu. Ramya was credited in later Tamil films by her birth name Divya Spandana because she disliked the name "Kuthu Ramya" that resulted from the success of this film.

Synopsis
Gurumoorthy "Guru" is a sociable boy from a middle-class family. He lives with his parents- a doting mother and a strict but well-meaning father- and a playful maternal uncle, Senthil. He enrolls at the VOC College of Arts and Sciences, and falls in love with Anjali, a fellow student, who doesn't reciprocate his affections.

Anjali's father is the rich and powerful gangster Veerabahu, who is extremely protective of his daughter to the point that he brutally beats up a boy at a temple for brushing past her by accident. A misunderstanding results in Guru being beaten up by Veerabahu's men, who suspect that he and Anjali are lovers. After this, he vows to win Anjali's love for real. In due course, she falls in love with him too. How the lovers stand strong in the face of Veerabahu's increasingly desperate attempts to separate them forms the rest of the story.

Production
After the success of Dum which was a remake of Kannada film Appu, Venkatesh and Simbhu decided to collaborate for second time with Kuthu being the remake of successful Telugu film Dil. Kannada actress Divya Spandana made her debut in Tamil with this film under the name "Ramya".

A song was picturised with lead pair in studios with an erected set costing Rs 10 lakhs while another song was shot at Thirumayam Kottai near karaikudi with Ramya Krishnan which took three days to complete. The fight scene was shot at SRM College Grounds for 10 days.

Soundtrack
Soundtrack was composed by Srikanth Deva.

Reception
Indiaglitz wrote "The movie is a typical 'masala' entertainer featuring Silambarasan as a daring youth, who wins the heart of a girl, who happens to be the daughter of a dreaded gangster. A remake of the recent Telugu hit Dil, Silambarasan figures stunt sequences and dances gleefully to peppy tunes". Chennai Online wrote "A spirited youth falling in love with a local don’s daughter and the hurdles he crosses… This subject has been hacked to death in quite a few films recently. That ‘Kuthu’ comes from the Telugu hit ‘Dhil’ is no excuse to push it down the throat of the viewers again!". Cinesouth wrote "Director VEnkatesh has whipped up a formula for commercial success. ‘Kuthu’ sticks to it".