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Captain Miller is a 2024 Indian Tamil-language action adventure film directed by Arun Matheswaran and produced by Sathya Jyothi Films. The film is the first part of a planned trilogy, and stars Dhanush in the title role, with Shiva Rajkumar, Sundeep Kishan, Priyanka Mohan, Aditi Balan, Edward Sonnenblick and John Kokken in supporting roles. Set in the 1930s, during the British Raj, it follows a former British Army soldier trying to save his home village from destruction by the British Army.
Arun wrote the script in 2018 and Sathya Jyothi Films was to produce it. However, nothing was finalised then until 2019 when it started to come into shape. It was tentatively titled D47 (Dhanush's 47th film in a lead role). The film was announced in July 2022. Principal photography commenced that September and wrapped by late 2023, taking place in Chennai, Tirunelveli and Tenkasi. The music is composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar, with cinematography handled by Siddhartha Nuni and editing by Nagooran Ramachandran.
Captain Miller was released worldwide on 12 January 2024, the week of Pongal, in standard and IMAX formats. The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed over ₹104.79 crore (US$13 million).[4][5] It is currently the fourth highest-grossing Tamil film of 2024 and eighth highest-grossing South Indian film of 2024.
Plot
| Narrative structure |
|---|
| Prologue: "Sivappu Sivan, Karuppu Eesan" ("Scarlet Shivan, Black Eesan") |
| Chapter 1: "Gundarpuraanam" ("Tales of a Thug") |
| Chapter 2: "Enakku Avan Saganum" ("I want him dead") |
| Chapter 3: "Kurangin Nizhalil Paambu" ("Snake in the Monkey's Shadow") |
| Chapter 4: "Kaattu Poonaikku Shivarathiri Virathama?" ("Do Wildcats Fast on the Great Night of Shiva?") |
| Chapter 5: "Koramugathin Ezhuchi" ("RISE OF THE UGLY FACE") |
| Epilogue: "Seneer Sadangu Por Thodangu" ("The Battle Begins with a Blood Ritual") |
In the 1930s during the British Raj, Analeesan "Eesa", a villager, wants to gain respect because of caste issues in his village, and wants to joins the British Indian Army. This is opposed by Sengannan alias Sengolan, his elder brother, who is leading a revolution against the British. Eesa meets Velmathi, a doctor and the niece of the royal king, Rajadhipathi, and falls in love with her. However, he learns that she is in love with someone else and left with no choice, forgets about her. He soon joins the army and is called "Miller", due to the British not being able to pronounce the birth names of the soldiers, but brands himself as "Captain Miller". In one of their many missions, Eesa, along with his army friends, Rafiq and Sembatta alias Stephen, are forced by their General, Buller, to shoot innocent and defenceless freedom fighters at a public gathering.
When the soldiers are disposing the bodies of the freedom fighters, Stephen commits suicide out of guilt, prompting Eesa to kill Buller. Afterwards, he also attempts suicide, but Rafiq stops him and tells him to leave the army and go back to his village. Eesa returns to his village and learns that his brother was also killed along with the other freedom fighters in the gathering massacre. The villagers berate and throw him out of the village. During a skirmish between a group of revolutionaries and the British, Eesa helps the revolutionaries kill the Britishers, and joins their group. Eesa and the group successfully orchestrate another attack against the Britishers, but he gets shot in the process. He crosses paths with Velmathi again, who treats him, and learns that her husband also died in the gathering. She tells Eesa to kill Riley, the son of a British Governor, to avenge her husband's death.
Meanwhile, the British government learns about a precious gemstone, which is 600 years old, from King Rajadhipathi and seizes it with the discreet help of Kanagasabai, Rajadhipathi's minister, who reveals the location of the gemstone under the temple's deity, Shiva. However, Rajadhipathi wants the gemstone for himself and gets Eesa to retrieve it, without revealing anything about it. He also asks his son, Prince Jayavardhan, to look over the entire operation and kill him and his revolutionary group, after they successfully retrieve it. Eesa successfully retrieves it from the Britishers and kills Riley, who was also involved in stealing the gemstone and responsible for the massacre that Eesa was part of during his time in the army. However, Eesa takes the gemstone and absconds to Ceylon as he realises Rajadhipathi's plan. The Britishers torture and kill some of the villagers to reveal his whereabouts, under General Andrew Wandy's orders. The following morning, he returns to the village with the gemstone and attacks and kills the British soldiers torturing and killing the villagers, while chasing away Wandy and his men. The Indian soldiers drop everything and surrender to Eesa. They state that Wandy will return with an army of 700 soldiers, from Veeravanallur.
Velmathi and the others safeguard the villagers and kill Rajadhipathi, while Eesa kills Jayavardhan. The villagers finally enter the temple, as they were forbidden by Rajadhipathi's family for 600 years. Eesa and the revolutionaries attack the army, and are later assisted by Rafiq and Sengolan, who is actually revealed to be still alive and part of another revolutionary group in the Andaman. Eesa and the revolutionaries, along with Rafiq and Sengolan, defeat the British army and safeguard the village. The gemstone is instilled back in the temple and the British empire issues a heavy bounty on Eesa, Rafiq, Sengolan and the other revolutionaries.
In the epilogue, Rajadhipathi's daughter, Princess Shakunthala, learns about Velmathi's involvement in her father and brother's death from a sly Kanagasabai. She sets out to exact vengeance on her, Eesa, Rafiq, Sengolan, and the other revolutionaries.
Cast
- Dhanush as Analeesan "Easa" / Captain Miller
- Shiva Rajkumar as Sengolan alias Senganna
- Sundeep Kishan as Captain Rafiq
- Priyanka Mohan as Velmathi
- Aditi Balan as Princess Shakunthala
- Edward Sonnenblick as General Andrew Wandy
- John Kokken as Prince Jayavardhan
- Nivedhithaa Sathish as Thaenpasiyaar
- Vinoth Kishan
- Alexx O'Nell as Riley
- Elango Kumaravel as Kannaya
- Pintu Pandu as Kaali
- Viji Chandrasekhar as Pechaiamma
- Kaali Venkat as Kumastha Kanagasabai
- "Merku Thodarchi Malai" Antony
- Jayaprakash as King Rajadhipathi
- Bose Venkat
- Abdool Lee as Sembatta / Stephen
- Mark Bennington as General Buller
- Ashwin Kkumar as a diligent soldier
- Arunodhayan as Ayyavu
- Swayam Siddha
