Following the strong run of Karuppu, which crossed ₹300 crore worldwide to become the biggest film of Suriya’s career, the actor has gifted a new luxury car to the film’s writer-director and on-screen villain, RJ Balaji.
The gesture was shared on June 12, 2026, the same day the film began streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Balaji posted a photo with Suriya on Instagram and X, along with a video of Suriya driving him around a rain-soaked Chennai in the new car. Balaji wrote that Suriya had backed his vision from the start and helped turn the project into a reality.
A credit row, quietly settled
The timing was notable. In the days before, Balaji had met Tamil Nadu’s newly elected Chief Minister and TVK chief C. Joseph Vijay to share the film’s success, and publicly thanked him for story inputs during the early development, calling him “the man who started it all for Karuppu” and saying the script had originally been written with Vijay in mind.
Sections of Suriya’s fanbase objected to the framing, arguing it took the spotlight off the lead actor whose stardom and promotion carried the ₹140 crore film. By posting the car-ride video and dedicating the success to “the one and only Suriya sir,” Balaji effectively put the matter to rest.
A modern take on the ‘Saamy Padam’
Produced by Dream Warrior Pictures, Karuppu released worldwide on May 15, 2026, after delays tied to the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. It moved quickly at the box office, passing the lifetime total of Singam 2 within four days and crossing ₹200 crore in its first week, ahead of films like Mersal, Petta and Thunivu.
The script — co-written by Balaji with Ashwin Ravichandran, Rathna Kumar and Rahul Raj — reworks the traditional deity-based “Saamy Padam” into a legal thriller. Suriya plays Lord Karuppusamy, who takes human form as a Madras High Court advocate named Saravanan and takes on a corrupt judicial set-up led by a powerful lawyer, Baby Kannan, played by Balaji himself. The action was choreographed by Vikram Mor.
Balaji wasn’t the only one rewarded. Over the previous fortnight Suriya had also gifted cars to composer Sai Abhyankkar, whose songs like “Karuppa Kooda Va” became theatre favourites, and cinematographer G.K. Vishnu. With a cast that also includes Trisha Krishnan, Indrans, Swasika and Sshivada, Karuppu now continues its run on streaming.
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