Actor Suriya has opened up about the financial turmoil surrounding the release of Karuppu, thanking wife and actor Jyotika for standing by him when he decided to take on additional loans to ensure the film reached theatres. The actor revealed that the last-minute financial burden was a huge risk for the family, but Jyotika’s faith in him gave him the confidence to the risk.
Karuppu, directed by RJ Balaji and co-starring Trisha Krishnan, was originally scheduled to release on May 14. However, the film’s release was pushed by a day after last-minute of its early morning shows. Amid reports of mounting dues, is said to have contributed a substantial amount and arranged additional funds to facilitate the film’s eventual theatrical release.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter India, Suriya reflected on the difficult period and credited Jyotika for supporting his decision.
“Thanks to Jyotika. It was a lot of financial burden. It came to me at the last minute. For me to take those extra loans, she was trusting me and allowing me to take them. Because if something goes wrong, as a family, we’d be going through it. Even if we are in an industry for such a long time, these situations are a little above us. It’s a leap of faith that you can work on this and you can bet on this. It was a big step for me to take. It was that trust and intuition that we were able to put this together,” he said.
Responding to Suriya’s remarks, Jyotika downplayed her role and insisted the credit belonged entirely to him.
“I would not take this compliment, because this was completely his work. We do everything together. Even if it’s parenting, we’re always on one side of the page. We discuss it first and reflect it to the kids,” she said.
Suriya, however, reiterated that the film’s release was made possible only because of a collective effort. “It was a collective effort,” he said.
Jyotika added, “It was completely his generosity and wanting to make that film work out. It was a big step.”
Suriya also acknowledged the contributions of director RJ Balaji, the financiers and everyone involved in the project.
“RJ Balaji has given a lot of time – almost two to two and a half years to this project. A lot of them were depending on this film to work. It was a collective effort. Even the financiers were supportive. They were able to say, ‘even if we get 25 to 30 per cent back, we’ll allow you to release the film in theatres.’ It was a collective effort that the film got released,” he said.
Karuppu had run into trouble on its scheduled release day after its despite receiving special government permission for early screenings. While the makers cited “unavoidable reasons”, industry reports suggested the film was held up by unresolved financial and distribution issues in the final hours before release.
Reports at the time claimed the film faced over Rs 50 crore in unsettled dues in Tamil Nadu, which became a major hurdle in securing theatrical clearance. The situation was reportedly worsened by pending payments, including location-related dues linked to EVP Studios near Chennai, with the production house said to owe significant amounts to multiple parties. The financial bottleneck ultimately delayed the release by a day before Karuppu finally arrived in cinemas.
However, Karuppu, which released on May 15, and gave Suriya the biggest blockbuster in his career.