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Cobra — news, coverage & facts — IJR

Plot

Turkish Interpol officer, Aslan Yilmaz, investigates the assassinations of the Chief Minister of Odisha, the Mayor of France and the Prince of Scotland, where he, with a young Tamil criminologist Judith Samson, deduces that "Cobra", a skilled assassin, is the mastermind behind the assassinations. The duo learn that Cobra perfectly assassinates his targets using mathematical skills, leading them to believe that the master assassin is a mathematics professor. Judith reveals to Aslan that the bullet that killed the Chief Minister ricocheted off a fan, killing him.

Meanwhile, Mathiyazhagan, "Mathi", a mathematics professor revealed to be Cobra, receives his next assignment from his mentor and senior journalist in Kolkata, Nellaiappan. He is to kill the Russian defence minister, Dmitri Yugolsav. He travels to Russia, successfully assassinates him and escapes, despite tight security from Interpol and Aslan's plan that almost trapped him. Before Yugolsav's assassination, Aslan and his team watch a telecast conversation between Nellaiappan and Nawab, who works at a company named Rishi Corporation, where he concludes that the victims are connected to the company's owner, Rajeev Rishi, a psychotic and sadistic business magnate, who inherited the company from his father. Rishi runs a criminal syndicate that targets people who oppose his company. Following the engagement to his criminologist girlfriend and Judith's teacher, Bhavana Menon, Mathi learns that someone has kidnapped Nellaiappan and discovers they are targeting him from the beginning of his assignments.

After a clue from Sudoku, Mathi receives a call from the person, who is Mathi's doppelgänger, and he challenges Mathi to save himself from him. An unexpected turn of events reveals "Mathi" to be Kathirvelan "Kathir", Mathi's schizophrenic long-lost twin brother, and the doppelgänger who challenged Kathir is the real Mathi. Since Mathi killed the cop for insulting their mother, who was hanged after being sentenced to prison for murder, they have been living separately since childhood. Rishi sends men to capture Mathi, but Kathir manages to kill them. Mathi had been holding a grudge against Kathir, as he was responsible for the death of his girlfriend, Jennifer Rosario, who was the daughter of the Kolkata city commissioner Rosario. Jennifer's relatives threw Mathi away on a boat, which reached Thailand, and the police arrested him as a criminal and sentenced him to seven years in prison. Mathi learns about Kathir's identity as Cobra and plans to seek vengeance for Jennifer's death, revealing that he was the one who was sending clues about the assassinations to Interpol.

Mathi hands Kathir to Aslan, where Anand Subramaniam, the investigating officer and Rishi's mole, takes Kathir's help to capture Mathi. Kathir brings them to Mathi's hideout, which is an under-construction mall. Rishi and his men arrive, and a fight ensues between the gang and Kathir, in which he successfully subdues them. Mathi confronts Kathir about Jennifer's death. Kathir reveals that he had arranged for Mathi and Jennifer to leave for Bangladesh, but her father and relatives followed and killed her. After clearing the misunderstanding, Kathir reveals that he killed Jennifer's relatives and locks Mathi in a room. Kathir kills Rishi and his men single-handedly but gets shot and succumbs to his injuries, leaving Mathi and Bhavana devastated.

Filming

Principal photography began on 4 October 2019 in Chennai. While Pathan joined the sets of the shoot on 15 October, Shetty joined only at the end of the month. The former had finished the first schedule of the film on 6 November 2019 in Chennai. On 11 November 2019, Vikram and his team headed to Alleppey for a song shoot, which was completed within two days. By the end of November 2019, the second schedule of filming was completed in Kerala. The third schedule of the film took place in Chennai in December 2019. The makers planned to shoot a few sequences across Russia and Europe in January 2020. Meanwhile, on 17 January, the makers headed to Kolkata to prepare for the third schedule. Irfan Pathan completed his portions for the flick on 21 January, during the fourth schedule. On 6 February, the makers planned to shoot the climax sequence in Russia. On 7 February 2020, the makers shot a crucial sequence at the Ramee Mall in Chennai.

Vikram and Gnanamuthu began filming in Russia in March 2020, despite fears that COVID-19 might spread. A rapid spread of COVID-19 forced the crew to halt filming and return to India. The film's shoot was further affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as 25% of the shoot is pending as of March 2020. Ajay Gnanamuthu announced he would take a pay cut for the film, in order to help producers during these challenging times. The lack of international travel facilities made it impossible for the team to shoot in Russia, so they created huge sets resembling the country in Chennai. The team began dubbing the film in October 2020. Filming resumed on 3 December 2020 in Chennai, with Vikram joining the sets. After completing the schedule, the team travelled to Kolkata on 22 December 2020. However, since Vikram was also involved in the shooting of Ponniyin Selvan during mid-January 2021, the team decided to shoot a few scenes without him and the production team stated that the actor would join the shoot once his portions were completed. Shetty completed her shoot on 7 February 2021.

Ajay Gnanamuthu was unsatisfied with the portions shot on the sets, so the team decided to go back to Russia in mid-February 2021, despite the cold weather. On 22 February 2021, Vikram joined the film's shoot in Moscow, where the final portions of the film were being filmed. Pathan joined them on 26 February 2021. The team filmed a few scenes at Saint Petersburg State University on 2 March 2021 as part of their final schedule. The team completed the major portions of the film on 5 March 2021. Shooting was delayed, apparently due to Vikram's commitments with Karthik Subbaraj's directorial Mahaan (2022) produced by the same production company 7 Screen Studio and the subsequent lock-down implemented by the government to curb the second wave of the pandemic. After the shooting of Mahaan concluded, the team restarted production on 15 August 2021, with the commencement of a minor schedule in Kolkata. After the producer's parallel projects and Vikram's other commitments, the team started its final schedule in Chennai on 24 November 2021 and continued for a month. Vikram completed his portions in January 2022, and on 15 February 2022, Gnanamuthu tweeted that the filming was completely wrapped.

Critical response

Cobra received mixed reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 17% of 6 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.5/10.

M Suganth of The Times of India rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Cobra is the kind of an overwrought, overlong, over-indulgent, overloud and over-the-top action entertainer that is made in an old-fashioned way". Janani K of India Today rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "Cobra is an underwhelming watch that solely relies on Chiyaan Vikram's acting chops". Manoj Kumar R of The Indian Express rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "Cobra is about a globetrotting assassin with a deep fascination for cosplay would be a lot of fun to watch if made properly. After ramping up the initial excitement, the film sinks". Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "This bizarre action thriller directed by Ajay Gnanamuthu tries very hard to be clever, but is filled with carelessness in the scripting".

Haricharan Pudipeddi of Hindustan Times stated "Cobra could've been a far more effective thriller if it wasn't so long. It could've also done away with the highly boring romantic track, which hardly helps in keeping the audiences engaged". Bhuvanesh Chandar of The Hindu wrote "Looking back at it, you only feel bad that yet another film becomes an average outing for an actor who gives his all." Krishna Selvaseelan of Tamil Guardian rated the film 2 out of 5 stars, stating, "Cobra is an overly-ambitious hodge-podge, with a decent film hidden somewhere within". Avinash Ramachandran of Cinema Express gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Cobra ticks almost all the boxes we have recently come to expect from a Vikram-starrer, including the disappointment of the actor being the brightest star in a rather middling film."

S Subhakeertana of OTT Play rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "Cobra is a mediocre film that struggles to be both a compelling swashbuckling adventure as well as a moving drama." Felix Kingsley of Movie Herald rated the film 2.5 out of 5 and stated "The new treatment makes this well-known template partly engaging." Jayadeep Jayesh of Deccan Herald gave the film's rating 2 out of 5, stating that "The tone at which the film is pitched does not allow A R Rahman to display his musical prowess. The title track is catchy but the rest of the album is forgettable."