Cinematographer-turned-actor Natty has offered a candid take on why Puli, the 2015 Chimbu Deven directorial starring Vijay, failed to connect at the box office — pointing to what he calls "wrong publicity" as the primary culprit.

Recalling a conversation with Vijay during the making of the film, Natty said the actor had specifically chosen the project as something he wanted to make for children aged 8 to 15, inspired by English films like Willow. The film featured talking animals including tortoises, frogs and crows, and was conceived in that spirit. However, Natty says the film was marketed as a large-scale action entertainer to justify its massive budget, losing the audience it was originally meant to target.

"If they had promoted the movie as a story that would draw kids to the theatres, families would've made it a big hit," Natty said.

Mounted on a budget of over Rs 100 crore — one of Tamil cinema's most expensive at the time — Puli recovered its costs through satellite and digital rights despite underperforming theatrically. The film starred Sridevi in her Tamil comeback, alongside Prabhu, Sudeep, Shruti Haasan and Hansika Motwani. It also turned out to be Sridevi's final Tamil film before her passing.