Kolamaavu Kokila

The film opens with the killing of a police officer by a cocaine-dealer named Bhai and his henchmen. Kokila struggles to find a job to take care of her parents and sister. She stumbles on the cocaine smuggling business of Mohan. When her mother is diagnosed with lung cancer, Kokila is forced to work for Mohan. Her cunningness earns her a name in the business. The new inspector Guru is a no-nonsense cop who cracks down on drug dealers. Kokila is almost caught a couple of times but manages to evade the authorities. She convinces Mohan to kill two of his henchmen suspected of leaking information and then decides to quit the business. Mohan seemingly agrees but tries to kill her, however an enraged Kokila brutally murders Mohan and his men and tries to flee with her family but is caught by Bobi, who had recruited her initially.

He demands that she deliver one last consignment of 300 kilos to Alphonse. Kokila is forced to accept and enlists the help of her family. Shekhar and Lakshman Kumar join them unaware of their smuggling. She delivers the load, but it is revealed that she switched most of it for salt. She then tricks Bobi to double-cross Bhai and then frames him for swindling Bhai. She has him killed and continues the shipment run. On the way, she is caught by the police, who are Alphonse's men in disguise. She manages to avoid getting tortured and kills off her captors with the help of her family. Guru tracks her down and arrests her. Kokila makes a deal with him to nab Bhai and bring the whole drug business down. The plan works out, Bhai is shot dead by Guru, and Kokila and her family escape punishment with Guru's reluctant help as the latter's wife was tricked into being on the location during the drug bust. In the end, the family starts a legitimate business of Kolam powder, calling it 'Kolamaavu Kokila'.

Special appearances in the promotional song "Kabiskabaa CoCo"

• Bijili Ramesh
• Lollu Sabha Manohar
• Theepetti Ganesan

Special appearances in the promotional song "Gun In Kadhal"

• Anirudh Ravichander

Nelson Dilipkumar, a creative director associated with the programs for the television channel Star Vijay, announced a project in 2011 titled Vettai Mannan. But the film ran into production trouble, despite some filming being completed.^[2] Later, on the recommendation of composer Anirudh Ravichander, Lyca Productions hired Nelson to direct a female-oriented film starring Nayanthara.^[3] In late July 2017, sources from the production house announced that the film would be a black comedy like the actor's earlier film Naanum Rowdy Dhaan. It further added that Nayanthara was impressed with the script and the production house had her dates as the actress relieved off all her other commitments.^[4] Sivakumar Vijayan and R. Nirmal were announced as the cinematographer and editor.^[5] While the title was initially announced as CoCo, it was revealed to be short for Kolamaavu Kokila. Principal photography began in late August 2017,^[6] and was completed by early January 2018.^[7]

The film's six-song soundtrack and score is composed by Anirudh Ravichander, in his first collaboration with Nelson Dilipkumar. Lyrics for the songs were written by Vivek, Vignesh Shivan, Arunraja Kamaraj and actor Sivakarthikeyan, in his first stint as lyricist.^[8] After three songs — "Edhuvarayo", "Kalyana Vayasu" and "Orey Oru" — were released as singles on 8 March,^[9] 15 May^[10] and 13 June 2018,^[11] the soundtrack was released by Zee Music Company on 5 July 2018.^[12]

Kolamavu Kokila was released theatrically on 17 August 2018.^[13]

M. Suganth of The Times of India gave the film 3.5 out of 5 praising the direction and technical aspects and wrote "The film is an out-and-out star vehicle that keeps giving its star whistle-worthy moments. And most remarkably, it manages to stay true to its genre and ensures that the script comes before the star."^[14] Ashameera Aiyappan of The Indian Express gave the film 3 out of 5, praising the performances, writing and technical aspects.^[15]

Kolamavu Kokila collected close to ₹4 crore (US$480,000) on the opening day. In its first nine days, the film had grossed ₹20 crore (US$2.4 million).^[16] Its closing collections stand at ₹73 crore (US$8.7 million) worldwide.^[17]

Owing to the film's success, in July 2023 Yogi Babu said the film would have a sequel at Jailer audio launch.^[24] Later that August, Nelson confirmed the sequel titled Kolamaavu Kokila 2.^[25]

• Kolamaavu Kokila at IMDb  
• Kolamaavu Kokila at Rotten Tomatoes