Cobra is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language psychological action thriller film directed by R. Ajay Gnanamuthu and produced by 7 Screen Studio.

The film stars Vikram in dual roles, alongside Srinidhi Shetty, Irfan Pathan, Roshan Mathew, Sarjano Khalid, Mirnalini Ravi, Miya George, K. S. Ravikumar, Anandaraj, Robo Shankar and Meenakshi Govindarajan.

Principal photography commenced in October 2019 and nearly took three years due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema, travel restrictions and Vikram's commitments on other projects, wrapping only in February 2022.

The film has music composed by A. R. Rahman, cinematography handled by Harish Kannan and editing by John Abraham and Bhuvan Srinivasan.

Meanwhile, Mathiyazhagan, "Mathi", a mathematics professor revealed to be Cobra, receives his next assignment from his mentor and senior journalist in Kolkata, Nellaiappan.

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.

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, where he reveals that he was the one who was sending clues about the assassinations to Interpol.

[23] Speaking to Ananda Vikatan, Gnanamuthu described Cobra as a multi-genre film and includes various genres such as psychological, science fiction, thriller and action.

[26][27] Shetty was cast after a successful audition, and Gnanamuthu called her role a "complete contrast" to what she played in the Kannada film KGF: Chapter 1 (2018).

[30][31][32] Gnanamuthu had watched several of his TikTok videos, and impressed by his acting stints he met Pathan at his house in Vadodara, Gujarat, who later agreed to be a part of the film.

[36] Ajay Gnanamuthu chose to sign Shane Nigam for an important role in this flick, after being impressed by his performance in the Malayalam film Kumbalangi Nights (2019).

[62] Ajay Gnanamuthu announced he would take a pay cut for the film, in order to help producers during these challenging times.

[63] 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.

[69] 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.

[75][76] 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.

[78] 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.

[89][90] The audio launch was held at Phoenix Marketcity, Chennai on 15 July 2022, featuring the cast and crew in attendance and the songs were performed live by Rahman and his musical team.

[93] The film was originally scheduled for a release coinciding with the Eid al-Fitr weekend, falling on 22 May 2020,[94] which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India.

[100][101] The film received negative response due to its three-hour duration, which led the makers to release a trimmed version on 1 September 2022.

[110][111] 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".

[112] 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".

[113] 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.

[114] 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".

[116] 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.

[118] Pinkvilla rated the film 2.5 out of 5 and wrote "Roshan Mathew portrayal of the character Rishi a corporate leader, make 'Cobra' feel like a regular Kollywood masala actioner and not a story that needs to be heard.

"[121] 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.