''Paagan'' () is a 2012 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

-language

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by debutante Mohammed Aslam, who was an associate to

Ameer Sultan Ameer Sultan (born 5 December 1967) is an Indian film director, film producer, screenwriter and actor, working in the Tamil film industry. Early life and career Ameer Sultan was born in Madurai, Tamil Nadu India. He initially studied econom ...

. It stars Srikanth and Janani in the lead roles.

Kovai Sarala Kovai Sarala is an Indian actress and comedian, who plays supporting roles in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. She has won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Comedian three times, for her performances in '' Sathi Leelavathi ...

plays an important role in this film.

James Vasanthan James Vasanthan is an Indian Television (Tamil) host, a film music composer, and a filmmaker and a motivational speaker. For more than two decades, he has worked as an anchor in popular Tamil satellite television channels like Sun TV and Vij ...

composed the film's score.

Cast

Production

In January 2012,

announced that his assistant Aslam would direct Srikanth, in his debut film ''Paagan'' which was claimed to be a comedy. After completing '' Nanban'', Srikanth started working for this film; for the role, he was said to have lost 7 kilos. Janani Iyer of '' Avan Ivan'' fame was selected as lead actress while comedians

, Pandi and Soori were selected to essay supporting roles and comical relief. Filming was held in Tirupur and Pollachi. During a stunt sequence where Srikanth should escape from fire, his rope got cut but he safely landed without hurt. The film was shot with an ARRI 435, ARRI 435X-TREME and Sony F65 camera.

Soundtrack

has composed the soundtrack. Audio was released on 1 September 2012, five days before film's release at Sathyam Cinemas. The song have been written by

Na. Muthukumar Nagarajan Muthukumar (12 July 1975 – 14 August 2016) was an Indian poet, lyricist, and author who predominantly worked in Tamil language film songs. He was known for his frequent collaborations with composers Yuvan Shankar Raja and G. V. Pra ...

, Vrikshika, Niranjan Bharathi and Mohanrajan. Comedians Paandi and Soori, who acted in this film, had also sung a song. Behindwoods wrote: "The two themes definitely add value to the overall soundtrack which is easy on the ears, save the ‘kuthu’ number. Decent attempt by James Vasanthan". Milliblog wrote: "After his last – Eesan, almost 2 years ago! – James’ music continues to be fickle". * "Thatti Thaavi" – Krish * "Poonthendralai" –

Alka Ajith Alka Ajith is an Indian playback singer, best known for winning season 2 of ''Super Singer Junior season 2, Airtel Super Singer Junior'', a Tamil language music competition reality TV show broadcast on Vijay TV. She was awarded the Jaycey Founda ...

* "Simba Simba" – Sunandan, Pandi and Soori * "Ippadi Or" – Nivas, Saranya * "Ennai Mannippaya" – Prasad * "Love Never Fails" – * "Life Is A Cycle" –

Release

''Chennai Online'' reported that the satellite rights of the film were secured by Sun TV but instead it went to Zee Thamizh. The film was released on 7 September 2012.

Reception

''Paagan'' opened to mixed reviews from critics. ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

s reviewer wrote that the film "promises good fun but sadly, never fulfils it".

Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology (ICT) company providing telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation integration services, and ...

's critic labelled the film as a "light hearted comedy which could have been better if some care was taken over its script". Pavithra Srinivasan from

Rediff Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...

cited: "Aslam's dialogues, the village milieu and the feel-good mood make for good viewing. But there are moments when the screenplay turns choppy".

Deccan Chronicle ''Deccan Chronicle'' is an English-language daily newspaper based in Hyderabad, India. Founded in 1938, it was initially launched as a Weekly newspaper, weekly and later converted into a daily. The newspaper's name reflects its origins in the ...

's reviewer claimed that there was "nothing new by way of script, yet the narrative style and humour quotient makes the film worth a watch". A critic from Behindwoods noted that ''Paagan'' did not have "much going in its favor and turns out a bland fare". Chennaionline wrote: "Overall movie is good time pass". in.com rated 2.5/5 and wrote that it was "worth a watch".

Box-office

The film took a below average opening and grossed Rs. 15,40,132 in first week.

References

{{reflist 2012 films 2010s Tamil-language films Indian comedy films Films scored by James Vasanthan 2012 directorial debut films