''Padai Thalaivan'' is a 2025 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 action film directed by U. Anbu, starring Shanmuga Pandian and Yamini Chander in the lead roles. The film has dialogues and screenplay written by Parthiban Desingu and produced by Jaganathan Paramasivam under his VJ Combines banner. The film also includes an ensemble cast of

Kasthuri Raja Kasthuri Raja is an Indian filmmaker, lyricist and actor. He is the father of filmmaker Selvaraghavan and actor Dhanush. Most of the films he directed were either village based or infatuation of youngsters. He also worked with Director Visu on ...

Munishkanth Ramdoss, better known as Munishkanth, is an Indian actor and comedian who appears in Tamil language films. He had notable roles in films, including '' Mundasupatti'' (2014), '' Maanagaram'' (2017), '' Maragadha Naanayam'' (2017) and '' Raatchas ...

, M.S. Bhaskar, Karudan Ram,

Rishi Rithvik Rishi Rithvik is an Indian film actor, who has appeared in lead roles in Tamil-language films. Career Ritvik began his career as an athlete and competed professionally between 2001 and 2007, before moving on to work as a computer software engi ...

, A. Venkatesh,

Yugi Sethu Yugi Sethu is an Indian actor, filmmaker, writer, and television presenter who has worked in the Tamil film industry. He has been conferred doctorate (PhD) in cinema by the Madras University in July 2015, for his Thesis entitled: 'Development o ...

Sreejith Ravi Sreejith Ravi (born 19 May 1976) is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Malayalam films and also in Tamil films. He is the son of actor T. G. Ravi. Early life Sreejith is the son of actor and industrialist T. G. Ravi and V. K. Sub ...

Aruldoss Aruldoss is an Indian actor known for his supporting roles in predominantly Tamil language films. Prior to focusing on an acting career, he worked as a cinematographer on several films. Career After completing school, Aruldoss worked as a pho ...

and others in supporting roles. ''Padai Thalaivan'' released in theatres on 13 June 2025.

Cast

Production

Development

In mid-July 2023, it was reported that ''Walter'' (2020) and ''Rekhla'' (2022) fame director U. Anbu will be helming Vijayakanth's younger son Shanmuga Pandian's next project tentatively titled Production #1, who was last seen in '' Madura Veeran'' (2018). The real-life incident based movie has dialogues and screenplay written by ''

Natpe Thunai ''Natpe Thunai'' () is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language sports film directed by D. Parthiban Desingu in his directorial debut, while Sreekanth Vasrp and Devesh Jeyachandran wrote the story, screenplay and dialogues. Produced by Sundar C and Khushbu ...

'' (2019) fame Parthiban Desingu. The film is produced by Jaganathan Paramasivam under his VJ Combines banner in association with Rajukalidass's Dass Pictures. The technical team consists of cinematographer SR Sathish Kumar, editor S.P. Ahamed, and stunt choreographer Mahesh Mathew.

Casting

Yamini Chander, grand-daughter of

A. C. Tirulokchandar A. C. Thirulokachandar (11 June 1930 – 15 June 2016), also known as A. C. Tirulokchandar, was an Indian film director and screenwriter who worked mainly in Tamil films from the 1960s to 1988. He also directed a few films in Hindi and Telugu. ...

who is known for her roles in ''

Nenjuku Needhi ''Nenjuku Needhi'' () is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language political drama film directed by Arunraja Kamaraj and produced by Boney Kapoor. A remake of the 2019 Hindi film '' Article 15'', it stars Udhayanidhi Stalin, Aari Arujunan, Tanya Ravichandr ...

'' (2022) and ''Dinosaurs'' (2023) was cast as the female lead. The film also features, director

in an important role alongside,

, M.S. Bhaskar, Karudan Ram,

, A. Venkatesh,

and others in supporting roles. It was reported that

Raghava Lawrence Raghava Lawrence (born Lawrence Murugaiyan) is an Indian actor, choreographer, film director, composer, playback singer, lyricist, film producer and philanthropist known for his works primarily in Tamil cinema. After making his debut as a dance ...

was approached to essay a cameo appearance in the film, after his interest to work with Shanmuga Pandian.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began after a pooja ceremony on 14 July 2023 in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

. In an interview with ''

Cinema Express ''Cinema Express'' was an Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language entertainment fortnightly magazine published from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was a part of The New Indian Express, The New Indian Express Group, which also publishes ''Samakalika Mal ...

'', Anbu revealed that the first schedule of 20 days got wrapped in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, while the second schedule was then planned to commence by 8 September 2023 in locations like

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

and

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

Music

The soundtrack and background is composed by

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and playback singer popular for his works in Indian cinema, predominately in Tamil cinema, Tamil in addition ...

. The first single "Un Mugathai Paarkkalaiyae" was released on 30 November 2024.

Marketing

On the occasion of Vijayakanth's birthday, on 25 August 2023, the title-reveal first-look poster was released, revealing the title of the film as ''Padai Thalaivan''. On 13 December 2024, a two-minute long trailer was released, with the song late-Vijayakanth's song "Nee Pottu Vacha" from his film 1989 film '' Ponmana Selvan'' and his AI appearance. Furthur a dialogue, "If my father was here now, he would ask me to protect the people who trusted me." by Shanmuga Pandian was added as a tribute to his father. The pre-release audio launch event was held in Chennai on 15 May 2025 in the presence of

AR Murugadoss Murugadas Arunachalam (born 25 September 1974), known professionally as AR Murugadoss, () is an Indian film director, screenwriter and film producer who predominantly works in the Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. He is best known for directin ...

M. Sasikumar Sasikumar Mahalingam (born 28 September 1974) is an Indian actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter and playback singer. He worked as an assistant director for director Bala in '' Sethu'' (1999), also worked for director Ameer in his ...

Ponram Ponraman Perumal, known professionally as Ponram is an Indian film director and screenwriter. He directed the film '' Thirutham'' in 2007 and ''Varuthapadatha Valibar Sangam'' in 2013. Later on he had directed '' Seema Raja'' in 2018. Career ...

and other important personalities.

Release

Theatrical

''Padai Thalaivan'' released in theatres on 13 June 2025. Earlier it was scheduled for 23 May 2025, but got postponed citing screen allocation issues, without informing a specific date. Earlier it was scheduled for Pongal 2025.

Reception

Akshay Kumar of ''

'' gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "''Padai Thalaivan'', with the potential of pulling off something impressive, ends up being a confused film. The writers' dilemma is whether to pen a film exploring the bond between a human and an animal or an outsider coming to a village to break the shackles of slavery and vanquish the tyrant." Abhinav Subramanian of ''

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 ...

'' gave 2/5 stars and wrote "The film splits itself into two distinct halves that barely speak to each other. ..Padai Thalaivan has the bones of an engaging adventure but forgets that even simple stories need characters who think before they act." Ka. Dharmarajaguru of ''

Dinamani ''Dinamani'' is a Tamil daily newspaper. The newspaper was established in 1933 and is owned by The New Indian Express Group. The first edition was published on 11 September. The printed circulation was 12,44,568 as on Aug 2022 and 11,52,546 onl ...

'' gave 1.5/5 stars, emphasizing on the importance to be given on the story, screenplay and the selection of actors. A critic of ''Daily Thanthi'' reviewed the film by praising its screenplay but criticized the logical violations.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt28764064 2025 films 2020s Indian films 2020s Tamil-language films Films about elephants Films about smuggling Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Films set in Coimbatore Films set in forests Films set in Odisha Films shot in Chennai Films shot in Kerala Films shot in Odisha Tamil-language action films Tamil-language Indian films