Padikkadavan (2009 Film)

''Padikkadavan'' () is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film written and directed by Suraj and produced by B. Venkatarama Reddy. It stars Dhanush and Tamannaah Bhatia alongside an ensemble supporting cast including Vivek, Atul Kulkarni, Suman, and Sayaji Shinde. The music was composed by Mani Sharma with cinematography by A. Venkatesh and editing by Manoj. Filming began on 5th April 2008, with an inaugural pooja, and the movie was finally released on 14 January 2009 during Pongal festival and received a huge positive response. The film was successful, grossing 15 crore in Tamil Nadu and established Dhanush as one of the top five bankable heroes of Tamil cinema after then.

Plot

Radhakrishnan aka Rocky is a 25-year-old 10th grade drop-out who is looked down upon by his father Ramakrishnan because of his sharp contrast to the rest of the family, who are well-qualified in education. Rocky spends most of his time in a mechanic shop with his friends. Rocky's friends advise him to love and marry a well-educated girl so his name will be added with her name after marriage (i.e. indirectly he gets a degree after his name). He looks around by hovering around women's colleges to find a perfect girl for his mission. He succeeds in his attempt and makes Gayathri, a well-educated rich girl, fall in love with him. He starts to love her and takes her to a shopping mall where she is confronted by a group of rogues who work for Rami Reddy, a rival of her father Samarasimha Reddy, a notorious don in Andhra Pradesh who protects his daughter by destroying the gang and taking her back to Andhra from Tamil Nadu. Rocky goes to thug-for-hire Assault Arumugam to help him marry Gayathri. Rocky saves Gayathri from Rami and follows her home, where he leaarns that another Tirunelveli-based rowdy named Kasi Anandan, whose brother he accidentally kills in beginning of the film, has put a price on his head. Kasi declares that if Rocky wins him in hand-to-hand combat, he will never be disturbed by him. Rocky accepts his deal and smashes him down. The movie ends as Rocky walks out while his gang applauds for him.

Cast

Production

The film's title was derived from a 1985 film. Vadivelu shot for the film for two days before being replaced by Vivek.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack consists of five songs composed by Mani Sharma. Four of them were reused from Telugu movies composed by Sharma.

Reception

''The Times of India'' wrote, "''Padikathavan'' is worth a watch for its unadulterated masala." ''Rediff.com'' wrote, "''Padikkathavan'' isn't meant for lovers of serious or meaningful cinema but if you're in the mood for three hours of pure entertainment, this one is your best bet." ''Sify'' wrote, "There is nothing new in director Suraaj's story which seems to have been etched out of various earlier films". ''The Hindu'' wrote, "Suraaj’s treatment allows the story to hang loose and end abruptly. The magic of the beginning is lost when the narration begins to take an entirely different route leaving the earlier part high and dry".

References

External links

*
*
{{Suraj (director)

2000s Indian films
2000s masala films
2000s Tamil-language films
2009 action comedy films
2009 films
Films directed by Suraj (director)
Films scored by Mani Sharma
Indian action comedy films
Tamil-language Indian films