Pudhupettai
Encyclopedia
Pudhupettai is a 2006 Indian
Tamil gangster film written and directed by Selvaraghavan
, starring his brother Dhanush
in the lead, whilst Sneha and Sonia Agarwal
enact the lead female character roles. The film, scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja
and filmed by Arvind Krishna
, Selvaraghavan's usual crew members, released on 26 May 2006, receiving universal critical acclaim for the music and picturisation and ending up as a hit at the box office
. The film was dubbed into Telugu
and released as Dhoolpeta. It is the first "subaltern cinema" made in south India.
, as the title suggests, where a high school kid Kokki Kumar (Dhanush
) sees his mom dead after he comes back from watching a movie. His father, the murderer is also planning to kill his son Kumar. Kumar sensing danger runs away from home. Homeless and with no food Kumar resorts to begging until he is falsely arrested while standing by and watching a commotion on the street. In jail he befriends handymen of a local goon who take Kumar with them and give him petty jobs to do. In a confrontation with goons of another gang Kumar kills the brother of his enemy gang's head Moorthi thus earning the respect of his gang and making enemies for himself both within his gang and outside.
Krishnaveni (Sneha
) is a prostitute who also works under Anbu. Kumar falls in love with Krishnaveni and challenge Anbu to release her. Anbu in return beats Krishnaveni and orders to kill Kumar. Kumar approaches Anbu and asks to pardon him but Anbu wonders if it would be possible cancel the order to kill Kumar. Kumar infuriated kills Anbu and approaches Thalaivar (Azhagam Perumal
). Thalaivar says if he could survive until the next day morning from Anbu's goon, who is seeking revenge, he would be bestowed with Anbu's area for business. Kumar survives and Thalaivar keeps him in place of Anbu.
Kumar grows even further in the don world. He kills his father and his hench men. Murthy is stabbed by Kumar's men. Kumar joins Thalaivar's political party for immunity from police and arrests.
He then meets Selvi (Sonia Agarwal
) on the eve of her wedding and falls in love with her and marries her forcibly during her wedding ceremony. Selvi is the sister of his favorite henchman who now becomes his sworn enemy and joins the enemy gang. Slowly Kumar starts accumulating serious enemies and eventually everyone start targeting for Kumar's head. Does Kumar survive the wrath of his enemies? forms the rest of the story.
The movie was criticized for its display of violence and bloody gore. Some felt the movie had too much of graphic detail about the life of the goons.
' whose theme was the same as Pudupettai (dwelling on gangsters in Chennai), Selvaraghavan wanted to re-do many of the scenes to make them look fresh and new, hence the delay. The re-recording is being done in Bangkok, with everyone involved working overtime.
and Selvaraghavan
renewed their association with this film, who had earlier teamed up to give highly successful and critically acclaimed music in the film Thulluvadho Ilamai
(2001), Kaadhal Kondein (2004) and 7G Rainbow Colony
(2005). The entire music, including soundtrack and film score, was composed in Thailand
, where Yuvan Shankar Raja
worked together with the Chapraya Symphony Orchestra of Bangkok
, which would feature for the first time in a Tamil film. Several Traditional Thai musical instruments
, including Khim
and Southuu were also used for the orchestration.
The soundtrack was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja
and released on 15 December 2005. It features 10 tracks overall, out of which 6 tracks are songs and the remaining 4 Instrumental pieces, which belong to the film score. The lyrics were written by Na. Muthukumar
, who had written the lyrics for Selvaraghavan's earlier film as well. However, this film remains to be the most recent colloboration of Muthukumar and Selvaraghavan as the latter had replaced Muthukumar with Vairamuthu
for his future projects. Specially mentionable is the fact, that actor Kamal Haasan
had sung one of the songs, though he didn't act in the film. Hero Dhanush had sung a song as well. As an interesting aspect, every track carries a title to reflect the theme, the track belongs to.
Yuvan Shankar Raja received rave review for both the songs and the film score, which is considered to belong to Yuvan Shankar Raja's best ever works. The songs, in particular, were hailed as "brilliant", "innovative", and even "a musical milestone". The music also gained immense popularity among the masses, especially among youth, topping the "Tamil Music Charts" for the following weeks.
According to Director of Photography Arvind Krishna
, the movie will be a very different experience. "It has some intensive matt-based color correction, and also altered color tones for different scenes and moods.' It is also the first film to be digitally projected by directly scanning the negative at 2K resolutions and converting them to digital projection format.
Cinema of India
The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic culture of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Indian films came to be followed throughout South Asia and...
Tamil gangster film written and directed by Selvaraghavan
Selvaraghavan
-Personal life:Selvaraghavan is the son of film director Kasthuri Raja, elder brother of actor Dhanush and has two sisters, who are both doctors. On 15 December 2006, he married actress Sonia Agarwal, with whom he had previously worked with on three films...
, starring his brother Dhanush
Dhanush
Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja , better known by his stage name Dhanush , is an Indian film actor, occasional playback singer and lyricist, working in the Tamil film industry...
in the lead, whilst Sneha and Sonia Agarwal
Sonia Agarwal
Sonia Agarwal is an Indian film actress and model. Having predominantly acted in Tamil films, she is probably best known for her performances as Divya...
enact the lead female character roles. The film, scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, singer and occasional lyricist. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil as well as several Telugu films. His musical career began in 1996, at age 16, as he composed the film score for Aravindhan...
and filmed by Arvind Krishna
Arvind Krishna
Arvind Krishna is an Indian cinematographer, who has worked in the Tamil and the Hindi film industries .-Career:Arvind Krishna, always passionate about photography and studied Visual communication at the Loyola College in Chennai, after which he joined ace cinematographer P. C. Sreeram and worked...
, Selvaraghavan's usual crew members, released on 26 May 2006, receiving universal critical acclaim for the music and picturisation and ending up as a hit at the box office
Box office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
. The film was dubbed into Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
and released as Dhoolpeta. It is the first "subaltern cinema" made in south India.
Plot
The story is set in the backdrop of the slums of Pudhupettai in ChennaiChennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, as the title suggests, where a high school kid Kokki Kumar (Dhanush
Dhanush
Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja , better known by his stage name Dhanush , is an Indian film actor, occasional playback singer and lyricist, working in the Tamil film industry...
) sees his mom dead after he comes back from watching a movie. His father, the murderer is also planning to kill his son Kumar. Kumar sensing danger runs away from home. Homeless and with no food Kumar resorts to begging until he is falsely arrested while standing by and watching a commotion on the street. In jail he befriends handymen of a local goon who take Kumar with them and give him petty jobs to do. In a confrontation with goons of another gang Kumar kills the brother of his enemy gang's head Moorthi thus earning the respect of his gang and making enemies for himself both within his gang and outside.
Krishnaveni (Sneha
Sneha
Suhasini Rajaram Naidu , known mononymously as Sneha, is an Indian film actress, who has acted in mostly Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films and also one Kannada language film. She debuted in the 2001 Malayalam film Ingane Oru Nilapakshi, directed by Anil and had her first commercial success with...
) is a prostitute who also works under Anbu. Kumar falls in love with Krishnaveni and challenge Anbu to release her. Anbu in return beats Krishnaveni and orders to kill Kumar. Kumar approaches Anbu and asks to pardon him but Anbu wonders if it would be possible cancel the order to kill Kumar. Kumar infuriated kills Anbu and approaches Thalaivar (Azhagam Perumal
Azhagam Perumal
-Directorial:-Acting:-External links:...
). Thalaivar says if he could survive until the next day morning from Anbu's goon, who is seeking revenge, he would be bestowed with Anbu's area for business. Kumar survives and Thalaivar keeps him in place of Anbu.
Kumar grows even further in the don world. He kills his father and his hench men. Murthy is stabbed by Kumar's men. Kumar joins Thalaivar's political party for immunity from police and arrests.
He then meets Selvi (Sonia Agarwal
Sonia Agarwal
Sonia Agarwal is an Indian film actress and model. Having predominantly acted in Tamil films, she is probably best known for her performances as Divya...
) on the eve of her wedding and falls in love with her and marries her forcibly during her wedding ceremony. Selvi is the sister of his favorite henchman who now becomes his sworn enemy and joins the enemy gang. Slowly Kumar starts accumulating serious enemies and eventually everyone start targeting for Kumar's head. Does Kumar survive the wrath of his enemies? forms the rest of the story.
The movie was criticized for its display of violence and bloody gore. Some felt the movie had too much of graphic detail about the life of the goons.
Cast
- DhanushDhanushVenkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja , better known by his stage name Dhanush , is an Indian film actor, occasional playback singer and lyricist, working in the Tamil film industry...
as Kokki Kumar - Sneha as Krishnaveni
- Azhagam PerumalAzhagam Perumal-Directorial:-Acting:-External links:...
as Thamizhselvan - Sonia AgarwalSonia AgarwalSonia Agarwal is an Indian film actress and model. Having predominantly acted in Tamil films, she is probably best known for her performances as Divya...
as Selvi - Bala Singh as Anbu
Theme Controversy
After the release of 'PattiyalPattiyal
Pattiyal is a 2006 Indian Tamil gangster film directed by Vishnuvardhan. The film tackles the issue of dons. It stars Arya, Bharath, Pooja Umashankar, Padmapriya Janakiraman, Cochin Haneefa and Santhana Bharathi in pivotal roles. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja...
' whose theme was the same as Pudupettai (dwelling on gangsters in Chennai), Selvaraghavan wanted to re-do many of the scenes to make them look fresh and new, hence the delay. The re-recording is being done in Bangkok, with everyone involved working overtime.
Music
Yuvan Shankar RajaYuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, singer and occasional lyricist. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil as well as several Telugu films. His musical career began in 1996, at age 16, as he composed the film score for Aravindhan...
and Selvaraghavan
Selvaraghavan
-Personal life:Selvaraghavan is the son of film director Kasthuri Raja, elder brother of actor Dhanush and has two sisters, who are both doctors. On 15 December 2006, he married actress Sonia Agarwal, with whom he had previously worked with on three films...
renewed their association with this film, who had earlier teamed up to give highly successful and critically acclaimed music in the film Thulluvadho Ilamai
Thulluvadho Ilamai
Thulluvadho Ilamai is a 2002 Indian Tamil film, directed by Kasthuri Raja, written by his son Selvaraghavan and introducing his second son Dhanush as an actor, who enacted the lead role character...
(2001), Kaadhal Kondein (2004) and 7G Rainbow Colony
7G Rainbow Colony
7G Rainbow Colony is a 2004 Tamil drama film written and directed by Selvaraghavan, starring Ravi Krishna, who debuted in this film, and Sonia Agarwal in lead roles, with music scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja and cinematography handled by Arvind Krishna. The film, released on 15 October 2004, met with...
(2005). The entire music, including soundtrack and film score, was composed in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, where Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, singer and occasional lyricist. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil as well as several Telugu films. His musical career began in 1996, at age 16, as he composed the film score for Aravindhan...
worked together with the Chapraya Symphony Orchestra of Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, which would feature for the first time in a Tamil film. Several Traditional Thai musical instruments
Traditional Thai musical instruments
Traditional Thai musical instruments are the musical instruments used in the traditional and classical music of Thailand. They comprise a wide range of wind, string, and percussion instruments played by both the Thai majority as well as the nation's ethnic minorities.In the traditional Thai system...
, including Khim
Khim
The khim is a hammered dulcimer from Thailand and Cambodia. It is made of wood and trapezoidal in shape, with brass strings that are laid across the instrument. There are 14 groups of strings on the khim, and each group has 3 strings. Overall, the khim has a total of 42 strings. It is played...
and Southuu were also used for the orchestration.
The soundtrack was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, singer and occasional lyricist. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil as well as several Telugu films. His musical career began in 1996, at age 16, as he composed the film score for Aravindhan...
and released on 15 December 2005. It features 10 tracks overall, out of which 6 tracks are songs and the remaining 4 Instrumental pieces, which belong to the film score. The lyrics were written by Na. Muthukumar
Na. Muthukumar
Na. Muthukumar is a Tamil poet and lyricist, who writes lyrics for Tamil film songs.-Career:Muthukumar began his career wanting to be a director and worked under Balu Mahendra for four years. But then he became a lyricist, beginning with the lyrics for the songs of the Tamil film Veera Nadai,...
, who had written the lyrics for Selvaraghavan's earlier film as well. However, this film remains to be the most recent colloboration of Muthukumar and Selvaraghavan as the latter had replaced Muthukumar with Vairamuthu
Vairamuthu
Vairamuthu Ramaswamy Thevar is an award-winning Tamil poet and lyricist.Debuting in the film Nizhalgal with the lyrics for the song "Ponmalai Pozhudhu", he has now about 5800 songs to his credit as of January 2009. His partnership with the composers Ilaiyaraaja, and later A. R...
for his future projects. Specially mentionable is the fact, that actor Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan is an Indian film actor, screenwriter and director, considered to be one of the leading method actors of Indian cinema. He is widely acclaimed as an actor and is well known for his versatility in acting...
had sung one of the songs, though he didn't act in the film. Hero Dhanush had sung a song as well. As an interesting aspect, every track carries a title to reflect the theme, the track belongs to.
Yuvan Shankar Raja received rave review for both the songs and the film score, which is considered to belong to Yuvan Shankar Raja's best ever works. The songs, in particular, were hailed as "brilliant", "innovative", and even "a musical milestone". The music also gained immense popularity among the masses, especially among youth, topping the "Tamil Music Charts" for the following weeks.
| Track | Song | Singer(s) | Duration (min:sec) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pudhupettai Main Theme: "Survival Of The Fittest" | Instrumental Instrumental An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments.... |
2:51 | |
| 2 | Peek Into Assassin's Life: "Neruppu Vaayinil" | Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan is an Indian film actor, screenwriter and director, considered to be one of the leading method actors of Indian cinema. He is widely acclaimed as an actor and is well known for his versatility in acting... |
5:01 | |
| 3 | Our Story: "Enga Yeriya" | Dhanush Dhanush Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja , better known by his stage name Dhanush , is an Indian film actor, occasional playback singer and lyricist, working in the Tamil film industry... , Premji Amaran, Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, singer and occasional lyricist. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil as well as several Telugu films. His musical career began in 1996, at age 16, as he composed the film score for Aravindhan... |
5:19 | Incorporates elements of the songs "Kunguma Pottin Mangalam" from the 1968 film Kudiyiruntha Kovil, composed by M. S. Viswanathan M. S. Viswanathan Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan , is a Tamil music director. He is popularly known as "Mellisai Mannar" . His major works over the past five decades have been in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films... and "Tharaimel Pirakka" from the 1964 film Padagotti Padagotti Padagotti is a Tamil language romantic thriller starring M. G. Ramachandran in the lead role. The film was written by Sakthi T. K. Krishnasamy . The film was released in the 1960s and was received well.-Plot:... , composed by Viswanathan M. S. Viswanathan Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan , is a Tamil music director. He is popularly known as "Mellisai Mannar" . His major works over the past five decades have been in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films... -Ramamoorthy T. K. Ramamoorthy T. K. Ramamurthy, Tiruchirapalli Krishnaswamy Ramamurthy, is a popular South Indian Tamil music composer and violinist. He hails from the from a family of violinists. He is popularly known as Mellisai Mannar . His major works are in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. Along with M. S... |
| 4 | Selling Dope: "The Beginning" | Instrumental Instrumental An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments.... |
3:17 | |
| 5 | It All Comes Down To this!: "Oru Naalil" | Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, singer and occasional lyricist. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil as well as several Telugu films. His musical career began in 1996, at age 16, as he composed the film score for Aravindhan... |
6:25 | Not featured in the film |
| 6 | Going Thru Emotions!: "Prelude" | Instrumental Instrumental An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments.... |
2:52 | |
| 7 | Gangster's Marriage Party: "Pul Pesum Poo Pesum" | Vijay Yesudas Vijay Yesudas Vijay Yesudas Kattassery , commonly credited as Vijay Yesudas, is an Indian playback singer, who has sung songs in Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Tulu and Telugu.-Early life:... , Tanvi Shah Tanvi Shah Tanvi Shah is a popular playback singer for films in India. She is the first Indian woman to win the Grammy Awards for the lyrics of "jai ho". She has a versatile voice and can sing in Arabic, Latin, Spanish and sings a wide range of music with her band, Zahrra... |
5:26 | |
| 8 | Night Life: "Varriyaa" | Narayan, Naveen Mathav, Ranjith Ranjith (singer) Ranjith is an Indian playback singer who originally hails from Kerala. He was brought up in Tamil Nadu and he is very famous for his playback singing in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.... , Vasu |
3:28 | |
| 9 | Clash Of The Titans: "The War Cry" | Instrumental Instrumental An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments.... |
3:44 | |
| 10 | "Oru Naalil": Composer's Dream Mix | Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, singer and occasional lyricist. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil as well as several Telugu films. His musical career began in 1996, at age 16, as he composed the film score for Aravindhan... |
5:23 | Remixed by DJ Rafiq Not featured in the film |
Technology
"Pudupettai" is the first Tamil film to be released in the Super 35mm format which allows for a larger image area packing in more details in the frame. It enhances viewing experience. Technologically the film has many other firsts to its credit.According to Director of Photography Arvind Krishna
Arvind Krishna
Arvind Krishna is an Indian cinematographer, who has worked in the Tamil and the Hindi film industries .-Career:Arvind Krishna, always passionate about photography and studied Visual communication at the Loyola College in Chennai, after which he joined ace cinematographer P. C. Sreeram and worked...
, the movie will be a very different experience. "It has some intensive matt-based color correction, and also altered color tones for different scenes and moods.' It is also the first film to be digitally projected by directly scanning the negative at 2K resolutions and converting them to digital projection format.