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Padikkadavan
Padikkadavan
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Suraj
Written by	Suraj
Produced by	B. Venkatarama Reddy
Starring	Dhanush; Tamannaah Bhatia;
Cinematography	A. Venkatesh
Edited by	Manoj
Music by	Mani Sharma
Production; company	Vijaya Productions
Distributed by	Sun Pictures
Release date	14 January 2009;
Running time	160 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Padikkadavan (transl. Illiterate) is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language masala 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 in March 2008, and the film released on 14 January 2009 during Pongal and received a huge positive response.^[1] 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.^[2]

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 realises that another Thirunelveli rowdy named Kasi Anandan, whose brother he accidentally kills, 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

Dhanush as Radhakrishnan aka Rocky
Tamannaah Bhatia as Gayathri
Vivek as Assault Arumugam
Atul Kulkarni as Kashi Anandan
Suman as Samarasimha Reddy
Sayaji Shinde as Rami Reddiar
Pratap Pothan as Ramakrishnan
Mayilsamy as Mayilsamy (Mayil)
Suman Setty as Hanumanthu
Sendrayan as Kumaran
Ganeshkar as Ganesh
Meera Krishnan as Janaki Ramakrishnan
Devadarshini as Kousalya Gowtham
Chetan as Gowtham
Dr. Sharmila as Kavitha
Sashikumar Subramani as Pandi
Kadhal Dhandapani as Veerapandi
Santhana Bharathi as Ramalingam
Madhan Bob as Srinivasan
Nirosha as Andal, Srinivasan's wife
Aarthi as Thirukaani
Chinnaponnu as Thirukaani's mother
Swaminathan as Malaisamy
Pandu as Professor Sundaramurthy
Cell Murugan as Cell Murugan
Mahanadi Shankar as Subba Rao
Karate Raja as Bhaskar
Crane Manohar as Appa Rao
Balu Anand as Shanmugam
Bonda Mani as Bonda Mani
Suruli Manohar as Maarimuthu
Nellai Siva as Kothandam
Munnar Ramesh as Samarasimha Reddy's henchman
Cool Suresh as Veerapandi's henchman
Shankar as tutorial college student
Meesai Rajendranath as a man who beats up Arumugam

Cameo appearance

Ennatha Kannaiya as Kannaiya
Baba Bhaskar in the song "Hey Vetri Velaa"

Production

The film's title was derived from a 1985 film.^[3] Vadivelu shot for the film for two days before being replaced by Vivek.^[4]

Music

The soundtrack consists of five songs composed by Mani Sharma.^[5] Four of them were reused from Telugu movies composed by Sharma.

Song	Singers	Length (min:sec)	Lyrics	Notes
"Hey Vetri Velaa"	Ranjith, Naveen Madhav	4:50	P. Vijay
"Hey Rosu Rosu"	Janani Madhan (Jey), Ranjith	5:00	Thabu Shankar	Reused "Ratraina" from Athidhi
"Raanki Rangamma"	Udit Narayan, Malathy Lakshman	4:47	P. Vijay	Reused "Ramma Chilakammma" from Choodalani Vundi
"Kadavulum Kadhalum"	Karthik, Harini	5:17	Snehan	Reused "Yevarunnarani Neekaina" from Yuvatha
"Appa Amma Vilayattu"	Ranjith, Saindhavi	4:44	Snehan	Reused "Aresukoboye" from Adavi Ramudu

Reception

The Times of India wrote, "Padikathavan is worth a watch for its unadulterated masala."^[6] 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."^[7] Indiaglitz wrote, "Padikathavan is worth a watch for its unadulterated masala."^[8] Behindwoods wrote, "On the whole, Padikathavan struggles to identify itself between comedy and violence and ends up not being both."^[9] Sify wrote, "There is nothing new in director Suraaj's story which seems to have been etched out of various earlier films".^[10] 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".^[11]

References

^ "Exclusive: Slumdog Millionaire – 7Crores, Villu – 30 Crore". Cinesnacks. 31 March 2009. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
^ "Dhanush in demand!". Sify. 18 January 2009. Archived from the original on 15 May 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
^ "Dhanush Raja pairs with Tamannaah Bhatia!". Sify. 1 April 2008. Archived from the original on 6 April 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2008.
^ "Vivek replaces Vadivel!". The Times of India. 25 July 2008. Archived from the original on 2 May 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
^ Karthik. "Music review: Padikkaadhavan (Tamil – Manisharma)". Milliblog. Archived from the original on 20 March 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
^ "Padikathavan: Movie Review". The Times of India. 15 January 2009. Archived from the original on 6 May 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
^ Srinivasan, Pavithra (14 January 2009). "Padikkathavan is a commercial cocktail". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 2 May 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
^ "Padikathavan Review". IndiaGlitz.com. 15 January 2009. Archived from the original on 19 August 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
^ "Padikathavan– Movie Review". Behindwoods.com. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
^ "Padikkathavan". Sify. Archived from the original on 20 February 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
^ Rangarajan, Malathi (23 January 2009). "A smooth take-off … and that's it -- Padikkadhavan". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 26 January 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2024.