Namitha in Perumal, Brahmandam and Thee. Vinay and Bhavana in Jeyam Kondan Vishal & Nayanthara in Sathyam 1 Daniel Balaji & Laksmi Rai in Muthirai Kamal & Asin in Dasavatharam

		MOVIE REVIEWS Pudhupettai Movie Review - by UthHeaven Review Committee UthHeaven Movie Rating : 4/5 Genre : Action / Drama / Thriller CBFC Censor Rating : U/A Audience : 18yrs and Above Release Date : May 26th, 2006 Starring : Dhanush, Sneha, Sonia Agarwal, Azagham Perumal Directed by : Selva Raghavan Music : Uvan Shankar Raja Produced by : Lakshmi Movie Makers (India) Ltd., The Plot : The Birth and Survival of a Gangster named Kokki Kumar - The Fittest! Pudhupettai. One of the most expected movies to be released this year. Third Movie of Selva Raghavan, Uvan Shankar Raja and Arvind Krishna combination. The movie that was made to save the sinking career of the director's brother Dhanush. So, is it worth the expectations? Keep reading. Like most of the die-hard fans of Selva Raghavan, I had the same interest and expectation to watch this movie on the First Day First Show. It was at Ambiga DTS A/C, Anna Nagar, Madurai were I had preferred to watch it. When I was there to the theatre complex, I was surprised to find a lot of college students both girls and boys awaiting eagerly for the counters to open and start issuing tickets. It seemed like the movie was to run full house. The theatre manager also told me that all the shows for the day were full and they had started reservations for the weekend too! The brand 'Selva Raghavan' does work out! Now let's move on to the review of the movie. The movie starts with Kokki Kumar (Dhanush) in a prison narrating his past days. It makes us understand that he is here for a reason and the expectations on the 'reason' grow in you! Uvan's 'Padicha Naye Kitta Varatha' rolls on the silver screen and what happens there on is all about violence and bloodshed. Kokki Kumar returns home after watching a movie with his friends only to find his mother killed by his father, a local rowdy. He fears that his life would be threatened by his father after over-hearing the conversation of the latter with another ruffian. He runs away from home to save his life and finds himself in 'Pudhupettai'. Kokki Kumar gets inspired seeing the beggars around and decides to earn his living by becoming one of them instead of cleaning car windows. He gets to meet Krishnaveni (Sneha), a local hooker on the streets picking up customers. In a few moments, the police arrest a gang for selling narcotics and they mistake Kokki Kumar for one of them and pull him into the jeep along with the others. Kumar then gets involved with the gang and becomes one of them under the leadership of Anbu (Bala Singh) who runs the gang with the support of a local party leader Tamil Selvan. A Gangster is born. Azhagam Perumal (Director of the movies like Dumm Dumm Dumm and Udhaya) plays the role of the local party leader Tamil Selvan with ease. He's called Thalaivar throughout the movie. His is one of the finest performances in the movie. Kokki Kumar becomes the favourite gangster of Anbu. He treats Kumar like his son. But, this relationship is short as Kumar develops a hatred towards Anbu on seeing Krishnaveni harassed by him. He claims Krishnaveni for himself and in the struggle he murders Anbu and wins her. He builds a team for himself and wants Azhagam Perumal to recognise him and grant him the permission to take care of Anbu's area. In the meanwhile, the enemy of Kumar who leads the opponent party of Anbu namely Moorthy and whose brother he had killed in a gangwar is waiting for a chance to pounce on him and put him to death. Now, Kumar becomes the henchman for the political leader and he leads the gang of Anbu. His job is to take care of the business of Anbu and generate funds for the political party. Kokki Kumar's strengths and weaknesses grow along side day by day. He fancies Selvi (Sonia Agarwal), the sister of his best buddy Mani, and he marries her and justifies it too while he is living with Krishnaveni! This gets one more enemy added to the list of Kumar - Mani. He joins Kumar's enemies and plans to have him murdered. Kumar also marries Krishnaveni and has a kid with her. At one stage he develops a passion towards becoming a politician and demands his political leader to make him a MLA. He makes the crowd furious by his actions when he is denied the seat and challenges his opponent who gets the leadership in his area. For the first time, fear strikes Kumar after receiving the threats from the so-called politicians who are shown as gangsters in disguise. It makes sense to Kumar that these men didn't rely on his support alone and they were much stronger than him. He leaves the crowd and decides to protect his family and himself from Moorthy's men and also the new found enemies in the form of Politicians. Kumar's love for his son makes him weaker when he finds him lost. He pleads Moorthy's men to spare his son. Mani, who pities Kumar saves his son but gets killed by Moorthy for doing so. Krishnaveni also dies after having been assaulted by the mob and Selvi brings some sense into Kumar by her witty words and puts him to shame. Soon, the members of his gang get scattered. He becomes deserted without Krishnaveni and fearing his enemies and to save the life of his son, he gives him away for adoption. Kumar decides to face his opponent Moorthy all alone rather than running away from him. He gets to take revenge on his enemy and after the death of Moorthy, he gets arrested and is imprisoned. To justify the baseline of the movie, Selva Raghavan brings his protagonist out of the prison and makes him a politician with the support of the Chief Minister. The movie ends with the note that only the fittest can survive all odds. Dhanush and Sneha steal the show with their mesmerising acting skills. Dhanush excels in a lot of scenes like his incident with Anbu, the meeting with politicians, narration of his first night with Selvi and more. Sonia Agarwal according to me, fits the character to a 'T' as her regular expressions are the only ones that are required for her characterisation. She gets married to Kokki Kumar. Her marriage with him happens without anyone's consent, even hers. And then she is the one who brings in the character change in him. Cameraman Arvind Krishna and Composer Uvan Shankar Raja have provided much support to Selva. Uvan's BGM makes the movie move with the required dark theme. It's a dissapointment that his 'Oru Nalil' has not been picturised and included in the movie. The Bangkok Symphony Orchestra has its significance in the movie. It makes the movie look tough and rustic. The dialogues remain a big plus like in Selva's earlier movies. The movie also boasts of being the First Digital Cinema (D-CINEMA) to be released in India. There was even a function to celebrate it in Sathyam Cinemas, Chennai on June 1st. The movie has been released also with nearly 160 prints in Tamil Nadu. It has been made using the Super 35mm innovation. With all the necessary technical brilliance, the movie doesnt entertain much just because of the fact that it can never replace Manirathnam's Nayakan which drew a lot of inspirations from the classic 'Godfather' of Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. Pudhupettai also gets some of its inspirations from movies like Godfather Trilogy, The Goodfellas, Kill Bill Movies, Sin City etc., The movie falls flat when the 'Bad' survives at the end. But, due to the earlier releases like Pattiyal and the violence thats depicted in the movie, Pudhupettai may suffer at the box office. The second half is too slow and needs some trimming here and there. In the earlier movies of the director, such as Kadhal Kondaen and 7G Rainbow Colony, the last segments of the movie where unexpected by the audience and played a major role in making the movie as superhits. Whereas here it seems like Selva didnt know where to conclude the movie and has been carried away in a lot of scenes. As our reports say, there has been some editing in the movie after it's release based on the feedback of the audience and the theatre owners. If it all goes well, it would be worth a watch and turn out to be a hit! But still the direction of Selva, the music of Uvan and the cinematography of Arvind makes Pudhupettai a memorable movie!! APPLAUSE : Cast & Crew AHEM! : Slow Second Half Verdict : Watch it for the Cast and Crew!

	Namitha in Indira Vizha, Sandai & 1977. Ajith in Aegan Vishal & Nayanthara in Sathyam	Surya & Tamanna in Ayan Tamanna in Anandha Thandavam Kamal & Asin in Dasavatharam Vijay & Trisha in Kuruvi