Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan

Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan (transl.Saravanan from Pudukkottai) is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language romantic adventure film written and directed by S. S. Stanley. The film stars Dhanush and newcomer Aparna Pillai. The music for the film was scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja, while Krishnakanth produced the venture. The film was released on 14 January 2004, coinciding with Thai Pongal.

Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan
Poster
Directed byS. S. Stanley
Written byS. S. Stanley
Produced byS. K. Krishnakanth
StarringDhanush
Aparna Pillai
CinematographyG. Ramesh
Edited byAnil Malnad
Music byYuvan Shankar Raja
Production
company
Indian Theatre Production
Release date
  • 14 January 2004 (2004-01-14)
Running time
150 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

Saravanan's parents manage to send him through a severe financial drought, thinking that he would pay off all their debts as soon as he lands in Singapore. Saravanan finds a job in Singapore through an agent and lands there with high hopes of earning three lakhs and sending the money back to his family. Living in a cramped apartment, Saravanan gets into an argument with a Chinese immigrant there. One day, the immigrant burns Saravanan's passport, and Saravanan starts fighting with him. The Chinese man is inadvertently killed in the fight. Everyone thinks that Saravanan is responsible, and he flees.

Shalini lives a luxurious life with her uncle in Singapore. Her parents and other relatives live in India. Shalini's uncle gets into a huge debt and ends up pawning her in a gamble. After losing the bet, he escapes at gunpoint. He finds Saravanan and asks him to take Shalini back safely to her family in India, and in return, he will get the amount of money he has been wishing for, three lakhs, as payment.

With the help of Vimal, Saravanan gets a duplicate passport. He and Shalini walk, hitchhike, and drive through Malaysia, Thailand, and Burma to get to India. Saravanan is injured at a checkpoint. As they arrive in Malaysia, Shalini falls in love with Saravanan. He tells her that his parents have arranged a marriage for him to a relative that he has not seen. Shalini uses some money that Saravanan earned to have his name tattooed on her chest. This shocks him, but he is eventually attracted to her. They arrive in Burma, and Saravanan gets money for food by participating in an arm-wrestling competition. They cross the border into India under the cover of a sandstorm.

Shalini is reunited with her parents safely, who give Saravanan the promised money. She asks him to return in two months if he loves her. Finally on Valentine's Day, he returns to Kolkata and reunites with her.

Cast

  • Dhanush as Saravanan
  • Aparna Pillai as Shalini
  • Karunas as Vimal and Kamal
  • Shasha Sri as Vimal's wife
  • Peter Hein as Chinese Immigrant
  • V. Swaminathan as Guna
  • Gnanavel as Gnanam, Shalini's uncle
  • M. Kafar as Kafar
  • Ramana Ramakrishnan as Ponnusamy, Saravanan's father
  • Srilatha as Saravanan's mother
  • Vandana as Vandana, Saravanan's sister-in-law
  • Sridevi Ashok as Selvi, Saravanan's sister
  • Tharika as an item number

Production

S. S. Stanley, who won critical acclaim for his debut in April Madhathil, collaborated with Dhanush, who had given back-to-back hits in Kadhal Kondein and Thiruda Thirudi to make a film. Actress Sridevi Vijaykumar was initially approached to play the leading female role but was not available.[1] Aparna Pillai won the Miss Chennai contest as a student and was sent to other pageants including the Miss Petite International contest in the United States. The director Stanley saw an article which appeared in The Hindu about her trip to the US and asked her to come for a make-up test, before selecting her to play the female lead in the film.[2][3]

Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan was the first Tamil film after MGR's 1973 Tamil film Ulagam Sutrum Valiban to have scenes shot in Thailand. The film was shot also in Singapore, Malaysia and Pulicat in the Thiruvallur District of India.[4][5] The musical scene with Tharika was shot on a large set, complete with waterfalls and a pond erected by art director Santhanam at the Prasad Studios, and took about five days to shoot.[6] The film was sold to distributors for Rs 11 crore, showing the actor's high market value at the box office.[7]

Soundtrack

Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan
Soundtrack album by
Released4 December 2003
Recorded2003
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length27:56
LabelRoja/Mass Audios
ProducerYuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja chronology
Kurumbu
(2003)
Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan
(2003)
Ullam
(2004)

The soundtrack of the film, composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja and released on 4 December 2003, features six tracks and was hailed as the highlight of the film. Yuvan Shankar Raja himself sang two songs and hero Dhanush sang the song 'Naatu Sarakku', debuting as a playback singer as well. Lyrics were penned by Pa. Vijay, Thamarai, Snehan and Na. Muthukumar.[8]

Tracklist

No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Malargale"ThamaraiBombay Jayashree04:36
2."Baby Baby"Pa. VijayCarla, Yuvan Shankar Raja05:56
3."Where Do We Go"Pa. VijayYuvan Shankar Raja03:14
4."Naatu Sarakku"Pa. VijayDhanush, Ranjith, Lavanya04:37
5."Pudhu Kadhal"SnehanRanjith, Chinmayi05:08
6."Pudhukkotai Saravanan"Na. MuthukumarKunal Ganjawala, Hema Sardesai, Nitish Gopal, Yugendran04:25

Release and reception

Theatrical rights for Tamil Nadu was sold for a record 11 crore helped by previous Dhanush hits.[9] But the film attracted poor reviews with a critic from The Hindu noting that "Story wise there's nothing much. All the same there are no boring villains or a contrived climax. Intended to be a light film, it stays that way till the end, but the director could have given a thought to the plausibility angle".[10] A critic from Deccan Herald wrote that "While the lanky Dhanush does everything expected of him--fast dances, brilliant fights, and excellent dialogue delivery, the director lets him down with a silly story".[11] News Today wrote "A gorgeous newcomer, good music and action-packed stunt sequences all find a place in the movie, yet one does not feel great at the end for no reason".[12] Dhanush's fight scene was well received; Aparna, who made her debut in this film, was also praised for her performance.[13][14] The film was later dubbed and released as Sourya in Telugu.[15] The film was subject to controversy when a song, to which the lyrics had originally been censored, was shown uncut in the movie.[16]

References

  1. "Reel Talk". ChennaiOnline.com. 17 September 2003. Archived from the original on 2 October 2003. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  2. "Cinema Plus / Columns : My First Break — Aparna". The Hindu. 9 October 2009. Archived from the original on 12 October 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  3. "Aparna: Bold and Beautiful". Sify. 20 January 2007. Archived from the original on 14 April 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  4. "On Lake Placid". The Hindu. 20 December 2003. Archived from the original on 22 March 2004. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  5. "Variety fare for Pongal". The Hindu. 9 January 2004. Archived from the original on 22 March 2004. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  6. "Puthukoattaiyllirinthu Saravanan". Archived from the original on 22 October 2003. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  7. "Dhanush -The biggest discovery of the year!". Sify. 20 January 2007. Archived from the original on 2 March 2004. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  8. "Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan – Music Review « Yuvan Shankar Raja – The Music Director's Official Blog". Theyuvanshankarraja.wordpress.com. 12 July 2010. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  9. Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan fetched 11 crore in TN rights
  10. "Pudukottaiyil-irindhu Saravanan". The Hindu. 23 January 2004. Archived from the original on 30 January 2004. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  11. G. Ulaganathan (1 February 2004). "Puthukottayilirundhu Saravanan- Tamil". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016.
  12. "Dhanush, all the way". News Today. Archived from the original on 2 February 2004. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  13. "Pudhukottaiyilirunthu Saravanan ~ Official Dhanush Fan Club !". Dhanushnet.com. 29 April 2010. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  14. "Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan". Bbthots.com. Archived from the original on 9 December 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  15. "Dubbed movies rake in money". IndiaGlitz. 21 June 2006. Archived from the original on 11 December 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  16. "Dhanush's dilemma". The Hindu. 29 January 2004. Archived from the original on 16 March 2004. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.