Kalatpadai

Kalatpadai (English: Infantry) is a 2003 Tamil romantic drama film directed by J. Ramesh, making his directorial debut. The film features newcomer Jai and Vidhya Venkatesh in lead roles, with Radha Ravi, J. Livingston, Thalaivasal Vijay, Nithin Sathya, Rajsekhar, Jyothi, Thennavan and Kuyili playing supporting roles. The film, produced by Chozha Ponnurangam, had musical score by Bharathwaj and was released on 15 January 2003.[1][2][3][4]

Kalatpadai
Directed by	J. Ramesh
Produced by	Chozha Ponnurangam
Written by	J. Ramesh
Starring	Jai Vidhya Venkatesh
Music by	Bharathwaj
Cinematography	D. Sheenu
Edited by	Rahu Bob
Production company	Chozha Creations
Release date	15 January 2003 (2003-01-15)
Running time	145 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

Ram (Jai) is a carefree and jobless young man who mostly hangs out with his seven friends. They spent much of their time smoking cigarettes and teasing everybody, with not much thought about their future. One day, Ram meets his best friend Sridhar (Arun) in his house and encounters his soft-spoken sister Priya (Vidhya Venkatesh). Thereafter, Ram comes across Priya on multiple occasions, they eventually fall in love with each other and ends up dating. Thus, he distances himself from his friends' outings. He even reveals his love to three of his friends. When Sridhar and his family find out about their love affair, they ask Priya to forget him straight away. Being from an orthodox Hindu Brahmin family, they could not accept because Ram was from another caste. Sridhar then has a fight with Ram for dating his sister and misusing his friendship. The group of friends split up into two groups: the first group supported Ram and knew about his love before, while the second one supported Sridhar and knows about his love just now. Sridhar even beats up his sister at home for dating his friend, and her family starts to be very strict with her. Later, Priya convinces Ram's friends to support their love. Ram and Priya had no other choice but to get married, in a hurry, at the registrar office with the help of Ram's parents and friends. After the secret marriage, Ram's father Janakiraman (Radha Ravi) advises him to first find a job and then they will start their married life. The two families then decide to settle the problem once and for all. The film ends with Ram and Priya getting married as per the customs and with the blessings of both families.

Cast

• Jai as Ram
• Vidhya Venkatesh as Priya
• Radha Ravi as Janakiraman, Ram's father
• Arun as Sridhar, Ram's friend
• J. Livingston as "Cut" Raj
• Thalaivasal Vijay as Deenadayalan
• R. Sekar as Priya's father
• Jyothi as Bhama, Priya's mother
• Thennavan as Priya's uncle
• Kuyili as Priya's aunt
• Anthony as Daniel, Ram's friend
• Vijayganesh as Ram's friend
• Santhosh as Ram's friend
• Amit Gupta as Ram's friend
• Riyaz as Ram's friend
• Sreeni as Ram's friend
• John Paul as John Paul
• Sampath Ram as Henchman

Production

After producing Thalaivasal (1992), Amaravathi (1993) and Sathi Sanam (1997), producer Chozha Ponnurangam of Chozha Creations took a long sabbatical from films. Chozha Ponnurangam launched his new film titled "Kalatpadai". A youthful story centring round eight friends, J. Ramesh, who had apprenticed under director Selva, was chosen to direct the film. Newcomer Jai, who had completed his pilot's training and was all set to work for an airlines, signed to play the hero. Vidhya Venkatesh, an air hostess, who had already played a role in Panchathantiram (2002), was selected to play the female lead role. The supporting cast has Arun (Nithin Sathya), Vijayganesh, Antony (of Naiyandi Durbar fame), Livingston, Radha Ravi, Rajsekhar, Kai Thennavan, Jyoti, Thalaivasal Vijay and Kuyili.[4]

Soundtrack

Kalatpadai
Soundtrack album by Bharathwaj
Released	2003
Recorded	2002
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	36:41
Producer	Bharathwaj
Bharathwaj chronology
I Love You Da (2002) Kalatpadai (2003) Anbe Anbe (2003)

The film score and the soundtrack were composed by film composer Bharathwaj. The soundtrack, released in 2003, features 9 tracks with lyrics written by Kamakodiyan, Snehan, Newton and J. Ramesh.[5][6][7]

Track	Song	Singer(s)	Duration
1	'Machchaan Machchaan'	Mohan Vaidya, Timothy, Reshmi	4:12
2	'Kadhal Indru Theeyai'	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	4:42
3	'Varudhu Varudhu'	Tippu, Timothy, Pop Shalini	5:05
4	'Maizhayoo Puyaloo'	Srinivas, Pop Shalini, Gopika Poornima	4:58
5	'Kagitha Oodam'	Vijay Shankar, Simsomalraj	2:47
6	'Imaigalin Oorum'	Bharathwaj, Reshmi	5:05
7	'Manitha Manitha'	Krishnaraj	5:08
8	'Penngalai Nambhadhae'	Timothy	2:40
9	'Rama Rama'	Reshmi	2:04

Release

The film was originally planned to release in November 2002 but was postponed to 15 January 2003 which coincided with the Thai Pongal festival. It opened alongside six other films, including Dhool, Chokka Thangam, Vaseegara, and Anbe Sivam.[8][9]

Critical reception

Balaji Balasubramaniam of bbthots.com rated the film 2.5 out of 4 and stated, "The single factor that elevates this movie from mediocrity is the script. Almost everyone in the movie speaks sensibly and the dialogues sparkle with rare intelligence".[10] S. R. Ashok Kumar of The Hindu gave the film a positive review citing that "credit must be given to director, J. Ramesh, who has written the story, for the screenplay and the artists for their performance. Ramesh's dialogue actually is the strength of the film" and that "both the new find Jai and Vidhu have given good accounts of themselves. They make a charming pair. The other new face Arun (Nithin Sathya) is promising".[11] Malini Mannath said, "The director makes no pretensions of giving a great film, there are a couple of flaws in the narration too, but in totality it's a simple love story well told, that gives a good feeling in the end".[12]

Box office

The film flopped at the box office.[13]

References

1. "Kalatpadai (2003)". gomolo.com. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
2. "Kaalaatpadai (2003) Tamil Movie". spicyonion.com. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
3. "Find Tamil Movie Kaalatpadai". jointscene.com. Archived from the original on 28 February 2010. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
4. Malini Mannath (12 November 2002). "Kaalaatpadai". chennaionline.com. Archived from the original on 21 November 2002. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
5. "Kaalatpadai (2003) - Bharadwaj". mio.to. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
6. "Bharadwaj: Kaalatpadai (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". Deezer. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
7. "Kaalatpadai songs". saavn.com. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
8. "Pongal releases 2003 - Rediff.com". Rediff.com. 11 January 2003. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
9. Sudhish Kamath (22 January 2002). "The Hindu : New maths for the box office". The Hindu. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
10. Balaji Balasubramaniam. "KAALAATPADAI". bbthots.com. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
11. S. R. Ashok Kumar (17 January 2003). "The Hindu : Kaalaatpadai". The Hindu. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
12. Malini Mannath (17 January 2003). "Kaalaatpadai". chennaionline.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2004. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
13. "Dhool Poised To Be Huge Hit - Rediff.com". Rediff.com. 23 January 2003. Retrieved 15 February 2019.