Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan

Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan (transl. Saravanan from Pudukkottai) is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language romantic action comedy film written and directed by S. S. Stanley. The film featured Dhanush and newcomer Aparna Pillai in lead roles, while Karunas played a supporting role. Sridevi Ashok played Dhanush sister role.The music for the film was scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja, while Krishnakanth produced the venture. The film was released on 16 January 2004, coinciding with Thai Pongal, and received an average response commercially and critically.

Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan
Poster
Directed by	S. S. Stanley
Produced by	S. K. Krishnakanth
Written by	S. S. Stanley
Starring	Dhanush Aparna Pillai Karunas Sridevi Ashok
Music by	Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cinematography	G. Ramesh
Edited by	Anil Malnad
Production company	Indian Theatre Production
Release date	16 January 2004 (2004-01-16)
Running time	150 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

Saravanan's (Dhanush) 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 (Peter Hein) 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 (Aparna Pillai) 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 (Karunas), 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 Valentines day, he returns back 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 USA 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]

Release

Theatrical rights for Tamil Nadu was sold for a record ₹11 crore helped by previous Dhanush hits.[8] 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."[9] Dhanush's fight scene was well received. After this film Dhanush was referred to as the Indian Bruce Lee. Aparna, who made her debut in this film, was also praised.[10] The romance was considered sweet and believable. The climax was praised for being short and effective.[11] The film was later dubbed and released as Sourya in Telugu.[12] Post-release it was caught in controversy when a song, to which the lyrics had been censored, was shown uncut.[13] Dhanush claims that he is not to blame for these controversies.

Soundtrack

Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan
Soundtrack album by Yuvan Shankar Raja
Released	4 December 2003
Recorded	2003
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	27:56
Label	Roja/Mass Audios
Producer	Yuvan 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.[14] Pudhu Kaadhal and Malargale are melodious while Baby Baby is catchy with its lyrics transitioning smoothly from English to Tamil.

Tracklist

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Malargale"	Thamarai	Bombay Jayashree	04:36
2.	"Baby Baby"	Pa. Vijay	Carla, Yuvan Shankar Raja	05:56
3.	"Where Do We Go"	Pa. Vijay	Yuvan Shankar Raja	03:14
4.	"Naatu Sarakku"	Pa. Vijay	Dhanush, Ranjith, Lavanya	04:37
5.	"Pudhu Kadhal"	Snehan	Ranjith, Chinmayi	05:08
6.	"Pudhukkotai Saravanan"	Na. Muthukumar	Kunal Ganjawala, Hema Sardesai, Nitish Gopal, Yugendran	04:25

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. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
3. "Aparna: Bold and Beautiful". Sify. 20 January 2007. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
4. "On Lake Placid". The Hindu. 20 December 2003. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
5. "Variety fare for Pongal". The Hindu. 9 January 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. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
8. Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan fecthed 11 crore in TN rights
9. "Pudukottaiyil-irindhu Saravanan". The Hindu. 23 January 2004. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
10. "Pudhukottaiyilirunthu Saravanan ~ Official Dhanush Fan Club !". Dhanushnet.com. 29 April 2010. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
11. "Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan". Bbthots.com. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
12. "Dubbed movies rake in money". Indiaglitz. 21 June 2006. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
13. "Dhanush's dilemma". The Hindu. 29 January 2004. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
14. "Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan – Music Review « Yuvan Shankar Raja – The Music Director's Official Blog". Theyuvanshankarraja.wordpress.com. 12 July 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2013.

External links

• Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan on IMDb