Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan

Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan (English: Saravanan from Pudukottai) is a 2004 Tamil action romance 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. 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. The film was later dubbed and released as Sourya in Telugu.

Plot

Saravanan's (Dhanush) parents manage to send him to Singapore after having gone 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 3 lakh and sending 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 him. The Chinese man is killed inadvertently in the fight. Everyone thinks that Saravanan is responsible, and he flees.

Shalini (Aparna) 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 Saravanan 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, 3 lakh, 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 he hasn't seen. She uses some money he 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.

Cast

• Dhanush as Saravanan
• Aparna Pillai as Shalini
• Karunas as Vimal and Kamal
• Mayoori
• Shasha Sri
• Peter Hein
• Tharika in a special appearance

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 Vijayakumar 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

The film won mixed 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."^[8] 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. The film was a box-office hit. It ran for 50 days and grossed 10 crore.^[9] The romance was considered sweet and believable. The climax was praised for being short and effective.^[10] The film was later dubbed and released as Sourya in Telugu.^[11] Post-release it was caught in controversy when a song, to which the lyrics had been censored, was shown uncut.^[12] 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 6 tracks and was hailed as the highight 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.^[13] Pudhu Kaadhal and Malargale are melodious while Baby Baby is catchy with its lyrics transitioning smoothly from English to Tamil.

Tracklist

References