''Pagaivan'' () is a 1997 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

-language

action comedy film Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre. Film The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of actio ...

directed by

Ramesh Balakrishnan Ramesh Balakrishnan is an Indian film director and television producer who has worked on Tamil films and serials. Career Ramesh Balakrishnan graduated with an English literature degree, before going on to take a film making course at the Film a ...

, starring

Ajith Kumar Ajith Kumar (born 1 May 1971) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil films. To date, he has starred in over 60 films. His awards include four Vijay Awards, three Cinema Express Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and three Tamil N ...

Sathyaraj Rangaraj Subbiah (born 3 October 1954), professionally known as Sathyaraj, is an Indian actor, producer, director and a media personality who has predominantly appeares in Tamil cinema and Telugu cinema, Telugu Cinema. His 240 films also includ ...

and

Anjala Zaveri Anjala Zaveri (born 20 April 1972) is a British actress who has primarily appeared in Telugu and Hindi language films, as well as few films in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada. Personal life Zaveri was born on 20 April 1972 in a Gujarati family in ...

. The film revolves around a kidnapping undertaken by Ajith's character and the actions that the victim's father take to save his daughter. The film also featured

Ranjitha Ranjitha (born Sri Valli) is an Indian actress. She has acted in a number of Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films. Career In 1991, Ranjita, did her first Telugu film, under the screen name Madhu Bala ''Kadapa Reddemma''. It was written by ...

Nagesh Nagesh (born Cheyur Krishnarao Nageshwaran; (27 September 1933 – 31 January 2009) was an Indian actor, mostly remembered for his roles as a comedian in Tamil films during the 1960s. Nagesh was born in Dharapuram. He acted in over 1,000 film ...

K. S. Ravikumar K. S. Ravikumar (born 30 May 1958) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, primarily working in Tamil films. Career 1990–1997 Ravikumar worked as co-director on R. B. Choudary's production ''Pudhu Vasantham'' direct ...

and

Vivek Vivek (or Bibek/Bivek in some regions) (विवेक in Devanagari script) is a masculine given name that is popular in South Asia, particularly in India and Nepal. It is of Sanskrit origin and means "wisdom" and/or "conscience". Vivek may refe ...

who all appear in supporting roles. It was released in August 1997 to mixed reviews but critics praises the comedy and performance of Sathyaraj. The film was a commercial failure.

Plot

Prabhu, despite having all the required qualifications for the job he applied for, fails after he was demanded to pay a considerable amount as a caution deposit. And every time, all his chances of getting the job were hanging on the payment of this caution. Determined to get the job at all costs, Prabhu is ready to do anything to obtain this amount as quickly as possible. So Prabhu decides to kidnap someone so as to demand a ransom from the family of this person. The fate leads him to abduct Uma, who happens to be the one and only daughter of Minister Durai Raj. Uma falls in love with Prabhu and, before long, Prabhu begins to love Uma too. Meanwhile, Uma’s parents hire Vasu, a rowdy who’s ready to do anything for the sake of money, to find their daughter. The rest of the film revolves around if the pair will be found.

Cast

as Prabhu *

as Vasu *

as Esther *

as Uma Durairaj *

as Church father *

as Minister Durairaj * Mansoor Ali Khan as Dharman *

Babu Antony Babu Antony (born 22 February 1966) is an Indian-American actor and martial artist, who works primarily in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in several Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Sinhalese, Hindi and English films. He started his career doing ...

as Dharman's brother * Sumithra as Uma's mother *

Delhi Ganesh Delhi Ganesh is an Indian actor who mostly acts in supporting roles in Tamil cinema and serials. He has acted in more than 400 films from 1976 to present. Before films, he was a member of the Delhi-based theatre troupe, ''Dakshina Bharata Natak ...

as Prabhu's father *

as Prabhu's friend *

G. Venkateswaran G. Venkateswaran (died 3 May 2003), popularly known as G.V., was an Indian film producer and chartered accountant. He was the elder brother of director and screenwriter Mani Ratnam and G. Srinivasan. Venkateswaran was the promoter of GV Films, ...

as Padmanaban, Medicine company owner *

Manobala Manobala (born 8 December 1953) is an Indian film director, producer, actor and comedian who predominantly plays supporting roles in Tamil-language films. He started his career in Tamil cinema in the early 1970s and with Kamal Haasan's referen ...

as Govindhan *Bayilvan Ranganathan as Durairaj's assistant *Sempuli Jagan as Singam *

Ajay Rathnam Ajay Rathnam is an Indian actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil language, Tamil films and serials. He is known for his supporting and negative roles and has acted in over 300 movies. Standing at 6 ft 4 in (193 cm), Rathnam is one of the t ...

as the Police inspector *

Balu Anand Balu Anand (1954 – 3 June 2016) was an Indian actor and director who worked in Tamil-language films (Kollywood). He appeared in over 100 films as an actor and directed several films, such as ''Naane Raja Naane Mandhiri'', ''Annanagar Mudhal T ...

as a Security guard *Soundar as Barman *

Mahanadi Shankar Mahanadi Shankar is an Indian stage, film and television actor, who has appeared in Tamil language films and serials as supporting actor and negative roles. He has appeared in films including ''Mahanadi'' (1994), ''Baashha'' (1995), ''Ratchagan ...

as Fighter *Naga Kannan as Welding Kannan *Vikram Singh as Singh *

Dhamu Dhamu is a retired Indian actor and comedian who mainly acts in Tamil films. He is known for his role as Otteri Nari in ''Ghilli'' (2004). He was a part of Gaana Galata Group, a popular touring and acting comedy troupe. Since then, he has appe ...

as Prabhu's friend *

Madhan Bob S. Krishnamoorthy (born 19 October 1953) professionally known as Madhan Bob, is an Indian actor and comedian, appearing in many Tamil films in supporting roles. Madhan Babu is known for his amusing facial expressions, laughter and protruding ey ...

as Judge *Ravi Raj as Lawyer *

Vellai Subbaiah Vellai Subbaiah was an Indian actor who had appeared in more than 500 films and 1000 stage plays. He featured mostly in comedy roles and also minor roles. He is well known for his dialogue, "Thirumba Thirumba pesura nee..." in the movie Nesam ...

as Kaliaperumal *S. Lalitha as Prabhu's mother *Priyanka as an Office clerk

Production

During the making of the film, the producers fell out with actress

, causing the film to be briefly delayed.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by

Deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * Deva ...

, with lyrics written by

Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Ramasamy (born 13 July 1953) is an Indian lyricist, poet, and novelist working in the Tamil film industry. He is a prominent figure in the Tamil literary world. A master's graduate from the Pachaiyappa's College in Chennai, he first ...

References

External links

* {{IMDb title 1990s Tamil-language films 1997 action comedy films 1997 films Films directed by Ramesh Balakrishnan Films scored by Deva (composer) Films set in Chennai Indian action comedy films