''Pulikkuthi Pandi'' is a 2021 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, nati ...

-language action drama television film produced, written and directed by

M. Muthaiah M. Muthaiya is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Tamil cinema. Career Muthaiya moved to Chennai from Srivilliputhur in Virudhunagar to make movies and debuted with the rural drama ''Kutti Puli'' (2013) starring Sasikum ...

. The film stars Lakshmi Menon ,

Vikram Prabhu Vikram Prabhu is an Indian actor working in Tamil language films who made his debut in Prabhu Solomon's '' Kumki'' (2012). He also played the protagonist in ''Ivan Veramathiri'' (2013) and ''Vellaikaara Durai'' (2014). He is the son of actor Pr ...

and

Singampuli Singampuli is an Indian actor and director. After making ''Red'' (2002) and ''Maayavi'' (2005), he has made a career appearing in supporting roles in films. Career Singampuli was born and brought up in Theni, Periyakulam and after studying eng ...

, with Samuthrakani, R.K. Suresh, Vela Ramamoorthy and Sujatha Sivakumar in supporting roles. The music for the film is composed by

N. R. Raghunanthan N. R. Raghunanthan is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer. He has scored music for Tamil films. NR R debuted as a music director in 2010 with '' Thenmerku Paruvakaatru'' directed by Seenu Ramasamy which met with critical acclaim and we ...

. It was released as a television premiere directly in Sun TV on 15 January 2021 coinciding with

Pongal Pongal may refer to: * Pongal (festival), an annual Tamil festival * Pongal (dish) Pongal, also known as pongali or huggi, is an Indian rice dish. In Tamil, "pongal" means "boil" or "bubbling up". The two varieties of pongal are ''chakarai pong ...

and Vikram Prabhu's birthday. This film received positive reviews from audience as well as critics, where Lakshmi Menon received particular praise for her performance and role by the audience.

Plot

Pandi is a rogue, who has close to 20 petty cases registered under his name in a police station. After meeting Pechi, Pandi decides to be a responsible person as he falls head over heels for her. Though he was ready to mend his ways, Pandi locks horns with Sannasi, a ruthless

loan shark A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law. Description Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...

, after the latter misbehaves with Pechi and her father. Pandi, Pechi and her relatives face the wrath of Sannasi and his sons, where Pandi dies by being beheaded by Sannasi's son. Enraged, Pechi and her relatives kills Sannasi and his sons.

Cast

Production

The film was announced in September 2020 and the makers began production in the same month amid

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Sun TV Network produced the film with a limited budget. The filmmakers initially titled the film as ''Pechi'' and began the

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

, but was later changed to ''Pulikkuthi Pandi.'' The film project marked the second collaboration between

and Lakshmi Menon after '' Kumki'' (2012). It also marked the first film project for Menon in four years after her last film '' Rekka'' (2016). Most of the portions of the film were predominantly shot in

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

and Dindigul. The shooting of the film completed during November 2020 at a time when

Government of Tamil Nadu Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, lik ...

permitted theatres to open for public for the first time post COVID-19. The first look poster of the film was unveiled on 30 December 2020.

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack and score was composed by

. The album features six tracks with lyrics written by

Mohan Rajan Mohan Rajan is an Indian lyricist working on Tamil language films. Career Hailing from Valayapatti near Tiruchirappalli, Mohan Rajan arrived in Chennai in 2001, hoping to become a lyricist in the Tamil film industry. However, he failed to get ...

, Mani Amudhavan and Araikudi Bharathi Ganesan. It was released on 9 January 2021, six days before the film's release.

Release

The filmmakers initially planned it for

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

release on 25 December 2020 but was postponed due delays in post-production. The filmmakers again insisted that the film would be released initially in theatres on 1 January 2021 coinciding with the

New Year New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...

which also taunted to be the first Tamil film release of 2021 but the theatrical release was cancelled in the last minute due to delays in post-production of the film. The film release was later finalised as a direct television premiere via Sun TV on 15 January 2021 as a Pongal release and subsequently the film would be streamed via digital platform Sun NXT. It became the second film to directly premiere via Sun TV after ''

Naanga Romba Busy ''Naanga Romba Busy'' () is a 2020 Indian Tamil-language crime comedy film directed by Badri. It is a remake of the Kannada film ''Mayabazar 2016'' (2020) and stars Prasanna, Shaam, Ashwin Kakumanu, Yogi Babu, Shruti Marathe, Rittika Sen, a ...

'' (2020).

Reception

Critics

Avinash Ramachandran of Cinema Express rated the film 3 stars out of 5 stars and said, "proverbial climactic twist saves this generic film".

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

rated 2.5 out of 5 stars and said, "The action scenes in the latter half (though violent), cinematography and performances lift the film to a good extent till the climax. All the artists pull off their roles with ease – while Lakshmi Menon, Vela Ramamoorthy and RK Suresh stand out." Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion South wrote "Muthaiah has a good head for plot, but his screenwriting – the way he fleshes out these plot points – is like what you’d find in a TV serial...there’s no flavour in the lines. There’s no life in the performances."

Ratings

The film which had a direct TV premiere on Sun TV garnered a viewership of 13.284 million impressions and a rating of 17.05 TVR becoming the most watched Tamil television program in that week.

References

External links

* {{M. Muthaiah 2021 action drama films 2021 television films Action television films Drama television films Films directed by M. Muthaiah Films not released in theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films shot in Madurai Indian action drama films Indian television films 2020s masala films 2020s Tamil-language films 2021 films