''Puzhal'' is a 2010 Indian

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pudu ...

prison film A prison film is a film genre concerned with prison life and often prison escape. These films range from acclaimed dramas examining the nature of prisons, such as ''Cool Hand Luke'', '' Midnight Express'', '' Brubaker'', '' Escape from Alcatraz'', ...

directed by Azhagu Rajasundaram. The film stars newcomers Hemachandran, Mano, Murali, Aswatha,

Archana Sharma Archana Sharma, also credited as Ayshickka Sharma, is an Indian actress and model, who appears in Kollywood and Tollywood films. She made her acting debut in '' Thozhi'' (2009). She is currently pursuing her MBA from ISBR Chennai. Career Shar ...

and Sonam Singh, with

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 ...

, Ponnambalam,

Kadhal Dhandapani Kadhal Dhandapani (17 April 1943 – 20 July 2014) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. He rose to fame portraying the antagonist in Balaji Sakthivel's ''Kaadhal'' (2004), and is credited with the film's name as ...

and

Kadhal Sukumar Kadhal Sukumar is an Indian actor and director who has appeared in Tamil language films. After working as a comedian in films for a decade, notably in Balaji Sakthivel's romantic film ''Kaadhal'' (2004). Career Sukumar, the son of a farmer from ...

playing supporting roles. The film, produced by T. Tamil Amudhan, had musical score by Nallathambi and was released on 3 September 2010.

Plot

John, Muthupandi and Ameer who are youth and from different backgrounds enter

Puzhal Central Prison Pulhal Central Prison is a central prison complex located in Chennai (Chennai District), India. It is about 23 km from the city centre. The prison became operational from 2006 replacing the erstwhile Chennai Central Prison. Construction The ...

on charges of murder and they immediately bond. The jail warden Pottu and gangster Arumaidoss smuggle

paan Betel nut chewing, also called betel quid chewing or areca nut chewing, is a practice in which areca nuts (also called "betel nuts") are chewed together with slaked lime and betel leaves for their stimulant and narcotic effects. The practice ...

and alcohol while Anbu's son smuggles mobile phones. Several flashbacks tell the story of the three youth and how they landed in jail. Muthupandi lived with his widowed mother, despite being poor, Muthupandi studied in an engineering college. Muthupandi and the village belle Ponni fell in love with each other. One day, his mother could not pay his college fees, so she begged the college chairman to help her but he forced her to have sex with him. When Muthupandi learned of it, he was shocked, his mother then apologized to him for the matter and killed herself. To save his mother's dignity, Muthupandi surrendered to the police for killing her. Whereas, Ameer was a sales representative and lived with his parents and elder sister Nisha. Nisha fell in love with a married man and decided to elope with him, but Ameer stopped them and he changed the married man's mind. Ameer then fatally strangled his sister. Whilst John was a

kabaddi Kabaddi is a contact team sport. Played between two teams of seven players, the objective of the game is for a single player on offence, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their ...

player and was in love with Rita but she married her uncle David. A saddened John discovered that David was infected with HIV and John interrupted the couple's

first night First Night is a North American artistic and cultural celebration on New Year's Eve, taking place from afternoon until midnight. Some cities have all their events during the celebration outside, but some cities have events that are hosted indoors ...

, and killed David. Back to the present, the cellmate of the youngsters is brutally raped by Arumaidoss and he kills himself by slitting his throat. John, Muthupandi and Ameer took revenge by beating up Pottu and Arumaidoss, they then murder Arumaidoss. After this incident, Anbu, a local bigwig, frees his son and the three boys on bail and recruits them as his henchmen. One day, Anbu who is involved in

land grabbing Land grabbing is the contentious issue of large-scale land acquisitions: the buying or leasing of large pieces of land by domestic and transnational companies, governments, and individuals. While used broadly throughout history, land grabbing as ...

forces an orphanage to give him their land. John, Muthupandi and Ameer who cannot tolerate it fight against Anbu and his henchmen. During the fight, David's brother tries to kill John with a machete. Muthupandi and Ameer get between them, so he fatally stabs the three friends.

Cast

* Hemachandran as John *Mano as Muthupandi *Murali as Ameer *Aswatha as Ponni *

as Rita *Sonam Singh as Nisha *

as Alex * Ponnambalam as College chairman *

as Anbu *

as Anbu's son *Azhagu *Aadhavan *Arjun G Iyengar *Vishnuram *

Shakeela C. Shakeela, known mononymously as Shakeela, is an Indian actress and politician who has predominantly acted in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu language films. She is a member of Indian National Congress. Shakeela debuted in the film ''Playgirls'' ...

as Shakeela *Aishwarya *Lasya *

Charmila Charmila (born 2 October 1974) is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Apart from movies in Malayalam, she acted in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada movies. She completed almost 38 films in the Malayalam film industry. Ea ...

as Rita's mother *Shanthi Anand *T. Tamil Amudhan

Production

Azhagu Rajasundaram who directed films such as ''

Thathi Thavadhu Manasu ''Thathi Thavadhu Manasu'' () is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Azhagu Rajasundaram. The film stars Sona, Urvasi Patel and Sindhuri, while Mumtaj, Vadivelu and Kalabhavan Mani also appear in supporting roles. The ...

'' (2003) and ''

Super Da ''Super Da'' () is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language comedy drama film directed by Azhagu Raja Sundaram. The film stars Ramki, Kunal and newcomer Anusha, with Livingston, Sindhuri, Telangana Shakuntala, Paravai Muniyamma, Senthil, Vaiyapuri, Manoram ...

'' (2004) made his return with the thriller film ''Puzhal'' under the banner of Classic Movies. Newcomers Hemachandran, Mano and Murali were chosen to play the lead role while Aswatha,

and Sonam Singh were selected to play the heroines. The director said, "The story of Puzhal is inspired from my own life. As shooting inside Puzhal jail was not easy, we have decided to erect a set similar to it and shoot there".

Soundtrack

The film score and the soundtrack were composed by Nallathambi. The soundtrack features 6 tracks.

Release

The film was released on 3 September 2010 alongside five other films. ''

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 ...

'' gave 1.5 out of 5 and said, "Each of the heroes have duets too, all slinky-clad, and the camera obligingly swoops low, capturing all the curves. There are loads of mother-son sentiment in one segment which might make television mega serials turn green with envy" and concluded, "It starts out well and plunges into something that may work in C centres".

References

{{reflist 2010 films 2010s Tamil-language films 2010s Indian films Indian prison films Indian drama films