''Thenavattu'' () is a 2008 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 film
Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
written and directed by V. V. Kathir, starring
Jiiva
Amar Choudary (born 4 January 1984), known professionally as Jiiva, is an Indian actor and film producer who works mainly in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi films. He is the youngest son of film producer R. B. Choudary. He began his career as a ch ...
and
Poonam Bajwa
Poonam Bajwa is an Indian actress and model who appears in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. She made her acting debut in 2005 with the Telugu film '' Modati Cinema'', after that she was featured in more Telugu film, such as ''Boss'' ( ...
, whilst
Ganja Karuppu
Ganja Karuppu is an Indian actor who has predominantly appeared in comedy roles in Tamil cinema. After making his debut in Bala's '' Pithamagan'' (2003), Ganja Karuppu experienced success in the late 2000s with his roles in '' Raam'' (2005), ...
,
Ravi Kale
Ravi Kale is an Indian actor known for his works in Kannada, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Marathi films.
Filmography
;Marathi
*''Bangarwadi'' (1995)
*'' Sumbaran'' (2009)
*'' Pipani'' (2012)
*'' Vanilla,Strawberry & Chocolate'' (2018)
;Hindi
*'' E ...
,
Shafi
The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by ...
,
Saikumar, and
Rajan P. Dev
Rajan P. Dev (20 May 1951 – 29 July 2009) was an Indian film and stage actor. He was born in Cherthala in the Alappuzha district of the former state Thiru-Kochi (present day Kerala). He had acted in over 500 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu ...
play pivotal roles. The music was composed by
Srikanth Deva
Srikanth Deva is an Indian music director of Tamil films. He made his debut as music director in the Tamil movie '' Doubles'' in 2000. He is the son of composer Deva, nephew of the famous music director duo Sabesh–Murali and the cousin of actor ...
with
cinematography
Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography.
Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...
by
Vetri. The film released on 21 November 2008 to highly negative reviews but performed well at b and c centers.
Plot
The film starts with Kailasam, the somber bigwig who is performing the last rites of someone dear to him, but the appearance of Kottai (first in the chaotic Koovagam festival and later atop a Veeranam pipe) swinging a scythe maniacally sets the tone for the rest of the film.
Cut to the flashback a few months ago: in Ramnad, Kottai's mother is cutting down logs and boasting about her son: he is a god who deserves to see the outside world and derive its benefits. Kottai journeys to big bad Chennai in company with Vellaiyan, who dances with every Karagattam dancer on the roadside, makes lewd jokes, and appears to have only one thing on his mind. They end up at the massive home of Kailasam, the local terror who slices up people. But the heroes are unaware of this.
Kottai and Vellaiyan think that all Kailasam does is cut up trees, which is why he requires their blacksmithing skills. However, Kottai discovers that Kailasam hired him to make sickles to kill people. Kottai then goes to work by feeding crying children milk and helping men with epileptic seizures. He also falls in love with the first fair-complexioned, slim beauty he comes across, Gayatri. Naturally, Gayatri is kind-hearted, wears saris and teaches music to students. Kottai's logic for falling in love with her is that she treats him like his own family.
Meantime, there is yet another villain Santhosh, who is Kailasam's son. Santhosh proceeds to play musical instruments, mouth punchlines, and rape women. There also a remarkably stupid and one-dimensionally portrayed minister and a helpless, frustrated cop named Suryaprakash, who simply stands like a rock in uniform and wants to settle a score with Kailasam because Santhosh raped and killed his sister. Naturally, Santhosh continues to rape women, and Suryaprakash continues to stand still. Kottai goes on making aruvaals until Santhosh catches sight of the ravishing Gayatri. Santosh touches Gayathri inappropriately, and all hell breaks loose. Kottai bashes Santhosh, not knowing that he is Kailasam's son. When Kailasam learns that Kottai has beaten his son to death, he tries to take revenge on Kottai. Kottai, with the help of Suryaprakash, kills Kailasam and the minister. The film ends with Kottai returning to his home.
Cast
*
Jiiva
Amar Choudary (born 4 January 1984), known professionally as Jiiva, is an Indian actor and film producer who works mainly in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi films. He is the youngest son of film producer R. B. Choudary. He began his career as a ch ...
as Kottai
*
Poonam Bajwa
Poonam Bajwa is an Indian actress and model who appears in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. She made her acting debut in 2005 with the Telugu film '' Modati Cinema'', after that she was featured in more Telugu film, such as ''Boss'' ( ...
as Gayathri (voice dubbed by Renuka Kathir)
*
Ganja Karuppu
Ganja Karuppu is an Indian actor who has predominantly appeared in comedy roles in Tamil cinema. After making his debut in Bala's '' Pithamagan'' (2003), Ganja Karuppu experienced success in the late 2000s with his roles in '' Raam'' (2005), ...
as Vellaiayan
*
Ravi Kale
Ravi Kale is an Indian actor known for his works in Kannada, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Marathi films.
Filmography
;Marathi
*''Bangarwadi'' (1995)
*'' Sumbaran'' (2009)
*'' Pipani'' (2012)
*'' Vanilla,Strawberry & Chocolate'' (2018)
;Hindi
*'' E ...
as Kailasam
*
Shafi
The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by ...
as Santhosh
*
P. Sai Kumar
Pudipeddi Sai Kumar (born 27 July 1960) is an Indian actor, dubbing artist and television presenter who works predominantly in Telugu language, Telugu, Kannada, in addition to a few Tamil language, Tamil films.
He has received three state Film ...
as Suryaprakash (voice dubbed by
P. Ravi Shankar
Pudipeddi Ravi Shankar (born 28 November 1966), also known as Sai Ravi, is an Indian actor, dubbing artist, director and writer. He predominantly appears in Kannada films, in addition to Telugu language, Telugu and Tamil language, Tamil films. ...
)
*
Rajan P. Dev
Rajan P. Dev (20 May 1951 – 29 July 2009) was an Indian film and stage actor. He was born in Cherthala in the Alappuzha district of the former state Thiru-Kochi (present day Kerala). He had acted in over 500 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu ...
as Minister
*
Saranya
Sanjna (Sanskrit: संज्ञा, IAST: ''Saṃjñā''), also known as Saranyu ( sa, सरन्यू, IAST: ''Saraṇyū''), is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of Surya, the Sun god. She is mentioned in the ''Rigveda'', and also app ...
as Kottai'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 Gayatri's father
* A. Revathi as Transgender Chief
*
Suja Varunee
Suja Varunee is an Indian actress who has appeared in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, and Malayalam language films. She is the winner of ''BB Jodigal (season 2)''.
Career
Aged fourteen, Suja was selected to portray the leading role in the coming-of-ag ...
in a special appearance
Production
V. V. Kathir, who earlier worked as an assistant to
Seeman and Suryaprakash, narrated the script to
R. B. Choudary
Ratanlal Bhagatram Choudary is an Indian film producer who has worked in several film industries, predominantly in Tamil language, Tamil and Telugu language, Telugu along with a few films in Malayalam language, Malayalam and Hindi language, Hind ...
, and he and Jeeva both liked it. A photo session was completed in Pallavaram Hills. Antony, producer of this film, had earlier produced Jeeva's elder brother
Jithan Ramesh
Ramesh Choudary also known by his stage name Jithan Ramesh, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Tamil cinema, Tamil cinema. He is the third son of film producer R. B. Choudary and elder brother of actor Jiiva. He made his breakthr ...
's film ''
Puli Varudhu
''Puli Varudhu'' () is a 2007 Indian Tamil language romantic comedy film directed by G. V. Kumar, starring Jithan Ramesh and Mallika Kapoor, with Manivannan, Saranya, Karunas, and Livingston in supporting roles. The music was composed by Srikanth ...
''.
Bhavana
''Bhāvanā'' (Pali;Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 503, entry for "Bhāvanā," retrieved 9 December 2008 from "U. Chicago" a Sanskrit: भावना, also ''bhāvanā''Monier-Williams (1899), p. 755, see "Bhāvana" and "Bhāvanā", retriev ...
was originally slated to be heroine but she left the film due to unknown reasons.
Poonam Bajwa
Poonam Bajwa is an Indian actress and model who appears in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. She made her acting debut in 2005 with the Telugu film '' Modati Cinema'', after that she was featured in more Telugu film, such as ''Boss'' ( ...
, who acted in Telugu films including ''Boss'' was selected as heroine, making her debut in Tamil and was also shooting for ''
Seval
''Seval'' () is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language historical romance action film written and directed by Hari and produced by M. A. Jinnah. It stars Bharath, Poonam Bajwa, Simran, and Vadivelu, while Sampath Raj, Prem, Y. G. Mahendran, Rajesh, Y ...
'' simultaneously.
Saranya
Sanjna (Sanskrit: संज्ञा, IAST: ''Saṃjñā''), also known as Saranyu ( sa, सरन्यू, IAST: ''Saraṇyū''), is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of Surya, the Sun god. She is mentioned in the ''Rigveda'', and also app ...
was selected to play Jeeva's mother. Art director Roobesh created a huge set at YMCA resembling Koothaandavar temple. This was the first Tamil film which had transgender people treated with respect.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was composed by
Srikanth Deva
Srikanth Deva is an Indian music director of Tamil films. He made his debut as music director in the Tamil movie '' Doubles'' in 2000. He is the son of composer Deva, nephew of the famous music director duo Sabesh–Murali and the cousin of actor ...
in his second collaboration with Jiiva after ''
E''.
Release
''Thenavattu'' was the second film to be distributed by Sun Pictures.
After this film, V V Kathir was supposed to direct Karthi's ''
Siruthai
''Siruthai'' () is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Siva. It is a remake of the 2006 Telugu film ''Vikramarkudu'', directed by S. S. Rajamouli. It stars Karthi playing dual roles, alongside Tamannaah and comedia ...
'' but didn't direct. He went to hibernation and had not directed any film so far. Due to the film's poor response, Antony stopped producing films. Jeeva and Poonam again paired in ''
Kacheri Arambam
''Kacheri Aarambam'' () or simply ''Kacheri'' is a 2010 Indian action comedy film written and directed by Thiraivannan, starring Jiiva and Poonam Bajwa, whilst, J. D. Chakravarthy plays a pivotal role. The film was released on 19 March 2010.This ...
''.
Critical reception
Behindwoods wrote:"Thenavattu is for people who just adore illogical masala flicks". Rediff called it "silly and ridiculous" and also added "culprit clearly is V V Kathir, who's come up with a half-baked script that manages to destroy even Jeeva's credibility. This flick is all aruvaal and no brains". Indiaglitz wrote:"Director Kathir didn't experiment much and took the familiar path of commercial entertainer following the footsteps of his guru".
References
{{Authority control
2008 films
Transgender-related films
2000s Tamil-language films
Films scored by Srikanth Deva
2008 action drama films
Indian action drama films
Films about rape in India
2008 LGBT-related films