''Petta'' ( ) is a 2019 Indian
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
-language
action drama film directed by
Karthik Subbaraj
Karthik Subbaraj (born 19 March 1983) is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter working mainly in Tamil cinema.
Early life
Karthik did his schooling in SBOA Matriculation and Higher Secondary School, Madurai after which he w ...
and produced by
Kalanithi Maran
Kalanithi Maran (born 24 July 1964) is an Indian billionaire media proprietor. He is the chairman and founder of Sun Group, one of India's largest media conglomerates. He owns multiple television channels, newspapers, weeklies, FM radio station ...
under
Sun Pictures
Sun Pictures is an Indian film production and film distribution based in Chennai, India. It is a division of Sun TV Network a part of the Sun Group. In 2010, it started producing films, the first film was '' Enthiran'' which was a huge blo ...
. The film stars
Rajinikanth
Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 170 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, ...
, alongside
Vijay Sethupathi
Vijaya Gurunatha Sethupathi Kalimuthu (born 16 January 1978) is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil films. Sethupathi is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film Awards, National F ...
,
Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Nawazuddin Siddiqui (; born 19 May 1974) is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a National Film Award, an IIFA Award, and two Filmfare Awards, as well as a nomination for an ...
,
Sasikumar,
Simran,
Trisha,
Megha Akash,
Malavika Mohanan,
Mahendran,
Bobby Simha
Jayasimha (born 6 November 1983), better known as Bobby Simha, is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Tamil cinema, Tamil and Telugu cinema, Telugu films. After making brief appearances in the films ''Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi'' an ...
,
Guru Somasundaram,
Aadukalam Naren
Aadukalam Naren (born Narayanan) is an Indian actor who has appears in Tamil and Telugu films, mainly playing supporting and antagonistic roles. He made his debut with the 1997 film '' Raman Abdullah'' but got noticed for his role in the 2011 ...
,
Munishkanth
Ramdoss, better known as Munishkanth, is an Indian actor and comedian who appears in Tamil language films. He had notable roles in films, including '' Mundasupatti'' (2014), '' Maanagaram'' (2017), '' Maragadha Naanayam'' (2017) and '' Raatchas ...
,
Sananth and
Vivek Prasanna
Vivek Prasanna is an Indian actor who appears in Tamil language films, mostly in supporting roles. In 2017, he won the Vijay Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film ''Meyaadha Maan''.
Career
After several appearances i ...
. It follows Kaali, a newly-hired hostel warden, who gets dragged into war after his old nemesis Singaaram resurfaces to exact revenge.
The film was officially announced in February 2018 under the tentative title ''Thalaivar 165'', as it is Rajinikanth's 165th film as it is the lead actor, and the official title was announced in September 2018.
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 the ...
commenced in June 2018. It was shot in several locations including
Darjeeling
Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...
,
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...
, and
wrapped by late-October 2018. The
film's music was composed by
Anirudh Ravichander
Anirudh Ravichander (born 16 October 1990), also credited mononymously as Anirudh, is an Indian composer and playback singer who works primarily in Tamil cinema, in addition to Telugu and Hindi films. He has won two Filmfare Awards South, ten ...
, while cinematography and editing were handled by
Tirru
S. Thirunavukarasu (born 21 July 1966), better known mononymously as Tirru, is an Indian cinematographer and screenwriter who has worked in multiple languages across India. Born in Mullukuruchi village, Tirru became interested in photography ...
and
Vivek Harshan.
''Petta'' was released on 10 January 2019, the week of
Pongal. The film grossed 219–250 crore against a budget of 160 crore, thus becoming
one of the highest-grossing Tamil films of all time and
the second highest-grossing Tamil film of 2019.
Plot
Kaali, a mysterious and deceivingly aged person, takes up the job of a boys' hostel warden at a college in
Ooty
Ooty (; officially Udagamandalam (), Anglicisation, anglicized: Ootacamund , abbreviated as Udagai, ) is a town and municipality in the Nilgiris district of the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north ...
. He notices that a group of unruly final-year students, led by Michael, the spoiled son of a Gnanam, a local leader, dominate the hostel. Kaali puts a stop to Michael's antics, which leads to a rivalry between them. Kaali also forms a close bond with Anwar, an
NRI hostelite, who is in a relationship with Anu, the daughter of Mangalam, a
pranic healer.
Kaali convinces Mangalam to accept her daughter's relationship with Anwar, and they end up falling for each other. Michael, who lusts for Anu, is enraged on hearing about her relationship with Anwar and attempts to harass them, only to be stopped by Kaali. The school suspends Michael and his friends, and Anwar records and shares the humiliation of Michael and his gang. The video is noticed in
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...
by Jithu, a local goon, and his father Singaaram alias Singaar Singh, a powerful politician.
On seeing Anwar in the video as well as in a photo with his mother Poongodi on
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
, Singaar sends his men to kill Anwar for unknown reasons. At the same time, Michael, who is humiliated at his suspension, sends his men to beat Kaali. Michael's plan backfires as he and his men get mixed in the fight between Kaali and Singaar's men. Kaali subdues Singaar's men, earning Michael and Gnanam's respect, following which Anwar meets Kaali's friend, who narrates about his past. Anwar is the son of Kaali's best friend Maalik, and Kaali's real name is Petta Velan, a respected person in
Madurai
Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...
, and narrates Petta's past.
In the past, Maalik learns that brothers Devaram and Singaar are involved in an illegal sand mafia, which leads to Maalik and Petta getting enough evidence for the police to arrest Devaram. Petta learns that Maalik is in love with Devaram and Singaar's sister Poongodi, who conceived with him out of wedlock. Though reluctant, Petta finally agrees, and he and his wife, Saraswathy "Saro", convince Poongodi's father, Rajapandi, to get Poongodi married to Maalik. Devaram and Singaar vehemently oppose the alliance and the property transfer to Poongodi.
After Maalik and Poongodi's marriage, Devaram and Singaar kill Rajapandi. On learning this, Petta kills Devaram during Rajapandi's funeral and chases Singaar out of the village. Enraged about Devaram's death and his forced exile, Singaar orchestrates a bomb blast during Poongodi's
seemantham, killing Maalik, Saro and seemingly Petta's son Chinna. After finding that Poongodi is still alive, Petta takes her to safety. Poongodi later gives birth to Anwar, and leaves for Australia with him to escape from Singaar.
On learning about his past, Anwar, Petta and Michael's henchmen leave to kill Singaar. Petta and Anwar confront Jithu, who is determined to kill them after learning about them from Singaar. The duo manages to escape Jithu. Later, Petta meets Jithu privately and reveals to him that he is actually his son Chinna, who Singaar adopted after finding him still alive in the wreckage.
When Jithu confronts Singaar regarding his parentage, the latter sends his men to kill him and Petta rescues him. Petta, Anwar, Michael's henchmen and Jithu ambush Singaar's mansion and decimate his guards. Petta confronts Singaar and shoots him dead. He then reveals to Jithu that he is not Chinna, but Singaar's son since Chinna really did die in the blast. Petta reveals that he used Jithu to lead to Singaar as a strategy to kill him. Holding Jithu at gunpoint, Petta asks whether he should kill or spare him.
Cast
Production
Pre-production
In early February 2018, after completing his filming commitments for
Pa. Ranjith's ''
Kaala'' (2018), Rajinikanth held final discussions with a group of young directors, including Arun Prabu Purushothaman,
Atlee, and
Karthik Subbaraj
Karthik Subbaraj (born 19 March 1983) is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter working mainly in Tamil cinema.
Early life
Karthik did his schooling in SBOA Matriculation and Higher Secondary School, Madurai after which he w ...
for his next project. On 23 February 2018, production house
Sun Pictures
Sun Pictures is an Indian film production and film distribution based in Chennai, India. It is a division of Sun TV Network a part of the Sun Group. In 2010, it started producing films, the first film was '' Enthiran'' which was a huge blo ...
announced that they would produce a film starring Rajinikanth to be directed by Karthik. To accommodate the film's shoot throughout the course of 2018, the director postponed the pre-production work of another proposed film starring
Dhanush
Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja (born 28 July 1983), known professionally as Dhanush, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, lyricist and playback singer who primarily works in Tamil cinema. Having starred in Dhanush filmography, 50 films over his car ...
for
YNOT Studios. Karthik revealed that he was confident about approaching Rajinikanth to work on his film, after the actor was impressed with his earlier project, ''
Jigarthanda'' (2014) and expressed a desire to collaborate. The pair had first discussed the script in early 2017, but Rajinikanth did not take a final call until finishing his existing filming commitments to ''Kaala'' and ''
2.0'' (2018). Talking about the project, Karthik initially revealed that the film would be an "action drama" which was "fictional" but "realistic".
Development
Anirudh Ravichander
Anirudh Ravichander (born 16 October 1990), also credited mononymously as Anirudh, is an Indian composer and playback singer who works primarily in Tamil cinema, in addition to Telugu and Hindi films. He has won two Filmfare Awards South, ten ...
was signed on to work as the film's music composer in early March 2018, in a move which saw him collaborate with his maternal uncle Rajinikanth, and Karthik, for the first time.
Tirru
S. Thirunavukarasu (born 21 July 1966), better known mononymously as Tirru, is an Indian cinematographer and screenwriter who has worked in multiple languages across India. Born in Mullukuruchi village, Tirru became interested in photography ...
and
Vivek Harshan were selected to be the film's cinematographer and editor respectively, continuing their collaboration with Karthik following their work in ''
Mercury'' (2018). Likewise, stunt choreographer
Peter Hein also joined the team thereafter. In late May 2018, Karthik and Tirru went on a
recce to scout locations in
Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
and North India to shoot the film. The film's title ''Petta'' was revealed on 7 September 2018.
Casting
Vijay Sethupathi
Vijaya Gurunatha Sethupathi Kalimuthu (born 16 January 1978) is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil films. Sethupathi is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film Awards, National F ...
was signed on to play a character in April 2018, and accordingly reworked his dates to fit the film into his busy schedule. The actor signed the film after a month of media speculation that he would portray a villainous role, and revealed that he signed the film as he had blind trust in Karthik, and initially did not request to listen to the script. Karthik had also been keen to sign
Fahadh Faasil for a role in the film, but the actor's filming commitments for ''
Varathan'' (2018) meant that he could not allot dates. Hindi film actor
Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Nawazuddin Siddiqui (; born 19 May 1974) is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a National Film Award, an IIFA Award, and two Filmfare Awards, as well as a nomination for an ...
joined the cast in July 2018, while two other regular collaborators of Karthik, actors
Bobby Simha
Jayasimha (born 6 November 1983), better known as Bobby Simha, is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Tamil cinema, Tamil and Telugu cinema, Telugu films. After making brief appearances in the films ''Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi'' an ...
and
Sananth, were also signed to play pivotal roles in the film. Other members of the cast included supporting actors
Guru Somasundaram,
Munishkanth
Ramdoss, better known as Munishkanth, is an Indian actor and comedian who appears in Tamil language films. He had notable roles in films, including '' Mundasupatti'' (2014), '' Maanagaram'' (2017), '' Maragadha Naanayam'' (2017) and '' Raatchas ...
,
Shabeer Kallarakkal,
Deepak Paramesh, Adithya Shivpink, and
Manikandan R. Achari.
For leading female roles, the team held discussions throughout March 2018 with actresses
Trisha,
Deepika Padukone
Deepika Padukone (; born 5 January 1986) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Hindi films. She is India's highest-paid actress, as of 2023, and List of awards and nominations received by Deepika Padukone, her accolades include thre ...
, and
Anjali, but neither were signed immediately. In July 2018, the producers announced that
Simran had joined the cast to play as pair of Rajinikanth. Trisha was eventually added to the cast in August 2018, while
Malavika Mohanan was also signed to make her Tamil debut.
Megha Akash was cast as Sananth's pair, and joined the shoot before the release of any of her initial Tamil films, ''
Boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...
'', ''
Enai Noki Paayum Thota'' and ''
Oru Pakka Kathai''. In October,
Sasikumar and
Mahendran joined the cast.
Filming
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 the ...
began in June 2018. The first shooting schedule began on 7 June at Eastern Forest Rangers College at St. Mary's Hill,
Kurseong
Kurseong (, ) is a town and a municipality in Darjeeling district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Kurseong subdivision.
Located at an altitude of , Kurseong is from Darjeeling and has a pleasant climate throu ...
in
Darjeeling
Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...
, with the initial portions lasting nine days. The team then shot in other location across Darjeeling and the hill towns for a further month, in locations including
St. Paul's and
Mount Hermon
Mount Hermon ( / ALA-LC: ('Mountain of the Sheikh', ), , ) is a mountain, mountain cluster constituting the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its summit straddles the Lebanon–Syria border, border between Syria and Lebanon a ...
School. To finish the first schedule, the team returned to Kurseong for six days. An audition to cast 150 local actors was also held in Charbagh,
Lucknow
Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...
during the first schedule. During the making of the schedule,
Rajinikanth
Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 170 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, ...
met with politician
Gautam Deb, who helped the makers have a hassle free shoot in exchange for the promotion of tourism in the area. Principal photography
wrapped in October 2018, fifteen days ahead of schedule.
Music
The soundtrack album and background score were composed by
Anirudh Ravichander
Anirudh Ravichander (born 16 October 1990), also credited mononymously as Anirudh, is an Indian composer and playback singer who works primarily in Tamil cinema, in addition to Telugu and Hindi films. He has won two Filmfare Awards South, ten ...
, marking his first collaboration with Rajinikanth and Karthik Subbaraj. The lyrics were penned by
Vivek, Ku. Karthik,
Dhanush
Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja (born 28 July 1983), known professionally as Dhanush, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, lyricist and playback singer who primarily works in Tamil cinema. Having starred in Dhanush filmography, 50 films over his car ...
and Karthik Subbaraj. The album consists of all eleven songs, 5 of which are theme songs. The first single, "Marana Mass" was released on 3 December 2018, followed by "Ullallaa" which released on 7 December 2018. The full album was released on 9 December 2018, under the
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...
label. In January 2022, "Marana Mass" hit 200 million views in YouTube.
Release
''Petta'' was released on 10 January 2019, the week of
Pongal, and clashing with ''
Viswasam''.
Reception
Box office
''Petta'' was released on 600 screens in Tamil Nadu with tough competition from ''Viswasam.'' The film grossed ₹1.12 crore at the Chennai box office. The film also grossed $133K at the US, overtaking ''Viswasam'' which grossed $18K. On its opening day, the film grossed ₹36.6 crore worldwide, with a share of ₹19 crore worldwide. The film collected ₹104 crore, in 3 days and grossed more than ₹138 crore in the opening weekend. The film collected worldwide on 4 days. The film collected ₹200 crore within 23 days. The film collected in
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
, in
Karnataka
Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
, in the rest of
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
and in overseas with a total of ₹219—250 crore worldwide at the end of its theatrical run and became the
second highest grossing Tamil film of the year.
Critical response
M. Suganth from ''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'' gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "''Petta'' is less of a Karthik Subbaraj film, but it gives Rajini fans their Thalaivar in a way that they have been dying to see him, celebrating the Rajinisms."
Srinivasa Ramanujam of ''
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
'' stated that "Despite quite a few underwritten characters, Petta triumphs by bringing back the Superstar of yore." Kirubhakar Purushothaman of ''
India Today
''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...
'' gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Petta is a classic Rajinikanth film that his fans should not miss." Anusha Iyengar from ''
Times Now
Times Now is an English-language news channel in India owned and operated by The Times Group. The channel launched on 23 January 2006 in partnership with Reuters.
It is a pay television throughout India. Until 2016, it was India's most popula ...
'' rated 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Petta is a complete mass entertainer with twists and turns that will make you howl in the theatres like you would in a Thalaiva film."
Shubhra Gupta of ''
The Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...
'' gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Karthik Subbaraj has a sense of style, which breaks through only occasionally in Petta. For that Rajini Sir will have to submit a little more to the script, and a last little twist in the long drawn-out climax holds out hope. ''
Sify
Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology (ICT) company providing telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation integration services, and ...
'' gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Karthik Subbaraj has packed a pleasing crowd puller that is a satisfying revenge drama with twists and turns."
Saibal Chatterjee of ''
NDTV
New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. It was founded in 1984 by economist Prannoy Roy and journalist Radhika Roy.
NDTV began as a production house for news segments, ...
'' gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Rajinikanth returns to the basics with aplomb. Just go and watch it for the Rajinikanth that you missed in his last few releases."
Baradwaj Rangan of ''
Film Companion
Anupama Vinod Chopra () is an Indian author, journalist and film critic who served as the festival director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival from 2015 to 2023. She is also the founder and editor of the now-defunct digital platform Film Compani ...
'' gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "''
Jigarthanda'' and ''
Iraivi
Iraivi () is a 2016 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language crime drama film written and directed by Karthik Subbaraj and produced by C. V. Kumar, K. E. Gnanavel Raja and Abinesh Elangovan under their banners Thirukumaran Entertainment, Studio Gree ...
'' were sprawling stories but there was a sense of a gradual buildup, the sense of the narrative noose being slowly tightened. But Petta looks rushed and even the Karthik Subbaraj flourishes come off like affectations." Gauthaman Baskaran of ''
News18
Network18 Media & Investments Limited, ( d/b/a Network18 Group) is an Indian media conglomerate owned by the Reliance Industries, headed by Mukesh Ambani. Rahul Joshi is the managing director, chief executive officer and group editor-in-chief ...
'' gave 1/5 and wrote "Petta turns out be yet another outing for Rajinikanth who relies on gimmicks rather than solid performance." ''
Ananda Vikatan
''Ananda Vikatan'' is a Tamil-language weekly magazine published from Chennai, India.
History
''Ananda Vikatan'' was started by Late Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926 as a monthly publication. The issue for December 1927 was not publishe ...
'' rated the film 41 out of 100.
References
External links
*
*
{{Karthik Subbaraj
2010s Indian films
2010s Tamil-language films
2019 action drama films
2019 films
2019 masala films
Films about child death
Films directed by Karthik Subbaraj
Films scored by Anirudh Ravichander
Films set in Madurai
Films set in Uttar Pradesh
Films shot in Darjeeling
Films shot in Lucknow
Films shot in West Bengal
Indian action drama films
Indian films about revenge
Sun Pictures films
Tamil-language action drama films
Tamil-language Indian films