''Satham Podathey'' () is a 2007 Tamil-language

psychological thriller film Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and ...

written and directed by

Vasanth Vasanth is an Indian director well known in Tamil language films for directing films such as ''Keladi Kanmani'' (1990), ''Aasai'' (1995), ''Nerrukku Ner'' (1997), ''Rhythm'' (2000) and ''Satham Podathey'' (2007). Career Vasanth began his car ...

and produced by Shankar and Senthilnathan. It stars Prithviraj,

Padmapriya Padmapriya (born Padmalochani; died 16 November 1997) was an Indian actress who worked in Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. Her first movie was in Telugu, ''Adapillala Tandri'' (1974). In Kannada, she debuted with ''Bangarada Gudi'' ...

and

Nithin Sathya Nithin Sathya (born 9 January 1980) is an Indian actor, film producer. He works primarily in Tamil cinema, Tamil Cinema. He made his film debut in ''Kalatpadai'', directed by J. Ramesh, in 2003. He acted with Kamal Haasan, Kamal Hassan in a sma ...

whilst

Nassar Nassar ( ar, نصار, lit=helper, protector, supporter, victory-maker), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer ...

Suhasini Suhasini Maniratnam (born 15 August 1961) known mononymously as Suhasini, is an Indian actress, director, producer and writer in the Tamil film industry. She has worked as an actress in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. She made her ...

Premji Mullamangalath Parameshwaran Bhattathiripad (23 September 1908 – 10 August 1998), commonly known as M. P. Bhatathirippad or Premji, was a social reformer, cultural leader and actor from Kerala state, India. Premji joined Yogakshema Sabha ...

and

Raaghav Venkataraghavan Ranganathan, better known as Raaghav on screen, is an Indian actor and television personality in Tamil Nadu. Before his break into films, he appeared in season 1 of ''Jodi Number One''. Career He first appeared in supportin ...

play cameo roles. The film, which is based on a true incident, has music scored by

Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja or Abdul Haliq (born 31 August 1979) is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer and singer-songwriter. He mainly scores music for Tamil films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use of Wes ...

, which received rave reviews. The film was released on 14 September 2007 to positive reviews.

Plot

The story revolves around Bhanumathy who marries Rathnavel Kalidas, a man who works in railways as a

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

player. He married Bhanu by hiding the facts that he is

impotent Erectile dysfunction (ED), also called impotence, is the type of sexual dysfunction in which the penis fails to become or stay erect during sexual activity. It is the most common sexual problem in men.Cunningham GR, Rosen RC. Overview of male ...

and a recovering

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...

. Soon, the relationship turns sour when the couple realizes that Rathnavel is impotent after a

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined area ...

tells them so. In spite of family pressures to get a mutual

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

, the old-fashioned Bhanu decides to go ahead with the marriage by adopting a child. With the baby's arrival, Rathnavel unfortunately becomes more insecure and tells Bhanu that the child reminds him about his weakness. Unfortunately, all hell breaks loose when Bhanu realizes that her husband was an alcoholic who knew about his impotency and had betrayed her. Rathnavel, in his anger, beats up Bhanu until she is almost unconscious. A few days later, she files for a

and stays with her parents for some days. Bhanu later meets Ravichandran, a happy-go-lucky guy who is a friend of her brother. Ravi proposes to Bhanu, and they later get married, but Rathnavel, who had vowed to make life miserable for Bhanu, returns. He kidnaps Bhanu and places a

cadaver A cadaver or corpse is a dead human body that is used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue to repair a defect in a living human being. Stud ...

in her home before faking an accident with a

cooking gas Fuel gas is any one of a number of fuels that under ordinary conditions are gaseous. Most fuel gases are composed of hydrocarbons (such as methane or propane), hydrogen, carbon monoxide, or mixtures thereof. Such gases are sources energy that ...

cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infin ...

, leading Ravi and his family to believe that Bhanu died in a kitchen accident. After that, Rathnavel brings Bhanu to his

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a b ...

in an isolated area and locks her in a soundproof room. When Ravi goes to Rathnavel's house to get some

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer or assurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death ...

papers, a series of clues lead him to find Bhanu. After distracting Rathnavel, Ravi calls the police and rescues Bhanu. Rathnavel is sent to a

mental asylum The lunatic asylum (or insane asylum) was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. The fall of the lunatic asylum and its eventual replacement by modern psychiatric hospitals explains the rise of organized, institutional psychiatry ...

, where he later hangs himself. This seems to be a true story which happened in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

in the late 1990s, and Rathnavel's (name changed) family members are still there in

Kakinada Kakinada (List of renamed places in India, formerly called Kakinandiwada, Coringa, and Cocanada; ) is the List of cities in Andhra Pradesh by population, sixth largest city of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra P ...

, but the movie ends with a happy note when we see that Ravi and Bhanu are still happily married and Bhanu is visibly

pregnant Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops (gestation, gestates) inside a woman, woman's uterus (womb). A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occur ...

Cast

Prithviraj Sukumaran Prithviraj Sukumaran (born 16 October 1982) is an Indian actor, director, producer and playback singer primarily working in Malayalam cinema. He has also done Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. He acted in more than 100 films in a variety of rol ...

as Ravichandran, Bhanu's second husband *

Padmapriya Janakiraman Padmapriya Janakiraman, (born 1983) better known mononymously as Padmapriya, is an Indian actress and model. She has acted in over 50 feature films and in 7 different languages: Bengali, Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, English, and Telugu. ...

as Bhanumathy Sridharan, Rathnavel's ex-wife and Ravichandran's wife *

as Impotent Rathnavel, Bhanu's first husband *

as Bhanu's brother *

as Vincent Selvakumar *

as Gynecologist *

Sriman Sriman () is an epithet of the Hindu deity Vishnu. It refers to the deity being the possessor of Sri, both referring to his consort Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, as well as the material and non material aspects of fortune. Literature Sri ...

as Police *

as Ravichandran's friend *

Jagan Jagan is an Indian actor and comedian who has appeared in supporting roles in Tamil films. His breakthrough was with K. V. Anand's '' Ayan'', where he played a small-time smuggler Chitti Babu, and the role won him critical acclaim. He was ...

as Jegan, Rathnavel's friend *

Crane Manohar Crane Manohar (born 4 October 1965) is an Indian actor who appears in Tamil films, mostly in comedy roles. He appeared in many Vadivelu and Vivek comedy tracks. Career Manohar initially worked as a crane technician for films and when he start ...

as Ramachandran * Soundarya as Ramachandran's mother * M. Krishnamoorthy (Nagesh Krishnamoorthy) as Bhanu's father

Soundtrack

Director

teamed up with composer

again for the musical score after creating '' Poovellam Kettuppar'' (1999). The soundtrack, of ''Satham Podathey'', featuring 5 tracks overall, was released on 14 June 2007 at the Kamarajar Arangam. A

live concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety ...

was conducted by Yuvan Shankar Raja, playing all the songs on stage, whereas the five songs were released by five music directors each.

Reception

The music got positive reviews, praising Yuvan Shankar Raja's work. He was, in particular, lauded for making singers

Shankar Mahadevan Shankar Mahadevan (born 3 March 1967) is an Indian singer and composer who is part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio that writes music for Indian films. Personal life and early career Shankar Mahadevan was born in Chembur, Mumbai into a Tami ...

Shreya Ghoshal Shreya Ghoshal (born 12 March 1984) is an Indian singer and television personality. One of the highest-paid and most well-established playback singers of Indian cinema, she has received four National Film Awards, four Kerala State Film Awar ...

and

Sudha Raghunathan Sudha Ragunathan is an Indian Carnatic vocalist, singer and composer. She was conferred the Kalaimamani award by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1994, Padma Shri (2004) and Padma Bhushan (2015) by the Government of India, and Sangeetha Kalanidh ...

render songs in different genres as they earlier never did, whereas especially Raghunathan's first-time rendition of a Hip hop song called "Kadhal Periyadha", was seen as a "surprise item", cited as "bringing out the

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

in her". Moreover, the album itself was described as a "pure musical delight", whilst composer Yuvan Shankar himself was cited to be rocking. "Pesugiren Pesugiren" and "O Indha Kaadhal" were topping the charts for some time. Neha Bhasin was later awarded the Reliance Mobile Vijay TV Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the song "Pesugiren Pesugiren"

References

External links

* {{Vasanth 2007 films 2007 thriller films 2000s Tamil-language films Indian psychological thriller films Films directed by Vasanth Films scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja