Pudupettai

One enters the theatre with a lot of expectations, only to come out with a lot of questions.
By making someone vomit blood and putting a hell of a scare into people, Selvaraghavan has converted Pudupettai into a Kolakaranpettai and duped the audience into a fright.

Dhanush is in solitary confinement and from the moment he introduces himself as Kokki Kumar, the film goes into flashback and the story starts.

At an age when he should be attending school, poor slum boy Dhanush loiters about the streets. He sees his own father killing his mother. On learning that his father plans to kill him too, Dhanush runs like the devil and gets into an unsavory life style.

Dhanush joins the gang of Balasingh who is involves in all sorts of anti-social activities.In one encounter, he kills the brother of the MLA and becomes the don himself. The flashback comes to an end after showing his new life involving friendship with sex worker Sneha and enjoying the support of the local politician and how Dhanush ends up in prison.

It is usually said that a man who lives by the sword, dies by it. But in the climax, Selvaraghavan has depicted that a man who lives by the sword, continues to live. After coming out of prison, Dhanush becomes an MLA and minister!

“He looks like a line drawn by a pencil. He is a henchman?” describes the MLA in the film of Dhanush. Dhanush’s character makes the onlooker express the same doubts.

Dhanush learns how to kill and when faced with an opponent, he chops him up easily like one would cut vegetables, accompanied by blood curdling screamsof “Aei..Aei…” but this seems to have crossed the boundaries of realism. On seeing his mother’s murdered body, Dhanush weeps in torment and tries to escape from his murderous father. His acting is commendable only in this scene.

In the climax when he goes to kill the MLA, why should he wait till the MLA is drunk and has his food and then spew dialogues like, “My attack won’t be precise. You will have to adjust”? It is so comic.

As a sex worker who keeps getting beaten up, Sneha evokes sympathy. Why does a client who takes her out then beats her should be answered by Selvaraghavan only. As a person who has serviced lots of customers, it’s strange how she shows feelings as if it’s the first time for her when Dhanush enjoys her and why she screams like crazy when making out.

Sonia Agarwal is the sister of Dhanush’s friend. When Dhanush suddenly ties the mangalsutra around her neck at the wedding, she strangely shows no reaction at all.

Director Azhagamperumal who plays the role of the politician does a great job of it. Those directors, who are looking out for villains with character, should keep him in mind.

Thinking that he is giving a realistic portrayal of a rowdy's life, the director has overlooked many things. It is true that no rowdy will forcibly marry a friend’s sister who is betrothed to marry another man.

When Dhanush is given the ordinary post of regional secretary, the presence of top police officers standing in line and showering him with wishes makes it seem that Selvaraghavan’s imagination has turned topsy-turvy.

Aravind Krishna’s cinematography and Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music are strong points of the film but the story and screenplay are so twisted that it is difficult to tolerate ‘Pudupettai.’

A lot of the scene have been cut in the cinema .Should get the DVD or VCd for the full version of the story

‘Pudupettai’ – Scarface