Thenavattu

2021-05-26T06:56:52Z

27.33.207.55:

{{Infobox film
| name = Thenavattu
| image = Thenavattu poster.jpg
| alt = 
| caption = Poster
| director = V. V. Kathir
| producer = Anthony
| writer = V. V. Kathir
| starring = [[Jiiva]] [[Poonam Bajwa]] [[Ganja Karuppu]] [[Ravi Kale]] [[Shafi (actor)|Shafi]] [[Sai Kumar (Tollywood actor)|Saikumar]] [[Rajan P. Dev]]
| music = [[Srikanth Deva]]
| cinematography = [[Vetri (cinematographer)|Vetri]]
| editing = [[Raja Mohammad]]
| studio = ELK Productions
| distributor = [[Sun Pictures]]
| released = {{Film date|2008|11|21|df=y}}
| runtime =
| country = India
| language = Tamil
| budget =
| gross =
}}

'''''Thenavattu''''' ({{lang-en|italic=yes|[https://ta.wiktionary.org/s/2as7 Courage]}}) is a 2008 Indian [[Tamil language|Tamil]]-language [[action film]] written and directed by V. V. Kathir, starring [[Jiiva]] and [[Poonam Bajwa]] in the lead roles, whilst [[Ganja Karuppu]], [[Ravi Kale]], [[Shafi (actor)|Shafi]], [[Sai Kumar (Tollywood actor)|Saikumar]], and [[Rajan P. Dev]] play pivotal roles. The music was composed by [[Srikanth Deva]] with cinematography by [[Vetri (cinematographer)|Vetri]]. The film released on 21 November 2008 to highly negative reviews and it became a [[box office flop]].

==Plot==
{{Tone|section|date=February 2020}}
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 whenever he can. However, our heroes are unaware of the fact.

Kottai and Vellaiyan think that all Kailasam does is cut up trees, which is why he requires their blacksmithing skills. However, Kottai gets to know 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 also a wonderfully kind-hearted girl who 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 goes around playing musical instruments, mouthing punchlines, and raping women left, right, and center. 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 goes on raping women, and Suryaprakash goes on standing 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 comes to know 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]] as Kottai
* [[Poonam Bajwa]] as Gayathri
* [[Ganja Karuppu]] as Vellaiayan
* [[Ravi Kale]] as Kailasam
* [[Shafi (actor)|Shafi]] as Santhosh
* [[Sai Kumar (Tollywood actor)|Saikumar]] as Suryaprakash
* [[Rajan P. Dev]] as Minister
* [[Saranya Ponvannan|Saranya]] as Kottai's mother
* [[Delhi Ganesh]] as Gayatri's father
* A. Revathi as Transgender Chief
* [[Suja Varunee]] (special appearance)

==Production==
V. V. Kathir, who earlier worked as an assistant to [[Seeman (politician)|Seeman]] and Suryaprakash, narrated the script to [[R. B. Choudary]], and he and Jeeva both liked it.<ref>http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-news/aug-07-01/03-08-07-thenavattu.html</ref> A photo session was completed in Pallavaram Hills.<ref>http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/article/27539.html</ref> Antony, producer of this film, had earlier produced Jeeva's elder brother [[Jithan Ramesh]]'s film ''[[Puli Varudhu]]''. [[Bhavana]] was originally slated to be heroine but she left the film due to unknown reasons.<ref>http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/article/31318.html</ref> [[Poonam Bajwa]], who acted in Telugu films including ''Boss'' was selected as heroine, making her debut in Tamil and was also shooting for ''[[Seval]]'' simultaneously. [[Saranya]] was selected to play Jeeva's mother.<ref>http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/article/38764.html</ref> Art director Roobesh created a huge set at YMCA resembling Koothaandavar temple.<ref>http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/article/31845.html</ref> This was the first Tamil film which had transgender people treated with respect.<ref>http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/article/36306.html</ref>

==Soundtrack==
The soundtrack was composed by [[Srikanth Deva]] in his second collaboration with Jiiva after ''[[E (2006 film)|E]]''.
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
! No. !! Song !! Singers !! Lyrics
|-
| 1 || "Enakkena Pirandhavalo" || [[Karthik (singer)|Karthik]], [[Suchitra]], Arun || rowspan=5|[[Na. Muthukumar]]
|-
| 2 || "Enge Irundhai" || [[Harish Raghavendra]]
|-
| 3 || "Onnu Rendu" || [[Tippu (singer)|Dippu]], [[Ganga Sitharasu|Ganga]]
|-
| 4 || "Pattampoochi" || [[Krish (singer)|Krish]], [[Chinmayi]]
|-
| 5 || "Usilampatti Sandhaiyila" || [[Shankar Mahadevan]], [[Mahalakshmi Iyer]], Senthil Dass
|-
|}

==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]]'' 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]]''.

===Critical reception===
Behindwoods wrote:"Thenavattu is for people who just adore illogical masala flicks".<ref>http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-reviews/reviews-2/thenavattu-review.html</ref> 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".<ref>http://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/nov/21silly-and-ridiculous.htm</ref> Indiaglitz wrote:"Director Kathir didn't experiment much and took the familiar path of commercial entertainer following the footsteps of his guru".<ref>http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/review/9280.html</ref> Nowrunning wrote:"Thenavattu is a tale strictly for the brain dead".<ref>http://www.nowrunning.com/movie/4153/tamil/thenavattu/1919/review.htm</ref> Sify wrote:"the film leaves you almost brain dead".<ref>[https://archive.today/20130628023145/http://www.sify.com/movies/thenavattu-review-tamil-14803393.html sify.com]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:2008 films]]
[[Category:Indian films]]
[[Category:Tamil-language films]]
[[Category:Transgender-related films]]
[[Category:2000s Tamil-language films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Srikanth Deva]]
[[Category:Films featuring an item number]]
[[Category:2008 action drama films]]
[[Category:Indian action drama films]]
[[Category:Films about rape in India]]
[[Category:2008 LGBT-related films]]

Bharatpedia - User contributions [en]

Thenavattu