Pattiyal

Pattiyal is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film written and directed by Vishnuvardhan and produced by Punnagai Poo Gheetha. It stars Bharath, Arya, Pooja Umashankar, and Padmapriya Janakiraman while Cochin Haneefa and Santhana Bharathi play pivotal roles. The film tackles the issue of dons and was based on the 1999 Thai film Bangkok Dangerous.

The film's score and soundtrack are composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja with cinematography by Nirav Shah and editing by A. Sreekar Prasad. It was released on 17 March 2006 and became a commercial success.

Plot
Kosi and Selva are contract killers working for a middleman with the ironic name, Sami. Director Vishnuvardan portrays this morbid telling of two orphaned youths with incredible realism of trust, friendship, and ultimate betrayal. Kosi is an unblinking man with a stubborn feel for life, refusing to love and be loved. Selva, deaf and dumb, is equally intrepid, although he has a heart ticking beneath the dark, dire exterior.

Saroja, a salesgirl at a garment company, is an outgoing, sprightly girl and a friend of both Kosi and Selva. She is deeply in love with Kosi, but the latter only finds her presence as a nuisance, whereas Saroja's chief manager stubbornly tries to make Saroja sleep with him. In stark contrast to this romance is the love between Selva and Sandhya who are smitten with each other after some fate-based encounters that bring some lighthearted humor to the film. As the film progresses, Kosi and Saroja end up sleeping together when Kosi begins to drink excessively, promptly making him start to realise his feelings for Saroja. Unfortunately, this newfound happiness does not last as their profession does not allow it.

Kosi and Selva set out to assassinate Avinashi Nachimuthu Gounder, a business tycoon and uprising politician, as instructed by Sami. Kosi and Selva mutually agree to make this assignment their last to begin leading normal lives with their newfound loves Saroja and Sandhya, respectively. A new twist occurs when the people who hired Saami tell him to finish off Kosi and Selva once the job is completed.

Upon preparing for the assassination, Kosi becomes unable to think as he finds himself overwhelmed with feelings of love. Selva decides that he should finish the execution himself and Kosi should speak with Saroja. Kosi visits Saroja at her home where he finds her shivering and with bruises. Saroja then tells Kosi how her chief manager intruded on the house and sexually violated her after she refused to love him. Infuriated at this, an emotionally shaken Kosi finds the manager and beats him to a horrific death. Meanwhile, Selva had cunningly assassinated Gounder and is returning home. The manager's boss, who happens to be a big don himself, finds out Kosi is the one responsible for the death and seeks out revenge. He gets hold of Saami and blackmails him to bring Kosi to him for his life. Unknowingly, Kosi goes with Saami and is killed in the ambush by a gunshot to his head.

Selva who returns later finds out about this unfortunate event and seeks revenge. He visits Sandhya and questions her about Kosi's murder and the people responsible. He intrudes on the don's house and kills everyone in his way, including the don. When Selva returns home, Sandhya is shocked to see him with injuries. She tells him to wait by the door while she goes to call for an auto rickshaw to get them both to the hospital. Meanwhile, the irritating boy who appeared before begging for a job stabs Selva in the same approach as Selva did in the introduction scene in the hotel room. The boy who was still recovering from the shock that he actually stabbed Selva stabs him again multiple times when he sees Sandhya rushing towards him. Selva dies from multiple wounds and falls on Sandhya's lap.

In the scene before the credits, it is shown that Saami is having a chat with the boy who committed the murder. The scene is shown as a deja-vu where Saami convinces Kosi and Selva that they are all part of this scheme together. Saami uses the same dialogue with the boy, letting the audience connect that the boy will be killed too.

Production
After Arindhum Ariyamalum (2005), Vishnuvardhan decided to make a film on gangsters of Chennai and he spoke to "real hired killers" for a month. To make it emotional, he decided on the theme of "two orphans on the street" as main theme. The inspiration for Bharath's character was from an undisclosed Asian film while Arya's character was based on a real-life person. The filming was held at Chennai, Goa, Pondicherry and Coimbatore.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack was composed by Vishnuvardhan's friend and norm composer Yuvan Shankar Raja and released on 28 February 2006. It features 6 tracks overall with lyrics by Pa. Vijay. The interlude from the song "Aadaludan Paadalai Ketu" from Kudiyirundha Koyil (1968) composed by M. S. Viswanathan was re-used in the song "Namma Kattula Mazhai Peiyuthu". The song "Poga Poga Boomi Virikirathe" proved a breakthrough for singer Vijay Yesudas.

Reception
S. Sudha of Rediff.com wrote, "In his third film Pattiyal, [Vishnuvardhan] proves that apart from writing a good screenplay, he can make a technically superior film". Lajjavathi of Kalki praised the music, art direction, cinematography and stunt choreography and concluded praising the climax for stressing on the message of violence never pays and applauding Vishnuvardhan for taking to the new route of Tamil cinema. The film was a commercial success, grossing ₹11 crore at the box office. Yuvan Shankar Raja won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director.