Pazhani (2008 film)

Pazhani is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Perarasu. It stars Bharath in the main lead role alongside Kajal Aggarwal and Khushbu. The film, produced by director Sakthi Chidambaram under the banner Cinema Paradise, had music by Srikanth Deva.

Pazhani launched on 10 August 2007 and was released on 14 January 2008 which coincided with the Thai Pongal festival. It received mostly mixed reviews and became a commercial success. It was later dubbed into Telugu as Bhargava and into Hindi as Shaktishali Shiva. It was also remade into Oriya as Gud Boy (2012).

Plot
Pazhanivel is released from jail after 15 years and accidentally saves Jeevanandham from some goons, following which he gets appointed as Jeevanandham's car driver. Karpagambal is Jeevanandham's wife and also Pazhani's sister, which he learns later. Pazhani hides his identity from Karpagambal and reveals his name as Vellaiyan, as she has a hatred towards her brother from childhood. Meanwhile, Pazhani falls in love with Deepti. Pazhani suddenly finds out that Jeevanandham has a concubine named Durga, who is always money-minded.

Karpagambal finds out that Pazhani is her brother and gets furious. She also sends him out of his job. Now, Karpagambal finds out the real truth about her brother. A flashback is shown where Karpagambal and Pazhanivel's father, Meiyappan, had a concubine and Pazhani killed her at the age of 10. He is then arrested and jailed for the well-being of his mother. As Karapagambal was unaware of the reason behind the murder, she developed a hatred towards Pazhani right from childhood. Knowing the truth, Karpagambal understands Pazhani and she tells him not to come to her husband's house and see her again.

However, Jeevanandham has other plans now. He decides to divorce Karpagambal and marry Durga legally. Pazhani challenges Jeevanandham and tries all means to save Karpagambal. Jeevanandham stages a foul play along with Vaikundan, an unscrupulous moneylender. Everyone believes that Vaikundan confiscated Jeevanandham's house, following which Karpagambal is sent out of the house, but Pazhani arrives and takes Karpagambal along with him. Vaikundan cheats Jeevanandham and takes away his home for real, which shocks Jeevanandham.

Pazhani plays tricks and makes Karpagambal as the owner of the export firm owned by Jeevanandham, as the business is registered in the name of Karpagambal. Jeevanandham is left penniless, and to his surprise, Durga ditches him and joins hands with Vaikundan. Jeevanandham realizes his mistake. Finally, Pazhani kills both Vaikundan and Durga in a fight. Pazhani is arrested for the murders and goes to jail. Pazhani feels happy that at first he landed up in jail for the well-being of his mother, and now he is jailed for the well-being of his sister.

Production
It was announced in 2007 that Bharath would collaborate with Perarasu. The song sequence featuring the love pair Bharath and Kajal, "Thiruvaroor Therae", was shot at Prasad Studios with various chariots. More than fifty junior artists in colourful costumes and more than thousand other artists participated in the song. The film's plot was primarily set and shot in Chennai, however the flashback was shot at Palani. The climax fight was shot at a factory at Ennoor for nine days.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack was composed by Srikanth Deva and released on 8 November 2007. All lyrics were written by the film's director Perarasu.

Release and reception
The film was released in Pongal 2008 alongside other Tamil releases like Bheemaa, Pirivom Santhippom, Kaalai, Vaazhthugal and Pidichirukku. The film faced problems before release as the producer failed to pay the debt.

Behindwoods.com gave 2.5/5 saying "Pazhani is not for an audience looking for something offbeat and inventive but for an audience craving for some old formulaic entertainment – loads of action thrown in with mother- sister sentiment" The movie has too many Silent Mass scenes, which kept the audience at the edge of their seats. Revathi of Kalki praised the acting of Bharath and Kushboo, Vijay Milton's cinematography but felt flashback was not strong enough however called sudden turns for avoiding boredom.