Pudhiya Mannargal

Pudhiya Mannargal is a 1994 Indian Tamil-language political thriller film directed by Vikraman with music by A. R. Rahman. The film stars Vikram and Mohini. It did not perform well commercially.

Plot
A group of wayward youth live life aimlessly until they are forced to enter politics to help save the condition of the state they live in and for the betterment of the people around them. Do they manage to overcome the challenges ahead and emerge successful?

Production
During the making of Pudhiya Mannargal, Vikram was approached by Mani Ratnam to star in Bombay (1995). However, Vikram had grown his hair long and had a beard for Pudhiya Mannargal, and could not change his appearance to accept Ratnam's offer.

Soundtrack
All songs were composed by A. R. Rahman. The song "Nee Kattum Selai" attained popularity.

Reception
K. Vijiyan of New Straits Times wrote "Nothing much in this movie but a controversial idea". The film did not perform well commercially, with Sudhish Kamath noting, "The problem with it: the same old cliches of commercial cinema — the film was ridden with stereotypes, predictable incidents triggered by unidimensional screen villains".