| Petta | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Karthik Subbaraj |
| Written by | Karthik Subbaraj |
| Produced by | Kalanithi Maran[1] |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Tirru |
| Edited by | Vivek Harshan |
| Music by | Anirudh Ravichander |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Sun Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 170 minutes[2] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
| Budget | ₹160 crore[3] |
| Box office | est.₹220–250 crore[4][5][6] |
Petta (/peɪttə/transl. Hood) is a 2019 IndianTamil-languageaction drama film[7] directed byKarthik Subbaraj and produced byKalanithi Maran underSun Pictures. The film starsRajinikanth, alongsideVijay Sethupathi,Nawazuddin Siddiqui,Sasikumar,Simran,Trisha,Megha Akash,Malavika Mohanan,Mahendran,Bobby Simha,Guru Somasundaram,Aadukalam Naren,Munishkanth,Sananth andVivek Prasanna. It follows a hostel warden who gets dragged into war after his old nemesis resurfaces to exact revenge.
The film was officially announced in February 2018.Principal photography commenced in June 2018. It was shot in several locations includingDarjeeling andUttar Pradesh, andwrapped by late-October 2018. Thefilm's music was composed byAnirudh Ravichander, while cinematography and editing were handled byTirru andVivek Harshan.
Petta was released on 10 January 2019, the week ofPongal. The film grossed₹220–250 crore against a budget of₹160 crore, thus becomingone of the highest-grossing Tamil films of all time andthe second highest-grossing Tamil film of 2019.[8]
Kaali, a mysterious and deceivingly aged person, takes up the job of a boys' hostel warden at a college inOoty. He notices that a group of unruly final-year students, led by Michael, the spoiled son of a Gnanam, a local leader, dominate the hostel. Kaali puts a stop to Michael's antics, which leads to a rivalry between them. Kaali also forms a close bond with Anwar, anNRI hostelite, who is in a relationship with Anu, the daughter of Mangalam, apranic healer.
Kaali convinces Mangalam to accept her daughter's relationship with Anwar, and they end up falling for each other. Michael, who lusts for Anu, is enraged on hearing about her relationship with Anwar and attempts to harass them, only to be stopped by Kaali. The college suspends Michael and his friends, and Anwar records and shares the humiliation of Michael and his gang. The video is noticed inUttar Pradesh by Jithu, a local goon, and his father Singaar Singh, a powerful politician.
On seeing Anwar in the video as well as in a photo with his mother Poongodi onFacebook, Singaar sends his men to kill Anwar for unknown reasons. At the same time, Michael, who is humiliated at his suspension, sends his men to beat Kaali. Michael's plan backfires as he and his men get mixed in the fight between Kaali and Singaar's men. Kaali subdues Singaar's men, earning Michael and Gnanam's respect, following which Anwar meets Kaali's friend, who narrates about his past. Anwar is the son of Kaali's best friend Maalik, and Kaali's real name is Petta Velan, a respected person inMadurai, and narrates Petta's past.
In the past, Maalik learns that brothers Devaram and Singaaram are involved in an illegal sand mafia, which leads to Maalik and Petta getting enough evidence for the police to arrest Devaram. Petta learns that Maalik is in love with Devaram and Singaaram's sister Poongodi, who conceived with him even before wedlock. Though reluctant initially, Petta finally agrees, and he and his wife Saro, convince Poongodi's father, Rajapandi, to get Poongodi married to Maalik. Devaram and Singaaram vehemently oppose the alliance since Maalik is aMuslim. But marriage happens with the aid of Petta. Rajapandi out of love and affection transfers properties to Poongodi.
Devaram and Singaaram kill Rajapandi. On learning this, Petta kills Devaram during Rajapandi's funeral and expels Singaaram from the village. Enraged, Singaaram orchestrates a bomb blast during Poongodi'sseemantham, killing Maalik, Saro and seemingly Petta's son Chinna. After finding Poongodi still alive, Petta takes her to safety. Poongodi later gives birth to Anwar, and leaves for Australia with him to evade Singaaram.
On learning about his past, Anwar, Petta and Michael's henchmen leave to kill Singaaram, now known as Singaar Singh. Petta and Anwar confront Jithu, who is determined to kill them after learning about them from Singaar. The duo manages to escape Jithu. Later, Petta meets Jithu privately and reveals him to be actually his son Chinna, whom Singaar adopted after found alive with injuries in the wreckage.
Jithu confronts Singaar regarding his parentage. Later, a group of men, apparently sent by Singaar, arrive to kill Jithu but Petta and his crew rescue him. Petta, Anwar, Michael's henchmen and Jithu ambush Singaar's mansion and decimate his guards. Petta confronts Singaar and shoots him dead. He then admits to Jithu that the latter is not Chinna, but Singaar's son since Chinna really did die in the blast; the men sent to kill Jithu were actually Petta's men. Petta reveals that he used Jithu as a strategy to lead to Singaar only to kill him. Holding Jithu at gunpoint, Petta asks whether he should kill or spare him.
In early February 2018, after completing his filming commitments forPa. Ranjith'sKaala (2018), Rajinikanth held final discussions with a group of young directors, including Arun Prabu Purushothaman,Atlee, andKarthik Subbaraj for his next project.[9] On 23 February 2018, production houseSun Pictures announced that they would produce a film starring Rajinikanth to be directed by Karthik. To accommodate the film's shoot throughout the course of 2018, the director postponed the pre-production work of another proposed film starringDhanush forYNOT Studios.[10][11] Karthik revealed that he was confident about approaching Rajinikanth to work on his film, after the actor was impressed with his earlier project,Jigarthanda (2014) and expressed a desire to collaborate. The pair had first discussed the script in early 2017, but Rajinikanth did not take a final call until finishing his existing filming commitments toKaala and2.0 (2018).[12] Talking about the project, Karthik initially revealed that the film would be an "action drama" which was "fictional" but "realistic".[7][13]
Anirudh Ravichander was signed on to work as the film's music composer in early March 2018, in a move which saw him collaborate with his maternal uncle Rajinikanth, and Karthik, for the first time.[14][15]Tirru andVivek Harshan were selected to be the film's cinematographer and editor respectively, continuing their collaboration with Karthik following their work inMercury (2018).[16] Likewise, stunt choreographerPeter Hein also joined the team thereafter.[17] In late May 2018, Karthik and Tirru went on arecce to scout locations inNepal and North India to shoot the film.[18] The film's titlePetta was revealed on 7 September 2018.[1]
Vijay Sethupathi was signed on to play a character in April 2018, and accordingly reworked his dates to fit the film into his busy schedule.[19][20] The actor signed the film after a month of media speculation that he would portray a villainous role, and revealed that he signed the film as he had blind trust in Karthik, and initially did not request to listen to the script.[21] Karthik had also been keen to signFahadh Faasil for a role in the film, but the actor's filming commitments forVarathan (2018) meant that he could not allot dates.[22] Hindi film actorNawazuddin Siddiqui joined the cast in July 2018, while two other regular collaborators of Karthik, actorsBobby Simha andSananth, were also signed to play pivotal roles in the film.[23] Other members of the cast included supporting actorsGuru Somasundaram,[24]Munishkanth,[25]Shabeer Kallarakkal,[26]Deepak Paramesh,[27] Adithya Shivpink,[28] andManikandan R. Achari.[29]
For leading female roles, the team held discussions throughout March 2018 with actressesTrisha,Deepika Padukone, andAnjali, but neither were signed immediately.[30][31][32] In July 2018, the producers announced thatSimran had joined the cast to play as pair of Rajinikanth.[33] Trisha was eventually added to the cast in August 2018,[34] whileMalavika Mohanan was also signed to make her Tamil debut.[35][36]Megha Akash was cast as Sananth's pair, and joined the shoot before the release of any of her initial Tamil films,Boomerang,Enai Noki Paayum Thota andOru Pakka Kathai.[37] In October,Sasikumar andMahendran joined the cast.[38][39]
Principal photography began in June 2018. The first shooting schedule began on 7 June at Eastern Forest Rangers College at St. Mary's Hill,Kurseong inDarjeeling, with the initial portions lasting nine days. The team then shot in other location across Darjeeling and the hill towns for a further month, in locations includingSt. Paul's andMount Hermon School.[40][41] To finish the first schedule, the team returned to Kurseong for six days. An audition to cast 150 local actors was also held in Charbagh,Lucknow during the first schedule.[42] During the making of the schedule,Rajinikanth met with politicianGautam Deb, who helped the makers have a hassle free shoot in exchange for the promotion of tourism in the area.[43] Principal photographywrapped in October 2018, fifteen days ahead of schedule.[44]
The soundtrack album and background score were composed byAnirudh Ravichander, marking his first collaboration with Rajinikanth and Karthik Subbaraj.[45] The lyrics were penned byVivek, Ku. Karthik,Dhanush and Karthik Subbaraj. The album consists of all eleven songs, 5 of which are theme songs. The first single, "Marana Mass" was released on 3 December 2018,[46] followed by "Ullallaa" which released on 7 December 2018.[47] The full album was released on 9 December 2018, under theSony Music label.[48][49] In January 2022, "Marana Mass" hit 200 million views in YouTube.[50]
Petta was released on 10 January 2019, the week ofPongal, and clashing withViswasam.[51]
Petta was released on 600 screens in Tamil Nadu with tough competition fromViswasam. The film grossed ₹1.12 crore at the Chennai box office. The film also grossed $133K at the US, overtakingViswasam which grossed $18K.[52] On its opening day, the film grossed ₹36.6 crore worldwide, with a share of ₹19 crore worldwide. The film collected ₹104 crore, in 3 days and grossed more than ₹138 crore in the opening weekend. The film collected₹104.3 crore (US$16.26 million) worldwide on 4 days.[53] The film collected ₹200 crore within 23 days.[54] The film collected₹105.1 crore (US$16.38 million) inTamil Nadu,₹18 crore (US$2.81 million) inKarnataka,₹4.5 crore (US$701,460.13) in the rest of India and₹71.6 crore (US$11.16 million) in overseas with a total of ₹219—250 crore worldwide at the end of its theatrical run and became thesecond highest grossing Tamil film of the year.[55]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 71% of 7 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6/10.[56]
M. Suganth fromThe Times of India gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Petta is less of a Karthik Subbaraj film, but it gives Rajini fans their Thalaivar in a way that they have been dying to see him, celebrating the Rajinisms."[57] Srinivasa Ramanujam ofThe Hindu stated that "Despite quite a few underwritten characters, Petta triumphs by bringing back the Superstar of yore."[58] Kirubhakar Purushothaman ofIndia Today gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Petta is a classic Rajinikanth film that his fans should not miss."[59] Anusha Iyengar fromTimes Now rated 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Petta is a complete mass entertainer with twists and turns that will make you howl in the theatres like you would in a Thalaiva film."[60]
Shubhra Gupta ofThe Indian Express gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Karthik Subbaraj has a sense of style, which breaks through only occasionally in Petta. For that Rajini Sir will have to submit a little more to the script, and a last little twist in the long drawn-out climax holds out hope.[61]Sify gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Karthik Subbaraj has packed a pleasing crowd puller that is a satisfying revenge drama with twists and turns."[62]Saibal Chatterjee ofNDTV gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Rajinikanth returns to the basics with aplomb. Just go and watch it for the Rajinikanth that you missed in his last few releases."[63]Baradwaj Rangan ofFilm Companion gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Jigarthanda andIraivi were sprawling stories but there was a sense of a gradual buildup, the sense of the narrative noose being slowly tightened. But Petta looks rushed and even the Karthik Subbaraj flourishes come off like affectations."[64] Gauthaman Baskaran ofNews18 gave 1/5 and wrote "Petta turns out be yet another outing for Rajinikanth who relies on gimmicks rather than solid performance."[65]Ananda Vikatan rated the film 41 out of 100.[66]
Rajinikanth joined hands with Karthik Subbaraj for the action-drama 'Petta', and the film was made on a budget of Rs 160 crore.
