Pachaikili Muthucharam

Pachaikili Muthucharam (transl. Green parrot and string of pearls) is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. It is based on the 2005 British-American thriller film Derailed which was an adaptation of James Siegel's 2003 novel Derailed.[1] The film stars R. Sarathkumar as the protagonist and Jyothika as the antagonist, while Andrea Jeremiah and Milind Soman played important supporting roles. The film's score and soundtrack were composed by Harris Jayaraj. The soundtrack was released on 20 January 2007 to positive reviews. The film was released on 13 February 2007. It was dubbed in Telugu as Drohi and was remade in Sinhala as Dakina Dakina Mal in 2010.

Pachaikili Muthucharam
Promotional poster
Directed byGautham Vasudev Menon
Written byGautham Vasudev Menon
Produced byV. Ravichandran
StarringR. Sarathkumar
Jyothika
Andrea Jeremiah
Milind Soman
CinematographyArvind Krishna
Additional Cinematography:
Nirav Shah
Edited byAnthony
Music byHarris Jayaraj
Production
company
Distributed byAascar Films Pvt. Ltd
Release date
  • 13 February 2007 (2007-02-13)
Running time
150 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

edit

Venkatesh, a medical representative, is happily married to Kalyani, and they both have a son named Nanda. They all have a perfect life. That is, until Nanda falls sick and ends up in a hospital where he is diagnosed with diabetes, and things between Venkat and Kalyani cool down a bit. Kalyani begins to spend more time with Nanda and starts to ignore Venkat involuntarily. Venkat, feeling a bit lonely and neglected, walks in and out of his monotonous life without complaining much. He tries to understand Kalyani's feelings.

One morning while riding the train to work, Venkat notices Geetha and spends a few extra seconds admiring her. The following day again, he happens to stand next to her, and Geetha opens up the conversation with Venkat. Both married with kids, they feel that they have a lot of common things between them and start a friendship together. At first, it is platonic, and they meet only in the train, but they slowly start meeting at restaurants and coffee shops. Geetha begins to get a little physically close to Venkat, and she suggests that they both spend a day together watching movies or doing something alone. Venkat agrees, and they take a taxi and drive to Mayajaal on East Coast Road.

However, at the last minute, Geetha changes her mind and directs the taxi driver to go to a resort along the same road. Venkat books a room on Geetha's insistence. A knock on the door prompts Venkat to open the door. A goon who calls himself as Lawrence barges in, beats him up, robs the couple, and ties Venkat up before raping Geetha. Venkat is grief-stricken, and he and Geetha both part ways. Lawrence starts calling Venkat and Geetha to harass them for money. Venkat takes the full financial responsibility and starts paying off money that he had been saving for Nanda's medical expenses. With no choice left, Venkat confesses to Kalyani. Angry and disappointed, she leaves him, but she returns a few days later after realizing that she is short of money and forgives him.

One day, Venkat finds Geetha and Lawrence laughing down the street. He follows them and realizes that he has been conned and that this is their daily business. When the gang is pulling the same trick on another person named Ramachandran, he beats Lawrence, barges into a hotel, and explains it to Ramachandran. A fight occurs where Ramachandran is killed and Venkat accidentally shoots Geetha on her stomach. Angrily, Lawrence stabs Venkat on his hand and in a fit of rage, Venkat kills Lawrence. Venkat escapes but not before he gets a horrible beating from Geetha's men. He relocates with his family for a while, and then Geetha's men kidnaps Kalyani. Later, he realises that Geetha didn't actually die and she kidnapped Kalyani and his son to avenge Lawrence's death. She orders her men to beat Venkat up, after Venkat refuses to give her the money. After a long fight, Venkat kills Geetha, saves Kalyani. And the family lives happily ever after.

Cast

edit

Production

edit

It was previously titled as Vilai Uyirendraalum (Even If the Price Is Life Itself), Parundhu (Eagle) and Silandhi (Spider).[2] Gautham Menon described the title Pachaikili Muthucharam (translated as "a parrot with a string of pearls") as a metaphor to the film's content, saying, "What will happen to a string of pearls if a parrot gets it? The pearls might scatter away."[3] Earlier for the lead female protagonist role several actresses was considered with Tabu, Kamalinee Mukherjee and Shobana as the frontrunners. Finally, the latter was chosen to play the role whom Gautham described as the "finest actor in the country".[4] However, Shobana was replaced by a newcomer Andrea Jeremiah, who previously collaborated with Gautham Menon in Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu as a playback singer.[5] Sarath Kumar's character was originally slated for Kamal Haasan, Madhavan and Cheran.

Soundtrack

edit

The film has five songs composed by Harris Jayaraj. The song "Karu Karu Vizhigalal" is based on Westlife’s "Hit You With The Real Thing".[6]

Pachaikili Muthucharam
Soundtrack album by
Released5 January 2007
Recorded2007
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length23:27
LanguageTamil
LabelAyngaran Music
An Ak Audio
ProducerHarris Jayaraj
Harris Jayaraj chronology
Sainikudu
(2006)
Pachaikili Muthucharam
(2007)
Unnale Unnale
(2007)
Track-List
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Unakkul Naane" (Version 1)RohiniBombay Jayashri4:43
2."Unakkul Naane" (Version 2)RohiniMadhushree4:41
3."Un Sirippinil"ThamaraiSowmya Rao, Mohamed Raffee5:35
4."Kaadhal Konjam"ThamaraiNaresh Iyer4:52
5."Karu Karu"ThamaraiKarthik, Naresh Iyer, Krish3:36
Total length:23:27
Dhrohi
Soundtrack album by
Released2007
Recorded2007
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length23:06
LanguageTelugu
LabelT-Series
ProducerHarris Jayaraj

All tracks are written by Vennelakanti

Telugu Track-List
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Undaleni"Anuradha Sriram, Raghu Kunche4:38
2."Nee Talapuna"Naga Saihithi5:31
3."Challa Naina"Raghu Kunche4:45
4."Undaleni" (Version 2)Chinmayi, Raghu Kunche4:38
5."Daagudumoothal"Karthik, Raghu Kunche3:12
Total length:23:06

Release

edit

The satellite rights of the film were sold to Kalaignar. The censors cleared the film with an "A" certificate for its theme with no visual cuts but a few dialogue muting.[7]

Reception

edit

A critic from Rediff wrote that "One must hand it to Gautham Menon for keeping the film from degenerating into a melodrama by giving the right mix of action and drama".[8] Lajjavathi of Kalki wrote it cannot be said that everyone will appreciate the softness that permeates the entire film. Although there are various reviews about the story of this film, a new attempt is welcome.[9]

Box office

edit

The film was below average at the box office, especially because it was a typical A center movie. It performed badly at B and C centers due to its storyline. In regard to the average run, Menon went on to claim that Sarath Kumar was "wrong for the film" and that he tweaked the story to fit his image; he also claimed that his father's ailing health and consequent death a week before the release had left him mentally affected.[10][11]

Awards and nominations

edit
Award[a] Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards Ananda Vikatan Award for Best Villain - Female Jyothika Won
Vijay Awards Best Debut Actress Andrea Jeremiah Nominated

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Awards, festivals and organizations are in alphabetical order.

References

edit
  1. ^ "Southern movies inspired without credit - here's the list". thenewsminute.com. 21 November 2014. Archived from the original on 5 May 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  2. ^ "Tamil movies : Surya's Sarvam kicks off with photo session". Archived from the original on 7 May 2009. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Pachaikili Muthucharam: The most eagerly awaited Tamil film of 2007!". rediff.com. Archived from the original on 14 September 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  4. ^ "'I don't write scripts for heroes'". Sify. 2006. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  5. ^ "Glam show is not bad: Andrea Jeremiah". Sify. 2012. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  6. ^ Srinivasan, Sudhir (30 September 2016). "Inspired stuff". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 22 November 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  7. ^ "'Pachaikili..' postponed!". Sify. Archived from the original on 14 March 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  8. ^ "Pachaikili Muthucharam is good". Rediff. Archived from the original on 8 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  9. ^ லஜ்ஜாவதி (4 March 2007). "பச்சைக்கிளி முத்துச்சரம்". Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 50–51. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  10. ^ "Tamil box office collections tamil top ten films top 10 movies pokkiri thamirabarani paruthiveeran mozhi thiruvilayadal veyil deepavali pachaikili muthucharam veerasamy picture gallery images". Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
  11. ^ Rangan, Baradwaj (2008). "Gautam "Vasudev" Menon". Baradwaj Rangan. Archived from the original on 10 July 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
edit