Pandhayam (2008 film)

Pandhayam (transl. Bet) is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar, starring Nithin Sathya and Sindhu Tolani while Prakash Raj and Radhika play supporting roles. Vijay did a guest role as himself. The music was composed by Vijay Antony with cinematography by Srinivas Devamsam and editing by J. N. Harsha. The film was released on 19 September 2008.^[1]

Pandhayam
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	S. A. Chandrasekhar
Written by	S. A. Chandrasekhar
Produced by	Shoba Chandrasekhar
Starring	Nithin Sathya Sindhu Tolani
Cinematography	Srinivas Devamsam
Edited by	J. N. Harsha
Music by	Vijay Antony
Production company	V. V. Creations
Distributed by	Nemichand Jhabak
Release date	19 September 2008 (2008-09-19)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

Masanam, a local thug and criminal who kills people, slowly rises up the ranks to be a minister. Shakthivel is a die-hard fan of actor Vijay and studies in college. He falls in love with Masanam's sister Thulasi and challenges him (he has a reason for that), and a cat-and-mouse game ensues. What follows is a series of incidents between the two that leads to a melodramatic climax.

Cast

• Nithin Sathya as Sakthivel
• Sindhu Tolani as Thulasi
• Prakash Raj as Masanam
• Radhika Sarathkumar as Masanam's wife
• Ganeshkar as Ganesh
• Vadivel Ganesh as Vadivel Ganesh
• Rajini Murugan as Mani
• Lavanya as Lavanya
• Dhamu
• Scissor Manohar
• Y. G. Mahendran as Dr. Pitchaimuthu
• Vimal as Murugesan (uncredited)
• Rajini Nivetha as Murugesan's mother
• Bala Singh

Special appearances :

• Vijay as himself
• Perarasu as himself
• Raj Kapoor as himself
• Meghna Naidu (special appearance in the song "Lusimbara")
• O Podu Rani as Chinna Maami (special appearance in the song "Chinna Maamiye")
• Ashok Raja (special appearance in the song "Chinna Maamiye")
• S. A. Chandrasekhar (special appearance in the song "Chinna Maamiye")
• Sampath Ram as Police Inspector (uncredited)

Production

The film was originally planned with Raghava Lawrence and Mallika Kapoor who were later replaced by Nithin Sathya and Sindhu Tolani.^[2]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Vijay Antony.^[3] It features remixes of the songs "Surangani" and "Chinna Maamiye".^[4]

Song	Singers	Lyrics
"Ammane"	Bellie Raj, Nidhesh Gopalan, Vinaitha	G. A. Robert
"Chinna Maamiye"	Christopher, MK Balaji, Shoba Chandrasekhar, Vinaya	Ceylon Manohar, Eknaath
"Kadhal Theeviravathi"	Vinaya, Jaidev	Priyan
"Lusimbara"	Ramya NSK, Vijay Antony, Christopher	Annamalai
"Surangani"	MK Balaji, Maya, Megha	Ceylon Manohar

Critical reception

Rediff.com wrote, "Watch Pandhayam if you've challenged your friends about sitting through a ridiculous movie. Even then, you might end up losing."^[5] IANS wrote, "The movie looks like one that suffered a double Rip Van Winkle slumber since the 70s sans the vintage quality of that era".^[6] The Hindu wrote "Looks like the experienced director is losing grip! Helming a film whose theme toes the beaten track of revenge, writer-director S.A. Chandrasekaran makes a hotchpotch of it. Every creator has a saturation point. SAC is no exception as this V.V. Creations’ product shows".^[7]