Padayappa
Directed by	K.S. Ravikumar
Produced by	A. M. Rathnam
Written by	K.S. Ravikumar
Starring	Rajinikanth Soundarya Ramya Krishnan Sivaji Ganesan Manivannan Nassar Senthil Ramesh Khanna Abbas Preetha Vijaykumar Vadivukarasi Lakshmi Radharavi Sitara Anu Mohan Satyapriya K. S. Ravikumar Vasu Vikram Prakash Raj Mansoor Ali Khan
Music by	A.R. Rahman
Release date(s)	April 1999
Running time	172 mins
Language	Tamil

Padayappa is a 1999 Tamil film directed by K. S. Ravikumar. The film stars Rajinikanth, Soundarya, Ramya Krishnan, Sivaji Ganesan, Manivannan, Nassar, Senthil, Abbas, Preetha Vijaykumar and Lakshmi. One of the main attraction of the movie is Academy award winner Dr. A. R. Rahman's music. This was the penultimate film of the acclaimed film actor Sivaji Ganesan before his death in 2001.

[edit] Plot

Padayappa (Rajinikanth) is an engineer. Padayappa visits his hometown to attend his sister's wedding. His sister is engaged to the son of his maternal uncle. During this happy occasion, Padayappa's father's foster brother demands a share in the family property. But, standing true to his words that the family property should not be divided, Padayappa's father (Sivaji Ganesan) gives the entire property to him.

His family is then forced to leave their home. Due to this shock, his father dies at sight and his sister's wedding is cancelled because the groom went for money and married his uncle's daughter. Also, Nilambiri (Ramya Krishnan), the spoilt daughter of his maternal uncle, is in love with him.

Meanwhile, Padayappa finds out that the hill that he owns has granite, and he digs it out and once again becomes a very famous name in the city as he does a lot of service to the poor. His family, once again, is able to settle down. His sister gets married to an engineer Padayappa hired, and Padayappa maintains his father's position in the village.

He loves Vasundhara (Soundarya), Nilambari's servant. When Nilambari finds this out, she goes crazy. Her parents beg Padayappa's widowed mother to allow Nilambari to marry Padayappa. Padayappa obeys his mother's orders to get married. However, Padayappa's mother becomes wise and tells off her brother in front of the entire village, giving a proposal of marriage to Vasundhara's mother instead of her brother, not letting her brother forget the humiliation he put her through when Padayappa's father died. Nilambari's dad commits suicide in humiliation. Nilambari tries to kill Vasundhara, but is not successful.

After the wedding, Nilambari retreats into a room in her brother's house, only having Padayappa in her mind for 18 years. However, when her brother finally wakes her up, she plans her revenge on Padayappa, now a father of two adult daughters. Nilambari's brother also has a son. He studies in the same college as Padayappa's elder daughter and is told by Nilambari that he should make Padayappa's daughter fall in love with him. At the same time Padayappa plans to get his eldest daughter married to his sisters son.

As a tradition in their village the groom and bride are asked if they both are not being forced to marry each other. Nilambari's plan is to make Padayappa's daughter say that she doesn't wish to get married to the groom that her parents want her to marry and that she is in love with someone else and in that process get Padayappa humiliated.

Her plan works, but Padayappa retaliates and makes his daughter's lover confess that he really fell in love with her, even though he was told only to act. Padayappa decides to take him to his house for the marriage, with Nilambari chasing behind.

After a dramatic fight scene, the marriage takes place, and Nilambari commits suicide, choosing to die rather than live in humiliation.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Soundtrack

The film has five songs and a background score by A. R. Rahman:

1. En Peru Padayappa - S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
2. Minsara kannaa - Srinivas and Nithyasree Mahadevan
3. Suthi Suthi - S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and Harini
4. Vetri kodi - Palghat Sriram
5. Kicku Eruthey - Mano, Febi Mani

[edit] Reception

• The film was the biggest blockbuster of 1999 .
• The film made profit of more than 25 crores
• Actress Ramya Krishnan won hearts all over Tamil nadu for the role Neelambari played by her. She also received the Filmfare award for best Villain. She was even appreciated by Jackie Chan himself.
• It was dubbed in Telugu as Narasimha
• The producer Thenappan registered the stylised Padayappa design as a Class 34 trademark in 1998 for goods like beedis, cigarettes, cheroots and tobacco (raw or manufactured). This is believed to be the first such instance of brand extension in Tamil film industry pdf
• This movie is marked the last movie of the Veteran actor late Sivaji Ganesan.
• Initially Aishwarya Rai was approached for the role of Neelambari. But she turned down the offer citing that the role may not go with her public image.^{[citation needed]}