Pathinaaru

Pathinaaru
Directed by	Sabapathy Dekshinamurthy
Produced by	A. Sivasankar
Written by	R. K. Mahalingam (dialogue)
Screenplay by	Sabapathy Dekshinamurthy
Story by	Sabapathy Dekshinamurthy
Starring	Shiva Madhu Shalini Abhishek
Music by	Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cinematography	Aruldoss
Edited by	G. Rama Rao
Production company	Passion Movie Makers
Distributed by	V. Creations
Release dates	28 January 2011 (2011-01-28)
Running time	106 mins
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Pathinaaru (Tamil: பதினாறு; English: Sixteen) is a 2011 Tamil romantic drama film written and directed by Sabapathy Dekshinamurthy, who earlier directed films like V.I.P (1997), Punnagai Poove (2003) and A Aa E Ee (2009). It stars Shiva and Madhu Shalini in lead along with musician Darbuka Siva and television artist Abhishek in pivotal roles. The film's background score and soundtrack was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja. After being launched in October 2008 under the title 16, the film was shot for over one year, getting finished in early 2010 only. One year after its completion, Kalaipuli S. Thanu bought the distribution rights and released the film on 28 January 2011 under his V. Creations banner. However, this movie was unsuccessful at the Box-Office.^[1] Despite that the movie did not fare well at the box office, it was remade as Jolly Boy in Kannada language.

Plot

Shiva (Shiva) and Indu (Madhu Shalini) are city-based students,who love each other. However, their love is strongly opposed by the latter’s parents. They're given a handwritten book titled "Pathinaaru" (Sixteen) by Indhu's mother to read.

The book depicts a real-life story about two village teenagers Gopi (Kishore) and Ilavarasi (Vinitha), and their romance as they step into adolescence. Facing opposition from her affluent family, the gutsy Ilavarasi takes some bold unconventional steps, which backfires on her.

The story of unrequited love and betrayal leaves Indu in a dilemma and she prepares to go with her family’s desires. But Siva is not ready to give up Indu and sets out to do his own investigation to get to the bottom of what ultimately happened to Gopi and Ilavarasi.

Cast

• Shiva as Shiva
• Madhu Shalini as Indhu Gopalakrishnan
• Abhishek as Gopalakrishnan
• Kishore Kumar as Teenage Gopalakrishnan
• Master Sanjay as Youngest Gopalakrishnan
• Kasthuri as Ilavarasi (Cameo appearance)
• Vinitha as Teenage Ilavarasi
• Baby Pooja as Youngest Ilavarasi
• Pandi as Sakkarai
• Amirtha as Indhu's mother
• Darbuka Siva

Production

With initial plans of releasing the film for Pongal 2009,^[2] the film was officially launched under the title 16 on 15 October 2008 at the office of the production company, Passion Movie Makers, who are stepping into film production with this project,^[3] Radio jockey-turned-actor Shiva, who rose to fame through his appearances in Chennai 600028 (2007) and Saroja (2008), revealed that he had signed this film after Chennai 600028 even, which commenced only after the release of his second film Saroja.^[4] Darbuka Siva, a percussionist in various bands,^[5] who also worked as a radio jockey together with Shiva, was signed for an important role as was the controversial director Velu Prabhakaran.^[6][7] The first schedule of film shooting started on 3 November 2008, when scenes involving Shiva, Darbuka Siva and Madhu Shalini were shot across the East Coast Road in Tamil Nadu.^[8] Subsequently, shooting was held at various places including Chennai, Ooty and Kodaikanal.^[6][9] Despite being made on a low budget and featuring a relatively new cast, the film mired in development hell, with filming, which was supposed to be completed within two months, being carried on through entire 2009,^[10][11] and finished in January 2010 only.^[12] Following the completion, however, the film's release still got delayed further, since it also languished in post-production hell. However, noted film producer and distributor Kalaipuli S. Thanu, after watching a preview screening of the film, decided to take over the film's theatrical rights and distribute it under his V. Creations banner in entire Tamil Nadu.^[1]

Soundtrack

Pathinaaru
Original CD Cover
Soundtrack album to Pathinaaru by Yuvan Shankar Raja
Released	24 December 2010
Recorded	2008-2009
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	22:58
Language	Tamil
Label	Think Music
Producer	Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja chronology
Boss Engira Bhaskaran (2010) Pathinaaru (2010) Vaanam (2011)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Music Aloud	[13]
Rediff	[14]
Behindwoods	[15]
600024	[16]

Film score and soundtrack of Pathinaaru were composed by Shiva's friend Yuvan Shankar Raja, collaborating with Sabapathy again after Punnagai Poove in 2003. Notably, Yuvan Shankar worked for this film without receiving any remuneration as it would have overrun the film's whole budget.^[17][18] The soundtrack album, considered the highlight of the film, features four songs along with a theme music track.^[10] The songs were composed in 2008 and recorded later that year and the next year, with the album being ready for release by July 2009.^[10] For a song in the flashback portion of the film, Yuvan Shankar Raja made his brother Karthik Raja sing,^[19] which is the first solo song of him under Yuvan Shankar's direction.^[20] Apart from Karthik Raja, Yuvan Shankar Raja himself, along with Hariharan, Shankar Mahadevan and Bela Shende have sung the songs.^[6] The soundtrack album was eventually released on 24 December 2010 in a small manner, with S. P. B. Charan and Samudrakani being present along with the film crew.^[21] Prior and during the time of the film's audio launch, Yuvan Shankar Raja was featured on the film posters, by which the producer promoted the film and the album.^[1][20]

The album as well as the film score received very positive reviews and critical acclaim.^[22] Pavithra Srinivasan from Rediff cited that "'Yuvan's Musical' is worth a listen", further adding that Pathinaaru "might have plenty of Yuvan's signature tunes, but there are moments of appeal that give some depth to the album, and veer away from his template".^[14] In regards to the score, she wrote that it "fits the film and adds some depth to it."^[23] A review from Behindwoods described Pathinaaru's music as "youthful and lovely to the ears", further claiming that "lovely orchestrations, right chords and soulful voices make Pathinaaru a worthy album to have in your collection."^[15] Times of India and Indiaglitz further addressed high praise to Yuvan Shankar Raja, with a critic from the former, N. Venkateswaran, noting that Yuvan was "in superb form in this romantic album both as composer and singer",^[24] while a review from the latter labelled Yuvan Shankar Raja as the "real hero of the movie", particularly lauding his score, citing that "his re-recording especially for the rural episode is mind-boggling."^[25]

All lyrics written by Snehan, except where noted. 

References

External links

• Pathinaaru at the Internet Movie Database