Pudhea Paadhai is a 1989 Tamil-language drama film written and directed by R. Parthiban. His directorial debut, it features himself in the lead role as an inhumane ruffian who gets reformed by his rape victim, portrayed by Seetha. The film released to critical acclaim and emerged a box-office success, while also winning several accolades including two National Film Awards, and two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. It was remade in Kannada in 1990 as Hosa Jeevana, in Hindi in 1991 as Benaam Badsha, in 1991 in Telugu as Rowdy Gaari Pellam and in 1996 in Malayalam as Swarnakireedam.
Plot
The tale dealt with the case where an evil goon who would murder his mother for money being reformed by an iron-willed woman. He had raped her for money to stop her marriage forever so that her step-mother can stop her property from going out of her hand. However, she reforms him by pointing out the impact of his actions at each stage showing him how people are affected by him instead of the usual formulaic reformation by love story. The climax was the highlight of the film with the girl being killed by hired guns who wanted revenge on both him for his days before reformation and her step-mother. Instead of going after them for revenge, having truly reformed, he takes their kid and leaves off to find a new life away from all of them.
Parthiban, an erstwhile assistant of K. Bhagyaraj made his directorial debut with this film. The film was initially titled as Kelvikkuri with Babji of Hemnag films producing it. However, after shooting for 3 days, it was stopped. Babji advised Parthiban to tell the story to Sundaram, a popular distributor. Sundaram likedthe script and decided to produce the film. They went to Rajinikanth, who suggested Parthiban to play the hero. Though Parthiban was keen on choosing another actor for the leading role, Sundaram wanted him to play the role considering what Rajinikanth said and the budget. Sundaram wanted a different title, he then selected Puthiya Paathai from the 50 titles shortlisted. The film was made with a budget of 38 lakhs.
Pudhea Paadhai was released on 14 April 1989, Puthandu. Despite facing competition from other Puthandu releases such as Apoorva Sagodharargal, En Rathathin Rathame and Pillaikkaga, the film became a commercial success.
