Pachaikili Muthucharam

Plot

Venkat (R. Sarathkumar), a medical representative, is a happily married person with a son. His wife Kalyani (Andrea Jeremiah) is very loving and both of them along with their son Nanda (Armaan) have a perfect life. That is, until their son falls sick and things between the husband and wife cool down a bit. Kalyani begins to spend more time with their son Nanda and starts to ignore her husband involuntarily. Venkat feeling a bit lonely and neglected walks in and out of his monotonous life without complaining much. He tries to understand his wife's feelings.

One morning while riding the train to work, Venkat notices Geetha (Jyothika) 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 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 slowly they 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 something alone. Venkat agrees and they take a taxi and drive to Mayajaal on East Coast Road. But 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 and his desires give way.

A knock on the door prompts Venkat to open the door. A goon barges in and beats Venkat up. He robs the couple and also ties Venkat up before raping Geetha. Venkat is grief-stricken and they both part ways.

The goon who calls himself Lawrence (Milind Soman) starts calling Venkat and Geetha to harass them for money. Venkat takes the full financial responsibility and starts paying off the money that he had been saving for his son's medical expenses. With no choice left, Venkat confesses to Kalyani. Angry and disappointed, Kalyani leaves him. She returns, a few days later and forgives Venkat.

The rest of the story focuses on how Venkat tries to put his life back together. How does Venkat pull himself from the abysmal low in his life? How does he resolve the situation with Lawrence? What happens to Geetha? Does Venkat ever get to lead a normal life again? The twist in the tale sets things in perspective and resolves all these questions.

Production

It was previously titled as Vilai Uyirendraalum (Even If the Price Is Life Itself), Parundhu (Eagle) and Silandhi (Spider). Earlier for the lead female protagonist role several actresses was considered with Tabu, Kamalinee Mukherjee and Shobana as the frontrunners. Finally the latter was roped in to play the role whom as described by Gautham as "finest actor in the country". However Shobana was replaced by newcomer Andrea Jeremiah, who previously collaborated with Gautham Menon in Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu as a playback singer. Sarath Kumar's character was originally slated for Madhavan and Cheran.

Soundtrack

The film has 5 chartbuster classic songs composed by Harris Jayaraj. The song lyrics were penned by Thamarai (exceptions are noted).

Release

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. Those who saw the film are raving about its bold and daring content and say that it looks like a Hollywood thriller.

Reception

The film was above 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.