Thadaiyara Thaakka

Plot

Selva (Arun Vijay) owns a travel agency in Chennai. He dreams to make it big in life and is all set to marry his lover Priya (Mamta Mohandas). The city is under the grip of dreaded baddies Maha (Maha Gandhi) and his brother Kumar (Vamsi Krishna). They are loan sharks who go to any extent to wield their clout in the city. Selva comes across Maha, and soon, Maha is killed in mysterious circumstances. The blame falls on Selva. Kumar and his men want to bump off Selva. A perplexed Selva runs for cover. He sets out to find the real killer, but there is a twist in the tale, and Selva takes a new avatar as he decides to wage a bloody war with baddies.

Cast

Development

After achieving moderate successes with Malai Malai (2009) and Maanja Velu (2010), Feather Touch Entertainment and Arun Vijay came together for a third collaboration. The film was launched at the Palani Murugan temple, with the film's crew being present. The film's title was announced to be Thadaiyara Thaakka, derived from the Kanda Shasti Kavasam. Arun Vijay plays a left handed character. About the title, director said:"When I was working with Gautham Menon, we were discussing this title for Vettaiyaadu Vilayaadu. Generally Gautham Menon will ask his assistant directors for titles for his scripts and I had suggested this then. Gautham too liked this but somehow we could not use it then. However this title stayed with me for a long time and when I had readied the script, I felt this suited the script very well" and about the story idea he further added that:"The idea was conceived once when I was bedridden with viral fever. When an idea is very good and simmers for a long time, it kind of grows on you and the characters come to life and become powerful. That’s how the characters and the story took shape seven years ago".

Casting

Bollywood actress Prachi Desai was first roped in for the lead female role, signing her first Tamil project, with sources claiming that she was paid ₹ 15 million as remuneration. Despite having signed up, Desai failed to turn up for shooting, delaying the filming. Nearly five months later, she was removed from the project, and Malayali singer-actress Mamta Mohandas replaced her, making Thadaiyara Thaakka her third Tamil film. Prior to Mamta's entry, Kannada film actress Nidhi Subbaiah was considered for the role. Rakul Preet Singh, Femina Miss India 2011 contestant, who previously had starred in a Kannada film, was selected for another pivotal female role. Salim Baig, who played the antagonist in Gharshana, Kaakha Kaakha's Telugu version, was chosen to enact the villain in Thadaiyara Thaakka, with reports noting that there were two more villains in the film.

Filming

Some scenes of the film were shot at Border Thottam, at night. Arun Vijay stated that the film was primarily shot in night at second half. The team roped in Mumbai based model Debi Dutta for the kuthu number "Poondhamalli Dhaan". The track was canned in TR Gardens in an enormous set resembling the famous Zam Bazaar at nights in a grand scale with 50 dancers and 150 junior artists. It was choreographed by Noble Master. Arun Vijay had developed a six-pack for this film. Rain had delayed the schedule and pushed back the release. The crew shot the climax at the Binny Mills for nine days. A factory set was erected with 15 feet fenced compound worth 4.5 million rupees. Art director Mohana Mahendran tried to find a live location but since he wasn't satisfied, the team erected a set of an old abandoned factory with machinery. A scene featuring Arun Vijay, Vamsi and his gang was shot there. Stunt director Anal Arasu composed a lengthy shot which was canned with four cameras. During the take Vamsi had to swing a huge iron bar against Arun Vijay in the end, where Arun has to miss it and jump. However, the iron bar slipped from Vamsi's hand and hit Arun's shoulder. Shoot was wrapped with few shots remaining.

Soundtrack

Soundtrack was composed by Thaman, with lyrics by Madhan Karky and Vaali. Arun Vijay had sung few lines for a folk-song with L. R. Eswari. The audio was launched at radio station "Suryan FM". Magizh Thirumeni, Arun Vijay, Thaman and Madhan Karky were present at the launch, while Mamta Mohandas was absent as she had one on a trip.

Critical reception

Milliblog wrote: "Short, tuneful soundtrack by Thaman who gets the melodies right and the sole kuthu wrong". Behindwoods wrote:"A decent effort from Thaman that passes muster".

Release

Satellite rights were secured by Sun TV. The film was released on 1 June 2012.

Critical reception

Nowrunning wrote:"Flawed but praiseworthy flick". Behindwoods wrote:"Credible characters, fairly good screen play and neat performances are the factors that work for TT, However, there are a few snag moments in the second half when the script’s journey appears a bit meandering.

Box-office

The film has grossed ₹1,726,000 (US$27,000) in first week. In the second week, film took average opening and grossed ₹6.02659 lakh (US$9,400). The film was a success at the box office selling 220,000 tickets in Tamil Nadu.