Petta

About the film

Petta (; transl. Extramural suburb) is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Karthik Subbaraj and produced by Kalanithi Maran under Sun Pictures. The film stars Rajinikanth, alongside Vijay Sethupathi, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sasikumar, Simran, Trisha, Megha Akash, Malavika Mohanan, Mahendran, Bobby Simha, Guru Somasundaram, Aadukalam Naren, Munishkanth, Sananth and Vivek Prasanna. It follows a hostel warden who gets dragged into war after his old nemesis resurfaces.

The film was officially announced in February 2018. Principal photography commenced in June 2018. It was shot in several locations including Darjeeling and Uttar Pradesh, and wrapped by late-October 2018. The film's music was composed by Anirudh Ravichander, while cinematography and editing were handled by Tirru and Vivek Harshan.

Plot

Kaali, a mysterious and deceivingly aged person, takes up the job of a boys' hostel warden at a college in Ooty. He notices that a group of unruly final-year students, led by Michael, the spoiled son of Gnanam, a local leader, dominate the hostel. Kaali puts a stop to Michael's antics, which leads to a rivalry between them. Kaali also forms a close bond with Anwar, an NRI hostelite, who is in a relationship with Anu, the daughter of Mangalam, a pranic healer.

Kaali convinces Mangalam to accept her daughter's relationship with Anwar, and they end up falling for each other. Michael, who lusts for Anu, is enraged on hearing about her relationship with Anwar and attempts to harass them, only to be stopped by Kaali. The college suspends Michael and his friends, and Anwar records and shares the humiliation of Michael and his gang. The video is noticed in Uttar Pradesh by Jithu, a local goon, and his father Singhaar Singh, a powerful politician.

On seeing Anwar in the video as well as in a photo with his mother Poongodi on Facebook, Singhaar sends his men to kill Anwar for unknown reasons. At the same time, Michael, who is humiliated at his suspension, sends his men to beat Kaali. Michael's plan backfires as he and his men get mixed in the fight between Kaali and Singhaar's men. Kaali subdues Singhaar's men, earning Michael and Gnanam's respect, following which Anwar meets Kaali's friend, who reveals Anwar's past. Anwar is the son of Kaali's best friend Abdul Maalik Marakkaayar, Kaali's real name is Pettavelan "Petta", and he was a respected person and gangster in Madurai.

Production

In early February 2018, after completing his filming commitments for Pa. Ranjith's Kaala (2018), Rajinikanth held final discussions with a group of young directors, including Arun Prabu, Atlee, and Karthik Subbaraj for his next project. On 23 February 2018, Sun Pictures announced that they would produce a film starring Rajinikanth to be directed by Karthik. To accommodate the film's shoot throughout the course of 2018, Karthik postponed the pre-production work of another proposed film starring Dhanush for YNOT Studios. Karthik revealed that he was confident about approaching Rajinikanth to work on his film, after the actor was impressed with his earlier project, Jigarthanda (2014) and expressed a desire to collaborate. The pair had first discussed the script in early 2017, but Rajinikanth did not take a final call until finishing his existing filming commitments to Kaala and 2.0 (2018). Karthik initially revealed that his film with Rajinikanth would be an "action drama", which was "fictional" but "realistic".

Anirudh Ravichander was signed on to work as the film's music composer in early March 2018, in a move which saw him collaborate with his maternal uncle Rajinikanth, and Karthik, for the first time. Tirru and Vivek Harshan were selected to be the film's cinematographer and editor respectively, continuing their collaboration with Karthik following their work in Mercury (2018). Likewise, stunt choreographer Peter Hein also joined the team thereafter. In late May 2018, Karthik and Tirru went on a recce to scout locations in Nepal and North India to shoot the film. The film's title Petta was revealed on 7 September 2018.

Vijay Sethupathi was signed on to play a character in April 2018, and accordingly reworked his dates to fit the film into his busy schedule. The actor signed the film after a month of media speculation that he would portray a villainous role, and revealed that he signed the film as he had blind trust in Karthik, and initially did not request to listen to the script. Karthik had also been keen to sign Fahadh Faasil for a role in the film, but the actor's filming commitments for Varathan (2018) meant that he could not allot dates. Hindi film actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui joined the cast in July 2018, while two other regular collaborators of Karthik, actors Bobby Simha and Sananth, were also signed to play pivotal roles in the film. Other members of the cast included supporting actors Guru Somasundaram, Munishkanth, Shabeer Kallarakkal, Deepak Paramesh, Adithya Shivpink, and Manikandan R. Achari.

Music

The soundtrack album and background score were composed by Anirudh Ravichander, marking his first collaboration with Rajinikanth and Karthik Subbaraj. The lyrics were penned by Vivek, Ku. Karthik, Dhanush and Karthik Subbaraj. The album consists of all eleven songs, 5 of which are theme songs. The first single, "Marana Mass" was released on 3 December 2018, followed by "Ullallaa" which released on 7 December 2018. The full album was released on 9 December 2018, under the Sony Music label.

Key details