Pudhumai Penn (1984 film)

Seetha lives a simple life with her father, a Tamil teacher in a village. After Seetha's elder sister committed suicide by suffering from dowry harassment from her husband’s family, Seetha’s father struggles to find a suitable groom for her owing to his poor financial condition. One day, her father meets Ram, a bank employee, and introduces him to Seetha. After a few days, Ram meets Seetha and the pair decided to get married.

Ram’s mother doesn’t like Seetha, as her family haven't provided dowry and she insults Seetha frequently. Seetha decides to tolerate this treatment due to her love for Ram, but her father commits suicide, unable to bear his daughter’s suffering.

Ram invites his new boss, Rajasekar, to his home for lunch. Rajasekar is attracted to Seetha, who keeps her distance from him.

Meanwhile, Ram’s sister becomes pregnant by Ram's friend and their families push them to marry. Unable to pay the wedding expenses, Ram steals money from the bank, but gets caught by Rajasekar, who says that if Ram will allow him to have sex with Seetha, he will forgive Ram and not inform the police about the theft. Angered by this suggestion, Ram beats up Rajasekar and leaves home.

The next day, Rajasekar is found dead and Ram is arrested by the police on suspicion of murder. Seetha decides to seek help from David, a criminal lawyer and a friend of her father's, but learns that David has moved away. Seetha finds another lawyer for Ram, and begins modeling for a painter in order to pay the legal expenses, and is also able to financially assist Ram's mother and sister. However, Ram’s mother insults Seetha by accusing her of prostitution.

One day, the painter asks Seetha to pose nude, which angers Seetha, and she stops modeling for him. She begins earning money through various jobs such as cooking and household chores.

One day, Seetha sees David and follows him home. She asks David to appear in court on behalf of Ram. David tells Seetha that he killed Rajasekar for raping his sister and apologises that Ram was falsely arrested.

David appears in the court and confesses to the murder, leading to Ram's release. Later, Seetha learns that she is pregnant and looks forward to sharing the news with Ram. However, Ram’s mother convinces Ram that he is not the father of Seetha's baby. When Ram questions Seetha about the child's paternity, she considers committing suicide, but instead decides to leave home and live on her own.

{{cast listing|

• Pandiyan as Ramachandran
• Revathi as Seetha{{Cite news |last=Shekar |first=Anjana |date=8 January 2018 |title=From demure to daring, actor Revathy's multi-faceted film career |url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/demure-daring-actor-revathy-s-multi-faceted-film-career-74371 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808104633/https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/demure-daring-actor-revathy-s-multi-faceted-film-career-74371 |archive-date=8 August 2018 |access-date=8 August 2018 |work=The News Minute}}
• Pratap Pothen as David
• Rajasekhar as Rajasekhar
• Y. G. Mahendran
• Janagaraj
• Chitra Lakshmanan
• Ra. Sankaran as Seetha's father{{Cite news |last=Shivpprasadh |first=S. |date=14 June 2012 |title=Father figure |url=https://www.thehindu.com/arts/father-figure/article3527829.ece |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129043212/http://www.thehindu.com/arts/father-figure/article3527829.ece |archive-date=29 November 2014 |access-date=8 August 2018 |work=The Hindu}}

}}

AVM Productions wanted to make a film with Bharathiraja after the success of his Puthiya Vaarpugal which never happened. A few years later they both collaborated on the project which eventually became Pudhumai Penn.{{Cite magazine |last=சரவணன் |first=ஏவி.எம். |author-link=M. Saravanan (producer) |date=10 July 2005 |title=வரி விளக்கிய வள்ளல்! |url=https://archive.org/download/kalki2005-07-10/kalki2005-07-10.pdf |access-date=18 April 2024 |magazine=Kalki |pages=44–47 |language=Ta |via=Internet Archive}} The film's story was written by R. Selvaraj who revealed this story was initially supposed to be made as Bharathiraja's debut titled Sontha Veedu with R. Muthuraman and J. Jayalalithaa which got shelved.{{Cite web |date=15 September 2022 |title=16 வயதினிலே: 'அவருக்குப் படமெடுக்கத் தெரியுமானு தெரில'- விலகிய ஜெயலலிதா; வென்றுகாட்டிய பாரதிராஜா! |url=https://cinema.vikatan.com/kollywood/article-about-director-bharathirajas-first-movie |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331030400/https://cinema.vikatan.com/kollywood/article-about-director-bharathirajas-first-movie |archive-date=31 March 2023 |access-date=9 August 2023 |website=Cinema Vikatan |language=Ta}} Pudhumai Penn marked the acting debut of Dr. Rajasekhar.{{Cite news |date=24 May 2017 |title='Chennai 28' director Venkat Prabhu to helm project starring Dr Rajasekhar next |url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/chennai-28-director-venkat-prabhu-helm-project-starring-dr-rajasekhar-next-62566 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808104621/https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/chennai-28-director-venkat-prabhu-helm-project-starring-dr-rajasekhar-next-62566 |archive-date=8 August 2018 |access-date=8 August 2018 |work=The News Minute}} It was also Pandiyan's only collaboration with AVM.{{sfn|Saravanan|2013|p=425}} Revathi was 17 years old when doing this film.{{Cite web |last=Subhakeerthana |first=S |date=2 August 2019 |title=Suriya is my 'Jackpot': Jyotika |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/tamil/suriya-is-my-jackpot-jyotika-5872283/ |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022135253/https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/tamil/suriya-is-my-jackpot-jyotika-5872283/ |archive-date=22 October 2021 |access-date=15 September 2022 |website=The Indian Express}} The studio's name was prefixed to the film's title (AVMin Pudhumai Penn, meaning AVM's Modern Woman).{{sfn|Saravanan|2013|pp=282–283}}

The soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, while the lyrics were written by Vairamuthu.{{Cite web |title=Pudhumai Penn- Nallavanukku Nallavan Tamil Film LP Vinyl Record by Ilayaraaja |url=https://mossymart.com/product/pudhumai-penn-nallavanukku-nallavan-tamil-film-lp-vinyl-record-by-ilayaraaja/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211003091603/https://mossymart.com/product/pudhumai-penn-nallavanukku-nallavan-tamil-film-lp-vinyl-record-by-ilayaraaja/ |archive-date=3 October 2021 |access-date=3 October 2021 |website=Mossymart}} The song "Kasthuri Maane" is set in Mohanam raga and "Kadhal Mayakkam" is set in Shuddha Saveri.{{Cite web |date=17 June 2018 |title=இளையராஜா 75 |url=https://www.dinamani.com/weekly-supplements/dinamani-kondattam/2018/jun/17/%E0%AE%87%E0%AE%B3%E0%AF%88%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%B0%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%9C%E0%AE%BE-75-2940953.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230203055112/https://www.dinamani.com/weekly-supplements/dinamani-kondattam/2018/jun/17/%E0%AE%87%E0%AE%B3%E0%AF%88%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%B0%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%9C%E0%AE%BE-75-2940953.html |archive-date=3 February 2023 |access-date=23 April 2024 |website=Dinamani |language=ta}}

Pudhumai Penn was released on 14 July 1984,{{sfn|Saravanan|2013|p=278}} and ran for 208 days in the Mini Priya theatre, Madurai. The film failed at the box-office during its first run. M. G. Ramachandran, then the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, decided to re-release the film with tax exemption by reducing ticket prices to three rupees which led to bigger success.{{sfn|Saravanan|2013|pp=279–281}} Jayamanmadhan of Kalki praised the performances of cast and direction but was critical of logical mistakes and found the climax of Revathi leaving home disappointing and added that the film can be enjoyed in bits and pieces here and there.{{Cite magazine |last=ஜெயமன்மதன் |author-link=Subha (writers) |date=29 July 1984 |title=ஏ.வி.எம்மின் புதுமைப்பெண் |url=https://kalkionline.com/kalkionline_archive/imagegallery/archiveimages/kalki/1984/jul/29-07-1984/p62.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220915063424/https://kalkionline.com/kalkionline_archive/imagegallery/archiveimages/kalki/1984/jul/29-07-1984/p62.jpg |archive-date=15 September 2022 |access-date=28 June 2022 |magazine=Kalki |page=62 |language=ta}} In 2014, Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu praised Revathi's performance, but noted that the melodrama quotient was "a little too high".{{Cite news |last=Rangarajan |first=Malathi |date=7 March 2014 |title=Women of Steel |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/women-of-steel/article5760715.ece |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410221025/http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/women-of-steel/article5760715.ece |archive-date=10 April 2017 |access-date=8 August 2018 |work=The Hindu}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Cite book |last=Saravanan |first=M. |author-link=M. Saravanan (producer) |title=AVM 60 Cinema |publisher=Rajarajan Pathippagam |year=2013 |edition=3rd |language=ta |oclc=1158347612 |orig-date=2005}}

• {{IMDb title}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes}}

{{AVM Productions}}

{{Bharathiraja}}

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Category:1980s feminist films

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Category:Tamil-language Indian films