‘Pandigai’: Tamil cinema’s new gangster fare

If you, like me, presumed that with its innocent title, implied anything about celebrations, then you ought to check the trailers.

Debutant director Feroz clears the air when he says that this gangster tale is centred around underground street fighting.

Unlike most Tamil gangster stories that are set in Madurai, Pandigai happens in Chennai, in the neighbourhood of Triplicane. “It’s about conflicts and contradictions,” says Feroz, erstwhile assistant of Tamil filmmakers Gaurav and Arivazhagan. It was while studying business in the USA where Feroz was exposed to international cinema and from that grew his ambition to become a filmmaker.

The two main characters of Pandigai are Velu, a bell boy in a hotel, and Munishekar, the owner of a video game centre. “Velu is an orphan who grew up the hard way and believes that violence is the answer to everything. As for Munishekar, he lost money through gambling yet believes that gambling will make him rich one day,” Feroz said.

Krishna plays Velu and Saravanan of Paruthiveeran fame is Munisekhar. What brings the two together is underground street fighting that is organised by a group of thugs. Pandigai in their lingo refers to the fights they manage for money.

If money lured Velu and Munishekar into the punching match where ruthlessness reigns, it does not take long for them to realise that all they want now is to save themselves.

Feroz, an action film lover, says his story was inspired by people he had met in real life.

Anandhi plays Kavya, Velu’s love interest in the story. Kavya is a chatterbox while Velu is a reticent guy.