Naadodigal
Directed by	Samuthirakani
Produced by	S. Michael Rayappan
Written by	Samuthirakani
Starring	Sasikumar Vijay Vasanth Bharani Ananya Abhinaya Ganja Karuppu
Music by	Sundar C Babu
Cinematography	S. R. Kathir
Editing by	A. L. Ramesh
Studio	Global Infotainment
Release date(s)	26 June 2009 (2009-06-26)
Running time	165 minutes
Country	‹See Tfd› India
Language	Tamil
Budget	5 crores
Box office	26 crores (overall share)[1]

Naadodigal (Tamil: நாடோடிகள் ; English: Nomads) is a 2009 Indian drama film written and directed by Samuthirakani. The film stars Sasikumar along with Chennai 600028 fame Vijay Vasanth and Kallori fame Bharani in lead roles, with newcomers Ananya, Abhinaya and Malaysia-based Shanthini Deva enacting the lead female roles and Ganja Karuppu playing a pivotal role, providing comical relief. The plot focuses on a trio who attempt to unite their friend with his lover against the wishes of all families involved, and at heavy cost to themselves, only to realize that the lovers separate after a short while. The film released in June 2009, garnering positive reviews.^[2][3]

Plot[link]

The film revolves around three characters – Karunakaran (Sasikumar), Pandi (Bharani) and Chandran (Vijay Vasanth). The trio eats, sleeps and parties together in Rajapalayam. They also have their individual ambitions in life.

Karunakaran is in love with his uncle’s daughter Nallammal (Ananya). He is madly pursuing a government job because his uncle agrees to the marriage if and when he obtains one. Pandi is desperate to go abroad and get rich, while Chandran is committed to start a computer center.

All goes well until Saravanan (Ranga) enters, a childhood friend of Karunakaran. Son of a former MP (Member of Parliament), he is in love with Prabha (Shanthini Devi), daughter of a bigwig in Namakkal. Shocked by Saravanan’s suicide attempt due to love failure, the trio promises to help him out and unite the two lovers. They set out to Namakkal where they enlist the help of their old friend Maariyappan (Ganja Karuppu).

The trio manages to help the couple get married by abducting the girl while she is visiting a temple with her family. In ensuing fracas between the two families, karunakaran gets injured while pandi is hit on the ear by a log thereby losing his hearing ability and chandran loses his leg due to a crush injury by falling under a passing truck. The bride's father on realizing who aided his ward escape sends his goons to attack karunakaran's family. It ends with karunakaran's grandmother being killed. During the funeral the members of the family have a fight resulting in karunakaran's fiance being coaxed by her father to give up on karunakaran.

The three friends end up being put in the jail and getting entangled in a kidnapping case. However they are released as time goes by. To their utter dismay they realise that the star crossed lovers they had managed to unite at such great personal and emotional loss have gone their separate ways having grown bored of each other. They realise that the battle they fought did not serve any purpose.

What the trio then does to teach the couple a lesson, forms the movie climax.

Cast[link]

• Sasikumar as Karunakaran Natraj
• Vijay Vasanth as Chandran Karuppiah
• Bharani as Rangapaandi Azhagusundaram
• Ananya as Nallammaal
• Abhinaya as Pavithra Natraj
• Ganja Karuppu as Maariyappan
• Jayaprakash as Pazhanivelraman
• Ranga as Saravanan
• Shanthini Deva as Prabha Pazhanivelraman
• Jayaprabha as Sangvi Pathak
• Lakshmi Ramakrishnan
• L. Raja as Natraj Veerabhadran

Character map of remakes[link]

Soundtrack[link]

The film score and soundtrack for Naadodigal was composed by Sundar C Babu.

Release[link]

Critical Reception[link]

Naadodigal opened to positive reviews. A critic from Sify gave 5/5 and wrote that "Nadodigal is not great cinema, but enjoyable and a welcome change in these hard days. It is eminently watchable." ^[4] Bhamadevi Ravi of The Times of India rated the movie 3.5/5 and called the movie "a good show." ^[5] Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff gave the film 3 out of 5, calling "Naadodigal is in its realistic feel, mostly logical screenplay and cast go a long way in making it a worthwhile watch." ^[6] Aravindan DI from Nowrunning.com rated the movie 3/5 stating that "The film does carry an appealing message for today's jet-age society - it's shocking yet powerful." Another reviewer Mythily Ramachandran from Nowrunning.com gave 3 out of 5 and wrote that "Nadodigal entertains and is thought provoking. Told in simple narrative style it is presented most realistically and is a treat for lovers of good cinema." ^[7] A critic from Top10Cinema wrote that "as a team and a team work, Nadodigal is a definite entertainer." ^[8]

Box Office[link]

The movie was in the list of 2009 Blockbusters. According to Sify, the movie was considered to be a Super Hit verdict. ^[9]

Remakes[link]

Following its success, the film was remade in Kannada, Telugu and Hindi. The Kannada version, titled Hudugaru stars Puneeth Rajkumar,Srinagara Kitty and Yogesh. The Telugu version, titled Shambo Shiva Shambo, named after a hit song from the original film, stars Ravi Teja, Allari Naresh, Siva Balaji, Priyamani, Abhinaya, and Sunil in the lead roles. It is said that Shahid Kapoor may star in the Hindi version, which is in its pre-production stage. Both versions will be directed by Samuthirakani himself. The Kannada version will have a different director, from the Kannada industry. Ithu Nammude Katha, an Malayalam film, is reportedly based on Nadodigal. The film stars Asif Ali, Nishan, Abhishek, Amala Paul, Nimisha along with Ananya herself. It is written and direced by debutant Rakesh Kannankara.^[10]

Awards[link]

Filmfare Awards South

• Won: Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil
• Won: Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut - Abhinaya
• Nominated: Filmfare Award for Best Director - Samuthirakani
• Nominated: Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress - Abhinaya

Vijay Awards

• Won: Vijay Award for Best Film
• Won: Vijay Award for Best Debut Actress - Ananya
• Won: Vijay Award for Best Supporting Actress - Abhinaya
• Nominated: Vijay Award for Best Director - Samuthirakani
• Nominated: Vijay Award for Best Supporting Actor - Bharani
• Nominated: Vijay Award for Best Comedian - Ganja Karuppu
• Nominated: Vijay Award for Best Comedian - Namo Narayan
• Nominated: Vijay Award for Best Debut Actress - Abhinaya
• Nominated: Vijay Award for Best Editor - A.L.Ramesh
• Nominated: Vijay Award for Best Story, Screenplay Writer - Samuthirakani
• Nominated: Vijay Award for Best Make Up Artistes - S.A.Shanmugam
• Nominated: Vijay Award for Best Crew
• Nominated: Vijay Award for Favourite Hero - M. Sasikumar
• Nominated: Vijay Award for Favourite Film
• Nominated: Vijay Award for Favourite Director - Samuthirakani

Edison Awards

• Best Introduced Playback Singer - Velmurugan

Mirchi Music Awards

Mirchi Music Award for Mannin Kural(Male) - Velmurugan

References[link]