# Paattu Paadava

Paattu Paadava (transl. Shall I sing a song?) is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by B. R. Vijayalakshmi in her directorial debut. The film stars S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Rahman and newcomer Lavanya Rajesh, with Janagaraj, Kalyan Kumar, Mohan Natarajan, Chinni Jayanth, Srividya, C. R. Saraswathi and Sabitha Anand playing supporting roles. It was released on 10 February 1995, and was an average grosser at the box office.

## Plot

Rishi is a doctor in a mental hospital and treats his patients like his family. Rangarajan is the director of the mental hospital. Devi, daughter of a wealthy man, is a social worker and joyful woman. Murali acts like a mental patient and mute person in the mental hospital, only Rangarajan knows that he is perfectly fine.
Devi starts visiting the mental hospital very often. After few quarrels with Rishi, Devi becomes good friends with Rishi. She is intrigued by Murali and starts spending a lot of time with him. Murali slowly falls in one-sided love with Devi. While Rishi and Devi express their love and they fall in love with each other. Everything goes well until Devi finds out that Murali is perfectly alright. Rangarajan reveals Murali's tragic past to her.
In the past, Murali lived happily with his parents. His parents did love marriage and they didn't have the support of their family. One day, his mother Janaki was arrested for procurement and the complaint was made by his father Gangadharan. His father then fled of the village alone, Murali was down and out. People thought he was a mentally ill boy so they sent him to Rangarajan's mental hospital. Later, his mother died in jail. The kind-hearted Rangarajan decided to keep Murali in his mental hospital, he brought him like his own child.
Feeling hurt and vexed by life, Murali leaves the mental hospital without informing anyone. They finally find him in the street. Devi feels that Murali sings well, so she registers his name in a singing competition. At the singing competition, Murali sees his father Gangadharan in the audience. His father started in a new life and married a rich bride, he is now a business magnate. His father turns out to be Rishi's father too. Murali wins the competition, and becomes a playback singer, he wins many awards and he is now the most successful of Tamil cinema. Murali finally reveals to Rishi that he is in love with Devi. In the end, during the marriage of Murali and Devi, Murali recognises the love between Rishi and Devi. He sacrifices his love and gets them married.

## Cast

* S. P. Balasubrahmanyam as Murali/Bubly Mass
* Rahman as Rishi
* Lavanya Rajesh as Devi
* Janagaraj as Rangarajan
* Kalyan Kumar as Devi's father
* Mohan Natarajan as Gangadharan
* Chinni Jayanth as Romeo
* Srividya as Rishi's mother
* C. R. Saraswathi as Devi's mother
* Sabitha Anand as Janaki
* Kavithalaya Krishnan
* Typist Gopu as Naidu
* Master Kiran Pradeep
* Baby Divya as Divya
* Master Pradeep
* Bonda Mani
* Khushbu in a guest appearance
* M. S. Viswanathan as himself (cameo appearance)
* Gangai Amaran as himself (cameo appearance)

## Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, with lyrics written by Vaali.
| Song | Singer(s) | Length |
| "Chinna Kanmanikkulle" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | 5:44 |
| "Vazhi Vidu Vazhi" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Ilaiyaraaja | 5:18 |
| "Poongaatrile Oru Kaalai" | Lekha, Malgudi Subha, Sindhu | 4:57 |
| "Nil Nil Nil" | Ilaiyaraaja, Uma Ramanan | 5:00 |
| "Ada Va Va" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam | 5:09 |
| "Iniya Gaanam" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Arunmozhi, S. N. Surendar | 5:51 |
| "Paadura" | K. S. Chithra | 5:21 |

## Reception

Thulasi of Kalki found Ilaiyaraaja's music, art direction, costumes and cinematography as positives but called the story and unnecessary stunt as drawbacks.