Petta (film)

Development

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.^[7] 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.^[8][9] 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).^[10] Karthik initially revealed that his film with Rajinikanth would be an "action drama",^[6] which was "fictional" but "realistic".^[11]

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.^[12][13] 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).^[14] Likewise, stunt choreographer Peter Hein also joined the team thereafter.^[15] In late May 2018, Karthik and Tirru went on a recce to scout locations in Nepal and North India to shoot the film.^[16] The film's title Petta was revealed on 7 September 2018.^[17]

Casting

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.^[18][19] 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.^[20] 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.^[21] 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.^[22] Other members of the cast included supporting actors Guru Somasundaram,^[23] Munishkanth,^[24] Shabeer Kallarakkal,^[25] Deepak Paramesh,^[26] Adithya Shivpink,^[27] and Manikandan R. Achari.^[28]

For leading female roles, the team held discussions throughout March 2018 with actresses Trisha, Deepika Padukone, and Anjali, but neither were signed.^[29][30][31] In July 2018, the producers announced that Simran had joined the cast to play as pair of Rajinikanth.^[32] Trisha was eventually added to the cast in August 2018,^[33] while Malavika Mohanan was also signed to make her Tamil debut.^[34][35] Megha Akash was cast as Sananth's pair, and joined the shoot before the release of any of her initial Tamil films, Boomerang, Enai Noki Paayum Thota and Oru Pakka Kathai.^[36] In October, Sasikumar and Mahendran joined the cast.^[37][38]

Filming

Principal photography began in June 2018. The first shooting schedule began on 7 June at Eastern Forest Rangers College at St. Mary's Hill, Kurseong in Darjeeling, with the initial portions lasting nine days. The team then shot in other location across Darjeeling and the hill towns for a further month, in locations including St. Paul's and Mount Hermon School.^[39][40] To finish the first schedule, the team returned to Kurseong for six days. An audition to cast 150 local actors was also held in Charbagh, Lucknow during the first schedule.^[41] During the making of the schedule, Rajinikanth met with politician Gautam Deb, who helped the makers have a hassle free shoot in exchange for the promotion of tourism in the area.^[42] Principal photography wrapped in October 2018, fifteen days ahead of schedule.^[43]

Box office

Petta was released on 600 screens in Tamil Nadu with tough competition from Viswasam. The film opened with ₹1.12 crore at the Chennai box office. It also grossed $133K from the United States, overtaking Viswasam which grossed $18K.^[51] The film collected ₹105 crore (US$14.91 million) worldwide in 4 days,^[52] and over ₹200 crore (US$28.4 million) within 23 days.^[53] According to a late January 2019 estimate by India Today, Petta collected ₹135 crore (US$19.17 million) in Tamil Nadu, ₹15 crore (US$2.13 million) in Karnataka, ₹11 crore (US$1.56 million) in the rest of India and ₹76 crore (US$10.79 million) in overseas with a total of ₹237 crore (US$33.66 million) worldwide and became the highest grossing Tamil film of the year to that point.^[54] Hindustan Times estimated that it closed with ₹240 crore (US$34.08 million) and was surpassed by Bigil to become the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2019.^[55] Times Now estimated that the film closed at ₹250 crore (US$35.5 million) worldwide.^[56]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 71% of 7 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6/10.^[57]

M. Suganth from The Times of India gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Petta is less of a Karthik Subbaraj film, but it gives Rajini fans their Thalaivar in a way that they have been dying to see him, celebrating the Rajinisms."^[58] Srinivasa Ramanujam of The Hindu stated that "Despite quite a few underwritten characters, Petta triumphs by bringing back the Superstar of yore."^[59] Kirubhakar Purushothaman of India Today gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Petta is a classic Rajinikanth film that his fans should not miss."^[60] Anusha Iyengar from Times Now rated 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Petta is a complete mass entertainer with twists and turns that will make you howl in the theatres like you would in a Thalaiva film."^[61]

Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Karthik Subbaraj has a sense of style, which breaks through only occasionally in Petta. For that Rajini Sir will have to submit a little more to the script, and a last little twist in the long drawn-out climax holds out hope.^[62] Sify gave 3/5 stars and wrote, "Karthik Subbaraj has packed a pleasing crowd puller that is a satisfying revenge drama with twists and turns."^[63] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Rajinikanth returns to the basics with aplomb. Just go and watch it for the Rajinikanth that you missed in his last few releases."^[64] Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote, "Jigarthanda and Iraivi were sprawling stories but there was a sense of a gradual buildup, the sense of the narrative noose being slowly tightened. But Petta looks rushed and even the Karthik Subbaraj flourishes come off like affectations."^[65] Gauthaman Baskaran of News18 gave 1/5 and wrote "Petta turns out be yet another outing for Rajinikanth who relies on gimmicks rather than solid performance."^[66] Ananda Vikatan rated the film 41 out of 100.^[67]