Padai Veetu Amman

<p>Meena plays the dual role of Goddess Padai Veettu Amman, and the neighbouring deity Muthu Maariamman, cutting a pretty picture in all her finery. Devayani plays Chamundi, a devotee, and the film opens with her being killed brutally on the eve of her marriage by the henchmen of the local bigwig. The latter’s daughter was in love with the intended bridegroom Shankar and the fond father had wanted to remove the only hurdle in the way. The bigwig, in order to get his hands on a hidden treasure, had also taken the help of an evil tantrik. The presiding deity Muthu Maariamman is helpless, bound as she was by a vow she had made to Chamundi. That she wouldn’t step out of her abode till Chamundi herself asked her to. It is time for the neighbouring deity Padai Veetu Amman to come to the rescue of the distressed village. Vinu Chakravarthy originally refused to portray the role of an evil sorcerer as he was a devotee of goddess but after obtaining permission from his spiritual guru he relented with a condition that his face should not be “shown decrying the Goddess, even if it is only in acting”. Lyrics were written by Kalidasan, Kamakodiyan, Kirithaya and . The film was released on 4 November 2002 on Diwali. Malini Mannath wrote for , “Fit for consumption, only for the suburban or rural audience!”. S. R. Ashok Kumar wrote for , “Good digital effects certainly make one sit through the entire film and has succeeded in it partially”.</p>