| Pagaivan | |
| Director: | Ramesh Balakrishnan |
| Story: | Viswaas Sundar |
| Producer: | Viswaas Sundar |
| Starring: | Ajith Kumar Sathyaraj Anjala Zaveri |
| Cinematography: | D. Shankar |
| Editing: | B. Lenin V. T. Vijayan |
| Music: | Deva |
| Studio: | Viswas Films |
| Runtime: | 142 minutes |
| Country: | India |
| Language: | Tamil |
Pagaivan is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film directed by Ramesh Balakrishnan, starring Ajith Kumar, Sathyaraj, and Anjala Zaveri, while Ranjitha, Nagesh, K. S. Ravikumar, and Vivek play supporting roles. The music was composed by Deva. The film revolves around a kidnapping undertaken by a man and the actions that the victim's father takes to save his daughter. The film released on 1 August 1997[1] to mixed reviews, but critics praised the comedy and performance of Sathyaraj.[2] The film was a commercial failure.[3]
Prabhu, despite having all the required qualifications for the job he applied for, fails after he was demanded to pay a considerable amount as a caution deposit. Every time, his chances of getting the job were hanging on the payment of this caution.
Determined to get the job at all costs, Prabhu is ready to do anything to obtain this amount as quickly as possible. He decides to kidnap someone so as to demand a ransom from the family of this person. Fate leads him to abduct Uma, who happens to be the one and only daughter of Minister Durairaj.
Uma falls in love with Prabhu, and, before long, Prabhu begins to love Uma too. Meanwhile, Uma’s parents hire Vasu, a rowdy who is ready to do anything for the sake of money, to find their daughter. The rest of the film revolves around if the pair will be found.
During the making of the film, the producers fell out with actress Anjala Zaveri, causing the film to be briefly delayed.[4]
The soundtrack was composed by Deva, with lyrics written by Vairamuthu.[5]
Ji of Kalki praised the acting of Sathyaraj and K. S. Ravikumar, he praised Deva's background score but panned his songs while also praising film's fast pace, fight choreography and camera angles.[6]