Superstar Rajinikanth has countless iconic films to his credit in a career spanning over almost 50 years. His popularity was at peak in the 90s and Rajinikanth dominated Tamil cinema in the decade. One film that he finished the decade with was the 1999 film Padayappa. Directed by KS Ravikumar and starring Rajinikanth, Ramya Krishnan and Soundarya, Padayappa was released on April 10, 1999, and went on to become a massive critical and commercial success.
For the generation that grew up in the 1990s, Padayappa is one of the quintessential Rajinikanth films. The compelling story, the typical Rajini swag, the chemistry between Rajinikanth and Soundarya and a menacing villain in the form of Ramya Krishnan make the movie memorable even today.
Padiyappa was one of the first Tamil films to have an anti-heroine theme and the idea was conceived by Rajinikanth himself. He made his desire to work in an anti-heroine movie known to two other directors before zeroing in on KS Ravikumar’s story. According to the director’s interview a few years ago, the anti-heroine character played by Ramya Krishnan was believed to have been based on late Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa as the animosity between her and Rajinikanth was well known in the 90s. However, Rajinikanth never openly talked about it or confirmed it.
Do you know that the first choice for the female lead opposite Rajinikanth was not Soundarya? KS Ravikumar first approached the top actress of the era, Nagma, to star opposite Rajinikanth in the film. Some scenes were also shot with Nagma. She is said to have dropped out of the film when she found that Ramya Krishnan’s role was meatier, although there are no official records of the reason she dropped out.
Soundariya was then brought on board to play the character of Vasundhara opposite Rajinikanth. Padayappa was also a milestone film in the sense that it was the last movie of Tamil cinema legend Sivaji Ganesan.
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