Padayappa

Padayappa
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	K. S. Ravikumar
Written by	K. S. Ravikumar
Produced by	K. Sathya Narayana M. V. Krishna Rao H. Vittal Prasad P. L. Thenappan
Starring	Sivaji Ganesan Rajinikanth Ramya Krishnan Soundarya
Cinematography	S. Murthy Prasad
Edited by	K. Thanigachalam
Music by	A. R. Rahman
Production company	Arunachala Cine Creations
Release date	10 April 1999 (1999-04-10)
Running time	181 minutes[1]
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Padayappa is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language masala film written and directed by K. S. Ravikumar. It stars Rajinikanth in the titular lead, with Sivaji Ganesan in his penultimate release, Ramya Krishnan and Soundarya sharing other lead roles, while Lakshmi, Radha Ravi, Nassar, Abbas and Preetha play supporting roles. The soundtrack album and background score were composed by A. R. Rahman. The plot revolves around the title character and his family being targeted in a generations-long revenge by his cousin Neelambari, a narcissistic woman who was left humiliated after Padayappa rejected her love proposal as he was in love with her good-natured home worker Vasundhara.

Principal photography for the film began in October 1998. Padayappa was released on 10 April 1999 on the eve of Tamil New Year's Day. This was the first Tamil film to be released worldwide with 210 prints and 700,000 audio cassettes. It became Tamil cinema's highest-grossing film at that point. Ramya Krishnan's performance was praised, winning her a Filmfare Award under the Best Actress category. The film also won five Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.