Aval Paavam

Aval Paavam (transl. She is Poor) is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by M. K. Arundhava Raja. The film stars Prabhukanth and Ritika, with Ishari K. Ganesh playing a supporting role. The film, produced by K. Rajan, was released on 22 December 2000.^[1]

Aval Paavam
Directed by	M. K. Arundhava Raja
Produced by	K. Rajan
Starring	Prabhukanth Ritika
Music by	Pradeep Ravi
Production company	KR Films
Release date	22 December 2000 (2000-12-22)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Cast

• Prabhukanth as Sriram
• Ritika as Thulasi
• K. Rajan
• J. Lalita
• Mohan Vaidya
• Ishari K. Ganesh

Production

The film marked the feature film debut of director M. K. Arundhava Raja, who had earlier worked on television series.^[2] K. Rajan, who had taken on the role of the president of Chennai Distributors Association during 2000, announced that he would produce Aval Paavam on a low budget.^[3] Rajan's son, Prabhukanth, acted in his first lead role. He had earlier featured as the antagonist in Doubles (2000), and later worked on Ninaikkatha Naalillai (2001).^[2] The lead actress, Lakshmi, took on the stage name of Ritika for the film. She head earlier appeared in a supporting role in Thalaimurai (1998) and shot for Aval Paavam alongside seven other film projects in early 2000.^[4] Rajan had also signed the actress on for another project during the period, Babu Ganesh's Kudumbam Oru Koiyil starring Ramki, although the project was later dropped.^[3] The film was briefly retitled as Chembaruthi Poove as the team wanted to avoid the title sounding Malayalam, but later reverted to the original title of Aval Paavam.^[3]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Pradeep Ravi.^[5]

Song	Singer(s)	Duration
"Kuyile Poonkuyile"	Prashanna, Harini	4:30
"Ponnanaval"	Unni Menon	4:20
"Nitham Yethanai"	Anuradha Sriram	4:17
"Collegeile Teenageile"	Prashanna, Harini	4:23
"Chembaruthi Poove"	Anuradha Sriram	4:17
"Myalapre Mama"	Sabesh	3:59

Release and reception

The film was released on 22 December 2000 across Tamil Nadu. Malini Mannath of Chennai Online compared the film's theme to K. Balachander's Arangetram (1973), where about a woman takes to prostitution to support her family, but noted that changing times meant that the topic was less of a taboo in Tamil Nadu. The critic praised the film, adding "it is a well-planned screenplay and there is no attempt to preach or make it a melodrama" and that "there is no sexual exploitation of the theme to distract the viewers, though there was enough room for it."^[2]