Nattupura Pattu

This article is about the Tamil film Nattupura Pattu. For the folk music, see Naattupurapaattu.

Naattupura Paattu (transl. Folk song) is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Kasthuri Raja. The film stars Sivakumar, Selva, and Khushbu, with Manorama, Goundamani, Senthil, Vinu Chakravarthy, Kumarimuthu, Prem, Anusha and Abhirami playing supporting roles. It was released on 9 February 1996.^[1]

Nattupura Pattu
Poster
Directed by	Kasthuri Raja
Written by	Kasthuri Raja
Produced by	Vijayalakshmi Kasthuri Raja
Starring	Sivakumar Selva Khushbu
Cinematography	Kichas
Edited by	L. Kesavan
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja
Production company	Kasthoori Manga Creations
Release date	9 February 1996 (1996-02-09)
Running time	135 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

Parijatham was a famous folk dancer in her village and many rich landlords tried to woo her. Parijatham's mother Pattamma wanted a son-in-law who will let Parijatham dance after the marriage. She finally married another folk dancer Palanisamy. Palanisamy's brother Kottaisamy was a young wastrel who spent his time with Kattamuthu. Later, Parijatham changed Kottaisamy into a responsible person. Kottaisamy married the folk dancer Mala. Rumours around Parijatham and the rich landlord Naicker became more intense. Palanisamy could not bear this rumour and split up with the pregnant Parijatham. One day, Kattamuthu's sister was raped by a rich landlord, she then committed suicide and Kottaisamy ridiculed the rapist in public. After this incident, the rapist joined forces with the other landlords, they prevented Kottaisamy to dance for the village festival. So Kottaisamy and Mala struggled to survive, Mala eventually died during a dance show and Kottaisamy became a drunkard. In the meantime, Palanisamy brought up alone his baby son and Parijatham had to stop dancing.

Many years later, Palanisamy's son Velpandi falls in love with Amaravathi. Palanisamy finally apologises to his wife Parijatham while Kottaisamy decides to take revenge on his enemies. What transpires next forms the rest of the story.

Cast

• Sivakumar as Palanisamy
• Selva as Kottaisamy
• Khushbu as Parijatham
• Manorama as Pattamma
• Goundamani as Kattamuthu
• Senthil as Chinna Karuppan
• Vinu Chakravarthy as Naicker
• Kumarimuthu as Pattamma's father
• Prem as Velpandi
• Anusha as Amaravathi
• Abhirami as Mala
• Charle
• Jai Ganesh
• Shanmugasundaram
• Anwar Ali Khan as Minor
• Taj Khan
• Venkat
• Idichapuli Selvaraj
• Karuppu Subbiah
• Periya Karuppu Thevar
• John Babu as dancer in song "Otha Roova"

Production

Kasthuri Raja revealed that when he first started the film he had no script except the title. The struggles of folk artists in Theni formed the basis for the script.^[2]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, with lyrics written by the director himself.^[3][4] The song "Otharoova" was well received and became a chartbuster.^[2] It was reused with alterations in the Tamil film Good Bad Ugly (2025).^[5]

Song	Singer(s)	Duration
"Oththa Roova"	Arunmozhi, Devie Neithiyar	1:57
"Aatharikkum"	K. S. Chithra	4:31
"Kezhukkaal"	Arunmozhi, Devie Neithiyar	5:01
"Kokki Vaichchen"	Mano, Devie Neithiyar	4:49
"Nattupura Pattu"	Manorama, K. S. Chithra	6:52
"Satti Potti"	Arunmozhi, Devie Neithiyar	2:31

Critical reception

The Hindu wrote, "What starts to be a story on village folk tunes and arts slowly peters into fights and vendetta, the director Kasturiraja, too, not taking sufficient efforts to correct the narrative lapses in Kasturi Manga Creations, Naattupura Paattu".^[6]