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{{Use Indian English|date=June 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox film
| image          = Pennin Manathai Thottu.jpg
| caption        = Title card
| director       = [[S. Ezhil]]
| producer       = M. Kaja Mydeen
| writer         = S. Ezhil<br />V. Prabhakaran <small>(dialogues)</small>
| starring       = [[Prabhu Deva]]<br />[[Jaya Seal]]
| music          = [[S. A. Rajkumar]]
| editing        = V. Jai Shankar
| cinematography = [[V. Manikandan]]
| studio         = [[Roja Combines]]
| released       = {{Film date|2000|07|07|df=yes}}
| runtime        = 165 minutes
| language       = Tamil
| country        = India
}}
'''''Pennin Manathai Thottu''''' ({{translation|Touched the heart of a girl}}) is a 2000 Indian [[Tamil language|Tamil]]-language [[romantic drama film]] written and directed by [[S. Ezhil]]. The film stars [[Prabhu Deva]] and [[Jaya Seal]], with [[R. Sarathkumar]] in an extended guest appearance. Produced by Kaja Mydeen, the film was released on 7 July 2000 and became a commercial success.

== Plot ==
Sunil is one of the leading heart surgeons in India. He lives in [[Trichy]] with Ganapathy, who is also a doctor and is loved by everyone in the family. Sunitha arrives with a child who has a heart problem to the hospital. But she is shocked seeing Sunil there and lashes out when she learns he is the doctor who is about to treat the child.

The movie goes into a flashback. Sunil's brother Balaram "Bala" is a rich thug but does not want his brother to follow his footsteps; therefore, he always sends him to study. Sunil and Sunitha are classmates in a medical college in [[Chennai]] and they both fall in love. Sunil expresses his wish of marrying Sunitha to Bala, for which he accepts. Meanwhile, Sunitha goes back to her village for her sister's child's ear piercing ceremony. Her sister's husband is money-minded and tries to get Sunitha married to a rich man in return for money. Sunitha is not interested in this alliance as she is in love with Sunil and calls him, asking him to come and rescue her, but he does not come. Sunitha's sister commits suicide to stop the marriage. Sunitha is angered on Sunil as he does not come to save her, which also resulted in her sister's death. Sunitha takes her sister's child and leaves.

Sunil tries to meet Sunitha and convey the reason for not coming to save her, but Sunitha is not ready to listen. Sunil is worried and decides to leave to Canada, accepting a job offer there. Finally, Sunitha understands the truth: her sister's husband had killed Bala on the day of the marriage; therefore, Sunil was not able to come on time to stop the wedding. Sunitha finds out and tries to find and stop Sunil, who is going to Canada. In the end, she finds him and they reunite.

== Cast ==
{{cast listing|
* [[R. Sarathkumar]] as Balaram "Bala" (guest appearance)
* [[Prabhu Deva]] as Sunil
* [[Jaya Seal]] as Sunitha
* [[Vivek (actor)|Vivek]] as Kandhasamy
* [[Dhamu]] as Dhamu
* [[Vaiyapuri]] as Mute Servant
* [[Aishwariyaa Bhaskaran|Aishwarya]] as Sunitha's sister
* [[Kaveri (actress)|Kaveri]] as Meena
* [[T. S. B. K. Moulee|Moulee]] as Ganapathy
* [[S. Rajasekar]] as Dr. Shyam
* [[Kaka Radhakrishnan]] as Ganapathy's father
* [[N. Mathrubootham]] as Professor Das (Lord Labakkudaas)
* [[Ramji (actor)|Ramji]] as Ramji
* [[Madhan Bob]] as Madhan
* [[Chaplin Balu]] as Thozhar Arivumathi
* [[Mayilsamy]] as Pickpocket
* [[Pandu (actor)|Pandu]] as Police Inspector
* [[Ponnambalam (actor)|Ponnambalam]] as Rowdy
* [[Mahanadi Shankar]] as Rowdy
* [[S. N. Lakshmi]] as Ganapathy's mother
* [[Shanthi Williams]] as Mythili
* Jayapriya
* [[Hemanth Ravan]] as Sunitha's brother-in-law
* [[Vasu Vikram]] as Pandi
* Sakthivel as Sakthivel
* Sukran as Student
* [[Kottachi]] as Kottangachi
* MLA Thangaraj as MLA Ekambaram
* [[Crane Manohar]] as Pickpocket
* [[Bava Lakshmanan]] as Pickpocket
* [[Krishnamoorthy (actor)|Krishnamoorthy]] as Pickpocket
;Uncredited roles
* [[Kanal Kannan]] as Left
* [[Sampath Ram]] as Henchman
* [[Shobi (choreographer)|Shobi]] as Dancer in 	"Kalloori Vaanil"
* [[Sridhar (choreographer)|Sridhar]] as Dancer in 	"Kalloori Vaanil"
* [[Karu Palaniappan]] as Man giving change
* [[Raju Sundaram]] in a special appearance
}}

== Production ==
After the success of ''[[Thullatha Manamum Thullum]]'' (1999), [[Vijay (actor)|Vijay]] and Ezhil immediately decided to follow up this film with another collaboration, ''Oru Pennin Manathai Thottu'', with either [[Isha Koppikar]] or [[Roja (film)|Roja]] as the lead actress.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welcome to Love and Love only Vijay's Forthcom movies. |url=http://home.bip.net/jeyam/1.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010813213540/http://home.bip.net/jeyam/1.htm |archive-date=13 August 2001 |access-date=23 May 2021 |website=home.bip.net}}</ref> However soon after pre-production, Vijay was replaced by Prabhu Deva.<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 July 1999 |title=For a song and dance |url=http://www.rediff.com/movies/1999/jul/26ss.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150201171007/http://www.rediff.com/movies/1999/jul/26ss.htm |archive-date=1 February 2015 |access-date=29 August 2012 |website=[[Rediff.com]]}}</ref> Jaya Seal made her Tamil debut; she previously appeared in a few advertisements and non-Tamil films.<ref name=":0" />

Sarathkumar chose to be a part of the film after two of his other films became suddenly postponed. He had cut his hair short for ''[[Maayi]]'' (2000), and as the other films required different hairstyles, the producers had pushed back the dates. To compensate for the lost time, Sarathkumar agreed to portray an extended guest role in the film.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rasika |title=No More 2-hero Films |url=http://www.chennaionline.com/reeltalk/aug2303.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000929090353/http://www.chennaionline.com/reeltalk/aug2303.asp |archive-date=29 September 2000 |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=Chennai Online}}</ref>

The shooting for the film was held at locations in Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bangalore. A song was shot on Prabhu Deva and his brother [[Raju Sundaram]] with a set resembling a market place was erected, and about 40 dancers participated in the dance with the duo.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Mannath |first=Malini |title=Pennin Manathai Thottu |url=http://www.chennaionline.com/location/pennin.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010314215046/http://www.chennaionline.com/location/pennin.asp |archive-date=14 March 2001 |access-date=29 August 2012 |website=Chennai Online}}</ref>

== Soundtrack ==
The soundtrack was composed by [[S. A. Rajkumar]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=22 May 2000 |title=Pennin Manathai Thottu (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by S. A. Rajkumar |url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/pennin-manathai-thottu-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/1394178131 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190605052023/https://music.apple.com/us/album/pennin-manathai-thottu-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/1394178131 |archive-date=5 June 2019 |access-date=14 September 2019 |website=[[Apple Music]]}}</ref> The tune of the track "Thyagarajarin Deiva Keerthanam" is based on a popular [[Thyagaraja]] kriti itself – "Entha Nerchina", which is set in the raga [[Shuddha Dhanyasi]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} The first 2 lines of song "Kannukkulle Unnai" is inspired from the Hindi song "Ruk Ja O Jaanewaali".<ref>{{Cite web |last=S |first=Karthik |author-link=Karthik Srinivasan |title=Tamil [Other Composers] |url=https://www.itwofs.com/tamil-others.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20190522113005/https://www.itwofs.com/tamil-others.html |archive-date=22 May 2019 |access-date=2 April 2024 |website=[[ItwoFS]]}}</ref> Venky of ''Chennai Online'' wrote "Overall, an okay effort by S.A. Rajkumar".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Venky |title=Review of 'Pennin Manathai Thottu' |url=http://www.chennaionline.com/musicreviews/pennin.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050210174912/http://www.chennaionline.com/musicreviews/pennin.asp |archive-date=10 February 2005 |access-date=20 November 2023 |website=Chennai Online}}</ref>

{{Track listing
| headline = Track listing
| extra_column = Singer(s)
| title1 = Kannukkulle
| extra1 = [[Unni Menon]]
| lyrics1 = Muthu Vijayan
| length1 = 4:44
| title2 = Udhadukkum
| extra2 = [[Devan Ekambaram|Devan]], Srividya, [[Febi Mani]]
| lyrics2 = [[Vairamuthu]]
| length2 = 4:37
| title3 = Nan Salt Kotta
| extra3 = [[Sukhwinder Singh]], Krishnaraj
| lyrics3 = [[S. A. Rajkumar]]
| length3 = 3:56
| title4 = Kalloori Vaanil
| extra4 = Devan, [[Anuradha Sriram]], Deepika
| lyrics4 = [[Vaali (poet)|Vaali]]
| length4 = 4:45
| title5 = Thiyagarajarin
| extra5 = [[P. Unnikrishnan]], [[Nithyasree Mahadevan]], [[S. A. Rajkumar]], [[Febi Mani]]
| lyrics5 = [[Vaali (poet)|Vaali]]
| length5 = 4:56
| title6 = Kannukkulle Unnai
| extra6 = [[P. Unnikrishnan]]
| lyrics6 = Muthu Vijayan
| length6 = 4:45
| total_length = 27:43 <!-- Automatically generated with User:JPxG/TrackSum.js -->
}}

== Release and reception ==
''Rajitha'' from ''[[Rediff.com]]'' wrote "the movie has its moments, so I wouldn't say this is a must-avoid" and praised the performances of Prabhu Deva and Sarathkumar.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rajitha |date=18 July 2000 |title=Wanted: A pacemaker |url=https://www.rediff.com/movies/2000/jul/18penn.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230630123033/https://www.rediff.com/movies/2000/jul/18penn.htm |archive-date=30 June 2023 |access-date=30 June 2023 |website=[[Rediff.com]]}}</ref> ''Tamil Star'' wrote "Director Ezhil who tasted success with his very first film 'Thullatha Manamum Thullum', proves yet again that within the parameters of commercial cinema one can make a film that is a clean engaging entertainer".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Movie: Pennin Manathai Thottu |url=http://www.tamilstar.info/reviews/pennin/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090329021126/http://www.tamilstar.info/reviews/pennin/ |archive-date=29 March 2009 |access-date=24 March 2009 |website=Tamil Star}}</ref> Krishna Chidambaram of ''[[Kalki (magazine)|Kalki]]'' praised Rajkumar's music, Vivek's humour but felt Prabhu Deva was ill-suited for the character of heart surgeon.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=சிதம்பரம் |first=கிருஷ்ணா |date=23 July 2000 |title=பெண்ணின் மனதை தொட்டு |url=https://archive.org/details/kalki2000-07-23/page/32/mode/2up |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230630122505/https://archive.org/details/kalki2000-07-23/page/32/mode/2up |archive-date=30 June 2023 |access-date=29 June 2023 |magazine=[[Kalki (magazine)|Kalki]] |page=32 |language=ta |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> ''Indiainfo'' wrote "The first half of the movie is quite enjoyable but towards the second half, the director, Ezhil, loses his grip. Prabhu Deva does some good fights in the first half of the movie. Sarath Kumar looks tough and every inch a dada while Jayaseal looks too old for Prabhu Deva. However, no one takes the accolades when it comes to emoting. The plus points in the movie are its choreography and music ( by S A Rajkumar). Camerawork by Manikantan is another asset for the film. Recommended for those who want to see the action hero and the dancing star together. Other can give it a go by."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pennin Manathe Thottu : A tale of sacrificing siblings |url=http://movies.indiainfo.com/tamil/reviews/penninmanathethottu.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010629190001/http://movies.indiainfo.com/tamil/reviews/penninmanathethottu.html |archive-date=29 June 2001 |access-date=29 December 2023 |website=IndiaInfo}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
The song "Kalluri Vaanil" danced by Prabhu Deva became widely known on the internet in the form of a [[mondegreen]]/[[soramimi]] spoof and [[viral video]], following its subtitling as "Crazy Indian Video... Buffalaxed!", commonly known as "Benny Lava", by [[YouTube]] user Mike Sutton (Buffalax) and "Rivaldo sai desse lago" (for Brazilian viewers). The name '''Benny Lava''' comes from Sutton; the Tamil line "{{Transliteration|ta|Kalluri vaanil kaayndha nilaavo?}}" was heard as "''My loony bun is fine, Benny Lava!''" (original meaning: "The moon (metaphor for 'my love') that scorched the college campus"). This video led other YouTube users to refer to Prabhu Deva as "Benny Lava".<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Phan |first=Monty |date=6 November 2007 |title=Buffalax Mines Twisted Translations for YouTube Yuks |url=https://www.wired.com/entertainment/theweb/news/2007/11/buffalax |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204045619/http://www.wired.com/entertainment/theweb/news/2007/11/buffalax |archive-date=4 December 2013 |access-date=6 December 2008 |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]}}</ref>

Reactions to the "Kalluri Vaanil" mondegreen were mixed. Some felt that the video was done in "good fun", while others worried that their culture was being mocked. The video was described by the [[Philippine Daily Inquirer]] as a "Catchy melody, a battalion of back-up dancers, colourful costumes, impressive vocal gymnastics, jaw-dropping choreography this music video has it all. And if those aren't enough, the person who uploaded this vid also provided subtitles so you can sing along. They aren't the real lyrics though, but just what they sound in English, resulting in humorous nonsense."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nino Mark M. Sablan, 2bU! Correspondent |date=14 May 2008 |title=Philippine Daily Inquirer: Indian invasion on YouTube |work=Section: Lifestyle, Page: 2 |publisher=Philippine Daily Inquirer |id=([[Newsbank]] Record Number: WDPI66164804)}}</ref> The music video was featured on ''[[The Colbert Report]]'' on 4 December 2008 and appeared on the documentary ''[[Global Metal]]''. As of at least 1 April 2011, the original video has been removed because of the disabling of Buffalax's YouTube account. However, several other users have uploaded copies of the original video on their YouTube accounts.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.cc.com/video/2d2zn0/the-colbert-report-pakistani-threat-bob-graham |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210616023000/https://www.cc.com/video/2d2zn0/the-colbert-report-pakistani-threat-bob-graham |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 June 2021 |title=Pakistani Threat – Bob Graham |date=2008-12-05 |publisher=[[The Colbert Report]] |access-date=2023-07-03 |via=[[Comedy Central]]}}</ref> In 2014, British-American [[hip-hop]] group [[Swet Shop Boys]] sampled the original song for their debut single, called "Benny Lava".<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 September 2014 |title=Mixtape Of The Week: Swet Shop Boys Swet Shop EP |url=https://www.stereogum.com/1702912/mixtape-of-the-week-swet-shop-boys-swet-shop-ep/news/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701005929/https://www.stereogum.com/1702912/mixtape-of-the-week-swet-shop-boys-swet-shop-ep/news/ |archive-date=1 July 2022 |access-date=1 July 2024 |website=[[Stereogum]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=21 March 2014 |title=Swetshop Boys Heems and Riz MC Sample Epic Parody on "Benny Lava" |url=https://rollingstoneindia.com/swet-shop-boys-heems-riz-mc-sample-epic-parody-benny-lava/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118185227/https://rollingstoneindia.com/swet-shop-boys-heems-riz-mc-sample-epic-parody-benny-lava/ |archive-date=18 January 2022 |access-date=1 July 2024 |work=[[Rolling Stone India]]}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{IMDb title}}
*{{Rotten Tomatoes}}

{{Ezhil}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:2000 films]]
[[Category:2000 romantic drama films]]
[[Category:2000s Indian films]]
[[Category:2000s Tamil-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by S. Ezhil]]
[[Category:Films scored by S. A. Rajkumar]]
[[Category:Films shot in Bengaluru]]
[[Category:Films shot in Chennai]]
[[Category:Films shot in Hyderabad, India]]
[[Category:Indian romantic drama films]]
[[Category:Tamil-language Indian films]]
[[Category:Tamil-language romantic drama films]]