Vadakkupatti Ramasamy

Vadakkupatti Ramasamy is a 2024 Indian Tamil-language historical comedy film written and directed by Karthik Yogi and stars Santhanam and Megha Akash. The film was released on 2 February 2024 to mixed reviews from critics.^[1]

In the 1940s there was a village named Vadakupatty in which people were living in harmony and filled with happiness. Things take a downturn when their deity Kannathaal was washed away and lost in the flood, which further caused draught and famine. But people still believe their deity is buried somewhere in their land. After their deity was lost, villagers started believing there is a Katteri roaming the village in night and loot their resources. So people are afraid to go roaming in night. Now there are two factions in village led by Mookaiyan and Kalaiyan, who are having family feud and tussling to win people's hearts by bringing back their deity and defeat the Katteri. A boy named Ramasamy, who sells pots in a nearby market, while trying to sell a pot to her crush father, everyone in market was alerted to go home, since Katteri started roaming. Ramasamy reached home in vein selling no pots and express regret over god. He defies god citing reason that god has no mercy on people, in addition due to famine he was forced to sell pots instead of studying at such young age. He and his mother fall asleep. A thief enters Vadakuppaaty midnight who was running away from police after stolen jewels from another temple. He took a pot from Ramasamy house and hid the jewel in it and buried in Ramasamy land. He mark the site with a rock. Ramasamy, who was awaken by the disturbance caused by thief, started chasing the thief. When people started chasing that Katteri, who was actually a tribal man from Thekkupatty was driving a bullock cart fast towards Ramasamy. Ramasamy stood frozen and accidentally bullock cart toppled which makes Katteri run away. Due to the impact made by the cart, theft jewel resurface along with the pot, which people started treating as their deity and believing that Kannathaal drove away the Katteri. Inadvertently some coins from Ramasamy packet fell over the pot, which people consider that it is an offering which has to be made god. At that moment, Ramasamy stopped defying god and embraced her so that he can make money using the deity, which is a pot.

In the 1960s, after 20 years of that initial incident, Ramasamy cons people in the name of god in several ways. After sometime a new Tehsildar joins their Taluka, while seeing potential to loot more through temple he suggests Ramasamy to lease temple land. But their talk fails and Ramasamy agreed to proceed alone, which makes Tehsildar angry. Ramasamy made sure that both faction leaders give acknowledgement to this lease. But after agreement signing, Tehsildar enters temple and made both faction people fighting over each other, due to which collector orders to close the temple without any timeline for reopening till the issue was sorted. Kayalvizhi, Ramasamy childhood crush now a army doctor returns to Vadakupatty after long time...

The film's title is based on a name mentioned in a comedy scene from Uthama Raasa (1993).^[2] The film is based on a real incident that happened in the 1960s and 1970s. It was shot in a single schedule of sixty-three days.^[3]

The soundtrack was composed by Sean Roldan.^[4][5]

The film was released in theatres on 2 February 2024. It began streaming on Amazon Prime Video from 12 March 2024.^[1]

A critic from Cinema Express rated the film three out of five stars and wrote that "Even with all the conspicuous flaws, even if the story doesn't compel you, Vadakkupatti Ramasamy still pulls you into its colourful world full of zany characters and leaves you with more than a handful of laughs".^[6] A critic from The Times of India rated the film 2 1⁄2 out of 5 stars and wrote that "Quite naturally, Vadakkupatti Ramasamy is a full-on theatrical film made for the general audience to laugh, cry, and get frustrated during its more than two-hour runtime".^[7] A critic from India Today rated the film two out of five stars and wrote that "Santhanam's silly comedy is so silly that it makes you scratch your head for the most part".^[8] A critic from News Today wrote that "In essence, the film offers audiences a delightful blend of comedy, drama, and unexpected twists, making it a worthwhile watch for those seeking a lighthearted and entertaining cinematic experience".^[9]

• Vadakkupatti Ramasamy at IMDb