“Bachpan se sar par Allah ka haath aur Allah Rakha hai apne saath, baaju par saat sau Chiyasi ka hai billa, bees number ki beedi peeta hoon aur naam hai Iqbal.” This legendary dialogue from the film Coolie, directed by Manmohan Desai, was penned by Kader Khan. The Kabul-born actor had just entered the world of showbiz as a writer back then. He also penned the story of the 1982 film Khuddaar, which was remade as Padikkadavan in Tamil.
Padikkadavan revolved around the story of two brothers, Rajendran (Rajinikanth) and Ramu (Vijay Babu) who are disliked by their stepbrother Rajasekhar (Sivaji Ganesan) and wife Radha (Vadivukkarasi). Rajasekhar has to leave for Madras due to some reason. Using this opportunity, Rajendran and Ramu are ousted from the house by Radha. Both brothers face tremendous difficulties at this point, but don’t lose hope. Rajendran works as a taxi driver and decides to send his brother Ramu to college.
However, Ramu falls in bad company and ends up marrying a girl whose uncle (Jaishankar) is a smuggler. Jaishankar smuggles drugs using the lorries of his elder brother and later murders him. There is an interesting twist in the story at this point when Rajendran is blamed for the murder. Now, it is up to Rajasekhar to rescue Rajendran from getting punished.
Padikkadavan was well-received by the audience for its poignant storyline. The film, based on the brotherhood, struck a chord with the audience. Its music was scored by renowned composer Ilaiyaraaja and was one of the highlights of the film. Released on November 11, 1985, Padikkadavan completed 37 years on Friday.
Not only Padikkadavan, but Kader also penned the storyline of many other hit films that were remade and received humongous success, such as Do Aur Do Paanch, Khoon Pasina, among others. Do Aur Do Paanch was remade as Ranga, and Khoon Pasina was made as Siva. Both movies were applauded equally by audiences and critics.
