Petta (film)

Petta (/peɪttə/ transl. Hood) is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by Karthik Subbaraj and produced by Kalanithi Maran under Sun Pictures. The film stars Rajinikanth, alongside Vijay Sethupathi, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sasikumar, Simran, Trisha, Megha Akash, Malavika Mohanan, Mahendran, Bobby Simha, Guru Somasundaram, Aadukalam Naren, Munishkanth, Sananth and Vivek Prasanna. It follows Kaali, a newly-hired hostel warden, who gets dragged into war after his old nemesis Singaaram resurfaces to exact revenge.

The film was officially announced in February 2018 under the tentative title Thalaivar 165, as it is Rajinikanth's 165th film as it is the lead actor, and the official title was announced in September 2018. Principal photography commenced in June 2018. It was shot in several locations including Darjeeling, Uttar Pradesh, and wrapped by late-October 2018. The film's music was composed by Anirudh Ravichander, while cinematography and editing were handled by Tirru and Vivek Harshan.

Petta was released on 10 January 2019, the week of Pongal. The film grossed ₹219–250 crore against a budget of ₹160 crore, thus becoming one of the highest-grossing Tamil films of all time and the second highest-grossing Tamil film of 2019.