Radhakrishnan aka Rocky is a 25-year-old 10th grade dropout who is looked down upon by his father Ramakrishnan because of his sharp contrast to the rest of the family, who are well-qualified in education. Rocky spends most of his time in a mechanic shop with his friends. Rocky's friends advise him to love and marry a well-educated girl so his name will be added with her name after marriage (i.e. indirectly he gets a degree after his name). He looks around by hovering around women's colleges to find a perfect girl for his mission. He succeeds in his attempt and makes Gayathri, a well-educated rich girl, fall in love with him. He starts to love her and takes her to a shopping mall where she is confronted by a group of rogues who work for Rami Reddy, a rival of her father Samarasimha Reddy, a notorious don in Andhra Pradesh who protects his daughter by destroying the gang and taking her back to Andhra from Tamil Nadu. Rocky goes to thug-for-hire Assault Arumugam to help him marry Gayathri. Rocky saves Gayathri from Rami and follows her home, where he realizes that another Thirunelveli rowdy named Kasi Anandan, whose brother he accidentally kills, has put a price on his head. Kasi declares that if Rocky wins him in hand-to-hand combat, he will never be disturbed by him. Rocky accepts his deal and smashes him down. The movie ends as Rocky walks out while his gang applauds for him.
The Times of India wrote, "Padikathavan is worth a watch for its unadulterated masala."[5]Rediff.com wrote, "Padikkathavan isn't meant for lovers of serious or meaningful cinema but if you're in the mood for three hours of pure entertainment, this one is your best bet."[6]Indiaglitz wrote, "Padikathavan is worth a watch for its unadulterated masala."[7]Behindwoods wrote, "On the whole, Padikathavan struggles to identify itself between comedy and violence and ends up not being both."[8]
