Pudhupettai (transl. New Hood) is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language crime action film written and directed by Selvaraghavan starring his brother Dhanush in the lead role, while Sonia Agarwal and Sneha play supporting roles. It follows the story of a slum-dwelling student from Pudhupettai who rises to become a dreaded gangster in North Chennai as a means of survival.

The music was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja with cinematography by Arvind Krishna and editing by Kola Bhaskar. The film was released on 26 May 2006. Initially upon release, it had an average opening at the box office. However, it attained cult status in subsequent years.

A man is shown, inside a jail cell, shouting, that he's scared and that nobody's there. He introduces himself as Kokki Kumar. Kumar continues to tell his story as he's shown talking alone inside the cell.

Kumar is a secondary school student living in the slums of Pudhupettai. After coming home from the cinema theatre one day, he sees his mother's dead body. She was killed by his father, following an argument. After overhearing a conversation between his father and his friend that they plan on killing him too, as he is a witness, Kumar flees from home. Homeless, he resorts to begging, and is arrested under false charges. After being released on bail, he befriends Mani, who works for a gangster named Anbu, who in turn works for the opposition party's leader Thamizhselvan, who is also a criminal. They take Kumar under their wing and give him petty jobs. During a confrontation with rival gangsters led by the ruling party's politician Murthy, Kumar kills Murthy's brother single-handedly amidst 100 goons, earning the respect of his gang. Anbu makes him join a gang consisting of professional killers. There, Kumar learns the way of being a killer while surviving attacks from Murthy's men. The gang refuses to help Kumar avoid Murthy's men since their intervention would spark a gang war. Kumar murders several of his opponents singlehandedly, earning respect from the others.

Krishnaveni is a prostitute who works under Anbu. Kumar likes her and asks Anbu to release her. Anbu is shocked at Kumar's audacity and refuses his request. He thrashes Krishnaveni and orders his men to kill Kumar. Kumar approaches Anbu and begs to be pardoned, but when Anbu refuses, Kumar kills him. Thamizhselvan allows Kumar to take over Anbu's business only if he can survive the night from Anbu's men, which he does. After killing his opposition, he lures his father into an emotional trap, by telling him that he will give him money and shelter. Kumar's father agrees and they take him to a place where there is an empty grave dug out for him on Kumar's orders. Kumar enacts revenge on his father by burying him alive using his men, for killing his mother brutally. Kumar becomes a feared don in North Chennai. Murthy is paralyzed by Kumar's men for refusing a truce. Kumar then meets Mani's sister Selvi and marries her forcibly on the eve of her wedding. Mani tries to kill Kumar unsuccessfully then joins Murthy's gang. Meanwhile, Krishnaveni reveals that she is pregnant with Kumar's child, and Kumar marries her as well.

Mani becomes an informant and testifies in court over Kumar's killings; Kumar threatens Selvi and her mother and thus avoids charges through witness intimidation. Kumar is then given a post in the party by Thamizhselvan to prevent him from defecting. Due to his increasing crime record and fear of being killed, Kumar asks for Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) seat but is ridiculed by everyone, including Thamizhselvan, and ultimately removed after he threatens to kill the other members. Murthy learns about this and plans to assassinate Kumar and his family. Fearing for their safety, Kumar sends Krishnaveni and their newborn son away, but Murthy's men intercept them, kill her, and take the baby. He requests Selvi to ask Mani for help, but she refuses and reveals her displeasure at how Kumar ruined her life and that she plans to return to her former fiancé. Mani is compassionate enough to return the baby safely to Kumar, and is hung to death by Murthy in return. Kumar then gives the baby to a kindhearted woman without revealing himself as the father of the child. The woman is married with two children and earns her living by working as a housemaid. Kumar decides to exact revenge and kills Murthy's henchmen in his residence, but his right hand is crippled during a fight. Murthy ultimately commits suicide, which is then followed by Kumar’s arrest.

In the present day, the police and prison warden come to retrieve Kumar from his cell, with Kumar under the impression that he is to be hanged. However, during the epilogue, it is revealed that the incumbent Chief Minister arranged Kumar’s release and named him as an MLA candidate in the following election. Kumar praises Murthy and ironically states that he would have killed the people responsible for Murthy's death had India not been the birthplace of Gandhi.

In the epilogue, it is revealed that Kumar served three times as an MLA and twice as the Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu. Despite his political growth, he still could not find his son. Thamizhselvan retired from politics and has settled abroad with his daughter and grandchildren. Selvi had married her former fiance, who went missing two months later, and then she had been committed to a mental asylum.