Budget Padmanabhan

Budget Padmanabhan is a 2000 Tamil comedy film. The film received mixed to positive reviews.

When he was a young boy, Padmanabhan (Prabhu Ganesan) was driven out of his house along with his parents by an evil-hearted money lender (Nizhalgal Ravi), who gave him a condition: if by a stipulated time period Padmanabhan could raise enough money to buy back the house he could reclaim it as his own.

Since then, Padmanabhan has been living a very thrifty life, always counting the cost of his daily expenses. Even after marriage to Ramya (Ramya Krishnan), he still focuses on his finances, at times to the detriment of his personal relationships with his wife and relatives, who all live together in a small house. In a sub-plot, Padmanabhan hires a housemaid (Mumtaj), who turns out to be the estranged and separated wife of his boss's son.

The story focuses on Padmanabhan's attempt to raise the money to buy back his house and his struggles to adapt with changes in his life, including Ramya giving birth to triplets. But he gradually learns about the importance of relationships and human values and how some things in life are more important than money.

In a final twist to the story, after raising the money, Padmanabhan realises that it has been stolen from his motorcycle. In despair he is about to give up and officially hand over the house to the money lender, but then his boss's son helps him out by providing him the money just in time. The earlier delighted money lender is now shocked at realising that he must give up the house where his family members have long since settled, and orders his relatives to pack up and leave. He drags his two children out of the house and they burst into tears at the prospect of having to leave because they do not wish to do so. The weeping boys then plead with Padmanabhan to let them stay and promise him that they will buy him a much bigger house when they grow up. Padmanabhan, moved to tears, recalls his own heartbreak at being dragged out of his childhood home and agrees to let the family stay until the children have grown up. This puts the money lender to shame and contrition, and he admits having arranged for Padmanabhan's money to be stolen because he knew that he would raise the money eventually. He returns the money and asks for Padmanabhan's forgiveness, having realised the strength of his adversary's moral character.

At the end of the film, the housemaid Omana, who had since reunited with her long lost love, gives birth to triplets of her own in hospital.