Bike races form the backdrop of R Suresh's directorial debut, Pattipulam, which is set for release this Friday. When researching the subject, this erstwhile assistant of Sakthi Chidambaram was amazed to find that there are 25 kinds of bike races, 10 of which are prominently visible on Chennai's roads every Friday night. In Pattipulam, he has highlighted some popular ones such as races without helmets, no honking, in reverse gear and sans silencers.

Yogi Babu plays one of the bike racers, and Suresh says comedy will not be in short supply in his film. 

The director tells us the script had been in his mind for quite some time. "Once through with the shoot of Charlie Chaplin 2, I sat down to work and visited homes in and around Pattipulam, which is on a stretch of ECR. The families there bemoaned their inability to convince their children of the risks involved in bike racing. The pain of these families, some of whom lost their breadwinners, still haunts me."