Pudhiya Geethai

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Pudhiya Geethai
Release poster
Directed by	K. P. Jagan
Produced by	Vishwas Sundar
Written by	K. P. Jagan
Starring	Vijay<br />Meera Jasmine<br />Ameesha Patel
Music by	Songs: <br /> Yuvan Shankar Raja <br /> Score: <br /> Karthik Raja
Cinematography	Ramesh Krishna
Edited by	V. T. Vijayan
Production company	Viswaas
Release date	8 May 2003 (2003-05-08)
Running time	157 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Pudhiya Geethai (transl. New Gita) is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language supernatural action drama film written and directed by newcomer K. P. Jagan. The film stars Vijay, who plays the role of a brilliant young man, along with Meera Jasmine and Ameesha Patel. Kalabhavan Mani and Karunas play other supporting roles. Notably, this film is Patel's first and remains her only Tamil film till date. The film, which has music scored by brothers Yuvan Shankar Raja and Karthik Raja.

Pudhiya Geethai was released on 8 May 2003. The film received mixed reviews and became a commercial failure.

Plot

The film starts with a polydactylic baby boy born to Chinnaya from Nagapattinam, who works for Swamy, an astrologer. Swamy writes the horoscope of the baby and understands that the child will grow up to be an intelligent and responsible person, but he also predicts that the child's life will be only 27 years long. He suggests the baby be named Sarathy but does not inform about the short life.

Back to the present in Chennai, Sarathy is an intelligent person and an optimist, who excels in studies and sports and is also liked by everyone around him. He takes care of his mother, Thaiyalnayagi, and sister, following his father's death. Suji is Sarathy's close friend and considers him her well-wisher. Sarathy runs a restaurant with his friends as part-time and is also involved in real estate transactions, earning brokerages. Jo is Suji's friend who teases her by being closer to Sarathy, revealing the love that she has for him.

Reddiyar is a rich but ingenious businessman. He is in the real estate business and cheats many people by allotting improper plots. Sarathy knows about Reddiyar's plans and fight against him, supporting the poor people, which creates enmity between Reddiyar and Sarathy.

Lawrence is Sarathy's friend. He falls in love with Sarathy's sister but is scared of whether Sarathy will accept their love. Sarathy happily accepts and also convinces his mother. Sarathy's sister's wedding is arranged. Now, Sarathy is 27 years old. Meanwhile, Suji feels jealous of Sarathy and Jo getting close to each other, but Jo realizes that Suji is in love with Sarathy. Finally, Suji proposes her love to Sarathy, which he accepts.

On the day of Sarathy's sister's marriage, Jo explains the love that Suji has for Sarathy and vice versa. Sarathy goes to meet Suji, but Reddiyar has planned to kill Sarathy on the way. Sarathy fights Reddiyar's men, and Reddiyar is left alone. However, Sarathy does not kill Reddiyar and instead makes him understand the value of life and talks about the positive attitude that one should have. This makes Reddiyar realize his mistake.

Sarathy leaves the place to meet Suji but meets with an accident on the way and gets admitted to the hospital with severe injuries. The doctors say that the chances of his survival are minimal, and all his family and friends cry outside the hospital, but Reddiyar, who was Sarathy's former enemy, comes to the place and witnesses everyone crying and panicking. He tells everyone to stop crying and keeps calling Sarathy with positive energy, which will make him get back to normal. Everyone starts calling Sarathy, and his condition improves drastically. Sarathy is saved and recovers. Sarathy then lives 100 years of his wish, which makes his life happy.

The film ends with a message to the audience that positive attitude is essential for everyone to succeed, even death will revive them.

Cast

• Vijay as Sarathy
• Meera Jasmine as Suji
• Ameesha Patel as Jo
• Kalabhavan Mani as Reddiyar
• Karunas as Ganesh
• Kalairani as Thaiyalnayagi, Sarathy's mother
• Sarath Babu as Annamalai
• Sanjeev as Lawrence
• Ilavarasu as Shekar
• Sadhana as Suji's mother
• Besant Ravi
• Florent Pereira
• "Sathi Leelavathi" Yogini as Sarathy's sister
• Madhumitha
• Srilekha Rajendran as Villager
• Nassar as Chinnaya, Sarathy's father (cameo appearance)
• K. Viswanath as Swamy, an astrologer (cameo appearance)
• Inigo Prabhakaran as Sarathy's friend (uncredited)
• Raghava Lawrence as a dancer in "Annamalai"

Production

The film was initially titled Sarathy after the lead character's name.<ref>"Gossip:". Dinakaran. 17 August 2001. Archived from the original on 6 March 2005.</ref> It was later retitled Geethai with Esha Deol as heroine. However, the film eventually featured two lead actresses with Meera Jasmine being signed on to be a part of the project after the success of her 2002 film, Run.<ref>"Meera Jasmine interview". shyamaudios.com. 16 August 2009. Archived from the original on 16 August 2009.</ref><ref>"Meera musings". The Hindu. 10 March 2003. Archived from the original on 27 December 2004.</ref> Ameesha Patel later accepted to be a part of the film, replacing Deol, after getting the entire script translated in English for her to read.<ref>"And now it's southward ho!". The Hindu. 14 March 2003. Archived from the original on 4 July 2003.</ref> Before release, the film's title was changed to Pudhiya Geethai after Hindu organisations objected to the title.<ref>"'Geethai' vs Censors". Sify. Archived from the original on 2 September 2003. Retrieved 17 October 2024.</ref> Shooting wrapped in March 2003.<ref>"Sacred Cows, Their Horns". Outlook. 6 June 2005. Archived from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.</ref>

Soundtrack

Pudhiya Geethai
Soundtrack album by Yuvan Shankar Raja
Released	29 March 2003
Recorded	2002–2003
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Label	Five Star Audio
Producer	Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja chronology
Aadanthe Ado Type (2003) Pudhiya Geethai (2003) Kadhal Kondein (2003)

The songs were composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, collaborating with Vijay for the first time, while his elder brother Karthik Raja composed the film's background score. The audio CD containing songs released on 29 March 2003 and features 6 tracks, the lyrics were penned by Vaali, Pa. Vijay, Yugabharathi, and Vijay Sagar.

Tracklist
No.	Title	Artist(s)	Length
1.	"Naan Odum Ilaignan"	Mano, Tippu	04:56
2.	"Mercury Poove"	Nideesh Gopalan, Bhavatharini, Bonnie Chakraborty	04:36
3.	"Vasiyakaara (Version 1)"	Devan, Chitra Sivaraman	03:52
4.	"Manase"	Bonnie Chakraborty, Tippu, Swarnalatha	05:05
5.	"Vasiyakaara (Version 2)"	Hariharan, Chitra Sivaraman	03:52
6.	"Annamalai"	Tippu, Devan	04:51
Total length:			27:14

Release and reception

Pudhiya Geethai was released on 8 May 2003. The critic from The Hindu stated that "the end is predictable, but the conviction with which the climax drives home the message makes it interesting."<ref>"Pudhiya Geethai". The Hindu. 16 May 2003. Archived from the original on 9 October 2003. Retrieved 23 September 2023.</ref> Ananda Vikatan rated the film 39 out of 100.<ref>சார்லஸ், தேவன் (22 June 2021). "பீஸ்ட் : 'நாளைய தீர்ப்பு' டு 'மாஸ்டர்'... விஜய்க்கு விகடனின் மார்க்கும், விமர்சனமும் என்ன? #Beast". Ananda Vikatan (in தமிழ்). Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.</ref> Chennai Online wrote "The debutant director can be commended for etching such a beautiful character, albeit a too-good-to-be-true one. But the director's dilemma, whether to stand by the astrological predictions or to prove them wrong, is evident in the latter part of the narration. The inspiration seems to be the Telugu film Murari (2001), which too had a similar knot and ending".<ref>"Puthiya Geethai". Chennai Online. 15 May 2003. Archived from the original on 10 February 2005.</ref> Visual Dasan of Kalki wrote Kodambakkam lacks films that supports the title, in that way Pudhiya Geethai feels complete.<ref>தாசன், விஷுவல் (1 June 2003). "புதிய கீதை". Kalki (in தமிழ்). p. 33. Retrieved 13 February 2024.</ref> Indiainfo wrote "The film loosely inspired by Telugu hit film, MURARI, has illogical storyline. With no impressive screenplay, it fails to hold the audiences all the while".<ref>"PUDIYA GEETAI fails to appeal". Indiainfo. Archived from the original on 3 October 2003. Retrieved 25 January 2025.</ref> Sify wrote "Technically tacky and story wise utterly lamebrain, Puthiya Geethai looks likes it has been ghost-directed by Vijay, though the credit goes to Jagan".<ref>"Puthiya Geethai". Sify. Archived from the original on 6 January 2005. Retrieved 4 December 2025.</ref>

The film was a disaster at the Tamil Nadu box office for Vijay.<ref>Poornima (11 August 2003). "Kavithalaya's Thenmalai". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014.</ref><ref>"Big budget survivor". The Hindu. 12 June 2003. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014.</ref>

External links

• Pudhiya Geethai on IMDb