Pithamagan

Pithamagan
File:Pithamagan poster.jpg Film poster
Directed by	Bala
Produced by	V. A. Durai
Screenplay by	Bala
Based on	Nandavanathil Oru Aandi by Jayakanthan
Starring	Vikram Suriya Laila Sangeetha
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja
Cinematography	Balasubrahmannyam
Edited by	Suresh Urs (Tamil) Mutyala Nani (Telugu)
Production company	Evergreen Movie International
Release date	24 October 2003
Running time	158 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Pithamagan (Template:Trans.) is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Bala. The film stars Vikram, Suriya, Sangeetha and Laila. Produced by V. A. Durai, the film has cinematography by Balasubramaniem, lyrics are by Vaali, Pazhani Bharathi and Na. Muthukumar, dance has been choreographed by Brindha, editing by Suresh Urs, fights by Stun Siva and art direction by A. C. Pillai. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by Ilayaraaja. The film plot is based on Jayakanthan's Nandhavanathil Oru Andi, the story of an undertaker.

Upon release, the film met with critical acclaim and Vikram won the National Film Award for Best Actor for his role as Chithan. Owing to the success, the film was dubbed into Telugu and released as Sivaputrudu (The son of Siva) on 2 April 2004. The film was also remade in Kannada as Anatharu (2007). It was also dubbed and released in Hindi in 2020 with the same title by B4U Movies.

Plot

An anonymous woman dies while giving birth in a graveyard. Her child, Chithan, is found and raised by the caretaker of the graveyard. Chithan grows up among corpses with minimal human contact and is perhaps more feral than autistic. He growls like a wolf, runs like a gorilla, has the unkempt appearance of an orangutan, but seems to understand loyalty and is (despite his circumstance) a social animal. He ventures into a town in search of food and gets into trouble as he does not understand the concept of money. He is rescued by Gomathi, a petty ganja seller. She sees his ability to be loyal and enrolls him into the service of her employer, a large scale ganja producer. Chithan is caught during a drug raid and is arrested.

Sakthi is a conman with a silver tongue. He gets into trouble when he cons a woman named Manju into losing all her personal effects in a game of dice. Sakthi gets sent to jail thanks to Manju's detective work. He meets Chithan in prison and starts protecting him out of sympathy and pity. Chithan starts to reciprocate to Sakthi's kindness with the only way he knows: by being as loyal as a dog.

Sakthi serves his term and then butts heads with the ganja producer to get Chithan out of jail. Chithan gets out but commits a crime when he obeys his master's instruction to burn the body of a murder victim. Sakthi, realising that Chithan is being used as accessory in crimes that he cannot comprehend, prevents Chithan from going back to working in the ganja fields. At the same time, a budding romance starts between Sakthi and Manju. Chithan too starts to see a shared spirit in Gomathi.

The police catches a wind of the murder and arrests Chithan. Sakthi gets Chithan to side with the police and goes against the ganja producer. The ganja producer later attacks and kills Sakthi and dumps his body in the middle of the road - all of this when Chithan is not around. Chithan does not understand that Sakthi is dead and zones out to outer space when everyone surrounds him. Gomathi, Manju, and the others are crying. Gomathi sees Chithan's confusion as indifference and angrily drives him away from Sakthi's body.

Chithan slowly starts to understand that Shakthi is dead as he sees him on the funeral pyre. His realization is complete when he wakes up in the morning next to the burnt remains of Shakthi's corpse. He experiences emotions that he has never experienced before: fury, agony, betrayal, and emotional pain that he has never felt. His body bears the scars of a million bruises, and his violence has always been self-defense and the defense of his masters. This realization of the meaning of death and the pain of losing a loved one breaks the feral chains that had wound up on his psyche.

Chithan then sets out like a man intent on destroying the world. He sets fire to the ganja fields, lets the ganja producer experience the pain of his loss, and then sets upon destroying him physically. He drives him through the street, taking his time by breaking a few bones at a time until he is done toying with him. He then kills the ganja producer and offers his body as a tribute to Manju, who now has lost her will to live.

Gomathi realizes what Chithan has been through and tries to get him to stay. However, Chithan turns back to the world of the graveyard among the corpses that cannot hurt him anymore.

Cast

• Vikram as Chithan
• Suriya as Sakthi
• Laila as Manju
• Sangeetha as Gomathi
• Mahadevan as Sekar Vasudevan, Ganja Producer
• Karunas as Karuvaayan
• Manobala as Sakthi's uncle
• Rajendran as Prison Warden
• Karuppu as Ganja Kuduki
• Ramji as Vasu
• T. P. Gajendran as Director
• Soundhar
• Mu Ramaswamy
• Stun Siva as Police Inspector (special appearance)
• Simran as herself in a special appearance

Production

After Nandha, Bala announced his next project Pithamagan with Vikram and Suriya, heroes of his previous films who received popularity after struggle. For Gomathy's role, Bala selected Rasika P. Mani after considering Vijayashanti, Malavika and Gayatri Jayaraman and also changed her name back to Sangeetha. Most part of the Film was shot in a town called Bodinayakanur in Theni District. Bodinayakanur, which is surrounded by Western Ghats Hills and also known as the Cardamom Capital of India.

Soundtrack

Pithamagan
Soundtrack album by Ilaiyaraaja
Released	2003
Recorded	2003
Genre	Film soundtrack
Length	32:26 / 30:16
Language	Tamil / Telugu
Label	Five Star Audio
Producer	Ilaiyaraaja
Ilaiyaraaja chronology
Solla Marandha Kadhai (2002) Pithamagan (2003) Sambhu (2003)

The soundtrack album was composed by Ilaiyaraaja. The lyrics were penned by Vaali, Palani Bharathi, Na. Muthukumar and Mu. Metha. The song "Piraiye Piraiye" is set in Pantuvarali raga.

Track list

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Adadaa Aghangaara Arakka Kaigalil"	Mu. Metha	K.J. Yesudas	04:38
2.	"Aruna Runaam"		Savitha Reddy for Simran & Old Songs Medley	06:39
3.	"Elangaathu Veesudhey"	Palani Bharathi	Sriram Parthasarathy, Shreya Ghoshal	06:10
4.	"Elangaathu Veesudhey" (solo)	Palani Bharathi	Sriram Parthasarathy	06:10
5.	"Kodi Yethi Vaippom"	Na. Muthukumar	Bhavatharini, Shanmugasundari, Periya Karuppa Thevar, Ragavendar	04:08
6.	"Piraiye Piraiye"	Vaali	Madhu Balakrishnan	04:41
7.	"Yaaradhu Yaaradhu"	Na. Muthukumar	Ilaiyaraaja
Total length:				32:26

Telugu track list

All lyrics are written by Vanamali.

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Adigo Avineethi"	Vijay Yesudas, chorus	04:38
2.	"Priyatama Ninne" (Old Songs Medley)	Murali, Lalitha Sagari, chorus	06:39
3.	"Chirugali Veechane"	R. P. Patnaik, Sunitha Upadrashta	06:10
4.	"Chirugali Veechane" (solo)	R. P. Patnaik	06:10
5.	"Evaridi Evaridi"	Vijay Yesudas	01:58
6.	"Okate Jananam"	Vijay Yesudas	04:41
Total length:			30:16

Release

The film was released on 24 October 2003, coinciding with Deepavali. The film released alongside Vijay's Thirumalai, Ajith's Anjaneya and Arjun's Ottran.

Critical reception

The film received unanimous critical acclaim particularly for Vikram and Surya's performances. Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu praised Vikram as "Without any dialogue to support him he carves a niche for himself in the viewer's mind with his expressions and excellent body language" and Suriya as "Who would have thought that this young man, pitted against the serious Chithan, would prove so perfect a foil?" going on to declare the movie as "..a symphony on celluloid". Balaji Balasubramaniam of Thiraipadam.com reviewed as "With unique characterization, tremendous performances and a smooth screenplay, the movie offers a satisfying experience to the discerning viewer..." and noted "Vikram pretty much lives the role of the undertaker. With dry and streaked hair, dirty teeth and torn clothes, he looks the part and though he doesn't utter a word, he conveys everything through his expressions and body language". A reviewer at Sify.com noted, "..it is the expert performance of the lead actors that elevate the film above the commonplace".

Film critic Baradwaj Rangan remarked, "Bala's ingeniousness is evident everywhere .... And he gets tremendous support from his leads...It all adds up to a first-rate film that excoriates as much as it entertains". Ilaiyaraja also received praise for his musical score, "Ilaiyaraja adds unmeasurable strength to many of the scenes with his background music". "The captivating numbers vouch for the fact that the Raja reigns supreme".

Awards

The film has won the following awards since its release:

National Film Awards 2003

• Won – Silver Lotus Award for Best Actor – Vikram

Filmfare Awards South

• Won – Filmfare Best Film Award (Tamil)
• Won – Filmfare Best Director Award – Bala
• Won – Filmfare Best Actor – Vikram
• Won – Filmfare Best Actress – Laila
• Won – Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award – Suriya
• Won – Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award – Sangeetha

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards

• Won – Best Actor – Vikram
• Won – Best Actress – Laila
• Won – Best Supporting Actress – Sangeetha

CineMAA Awards

• Won – South India's Best Actor – Vikram

Remakes

The film was remade in Kannada as Anatharu with Upendra and Darshan in the lead and released on 14 September 2007. Repeating the success of the original, the film received favourable reviews and applause for Upendra's performance.

The film is also to be remade in Hindi. Director Satish Kaushik has bought the remake rights of the film. Incidentally, Satish had earlier directed Salman Khan in Tere Naam, the Hindi remake of the Bala-Vikram film Sethu. Once again, Satish has approached Salman Khan to reprise Vikram's role. However the project failed to materialise.

Legacy

Karunas who acted in the film did a spoof on Vikram's character in a film called Ennavo Pudichirukku (2004). Surya's character as petty thief from Maayavi (2005) was compared with character from Pithamagan.

External links

• Pithamagan on IMDb