Pithamagan () is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language psychological action crime drama film written and directed by Bala. The film stars Vikram, Suriya, Laila and Sangeetha in the lead roles, with Karunaas, Manobala and Ramaraju (credited as Mahadevan) in supporting roles. In the film, a man raised in a graveyard with no understanding of the world forms a bond with a con artist.
Pithamagan was released on 24 October 2003. The film became a success and Vikram won numerous accolades for his performance, including the National Film Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. It was remade in Kannada as Anatharu (2007).
Plot
In Bodinayakkanur, 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 seemingly autistic. He growls, runs like a beast, but seems to understand loyalty and is 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 marijuana dealer. She sees his ability to be loyal and enrolls him into the service of her employer Sekar Vasudevan, a large scale marijuana grower. Chithan is caught during a drug raid and arrested.
Sakthi is a con artist. 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 blind loyalty.
Sakthi serves his term and then clashes with Sekar to get Chithan released from 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 marijuana fields. At the same time, a budding romance starts between Sakthi and Manju, and Chithan too starts to see a shared spirit in Gomathi.
The police catches wind of the murder and arrests Chithan. Sakthi gets Chithan to side with the police as an informant. Sekar later attacks and kills Sakthi and dumps his body in the middle of the road. Chithan is unable to understand that Sakthi is dead and zones out when everyone surrounds him. While 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 Sakthi is dead as he sees him on the funeral pyre. His realisation is complete when he wakes up in the morning next to the burnt remains of Sakthi's corpse. He experiences emotions that he has never experienced before: fury, agony, betrayal, and pain that he has never felt, and decides to take revenge on Sekar. Chithan sets fire to the marijuana fields, lets Sekar 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 Sekar by biting his neck, and with nothing left to lose, leaves the village.
Cast
;Opening credits
- Vikram as Chithan
- Suriya as Sakthivel alias Sakthi
- Laila as Manju
- Sangeetha as Gomathi
- Karunaas as Karuvaayan
- Manobala as Sakthi's uncle
;Closing credits
- T. P. Gajendran as a director
- Mu Ramaswamy as Chithan's caretaker
- Visweswara Rao as Manju's father
- Muthukaalai as Sekar's assistant
- <!--Boys-->Rajan as Mathivathanan
- Mahadevan as Sekar Vasudevan
- Sivagangai Karuppu as Ganja Kudukki
Production
After Nandhaa (2001), Bala announced his next project Pithamagan with Vikram and Suriya, the main lead actors 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. Telugu actor Ramaraju (rechristened as Mahadevan) and Ganja Karuppu (credited as Sivagangai Karuppu) made their Tamil debut with this film. The action sequenced were choreographed by Stun Siva and assisted by Rajendran.
Music
The soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja. The song "Piraiye Piraiye" is set in Pantuvarali raga. R. Rangaraj of Chennai Online wrote, "The maestro has not failed his fans. Although the music is not of the racy, peppy variety, it is bound to do well due to the different approach in terms of mood and tone. It is not often that one has to compose songs to be shot on a Vettiyan [undertaker]. Like a Phoenix rishing from the ashes, Ilayaraja too rises to the occasion".