Chithiram Pesuthadi
| Chithiram Pesuthadi | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Mysskin |
| Written by | Mysskin |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Mahesh Muthuswamy |
| Edited by | M. Kasi Viswanathan |
| Music by | Sundar C Babu |
Production company | Dreambridge Productions |
| Distributed by | Aascar Ravichandran |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 148 mins |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
| Budget | ₹1.25 crore (equivalent to ₹4.0 crore or US$480,000 in 2023)[2] |
| Box office | ₹8 crore (equivalent to ₹26 crore or US$3.1 million in 2023)[2] |
Chithiram Pesuthadi (English: The Picture Speaks, Dear) is a 2006 Indian Tamil romantic drama thriller film written and directed by Mysskin. The film stars Narain and Bhavana, both making their debuts in Tamil cinema. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by Sundar C Babu. Produced by Dreambridge Productions on a budget of ₹ 1.20 crores, the film faced publicity issues but later released in Chennai and the rest of Tamil Nadu. The movie became a massive hit of that year.[3][4] The film was later remade to Telugu as Raju Bhai, in Kannada as Kichha Huchha and in Oriya as Abhimanyu. Bhavana's performance as Charu received critical acclaim and earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil.
Plot
Thiru (Narain), a fearless karate fighter, saves the son of a local don from being killed by members of a rival gang. In return, the don Annachi (Dhandapani) hires Thiru as his henchman. Thiru's mother (Sathyapriya) and younger sister dislike his association with the gang but have to live with his decision.
One day, Thiru stumbles upon Charu (Bhavana), a worker at an NGO who fights injustice. A quarrel ensues between them, and they grow to dislike each other. Nobody has spoken up to Thiru before, and he admires Charu's courage. Whenever they bump into one another, Charu berates Thiru for being a gangster. Ashamed, Thiru and a few of his gangsters try to turn over a new leaf by selling toys at a sidewalk.
Charu is impressed by Thiru's changed personality and decides to marry him. Her father (Raviprakash) gives her his blessings, though her uncle (Mahadevan) does not approve. However, her hopes are shattered after she witnessed a naked Thiru being clumped away in a police truck from a brothel after a raid. She gives up her plans of being with him and blames her father for not raising her well enough to make the right decision. Later that day, her father commits suicide. Charu blames Thiru for ruining her life and causing her father's death. Thiru and his friends return to Annachi.
Charu's uncle arranges for her to be married to his own relative. However, Annachi's son sees Charu during her engagement and falls in love with her. Annachi threatens Charu's uncle to surrender his niece to him. After learning that Thiru is part of Annachi's gang, Charu goes to confront him. Thiru's friends reveal he was only at the brothel that day to save his friend's family who lives there. Instead, he sees Charu's father there, who was in the company of prostitutes. In order to give time for Charu's father to flee the area, Thiru creates a distraction by attacking the police officers. They beat him up and tear off his clothes while trying to arrest him. Charu realizes her mistake and asks Thiru's friends to take her to him.
Meanwhile, Thiru has deviced his own plans in an attempt to thwart Annachi's plans and save Charu. He has arranged for his friends to bring Thiru and her fiancé separately to the registrar's office to get them married. However, Annachi shows up and orders his men to attack Thiru. When Charu arrives at the scene, she is overwhelmed to see Thiru has been stabbed and is fighting for his life. Only then does Annachi realize she and Thiru are in love. He stops the attack and lets Thiru's friends rush him to the hospital.
Thiru is saved and Annachi agrees to let him go. He marries Charu and they live happily ever after.
Inspiration
Mysskin expressed at a book release that he himself got to realize that this movie is an accidental inspiration of Beauty and the Beast (1991 film) while the shooting was progressing. He questioned the critics why they failed to criticize about this accidental inspiration whereas they criticized Nandalala, his other movie to be a copy of Kikujiro. He expressed this was irrelevant to the book release.
Cast
- Narain as Thiru
- Bhavana as Charu
- Dhandapani as Annachi
- Raviprakash as Charu's father
- Mahadevan as Charu's uncle
- Sathyapriya as Thiru's mother
- Vasantha Narayan
- Gana Ulaganathan
- Malavika in a special appearance
Soundtrack
The film's score and soundtrack were composed by Sundar C Babu, who made his debut in film scoring through this film. The album features 12 tracks overall, including four instrumental tracks. The lyrics were penned by Kabilan and director Mysskin himself, while Gana Ulaganathan had written and sung the song "Vazha Meenu", which is considered as having contributed immensely to the film's success.[1][4]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Idam Porul Parthu" | Pa. Vijay | Karthik, Sujatha Mohan | 4:24 |
| 2. | "Henchman Theme" | — | Instrumental | 0:58 |
| 3. | "Pattam Poochi" | Kabilan Vairamuthu | Timmy, Ranjith | 4:39 |
| 4. | "Love Theme" | — | Instrumental | 1:22 |
| 5. | "Aaahayam Aaahayam" | Mysskin | Hariharan | 4:27 |
| 6. | "Idhu Enna Pudhu Kanavo (F)" | Mysskin | Manju Haridas | 1:49 |
| 7. | "Mazhai Mazhai" | Vairamuthu | Afsal | 3:55 |
| 8. | "Voice Of Heart Theme" | — | Instrumental | |
| 9. | "Vazha Meenu" | Gana Ulaganathan | Gana Ulaganathan | 4:44 |
| 10. | "Life is Beautiful Theme [0]" | — | Instrumental | 1:10 |
| 11. | "Idhu Enna Pudhu Kanavo (M)" | Mysskin | Vijay Gopal | 1:51 |
| 12. | "Aalaap" | — | Vijay Gopal | 0:42 |
Release
Released by Dreambride Productions on 10 February 2006, the film initially failed to attract audience due to a low-profile release and a lack of publicity.[1] It was removed from almost all theaters within two weeks after its release. SUN Networks helped promote the song Vaazha Meenu by repeated airings on its channels, making the song a cult hit. In the mean time, the movie generated a word of mouth publicity combined with excellent press reviews. Taking cue, Dreambridge initiated process to re-release in the Chennai area first. The re-release witnessed tremendous opening which invoked interest of Aascar Ravichandran who distributed the film in rest of Tamil Nadu. The re-release of the film was well received by audience which resulted in stupendous hit.
Accolades
| Award | Category | Nominee | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Actress | Bhavana | Won |
References
- ^ a b c "Oscar to the rescue!". Sify.com. 4 March 2006. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
- ^ a b "2009 Mantra: How about giving movies, a Second Innings ? - The Economic Times". Economictimes.indiatimes.com. 3 January 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
- ^ "Events - 'Chithiram Pesuthadi' Success Meet". IndiaGlitz. 18 March 2006. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
- ^ a b "'Chithiram Pesuthadi' is a surprise winner". Nowrunning.com. 20 March 2006. Retrieved 29 July 2012.