Pudhiya Geethai (transl. New Gita) is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by newcomer K. P. Jagan. The film stars Vijay in the main lead role with Meera Jasmine and Ameesha Patel in the female lead roles. 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 | |
|---|---|
 Release poster | |
| Directed by | K. P. Jagan |
| Written by | K. P. Jagan |
| Produced by | Vishwas Sundar |
| Starring | Vijay Meera Jasmine Ameesha Patel |
| Cinematography | Ramesh Krishna |
| Edited by | V. T. Vijayan |
| Music by | Songs: Yuvan Shankar Raja Score: Karthik Raja |
Production company | Viswaas |
Release date |
|
Running time | 157 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Pudhiya Geethai released on 8 May 2003. The film received mixed reviews in the box office.
Plot
editThe movie 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 short. He suggests the baby to 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 as 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 had for him.
Reddiyar is a rich but ingenuous businessman. He is into 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 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 about 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 for life and the 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 a 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 leads his life happily.
The movie ends with a message that positive attitude is essential for everyone to succeed, even death will revive them.
Cast
edit- 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
editThe film was initially titled Sarathy after the lead character's name.[1] The project was then titled as 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.[2][3] Amisha Patel also accepted to be a part of the film, replacing Deol, after getting the entire script translated in English for her to read.[4] Before release, the film's title was changed to Pudhiya Geethai after Hindu organisations objected the title.[5] Shooting got wrapped in March 2003.[6]
Soundtrack
edit| Pudhiya Geethai | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 29 March 2003 | |||
| Recorded | 2002–2003 | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Label | Five Star Audio | |||
| Producer | Yuvan Shankar Raja | |||
| Yuvan Shankar Raja chronology | ||||
| ||||
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.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Naan Odum Ilaignan" | Vaali | Mano, Tippu | 04:56 |
| 2. | "Mercury Poove" | Pa. Vijay | Nideesh Gopalan, Bhavatharini, Bonnie Chakraborty | 04:36 |
| 3. | "Vasiyakaara (Version 1)" | Yugabharathi | Devan, Chitra Sivaraman | 03:52 |
| 4. | "Manase" | Pa. Vijay | Bonnie Chakraborty, Tippu, Swarnalatha | 05:05 |
| 5. | "Vasiyakaara (Version 2)" | Yugabharathi | Hariharan, Chitra Sivaraman | 03:52 |
| 6. | "Annamalai" | Vijay Sagar | Tippu, Devan | 04:51 |
| Total length: | 27:14 | |||
Release and reception
editPudhiya Geethai released on 8 May 2003.
The film earned mostly mixed reviews. 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."[7] Another reviewer stated the film had "nothing new", describing it as "real melodramatic soap-opera that moves hearts of viewers and at the same time gives a message for the audience."[8] Ananda Vikatan rated the film 39 out of 100.[9] 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', which too had a similar knot and ending".[10] Visual Dasan of Kalki wrote Kodambakkam lacks films that supports the title, in that way Pudhiya Geethai feels complete.[11]
References
edit- ^ "Gossip:". Dinakaran. 17 August 2001. Archived from the original on 6 March 2005.
- ^ "Meera Jasmine interview". shyamaudios.com. 16 August 2009. Archived from the original on 16 August 2009.
- ^ "The Hindu : Meera musings".
- ^ "The Hindu : And now it's southward ho!".
- ^ "'Geethai' vs Censors". Sify. Archived from the original on 2 September 2003. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
- ^ "Sacred Cows, Their Horns". Outlook. 6 June 2005. Archived from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ ""The Hindu : Pudhiya Geethai"". The Hindu. 16 May 2003. Archived from the original on 9 October 2003. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
- ^ ""BizHat.com - Puthiya Geethai Review. Vijay, Meera Jasmine, Amisha Patel, Kalabhavan Mani, Sharath Babu"". 7 March 2014. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014.
- ^ சார்லஸ், தேவன் (22 June 2021). "பீஸ்ட் : 'நாளைய தீர்ப்பு' டு 'மாஸ்டர்'... விஜய்க்கு விகடனின் மார்க்கும், விமர்சனமும் என்ன? #Beast". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
- ^ "Puthiya Geethai". Chennai Online. 15 May 2003. Archived from the original on 10 February 2005.
- ^ தாசன், விஷுவல் (1 June 2003). "புதிய கீதை". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 33. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ ""Kaaka Kakka shocks Gautam Menon!"". 11 August 2003. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014.
- ^ ""The Hindu : Big budget survivor"". The Hindu. 12 June 2003. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014.
