''Puthagam'' () is a 2013 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

-language film directed by television personality

Vijay Adhiraj Vijay Adhiraj is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, and Kannada films and serials. He was introduced in the NFDC & Doordarshan produced ''Sahashraphan'' in Hindi, written by then Prime Minister of India Shri. P. V. Narasi ...

and produced by S. Manjula for Ram Pictures Private Limited. The film stars Sathya, brother of actor

Arya Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...

, in the lead role;

Rakul Preet Singh Rakul Preet Singh (born 10 October 1990) is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil films. She made her acting debut with the Kannada film '' Gilli'' (2009). She has won several awards including a SIIMA Award with ...

, a former

Miss India Miss India may refer to: * Femina Miss India, the most prestigious and oldest surviving national beauty pageant in India that started in 1964. It sends its winner to Miss World. * Miss Diva, the national beauty pageant that sends its winners to Miss ...

, as the leading lady; Telugu actor

Jagapati Babu Veeramachaneni Jagapathi Rao Chowdary (born 12 February 1962), professionally known as Jagapathi Babu (), is an Indian actor known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has also appeared in a few Tamil, , Kannada and Malayalam films. ...

as the antagonist; and Sanjay Bharathi, son of veteran actor/director

Santhana Bharathi Santhana Bharathi is an Indian film director and actor who has primarily worked in Tamil cinema. Career Santhana Bharathi originally wanted to be a director but didn't get the right opportunity, even after working for a well known director ...

(who also starred in the film), along with Vignesh Vijaykumar of ''

Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi ''Kadhilil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi'' () is a 2012 Indian romantic comedy film written and directed Balaji Mohan based on the sametitled short film he made. It was simultaneously shot in Tamil and Telugu languages, the latter titled ''Love Failure' ...

'' fame in supporting roles alongside

Aishwarya Rajesh Aishwarya Rajesh (born 10 January 1990) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Tamil films, alongside Telugu and Malayalam films. She is a recipient of four SIIMA Awards, one Filmfare Award South and one Tamil Nadu State Film Award. Aish ...

Suresh Suresh is an Indian masculine given name originating in the Sanskrit word ' (compound of ' and '). Its meaning is "Ruler of Gods" and it has been used an epithet for the Hindu gods Indra, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. People named Suresh include: *Sur ...

, and

Rachana Maurya Rachana Maurya is an Indian actress, model and dancer who has appeared in music videos and performed item numbers in various Indian films. She is probably best known for her performances in ''Dus'', ''Souryam'' and ''Yavarum Nalam''. Filmogr ...

, among others. The film was shot in Sony F 65. J. Laxman Kumar of ''

Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu ''Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu'' () is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language sports drama film written and directed by newcomer Susindran, starring debutant Vishnu Vishal, Kishore, and Saranya Mohan along with numerous other newcomers. The music was composed by ...

'' was the man behind the camera, and the music was scored by

James Vasanthan James Vasanthan is an Indian Television (Tamil) host, a film music composer, and a filmmaker and a motivational speaker. For more than two decades, he has worked as an anchor in popular Tamil satellite television channels like Sun TV and Vijay ...

. The movie also has GK as its art director and cinematography

Laxman Kumar Laxman Kumar is an Indian cinematographer and film director, who has worked in the Tamil film industry. Career Laxman Kumar is an alumnus of Rajiv Menon's Mindscreen Film Institute. After working on several films as a cinematographer, he turn ...

. The film was released on 14 January 2013.

Plot

Mohan ( Sathya) lives in Chennai. His two roommates, Anthony (Vignesh Vijayakumar) and Radhakrishnan (Sanjay Bharathi) are from less fortunate backgrounds. Despite their differences, they are best friends. Radhakrishnan is in love with his boss Thara (

). One day, Mohan borrows a book from the Chennai Literary Society library for his television reporter girlfriend Divya (

). He then finds a note in the book that leads him to a cemetery. All the graves painted blue have thousands of bank notes instead of dead bodies. Mohan shares this news with his roommates and they decide to share the cash to solve their families' financial problems. At the same time, Divya is covering the high-profile case of a powerful but corrupt political leader Imaiyappan (

). He has lost all the black money that he has been hiding away from the authorities for years by giving it to a close friend for safekeeping. Now, the friend has died and Imaiyappan does not know where all his black money is. He is forced to seek the help of JB (

) and Dolly (

), two highly skilled former intelligence officers. After much difficulty, JB and Dolly manage to track down the family of Imaiyappan's late friend. The friend had hidden the location of the black money in a book in a Chennai library before he was run over by a truck. He had sent the book's registry number via a text message to his family so that they could take it and move to London. JB and Dolly then learn that the last person to check out the supposed book from the library was Mohan. Mohan and everyone he loves then ends up in harm's way when both JB and Imaiyappan come after him. In the end, JB decides to let Mohan and his loved ones life when he discovers that Mohan only took a small portion of the black money to help his roommates with their finances, while he donated the rest of them to various charities across the city anonymously. Imaiyappan then has a heart attack when he learns that both his reputation and black money are gone forever. In the end, Mohan is shown going on a vacation with Divya and their friends. Unknown to them, JB and Dolly are following them. It turns out that Mohan had only donated part of the money to charities, and he had transferred the rest to a Swiss bank and turned them all into legal money. JB is enraged as he has been tricked by a boy as young as Mohan and sets out to trap him.

Cast

* Sathya as Mohan *

as Divya * Sanjay Bharathi as Radhakrishnan * Vignesh Vijayakumar as Anthony *

as Dolly *

as Thara *

as Imaiyappan *

as JB * Vicky Krish as Mohan's friend *

Crazy Mohan Mohan Rangachari (16 October 1952 – 10 June 2019) known professionally as Crazy Mohan, was an Indian actor, comedian, screenwriter and playwright. An engineer by profession, Mohan started writing plays and established his own drama troupe calle ...

as Varadachari *

Manobala Manobala (born 8 December 1953) is an Indian film director, producer, actor and comedian who predominantly plays supporting roles in Tamil-language films. He started his career in Tamil cinema in the early 1970s and with Kamal Haasan's referen ...

as Kalyanasundaram aka Kallis *

as Thennai Kabali *

O. A. K. Sundar O. A. K. Sundar (born 3 January 1970) is an Indian actor who mainly works in Tamil cinema and television. He is known for his antagonistic roles starting with ''Virumaandi''. He played the main character in the television series, ''Romapuri Pan ...

as Anand *

Thalaivasal Vijay Thalaivasal Vijay is an Indian actor and dubbing artist. He was born on 4 August 1962 in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India. He has acted predominantly in numerous Tamil and Malayalam films. Career Vijay's debut film was '' Thalaivaasal'' (1992), ...

as Vasanth *

Delhi Ganesh Delhi Ganesh is an Indian actor who mostly acts in supporting roles in Tamil cinema and serials. He has acted in more than 400 films from 1976 to present. Before films, he was a member of the Delhi-based theatre troupe, ''Dakshina Bharata Natak ...

as Bank officer *

Fathima Babu Fathima Babu is a South Indian actress, former newsreader and socialite based out of Chennai who hails from Puducherry. Born in a Muslim family, Fathima began her public career as a newsreader for more than 25 years with DD Podhigai, the Tamil ...

as Veni *

Uma Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi in ...

as Divya's mother *

Besant Ravi Besant Ravi (born R. Ravi Kumar; 1 June 1970) is an Indian actor and stunt choreographer. He has played antagonistic supporting roles in Tamil, Hindi and several other Indian language films. Early life Besant Ravi, who was born and brought up ...

as Goon *

Crane Manohar Crane Manohar (born 4 October 1965) is an Indian actor who appears in Tamil films, mostly in comedy roles. He appeared in many Vadivelu and Vivek comedy tracks. Career Manohar initially worked as a crane technician for films and when he start ...

Vichu Viswanath Vichu Vishwanath is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil language films and serials. He has worked in comedy and supporting roles, often associating with director Sundar C. Career Vichu Vishwanath was born in Coimbatore, India and atten ...

as Guru * Bhanuprakash as Ajay Thinmaiha *

Sindhu Shyam Sindhu Shyam is an Indian film and television actress, and a Bharathanatyam dancer. She made her acting debut through the Malayalam film Bhoothakkannadi directed by A. K. Lohithadas. Her role as Thilagavathi in Deivamagal increased her fame and ...

as Nancy * M. J. Shriram as Newsreader *

Nellai Siva Tirunelveli (, ta, திருநெல்வேலி, translit=Tirunelveli) also known as Nellai ( ta, நெல்லை, translit=Nellai) and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tami ...

as Traffic police

Filming

Filming of the movie started in April, incidentally the first shot was directed by P. Vasu. The movie comprises five sound tracks out of which three were canned in Bangkok and Pattaya. The shooting of the movie was completed and Puthagam hit the theatres worldwide.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack is composed by

, who is Vijay's friend and also a television anchor earlier. Audio was rumoured to be launched on 27 Oct but got launched on 12 Nov 2012 at the Hotel Hyatt, Chennai. Actors

Jagapathi Babu Veeramachaneni Jagapathi Rao Chowdary (born 12 February 1962), professionally known as Jagapathi Babu (), is an Indian actor known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has also appeared in a few Tamil, , Kannada and Malayalam films. ...

P. Vasu Vasudevan Peethambharan, known professionally as P Vasu, is an Indian director, writer and actor who works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam language films. In a career spanning three decades, Vasu has directed over 64 films.

Shanthanu Bhagyaraj Shanthanu Bhagyaraj (born 24 August 1986) is an Indian actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil language films. The son of actors K. Bhagyaraj and Poornima Bhagyaraj, Shanthanu appeared as a child artist in his father's '' Vettiya Madichu Ka ...

Parthiban R. Parthiban (born 14 October 1958) is an Indian actor and filmmaker who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has directed 15 films, produced 13 films and acted in more than 70 films. He started his career as assistant director for K. Bhagyaraj in ...

Suhasini Suhasini Maniratnam (born 15 August 1961) known mononymously as Suhasini, is an Indian actress, director, producer and writer in the Tamil film industry. She has worked as an actress in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. She made her ...

, Rahika, Kuyil; music directors James Vasanthan and

Vijay Antony Vijay Antony (born 24 July 1975) is an Indian music composer, playback singer, actor, film editor, lyricist, audio engineer, and filmmaker working predominantly in Tamil cinema. He made his debut as music composer in 2005. He is the first India ...

; and lyricists

Na. Muthukumar Nagarajan Muthukumar (12 July 1975 – 14 August 2016) was a Tamil poet, lyricist, and author. Best known for his Tamil language film songs, he received the most Filmfare Awards for Best Lyricist in Tamil and was a two-time recipient of the Nat ...

and

Madhan Karky Madhan Karky Vairamuthu is an Indian lyricist, screenwriter, research associate, software engineer, and entrepreneur. A holder of a doctorate in computer science from the University of Queensland, Karky began his professional career as an ass ...

were among those at the event. Unfortunately, the soundtrack was not promoted well in radio stations which led James to show his anger on social-blogging site: "Don't know why FM stations show discrimination towards composers. The recently-released Puthagam of mine is not even played once in few FMs". * "Kondadathaan" - Tippu, Rahul, Sunandan * "Mella Poopupukudhe" - Belly Raj,

Deepa Miriam Deepa Miriam (Malayalam: ദീപ മിറിയം, Tamil language, Tamil: தீபா மிரியம்; born April 1981) is an Indian playback singer of South Indian movies. Her debut film was ''Naan Avanillai (2007 film), Naan Avanil ...

* "Italica" - Mathangi * "Say That You Love Me" -

Suchitra Suchitra Ramadurai, known by the mononym Suchitra, is an Indian radio jockey, popular playback singer, songwriter, composer, voice artist, dubbing artist and film actress. She has sung in multiple languages including Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada ...

, Prasad * "Money Is So Funny" - Gerard Johnson, Maya

Critical reception

Behindwoods wrote:"Puthagam allows James Vasanthan to churn out some urban tunes for a youthful album and the result is a soundtrack that shines in parts". Milliblog wrote:"James’s music is erratic, as usual, but the highlights impress". Musicperk.com rated the album 7.5/10 quoting "This book has some interesting numbers too !".

Release

The distribution rights for Puthagam in Tamil Nadu were bought by Gemini Film Circuit, which had produced and distributed Nanban. The film was released on 14 January 2013 on the eve of Pongal festival. The publicity for the film was weak and it took a poor opening at the box office with the grossing of in the first week. The film opened with 64 shows on its first weekend in Chennai box office. It was removed after one week. It sold 3,900 tickets in Chennai during its lifetime.

Critical reception

Indiaglitz wrote:"what could have been a racy and an innovative thriller was plagued by mediocre screenplay which drags the movie in and out. Puthagam the movie is a slow oozing out thriller". Times of India wrote:"'Puthagam' doesn't turn out to the fast-paced read it had the potential to be". Behindwoods wrote:"the result of what might have been an edge of the seat thriller turns into a long drama filled with the usual sentiments played by usual characters".

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 3378280 2013 films 2010s Tamil-language films 2013 directorial debut films Films scored by James Vasanthan