Pudhiya Geethai

Pudhiya Geethai
Directed by	K.P. Jagan
Produced by	Viswaas Sundar
Written by	K.P. Jagan
Starring	Vijay Meera Jasmine Ameesha Patel Kalabhavan Mani Karunas
Music by	Yuvan Shankar Raja (Songs) Karthik Raja (Background Score)
Cinematography	Ramesh Krishna Rithuu Ramesh
Edited by	V. T. Vijayan
Production company	Viswaas
Release dates	13 April 2003 (2003-04-13) (Tamil) 2 May 2003 (2003-05-02) (Malayalam)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Pudhiya Geethai (Tamil: புதிய கீதை ; English: New Gita) is a 2003 Indian Tamil film written and directed by newcomer K.P. Jagan, starring Vijay, Meera Jasmine and Ameesha Patel in lead 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, released on 8 May 2003 to mixed reviews and was a flop at box office. The movie was dubbed in Hindi as Ek Dumdaar The Powerful. ^[1]

The film tells the tale of a man who has positive attitude in his life and a never-give-up attitude. The story starts as if the hero at his birth and an astrologer tells his wife that the man will die at the age of 27. The story tells that whether will the hero die at 27 or not.

Plot

The movie starts with a baby boy born to Chinnaya (Nasser) who works for Swamy (Viswanath), an astrologer. The astrologer writes the horoscope of the baby and understands that the child will be grown to an intelligent and responsible person but also predicts that the child’s life will be only 27 years. He suggests the baby to be named Sarathy but does not inform about the short life.

Sarathy (Vijay) is an intelligent person who excels in studies, sports and also liked by everyone surrounding him. He takes care of his mother and sister following his father’s death. Suji (Meera Jasmine) is the close friend of Sarathy and considers him as her well-wisher. Sarathy runs a restaurant with his friends as part time and also involved in real estate transactions earning brokerages. Jo (Amisha Patel) is the friend of Suji and she develops a liking towards Sarathy.

Reddiyar (Kalabavan Mani) is a rich business man but is not genuine. He is into real estate business and he cheats many people by allotting improper plots. Sarathy knows about Reddiyar’s plans and fights against him supporting the poor people which creates enmity between Reddiyar and Sarathy.

Lawrence (Sanjeev) is Sarathy’s friend and he falls in love with Sarathy’s sister but is scared whether Sarathy will accept their love. But Sarathy happily accepts and also convinces his mother also. Sarathy’s sister’s wedding is arranged. Now Sarathy is 27 years old.

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 his sister’s marriage, 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. But Sarathy does not kill Reddiyar and instead makes him understand the value for life and he talks about the positive attitude that everyone 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 friends cry outside the hospital. But Reddiyar comes to the place and asks everyone to stop crying and keep calling Sarathy with a positive energy which will make him get back to normal. Everyone starts calling Sarathy and Sarathy’s condition. Sarathy is saved and recovers. The movie ends with a message that positive attitude is essential for everyone to succeed .

Cast

• Vijay as Sarathy
• Meera Jasmine as Suji
• Amisha Patel as Jo
• Kalabhavan Mani as Reddiyar
• Karunas as Ganesh
• Nassar as Chinnaya / Sarathy's Father
• K. Viswanath as astrologer
• Sarath Babu as Annamalai
• Ilavarasu as Shekar
• Sanjeev as Lawrence
• Kalairani as Thaiyalnayagi / Sarathy's Mother
• Raghava Lawrence as Special appearance
• Yogini
• Madhumitha
• Srilekha
• Sadhana

Production

The project was titled Geethai and was set to feature Vijay in the lead role 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.^[5]

Soundtrack

Pudhiya Geethai
Soundtrack album by Yuvan Shankar Raja
Released	29 March 2003
Recorded	2002
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Label	Five Star Audio
Producer	Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja chronology
Aadanthe Ado Type (2003) Pudhiya Geethai (2003) Thennavan (2003)

The songs were composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, 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 'Kavignar' Vaali, Pa. Vijay, Yugabharathi and Vijay Sagar. "Puthiya Geethai" remains Yuvan Shankar's first and only collaboration with Vijay.

Release

The satellite rights of the film were secured by Sun TV. The film was given a "U" certificate by the Indian Censor Board.

Reception

The film earned mostly negative 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."^[6] 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."^[7]

The film was disaster at box office for Vijay.^[8][9]

References

External links

• Pudhiya Geethai at the Internet Movie Database