User reviews

An absolutely fantastic movie, to say the least!! This movie is the stand-out proof, if any were required, that Tamil cinema has been there on top with the best in the world when it comes to meaningful n powerful contributions to cinema.

It's a simple story about an extraordinary man and his relationships with a perfectly ordinary world. Sitthan is a child of the graves, born in a cemetery and lived there all his life until one day, as a grown man he is forced to step out into the world. He is caught in times he does not understand. He is totally and believably unaware of such concepts as money, the police and dining etiquette. What he does possess is an animal instinct to survive.

A street-side drug seller takes him into her fold and gets him employed in a cannabis farm. The rest of the story revolves around how he meets Shakthi, a conman who becomes his friend for life and how the two proceed through their collective lives.

The movie is commendable in in many ways. Vikram gives a stellar National Award-winning performance as Sitthan. Almost dialog-less throughout the movie, he excels in every scene, emoting complex sentiments easily through gestures and grunts. His body language is compelling, almost prehistoric and carries a hint of an unspoken raw terror. The scenes where he mauls the policemen are brutal but bloodless. In one scene where he is hung on a rod like a captured tiger, he sends a growl into the face of a policemen, with such intensity it evokes unpleasant memories of Hannibal Lecter. Simply superb.

The rest of the cast delivers the goods too. Shakti, played by Surya as the one soul who understands Sitthan is touching and convincing. The ladies are largely soulful. The direction by Bala is splendid, taking the story along with effortless ease. The fight sequences with Vikram butchering everyone are chillingly choreographed to incessant wild grunting. Though the editing could have been a lot slicker, the camera work is pretty good.

The only scenes where the movie goes off track are the scenes with Simran and her hip-shakes. A totally unnecessary song-dance sequence. Also, Laila, playing Shakti's love interest, overdoes it at several occasions. But Vikram drowns it all.

On the whole, a fantastic movie that delivers the slow-paced caffeine of a classic.

I heard a lot about this movie but watched it probably because sometimes when i heard a lot about any movie i get a little biased towards watching it, as all the talk about it irritates me. I made a mistake in watching this movie earlier. 'Awesome' is an understatement. What attracted me towards this movie was the first time combination of two South Indian stars Vikram and Surya(both my favorite) of the three superstars(Vijay, Vikram and Surya). Vikram as usual gives an outstanding performance as mentally challenged undertaker, on the other hand Surya and Laila leaves no stone unturned to show their own skills and make movie better. The story in some good movie takes a second place to the characters, Pithamagan is one such movie.

Watch it for Surya-Vikram duo, rest is just extra gift to you.

True details of life of a shamshaan dweller who is orphan so grows up as wild and uncultured He somehow makes a friend who cares for him but Society evils separates them Then he takes his revenge.

Plot is simple but the way story was told is brilliant and you will be lost in that world Go watch it now !!

Practically everyone of the main characters were brilliant. I liked the innocent and happy play of Suryan and Laila very much which contrasted nicely with the darker nature of the movie. Even Simran's dance was very good - no elaborate glamor, just plain and simple dance elements - I found it breathtaking. The characters were powerful yet realistic and believable. The police, the jailors, the rich, corrupt guys, the helplessness of poor people caught in these dynamics. Its such a relief to have a director who is original, strong, secure, no need not to copy from Hollywood. Bollywood is so bereft of ideas that no movie can survive without some item number, trying to cover up empty movies with technical whizbang - see the movie Race for example. Absolutely marvelous movie.

bala delivered movie of lifetime in sethu....but now one would say he hasn't....pithamagan may well take the cake...casting cant be more perfect...music and the bg is out of the world in the true sense....and vikrams performance is outrageous...human relations is conceived in a manner that only bala can.... i would say the story,the plot,the characters and every atom involved in making this film travels along with chittan and they reach their destination or destiny rather abruptly....the scene when chittan breaks down for the first time in his life is so dramatic and real....bala is a genius in conceiving very bizarre stories with conviction and trueness....pithamagan a must watch...

What a fantastic movie.. Awesome act by vikram .and Surya. All cast supervvvvv

Vikram is like Aparichit, I. He is one of the finest action heroes in history. Suriya is also another one, can be considered as the 2nd action heroes. However, everyone did very well delivery. Especially the environment. Direction is top quality. A masterpiece. A tragedy.

This movie is my one of the favourite movie I'm watch this movie 259 times

Good Movie. Suriya, Vikram and everybody acted very well in the mvie. Songs and BGM in the movie were good. The movie had many vulgar scenes which made the movie violent. The movie had some unwanted scenes which made the movie somewhat lagging. Good Movie.

Love this movie. Both have super acting. Full entertainments.

Pithamagan (2003) : Brief Review -

Chiyaan Vikram goes completely berserk and Suriya goes totally nasty in this soulful action drama. Pithamagan is typical South action flick with out of the hands characters. It's very easy to write an action flick with two heroes and one antagonist by mixing several filmy conflicts in it but it's not easy to have a mad character leading the ship. Pithamagan experiments with the leading actor and designs a solid emotional surroundings. At the same time, it shows you the second hero with completely opposite features from the mad one. That works on some level hence Pithamagan ends up well on its own zone. The film is about Chittan, a social outcast who has grown up in a cemetery. A drug dealer finds him a job in a cannabis farm but he gets caught by the cops In prison, he meets a kind-hearted conman, Shakti. This friendship transforms him from his stony existence and then tragedy strikes at them. Chiyaan Vikram plays Chittan with utter brutality. He is terrific in the role and goes on to cross the barriers of compromises set by other actors in Action Genre. No wonder why he won the national award for his performance, he was actually beyond any award credits. On the other side, Suriya is damn funny and entertaining as Shakti. Whenever he appears on screen, a grin smile on your face is generated naturally. Don't know why, but whenever he was about to speak something i found myself laughing already, i mean even before listening to his dialogues. Remember that formula of attraction between two opposite sides? It works so fine here. Bala's direction is good but nothing special. Even the film good but nothing like a classic at all. I am shocked to see such a high rating to this film. Anyways, i enjoyed it and that's enough.

RATING - 6.5/10*

By - #samthebestest.

It's about an outcasts who gets accepted by a man. Both become friends. Both share different adventures and their bond gets strengthened. Further his friend gets killed by the outcast's employer. Then he takes revenge and become outcast again. The film's story was a good one but stayed undeveloped esp in detailing aspects of society and the emotionalism of characters.

Vikram is wild as an outcast. He is like a demon suddenly out of hell to the mainstream. He talks nothing, knows nothing, just growls to express emotion like an animal. This characterisation is very immaturedly shown. Its unbelievable. It should have been suggestively shown as an evil or flatly to point out what is socially incomprehensive. Apart from that there is nothing interesting going on in the movie. It's the same routine of going here and there, working, talking, funny business etc. Only Vikram's character is the bright point. Only he lifts up the movie. It was needed a few subplots to represent the truth of such outcasts people, but a lot remained left out regarding this. The scene where Vikram felt care for the first time is a good one, a bit emotional. Violence is not compromised at all, seems made only for southerners, not for all.

The film is pessimistic, with an unhappy ending where friendship is broken at the end, families shattered and love lost. Vikram is violent and only acts human for his loved one, none others, not even for a beautiful women. He is kind of complex character who even has a double side, chanting hymns for the those who leaves the world in isolation. Almost all of the film reflects the rural mindset, connected to the soil though and undeveloped in thoughts and actions. Only some will be it's hardcore fans. A 4/10.

A 37 on a scale of 100 due to cautious presentations.

This is how a movie should be made. It is perfect in each and every aspect of filmmaking. Beginning with characterization, story, camera, acting, music, cinematography, dialogues, and comedy, everything is top notch, and the director didn't even waste a single frame.

You will literally fall in love with these characters. It has a lot of nostalgic sequences that will give you goosebumps.

If you wish to watch a film that depicts Tamil culture in its 100% original form, please do watch this film at least once in your life. Especially, every Tamilian should watch it without missing.

If the movie had been released in the USA, it would have won at least five Oscars.

Today i watched this movie. I feel so good to watch.

It's a masterpiece with Vikram sir acting.there are many good movies with story and all other aspects but there will be only 1 in few years where you can find a acting performance masterpiece like this movie. Vikram sir takes a bow.sangeetha and Surya too outperform their roles,it's very challenging task with the storyline and characters they opted.must watch movie for the movie lovers.now a days it would be impossible for us to get these types of movies. I don't watch many movies but this movie drew me a satisfying movies experience with different genre with wonderful actors and thier performances.