A young pregnant lady walking in a crematorium suddenly screams because her contractions have begun. The undertaker takes charge of childbirth. No joyful cries are heard. The camera pans to the newborn covered in placenta and the umbilical cord remains dangling.
This is the beginning of Pitamagan when translated means “God’s own son”. This being Bala’s third film in a row which is a superhit, he has proved his mettle -- The only director to have the guts to attempt an offbeat subject and proceed in his own way and still acquire a satisfied audience. Pitamagan deals with a never before attempted subject --- that of an undertaker. Its strength does not lie in its story , but, on the strong characterisation of the various parts.
In short, the movie deals with four people, who meet, and then separate. Vikram is Chittan, a cremation ground worker, who is born and brought up in the burial grounds. Totally cut off from civilisation, Chittan does not know what it is to be human. His characteristics are animal-like and Vikram’s talking is restricted to just sounds, grunts and only four dialoges. In stark contrast is the character of Shakthi, played by Surya. Shakthi is a loquacious and lively conman. There is also Gomathi (Sangeetha), who is a drug peddler and Manju (Laila), a polytechnic student. Manju, after several humorous encounters with Shakthi, becomes romantically involved with him. As the movie proceeds, we see Shakthi and Chittan meet and it is Shakthi who brings out the humanness in Chittan. In course of time, Chittan responds by showing care and affection. It is with the aid of these four characters that the movie advances. They meet, grow to like and care about each other and ultimately separate.
Pitamagan is a director’s movie. The star of the film is the director. But, all the actors have done justice to their respective roles. No other actor would have attempted Vikram’s role. His lines are only various pitched sounds, runs and eats like an animal and appears in a tattered shirt all through the movie. He typically lives the role. Surya gives his maximum to the character Shakthi. He gives a wonderful performance manages to keep everyone in splits with his dialogues. Laila and Sangeetha have also given excellent performances. Simran’s cameo gives a break from the monotonous and serious second half.
Illayaraja’s music is lovely. The director has not given rrom to any kind of duets, and hence music is only in the background. It helps move the story further without having to disrupt it.
Nothing has to be said about the direction, since it is the best and a layman would be able to judge that from the movie.
In spite of all this, the movie has an almost abrupt ending and a violent climax. If seen from Chittan’s point of view, the climax is acceptable. It takes time for the viewer to accept the sorrow in the movie, by which time the film ends.
On the whole, a wonderful movie, though it couldn’t bring any tears to my eyes ( Maybe I am way too strong for tears;))