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Pithamagan () is a 2003 Indian Tamil language-language action film crime drama film written and directed by Bala. The film stars Vikram, Suriya, Laila and Sangeetha Krish, with Karunas, Manobala and Mahadevan in supporting roles. In the film, a man raised in a graveyard with no understanding of the world forms a bond with a con artist.
Pithamagan was released on 24 October 2003. The film became a success and Vikram won numerous accolades for his performance, including the National Film Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. It was remade in Kannada as Anatharu (2007).
Sakthi is a con artist. He gets into trouble when he cons a woman named Manju into losing all her personal effects in a game of dice. Sakthi gets sent to jail thanks to Manju's detective work. He meets Chithan in prison and starts protecting him out of sympathy and pity. Chithan starts to reciprocate to Sakthi's kindness with blind loyalty.
Sakthi serves his term and then clashes with Sekar to get Chithan released from jail. Chithan gets out but commits a crime when he obeys his master's instruction to burn the body of a murder victim. Sakthi, realising that Chithan is being used as accessory in crimes that he cannot comprehend, prevents Chithan from going back to working in the marijuana fields. At the same time, a budding romance starts between Sakthi and Manju, and Chithan too starts to see a shared spirit in Gomathi.
The police catches wind of the murder and arrests Chithan. Sakthi gets Chithan to side with the police as an informant. Sekar later attacks and kills Sakthi and dumps his body in the middle of the road. Chithan does not understand that Sakthi is dead and zones out when everyone surrounds him. While Gomathi, Manju, and the others are crying, Gomathi sees Chithan's confusion as indifference and angrily drives him away from Sakthi's body.
Chithan slowly starts to understand that Sakthi is dead as he sees him on the funeral pyre. His realisation is complete when he wakes up in the morning next to the burnt remains of Sakthi's corpse. He experiences emotions that he has never experienced before: fury, agony, betrayal, and pain that he has never felt, and decides to take revenge on Sekar.
Chithan sets fire to the marijuana fields, lets Sekar experience the pain of his loss, and then sets upon destroying him physically. He drives him through the street, taking his time by breaking a few bones at a time until he is done toying with him. He then kills Sekar by biting his neck, and with nothing left to lose, leaves the village.
Film critic Baradwaj Rangan remarked, "Bala's ingeniousness is evident everywhere .... And he gets tremendous support from his leads...It all adds up to a first-rate film that excoriates as much as it entertains". Malini Mannath wrote in Chennai Online, "It's an off-beat, sensitive and a serious film, which may lack in commercial ingredients but which a discerning viewer will find a welcome change". Visual Dasan of Kalki praised the performances of lead actors, Bala's direction, also praising Balasubramaniam's cinematography and Ilaiyaraaja's music for working equally hard with director and concluded Pithamagan is not Vikram and Surya film, it is Bala's unique work.
| Best Actress | Laila |
| Best Character Artiste (Female) | Sangeetha Krish |
| Best Director – Tamil | Bala |
| Best Actor – Tamil | Vikram |
| Best Actress – Tamil | Laila |
| Best Supporting Actor – Tamil | Suriya |
| Best Supporting Actress – Tamil | Sangeetha |
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