There are four songs in Tamil director Bala’s bleak and devastating Pithamagan (2003), and one is especially unforgettable.
The film begins with Piraiye Piraiye, which beautifully charts out the life of a social outcast (Vikram) who has grown up in a cemetery, and ends with KJ Yesudas’s macabre Adadaa Aghangaara. Amidst these sombre numbers, one tune provides a respite from the overall grimness: Elangathu Veesudhe, an ode to an unlikely brotherhood and the stirrings of love.
Based on acclaimed Tamil writer Jayakanthan’s short story Nandavanthil Oar Aandi, Pithamagan (Son of Ancestors) sketches the unusual friendship between Chithan (Vikram) and Sakhti (Suriya). Also starring Laila and Sangeetha, Pithamagan is the most searing of the director’s films about socially and economically marginalised characters, including Sethu (1999), Nandha (2001) and Avan Ivan (2013).
The cemetery is all that Chithan knows. He has been raised alongside burning corpses and grows up with speech defects and severely damaged social skills. When Chithan meets the swaggering Sakthi, a swindler with a heart of gold, the two forge a solid friendship, one that considerably humanises Chithan.
Ilaiyaraaja’s soft beats in Elangathu Veesuthe chart the quasi-family unit that is formed by Chithan, Shakthi, Manju (Laila) and Gomathi (Sangeetha). The song is a spot of colour in an otherwise dark narrative. Balasubramanyam’s camera skillfully captures the friendhsip between Chithan and Sakthi through bus, train and cycle rides. Sakthi makes a man out of the untamed Chithan, teaching him to eat properly, brush his teeth and even smile. Gomathi’s unspoken attraction towards Chithan also emerges through the song.
Carnatic singer Sriram Parthasarathy’s classical roots blend effortlessly with Ilaiyaraaja’s tune. The lyrics by Pazhani Bharathi are a testament to the brotherly bond between the men: “Nothing is alone in this world, just like the melody joins the flute, and the fragrance the flower.” Tragedy, however, lurks around the corner, leading to one of the most horrific climaxes in Indian cinema.
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