Puthiya Vaarpugal

<p>Shanmugamani comes to a village as a school teacher. Around the same time, another woman comes there as a social activist. They meet occasionally and exchange pleasantries and books as they are educated, and share common interests. Shanmugamani meets Jothi, daughter of the village temple musician and they fall in love with each other. The village chief is a lecherous man. His stooge Amavasai is keen to marry Jothi, but Jothi’s father is uninterested in the proposal. When the chief sees Jothi, he lusts for her. Knowing about her love for Shanmugamani, he orders her to yield to his lust and threatens to fire Shanmugamani if she refuses. Jothi slaps him and the chief awaits an opportunity to take revenge. Meanwhile, Shanmugamani approaches Jothi’s father with his marriage proposal, and he accepts. Enraged with this development, the chief plots revenge. When the social activist visits the chief, he rapes and murders her, framing Shanmugamani. The chief alleges that the two had an illicit relationship; when she became pregnant, Shanmugamani killed her. The other villagers believe this and insult Shanmugamani. Though Jothi does not believe this, Shanmugamani leaves the village, leaving a note to Jothi that he would return to take her with him. When Jothi’s father and brother are away, he makes Amavasai enter her house without her knowledge. When she is asleep, he knocks on her door along with other villagers. An unaware Jothi opens and says there is no one in her house until Amavasai emerges; the chief alleges an illicit relationship between Amavasai and Jothi, and orders their wedding as a solution. Though aware of the chief’s plan, Jothi helplessly marries Amavasai, and her father dies shortly thereafter. Shanmugamani returns to take Jothi and learns about the wedding. When Amavasai is eager to celebrate his , the chief orders him to leave as he himself wants Jothi. Amavasai pleads to spare his wife, to no avail. When the chief approaches Jothi, she willingly comes to him and they hug, only for Jothi to stab the chief to death, just as Shanmugamani and Amavasai arrive. Amavasai feels guilty for cheating and marrying her, so he removes the he tied and asks her to live happily with Shanmugamani. Amavasai hides the chief’s corpse in a hay meant for torching during a festival and villagers burn it, oblivious to the corpse. Shamugamani and Jothi leave the village. After director scored three consecutive box-office hits: (1977), and (both 1978), his mentor asked if he would be interested in taking to film production for his fourth; he agreed. Bharathiraja’s then associate wrote the story of which Bharathiraja approved, making his debut as producer. Since the director did not have enough money, Gangadharan gave him an advance of (equivalent to 130,000 or US$1,500 in 2023). The film’s title was derived from the short story of the same name by . While Bharathiraja wrote the screenplay, wrote the dialogues. Cinematography was handled by and editing by R. Bhaskaran. is the film debut of the then 16-year-old ; Bharathiraja decided on her as the lead actress after watching her performance in a school play. Agnihotri’s father agreed to let her join the film after Bharathiraja promised to complete filming within a month. Bharathiraja said he chose Agnihotri because he wanted a woman who looked like a “sunflower in their midst”. It is also the first film for Bhagyaraj as lead actor. was originally considered, but Bharathiraja later decided on Bhagyaraj. According to Bharathiraja, he was not cast until the day before filming began. and were initially cast as the village chief and the female lead’s father respectively, but switched their roles. This is the debut film for . was cast after a successful audition, during which he recited a dialogue from (1954). made his acting debut with this film, and also worked as an assistant director. The song “Vaan Megangale” was filmed at . Filming was completed in 22 working days. Amaran dubbed Bhagyaraj’s voice as he was unavailable for dubbing sessions due to having to attend his mother’s funeral. Hema Malini dubbed Agnihotri’s voice. The music was composed by . The song “Vaan Megangale” is set to the , “Idhayam Poguthe” is set to , and “Thamthananam Thana” is set to . For the song “Idhayam Poguthe” he was inspired by the by . The songs were composed at President Hotel, . was released on 14 April 1979, during . rated the film 59 out of 100, saying the director presented the film without deviating from the path chosen and with intelligence and fineness. Naagai Dharuman of also gave the film a very positive review. The film was a success, and won two : , and (Bhagyaraj).</p>