Suriya and Vikram’s 2003 Tamil blockbuster hit Pithamagan, directed by Bala, is all set to be remade in Hindi. Actor and filmmaker Satish Kaushik, who owns the Hindi remake rights of the film, will bankroll the remake.
Satish’s films Tere Naam, Hum Aapke Dil Main Rehte Hain, Hamaara Dil Aapke Paas Hai and Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai are remakes of south Indian films and were well received at the box office. Tere Naam, starring Salman Khan and the Hindi remake of Bala’s Tamil film Sethu which had starred Vikram, was well received by B-town audiences.
But Satish will not be directing the Hindi remake of Pithamagan due to some prior commitments. In an interview to Pune Mirror, Satish said, “I bought the rights of the film as it is an unusual and hard-hitting story. My hands are full of acting assignments at the moment, so I won’t direct it.”
Pithamagan was based on writer Jayakanthan’s short story Nandhavanathil Oru Aandi, revolving around the character of an undertaker. The Tamil film had two women leads – Laila and Sangeetha. Apart from them, the film had Karunas playing an important character and Simran doing a cameo as herself. Vikram’s performance as Chithan, a graveyard caretaker, will remain a remarkable milestone in his career. The film had music by Ilayaraja and cinematography by Balasubramaniem that brought the sylvan surroundings of Theni to audiences. Suresh Urs was in charge of the editing.
The film released alongside Vijay’s Thirumalai, Ajith’s Anjaneya and Arjun’s Ottran, coinciding with Deepavali in 2003. The film was later dubbed in Telugu as Sivaputrudu and released in 2004. It was remade in Kannada as Anatharu with Upendra and Darshan in the lead and released in 2007.
Pithamagan fetched one national award, six Filmfare awards and three state awards. Vikram bagged the National award and Tamil Nadu state award for Best Actor for his role.
(Content provided by Digital Native)