Paruthiveeran () is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Ameer. The film stars Karthi in his feature film debut as the title character, with Priyamani as the female lead and Ponvannan, Saravanan, Ganja Karuppu, Sampath Raj, and Sujatha Sivakumar playing supporting roles. Produced by Studio Green, it features a soundtrack and score composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, cinematography by Ramji and editing by Raja Mohammad. The film was remade into Bengali Bangladesh as PoraMon 2 (2018).
Paruthiveeran was entirely shot in Madurai and its surroundings. After two years of making, the film was released on 23 February 2007 and received universal critical acclaim. The female lead of this film Priyamani has won the National Film Award for Best Actress (2006) for her brilliant and intense performance as a gang rape victim. In this film Priyamani's voice modulation and the dialogue delivery in Madurai Tamil accent is considered as the finest performance output given by an actress in the Tamil film industry till date. The film won prizes at major film award ceremonies in India, including two National Film Awards, six Filmfare Awards South and two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, among others, whilst being screened at several international film festivals such as the Berlin International Film Festival and the Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema as well. It also emerged a huge commercial success, running successfully for more than one year in theatres.
Plot
The story is set in a rural area around Madurai in the village called Paruthiyur, which still practices caste segregation.
Paruthiveeran is a country brash whose inter-caste parents were ostracized by the villagers since his upper caste father married his lower caste mother. After his parents' death, Paruthiveeran was mostly raised by his doting paternal uncle Chevvaazhai, who pampers and accompanies him in every misbehavior to keep him happy. Having grown up among his mother's people, he is often arrested for petty crimes. His one ambition in life is to gain enough notoriety to be on TV news and to be thrown into Madras Jail. He often bullies Paruthiyur villagers for money and fun.
Paruthiveeran's cross cousin Muththazhagu is the daughter of his snobbish uncle who is a respected member of the village's council and a caste sectarian. Muththazhagu has been in love with Paruthiveeran since childhood, but he remains unmoved and keeps her at bay. When they were children, Paruthiveeran saved Muththazhagu from drowning in a well. She promised to marry him and be by his side forever and starts to love him against her parents' will as they do not approve of Parututhiveeran's inter-caste background. In order to delay her marriage with anybody else, she fails in her tests at school on purpose to be in the same grade class as Paruthiveeran. At times, Paruthiveeran is violent towards her, but she still loves him. When Paruthiveeran finally accepts Muththazhagu's love for him and decides to marry her, the feud between the two families comes in the way.
Determined to marry Muththazhagu, he warns her against marrying anyone else by threatening to cut her into pieces. Undeterred by his threats, her parents press ahead with the preparations for her marriage with a boy of their choice. Since Muththazhagu is not able to convince her parents otherwise, she runs away from home in order to elope with Paruthiveeran. However, while hiding away in an abandoned building while Paruthiveeran is away making necessary arrangements, she comes across four of Paruthiveeran's acquaintances who mistake her for one of his prostitutes. They brutally gang rape her and leave her to die.
Later, Paruthiveeran returns and finds her dying. She beseeches Paruthiveeran to cut her into pieces as she does not want anybody to find her in her present state. Paruthiveeran, on her request, chops her corpse into pieces. While walking away in a neurotic state, he is found by Muththazhagu's father Kazhuvathevan and her other relatives. Assuming him to be her kidnapper and killer, they beat him to death.
Cast
Karthi as Paruthiveeran
Priyamani as Muththazhagu
Ponvannan as Kazhuvan (Muththazhagu's father) Saravanan as Chevvaazhai (Paruthiveeran's uncle) Sujatha Sivakumar as Muththazhagu's mother Ganja Karuppu as Douglas Sampath Raj as Marudhu (Paruthiveeran's father) Panjavarnam as Mangayee Ammulu as Kuraththi Sevvalai Rasu as Ponanthinni Mu Ramaswamy as Singer in Iyyayo song