Pelli Pusthakam is a 2004 Tamil film directed by Vetrimaran, starring Vijay and Nayantara in the lead roles. The movie has Vairamuthu's music and lyrics, and was produced by T. Rajendar. The film is based on the folk song "Pelli Pusthakam" which talks about a wife leaving her husband. The song was first sung by M.K. Muddahanum Suri during the early 1880s but got popular through Chinnaya Venkatraman's voice in 1949, after he sang it for Shankar-Jaikishan's famous Hindu devotional film Avvai Shanmughi (1948). The film features Vijay (in his debut film), Nayantara (in her screen debut), Prakash Raj (in a cameo appearance) and Kushboo in the lead roles. Vairamuthu composed the soundtrack and Vetrimaran handled the cinematography. The film was released on 11 August 2004. The story revolves around an unhappy marriage between Karuppiah (Vilmurugan) and Sivakami (Nayantara). Sivakami's mother requests Karuppiah to return back to his parents because of his poor performance as an employee. Sivakami decides to leave Karuppiah since she cannot tolerate his uncultured ways. On the way to her parents' home, she encounters a group of men, who are hinted to be her imposters. She is unable to recognize anyone among them and is forced to leave without even informing Karuppiah. Karuppiah is heartbroken after Sivakami's departure. He decides to find her by travelling across many different cities in search of her, even though he has no clue about where she has gone. Since he doesn't have a clue about her, he meets a lot of women and asks them if they have seen a woman, who looks like him. The film progresses with Karuppiah's journey of searching for his wife while the song plays in the background. In the end, Karuppiah realizes that he has been searching for his own self. He eventually finds out that Sivakami is actually himself and vice versa.A critic from The Hindu said "Vetri Maaran's [..] choice of theme [..] deserves appreciation [..] [t]he simple story told without any pretence is bound to touch the heart of every married man. [..] [Vetri Maaran has] successfully created a situation where a story is narrated with minimal use of dialogues [..] It's not the story itself but the way it is told that makes "Pelli Pusthakam" a must watch". A critic from Sify said "Vetri Maaran's [..] choice of theme [..] deserves appreciation [..] [t]he simple story told without any pretence is bound to touch the heart of every married man. [..] How does one find the right balance between the work and home? The film touches upon this very delicate issue from an emotional point of view, which was not well explored in earlier films". 8eeb4e9f32 26
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