Ethirum Puthirum

Ethirum Puthirum (transl. Different poles) is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language action-drama film directed by Dharani under his real name V. C. Ramani. Produced by G. S. Madhu, the film stars Mammootty, Napoleon, Sangita, and Manorama, while Goundamani, Senthil, and Nassar play supporting roles. The music was composed by Vidyasagar with editing by B. S. Nagarajan and cinematography by A. Karthik Raja. The film released on 4 March 1999, and won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Third Best Film.

Ethirum Puthirum
Poster
Directed by	V. C. Ramani
Written by	E. Ramdoss (dialogues)
Screenplay by	V. C. Ramani
Story by	E. K. Maharajan
Produced by	G. S. Madhu
Starring	Mammootty Napoleon Sangita Manorama
Cinematography	A. Karthik Raja
Edited by	B. S. Nagarajan
Music by	Vidyasagar
Production company	Madhu Film Internationals
Release date	4 March 1999 (1999-03-04)
Running time	165 mins
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

Kannan is a sincere district collector. A female leader of a major political party is kidnapped by terrorist Veeraiyan, and he promises to return her back if his injured brother Arasappan is treated well and brought back safely. The government agrees to this condition and asks Kannan to look after Arasappan. At first, Arasappan hates Kannan and his family as Kannan works for the government against whom his brother's group is rebelling, but the kindness showed by Kannan's wife Selvi and mother change his attitude. Just when he was about to turn over a new leaf, a bad thing occurs. The police team, without taking the necessary orders from Kannan, go to the forest and attack Veeraiyan's gathering. This angers Arasappan, but he was restrained by Kannan. The police accuses Kannan of having links with the terrorists as Arasappan ran away from his house and Kannan condemned the police action; hence, they arrest Kannan's wife and mother (Kannan ran away to find Arasappan). Hearing this sad news, Arasappan himself surrenders to the police as he did not want them to suffer for him, but the police do not spare him despite his surrender.

Cast

• Mammootty as Collector Kannan
• Napoleon as Arasappan
• Sangita as Selvi
• Manorama as Kannan's mother
• Goundamani as Auto Driver
• Senthil as Eshwar
• Nassar as Veeraiyan
• Charan Raj as Devaraj
• Radhika as Dr. Jayanthi
• Sangili Murugan as Panchayat Thalaivar
• Uday Prakash as Inspector
• Perarasu as Doctor
• Shanmugasundaram
• Madhan Bob
• Kumarimuthu
• Pushpavanam Kuppusamy^[1]
• Raju Sundaram (special appearance in "Thottu Thottu Pesum Sultana")
• Simran (special appearance in "Thottu Thottu Pesum Sultana")

Production

Ethirum Puthirum is the directorial debut of Dharani.^[2] The film was initially titled Master and production delays postponed the film's release by a couple of years. Soundarya was the original choice for the female lead role, while the item number done by Simran was initially offered to actress Rambha, who wanted better pay.^[3][4]

Soundtrack

Music was composed by Vidyasagar and the lyrics were penned by Vairamuthu.^[5] The song "Thottu Thottu Pesum Sultana" became a chartbuster,^[6] and received renewed attention after featuring in Good Bad Ugly (2025).^[7]

Track listing

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Thottu Thottu Pesum Sultana"	Swarnalatha, Pushpavanam Kuppusamy	4:44
2.	"Kathu Pasanga"	Pushpavanam Kuppusamy, Malaysia Vasudevan, Anuradha Sriram, Gopal Rao	5:06
3.	"Nilavonnu Pathikichhu"	Hariharan, Swarnalatha	4:40
4.	"Maruthaani Thottu"	Sujatha Mohan, Malaysia Vasudevan	4:32
5.	"Ellorukkum Oru"	Gopal Rao	3:34
Total length:			22:38

Release and reception

The film was initially scheduled to release on 19 October 1998 to coincide with Diwali, but was delayed by five months.^[8] Prior to the theatrical release of the film, pirated copies were released and streamed on television, which ultimately affected the profitability of the film.^[9] D. S. Ramanujam of The Hindu wrote, "Though the crux of Maharajan's story is simple, the director, with his screenplay, ably supported by E. Ramdass's dialogue, has worked out enough absorbing situations."^[10] The film won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Third Best Film.^[11]