Mugaputhagam
Mugaputhagam is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language short comedy drama film co-written and directed by Atlee and starring Sivakarthikeyan, Sathish, Suryaa Balakumaran, Karna and Sneha Murali.
Plot
The short film starts off with Murali talking to Kavitha aka "Bujju", an unknown woman that he met online, and coming to the spot they agreed to meet on his motorbike. A perpetrator named Sathish tells Murali how he catfished him using his Korean phone that had voice changing options. Murali is later attacked by Sathish and his goons at the Velachery railway station. When Sathish's men ask him if Murali will turn them over to the police, he tells them not to worry.
Jeeva Murali and Aarthi Manohaar meet via Facebook. Jeeva hangs out with his friends, Sathish, Surya and "Courier" Karna, who each aspire to fall in love and Surya even unsuccessfully tries his luck with a Chinese girl named Jing Chak. One day, Aarthi agrees to send Jeeva her photo, but he is dumbfounded when she sends him a random girl much to the amusement of his friends. After Jeeva's friend, Sathish, reads a newspaper article about Murali's incident, Jeeva receives a phone call from Aarthi asking Jeeva to meet up at the backside of the same railway station that Murali was attacked. For safety purposes, Jeeva brings a thug who decides to bring other henchman he knows in other to protect him. To Jeeva's surprise, when he turns around Aarthi is in fact standing behind him. Jeeva asks her why she didn't send her photo the other day, and she tells him that some things are better told in person. Aarthi's friend reveals to Jeeva that Aarthi is in fact blind.
Production
Atlee, who felt that Sivakarthikeyan would be a good actor, called him to act in Mugaputhagam. The film was initially conceived as a feature film before it was made as a short film.
Themes and influences
The short film highlighted the effect that Facebook had on the youth by showcasing male perpetrators catfishing unsuspected men by posing as women interested in romantic relationships. The theme of putting "spotlight on crimes around women followed by wishful justice" was followed in Atlee's future work. The short film also highlighted how one shouldn't be ableist in love.
Marketing
Despite being a short film, both a teaser and trailer were released on YouTube. The teaser features Sivakarthikeyan telling the audience what a book is, its effect on making a human complete, and how the book of love is Facebook. The teaser was released on 4 November 2010. The trailer, which features the four friends characters, reveals their names, and hints at the plot, was released on 26 December 2010.
Music
The music was composed by Vishal Chandrashekhar under the stage name of Nandha.
Release
The film was screened at AVM Studios in Vadapalani, Chennai on 14 February 2011 with Balakumaran appearing as the chief guest.
Reception
A critic from CDTV.in rated the film 3.5/5 and wrote, "Mugaputhagam is a variety concept embedded with essentials like comedy, friendship, love and all other aspects necessary for a good entertaining film". A critic from the UK-based Thamarai wrote, "This has to be one of the best Tamil short films on the net". The short film was also positively received by the audience on various social media due to having a 'strong message for the youth'. In 2024, Scott Campbell of Far Out wrote that this short film "outlined that he was more than ready to strike out on his own".