Deiva Thirumagal (Eng: God’s Daughter) is a 2011 Indian Tamil language musical comedy drama film written and directed by A. L. Vijay and produced by M. Chinthamani and Ronnie Screwvala that features Vikram in the lead role as a mentally challenged adult with the maturity of a six-year-old boy, while Sara Arjun, Anushka Shetty, Amala Paul and Nassar portray other pivotal roles. Deiva Thirumagal comprises director Vijay’s ‘regular’ technical crew with G. V. Prakash Kumar as music composer, Nirav Shah as cinematographer and Anthony as editor. Audiography was done by M. R. Rajakrishnan. The film released on 15 July 2011 along with a dubbed version in Telugu titled Nanna.
Krishna (Vikram) is intellectually disabled and has the mental ability of a 5-year-old. He lives a peaceful life in the hill station of Ooty. He is cared for by Victor (Krishna Kumar), the owner of a chocolate factory where Krishna works. One day, he excitedly announces to the village that he will become a father. That night, his daughter is born, but his wife Banumathy dies during childbirth. Unable to grasp the concept of death, he simply accepts that his wife has “gone to God” and starts life as a father. He names his daughter Nila and raises her with love and care. She soon grows into a happy young girl (Sara). With the help of Victor and his other mentally challenged friends, Krishna enrolls Nila in school.
Nila adjusts herself to school life and befriends the correspondent Shwetha Rajendran (Amala Paul), who develops a maternal bond with her. But when she sees Nila with Krishna and learns Nila is his daughter, she recognizes Krishna from a photo her sister had shown of her lover. She realizes Nila is her sister’s daughter. She then refuses to let Nila stay with her father as she is scared he might unknowingly do something to her. Soon, a scuffle starts between Krishna and Shwetha’s fiancé Karthik (Karthik Kumar). It is broken up by the entry of Shwetha’s father Rajendran (Sachin Khedekar), who reveals that his other daughter was Banumathy, who became estranged from him by choosing to marry Krishna. He offers to take Krishna and Nila with him and claims they are part of his family. Victor agrees and sends them with Rajendran.
(Start of film): At a distance from Chennai, Rajendran tricks Krishna into exiting the car and abandons him. Distraught, Krishna wanders around the city asking passersby where Nila is. He eventually arrives at a court, where he meets lawyer Vinod (Santhanam) who assumes he is rich, and promises him his boss will defend him. He introduces him to his boss/colleague Anuradha Ragunathan (Anushka Shetty), who is hesitant to take up the case as she believes Krishna to be a lunatic. But soon, Victor arrives and explains Krishna’s predicament (see flashback), and moved to tears, Anu agrees to help him.
She files a case against Rajendran but loses hope when she learns Rajendran’s lawyer is Bashyam (Nassar), a feared senior lawyer who has never lost a case. The case is then heard in the high court, with both parties arguing to the child’s custody. Finally, Bashyam asks Krishna about how he can raise his daughter then to support her financially. Then after a quick show of father-daughter connection and affection, Bashyam withdraws and loses the case voluntarily. Giving Krishna his custody of his daughter, Bashyam leaves the court. After spending some time with his daughter, Krishna then takes her back to Shwetha so she will be raised financially stable and that she can become a doctor when she grows up. He returns to work at Victor’s chocolate factory.
Directed by A. L. Vijay
Produced by M. Chinthamani & Ronnie Screwvala
Written by A. L. Vijay
Based on I Am Sam by Kristine Johnson and Jessie Nelson
Starring Vikram, Sara Arjun, Anushka Shetty, Amala Paul, Nassar, Santhanam
Music by G. V. Prakash Kumar
Cinematography Nirav Shah
Edited by Anthony
Production Sree Rajakaliamman Medias
Distributed by UTV Motion Pictures
Release date 15 July 2011
Running time 166 minutes
Country India
Language Tamil
