Thillu Mullu
| Thillu Mullu | |
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 Thillu Mullu CD Cover |
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| Directed by | K. Balachandar |
| Produced by | J. Duraisamy |
| Written by | Visu Sachin Bhowmick |
| Starring | Rajinikanth Madhavi Nagesh Sowkar Janaki Poornam Viswanathan |
| Music by | M. S. Viswanathan |
| Release date(s) | 1 May 1981 |
| Running time | 160 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Thillu Mullu (Tamil: தில்லு முல்லு) is a 1981 Tamil comedy film starring Rajinikanth, Madhavi, 'Thengai' Srinivasan, Nagesh, Sowkar Janaki and music composed by M. S. Viswanathan. The film is directed by noted filmmaker, K. Balachander.The film is actually a remake of the Hindi Blockbuster comedy film Gol Maal released in 1979. The film became a blockbuster upon release and is in the top 10 Tamil movies made of all time.[1]
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[edit] Plot
Aiyampettai Arivudainambi Kaliyaperumal Chandran (for short, A.A.K. Chandran) (Rajinikanth) is a playful young man. Upon completion of his degree, his uncle (Poornam Viswanathan) advises him to attend an interview for a job at his friend Sri Ramachandramurthy's (Thengai Srinivasan) company. The doctor advises Chandran to act in a manner most appreciated by Sri Ramachandramurthy namely wearing a Nehru kurta, telling his full name always, giving importance to his moustache, showing a lack of interest in sports and drama, giving respect to his father's words (i.e., by repeating the phrase "My Father always told me" often) and detesting the concept of recommendations.
During the job interview, Chandran followed his uncle's advice perfectly and gets the job along with a beaming smile from his boss. However, Chandran eventually got caught when Sri Ramachandramurthy watches him at a football match, which he attends with his friends. He took leave on that day by telling his boss that his mother (who died many years ago) was in a serious medical condition. To escape from the ire of his boss and being fired, he makes his boss believe that it was his (fake) twin brother Indran (without a moustache) who was at the match and not himself. This idea was inspired by a dual-role played by his actor friend Nagesh (played by Nagesh himself) in a fictional movie where he is in two roles: one with a moustache and one without. Sri Ramachandramurthy (although not convinced but feeling guilty due to suspecting his top employee) wants to see Chandran's brother Indran as well as his mother and wanted Indran to teach music to his daughter Sarojini (Madhavi).
Chandran was startled at the request but agreed to it. He seeks his friend Nagesh for help. Nagesh advises Chandran to remove his moustache and go ahead acting as Indran. Chandran was reluctant to remove his moustache but goes ahead with it as there is no other way to continue the drama. The now moustache-less Indran was the anti-thesis of the Chandran as seen by Sri Ramachandramurthy. Indran takes music classes for Sri Ramachandramurthy's daughter Sarojini and the two fall in love.
For most of the rest of the movie Chandran was leading a dual life: a sincere hardworking employee to his boss and a typical cool young guy (Indran) while teaching music to his boss' daughter. The story takes an unexpected turn when Sri Ramachandramurthy meets socialite Meenakshi Doriasamy (Sowkar Janaki) who was then pretending to be Chandran's widowed mother. A series of rib-tickling and logic defying scenarios follow, all involving Sri Ramachandramurthy being fooled by Chandran. One scene leads to another and eventually Sri Ramachandramurthy wants to marry off his daughter to Chandran (she knows the truth about the fake Indran by then).
But in the pre-climax Sri Ramachandramurthy finds out that he was fooled (although the extent of his knowledge was no way near to what actually happened before that scene) and, in a fit of rage, chases Chandran across Madras to kill him. Due to his rash driving, it appears as if he might have crippled Chandran's sister during the hilarious chase scene.
In the climax actor Kamal Hassan makes a cameo appearance as a fake lawyer who wants to sue Sri Ramachandramurthy on Chandran's behalf. Sri Ramachandramurthy was, for the most part, scared during the lawyer's monologue but, in the end, realized that he was being fooled again — this time by the lawyer. At this point all the main characters approach Sri Ramachandramurthy and begin to narrate to him the truth (for example Chandran's sister was not actually crippled). Disillusioned, a visibly confused and shaken Sri Ramachandramurthy locks himself in a room, only to come out clean shaven after a few minutes, feeling that he doesn't need something which was only a couple of inches long but which caused so much trouble.
When lamenting to his God Murugan about his foolishness, the picture of Lord Murugan changes into that of the elephant God Vinayagar; a voice from heaven (Lord Vinayaga's) apologizes to Sri Ramachandramurthy as he was also one of the people involved in fooling him for so long!
[edit] Cast
- Rajnikanth as Ayyampettai Arivudainambi Kaliyapperumal(AAK) Chandran / Indiran
- Madhavi as Sarojini
- Thengai Srinivasan as Sri Ramachandramurthy
- Sowkar Janaki as Meenakshi Doraiswamy
- Nagesh as Nagesh
- Kamal Hassan as a drama artist who acts as a lawyer
- Poornam Viswanathan as a family friend and doctor
- Viji Chandrasekhar as Chandran' sister (Uma)
- Lakshmi (actress) and Prathap K. Pothan in guest appearances
[edit] Soundtrack
- "Raagangal Pathinaaru" - S. P. Balasubramaniam
- "Thillu Mullu" - S. P. Balasubramaniam
- "Antha Neram Poruthirunthal" - Uma Ramanan
- "Thangangale Thambigale" - Malaysia Vasudevan
[edit] Reception
Like the original, this film was also very well received during its theatrical run and has since become a classic film in Tamil cinema.
[edit] Trivia
- Kamal Haasan plays his real-life actor-lawyer brother Charu Hassan in the film. He appears alongside several junior artists during the climax of the movie.
- Kamal will be seen wearing spectacles during the climax. However, his spectacles, does not have glasses in it.
- This is Madhavi's first Tamil movie. The actress would later go on to become very popular in Tamil filmdom.
- This movie is Rajinikanth's first full-length comedy. Reportedly, he agreed to it solely due to the strong suggestion by his mentor, K.Balachander. Balachander suggested that Rajinikanth should do non-commercial roles, to break the stereotyped action-hero mould for which he was getting famous at that time. The movie went on to become one of the biggest hits of the year and is now an accepted classic, regarded by many as Rajni's best comedy. The first scene of A.A.K.Indiran character, is one of the best stylish intro of a hero in tamil cinema history.
- Upon release, both the moustachioed carefree character (a typical Rajini character) and the clean shaven alter-ego (a break from stereotype) were extremely well received.
- Actor-Director Visu appears in a cameo role during a film-shooting scene. In some scenes his voice can be heard.
