Muthu

Muthu (1995) : Brief Review -

Rajinikanth's masala flick gives a fine twist to Mohanlal's Thenmavin Kombath. Muthu is a remake of the Malayalam hit starring Mohanlal, but features a different climax twist. The twist, in my view, is satisfying and adds an emotional layer to the film. The backstory makes the kind of sense we've always appreciated in melodramas over the years, and for South Indian cinema, it stands as one of the major aspects of commercial potboilers. Muthu works for Zamindar Raja, and both end up falling in love with the same girl. Raja wishes to marry Ranganayaki, but she is in love with Muthu. Muthu's rival tricks Raja into believing that Muthu is threatening Ranganayaki to marry him, leading Raja to confront him as a betrayer. Heartbroken, Muthu leaves the palace-until a twist changes everything for Muthu and Raja. What's that twist? You'll have to watch the film to find out. Just like Thenmavin Kombath, this is an entertaining romantic comedy that keeps you engaged and smiling throughout. The screenplay never drags, and the ending maintains a brisk pace. The music adds grandeur and colour to this vibrant film. Rajinikanth steps into full entertainment mode right from the first minute-action, comedy, romance, drama, emotional beats-his character gets it all. Meena looks breathtaking as the queen and even more charming in her simpler look. Sarath Babu delivers a decent performance, while Jaya Bharathi is top-notch. The cinematography and editing are good, with production values up to the mark. The action scenes have style and substance, though nothing new or too impressive. K. S. Ravikumar injects a surprise element into Priyadarshan's Malayalam superhit, transforming it into a fresh Tamil superhit. Overall, it's a complete family entertainer that pleases both Rajini fans and neutral viewers.

RATING - 6/10*

By - #samthebestest.

I just wanted to check weather the movie passed the test of time, and it hasn't probably.

K S Ravikumar is one of the best directors of Tamil cinema. He clearly knows how to blend the commercial and content driven movies together to give a proper entertainment package. 'Panchatantiram', 'dasavatharam', 'padayappa' are some of my all time favorites and these movies have such amazing rewatch value. Its really amazing how superstar Rajnikanth can still entertain his fans with his same style, which he had 27 years ago. No one can deny the fact that the same narrative tropes and writing style are still used in Tamil cinema for a big stars movie(maybe in a little updated version). Its really surprising that the first half of the movie is very much inspired from the Malayalam movie 'thenmavin kombathu' directed by Priyadarshan, many scenes were just the same. AR Rahmans music is the one thing that stands out and not feel dated. Thillana thillana, and oruvan oruvan muthalali are songs which i still groove to.

K.S. Ravikumar remakes Priyadarshan's Thenmavin Kombath as a Rajinikanth vehicle, which is to say he makes it a different film entirely - brighter, brasher, the villains coming from outside rather than the complicated web of (alcoholic) self-loathing and class discrimination of the original. which isn't to say that it isn't a lovely film in its own right, a surprisingly gentle village set masala that retains an oddly intimate feel despite the lavish surroundings and a score from A.R. Rahman at a time where he could seemingly do no wrong.

Muthu paves the way in regards to romantic-comedy-action-drama-martial-arts musicals. The "chariot jump" sequence almost made me wet myself in laughter. Unbelievably hysterical. Is there an English version of this somewhere?

Truly fabulous! It is so nice to see that old Hollywood musicals of 40's and 50's are still alive and well in southern India. The music is really something to be remembered, too.