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Moondru Mudichu

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Moondru Mudichu
Poster
Directed byK. Balachander
Screenplay byK. Balachander
Based onO Seeta Katha
by K. Viswanath
Produced byR. Venkataraman
StarringKamal Haasan
Sridevi
Rajinikanth
CinematographyB. S. Lokanath
Edited byN. R. Kittu
Music byM. S. Viswanathan
Production
company
RMS Productions
Release date
  • 22 October 1976 (1976-10-22)
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil
Budget₹10 lakh[1]

Moondru Mudichu (transl. The three knots) is a 1976 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film directed and co-written by K. Balachander. A remake of the Telugu film O Seeta Katha (1973), it stars Kamal Haasan, Sridevi and Rajinikanth. The film revolves around an 18-year-old girl and two roommates who fall in love with her.

Moondru Mudichu marked Sridevi's first leading adult role at the age of 13, and Rajinikanth's first major role in Tamil. It was released on 22 October 1976 and became a success.

Plot

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Balaji and Prasath are roommates in a city. Balaji falls in love with 18-year-old Selvi, who lives in the same apartment complex. Prasath, who has his eyes on Selvi, pretends to back Balaji's love while secretly hoping to create a divide between them. Selvi realises Prasath's evil intentions when she finds out that he has seduced an innocent girl living in the same apartment complex. However, she is unable to convince Balaji, who hero-worships Prasath. Things come to a head when Balaji and Selvi go for a picnic by the lake and Balaji decides to invite Prasath along. As the three of them head to the middle of the lake on a boat, Balaji topples over by mistake. Prasath refuses to jump in and save Balaji, on the pretext that he does not know swimming. A devastated Selvi returns home to another shock: her sister, who plays small roles in films, has been in a fire accident which has left her face permanently scarred. Overnight, Selvi's life undergoes a change.

Selvi comes across an advertisement in the paper for a second marriage to a wealthy man with four kids and applies for the same. However, the elderly person refuses to marry a young girl and asks her to take care of the kids instead. Impressed by her service, he decides to marry her to his eldest son, who, unknown to her, was Prasath. Seeing Selvi in his house seems like a deer in the lion's den for Prasath, who visits his father during the weekend. Prasath tries his best to convince his father for his marriage with Selvi and fixes the date. In meantime chasing Selvi, Prasath goes to Selvi house and spots the burnt face of her sister. Unable to see the face, he returns immediately. The sister, humiliated by Prasath's act, commits suicide, leaving Selvi with no one in the world. In an attempt to salvage her life, Selvi decides to marry Prasath's father in the absence of Prasath, before he returns the next weekend. After her marriage to Prasath's father, she decides to use her 'mother' status to exact revenge on Prasath and gives him a shock when he returns.

The film ends with lines in Tamil, roughly translating to: "When it is time for a seed to sprout, if the conscience cannot empathise; and only after the incident, is the conscience present! When conscience grapples with oneself for selfish ends; in the evildoer's eyes, his madness will be his conscience!"

Cast

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Production

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Moondru Mudichu is a remake of the 1973 Telugu film O Seeta Katha.[2] Jayabharathi was offered to play a negative role but did not accept, resulting in Rajinikanth being cast.[7] It was Rajinikanth's first major role in Tamil.[8] Kamal Haasan, who portrayed a negative role in O Seeta Katha's Malayalam remake Mattoru Seetha (1975), played a different role this time.[5] This was the first film where Sridevi played an adult character, despite being 13 years old.[9] She was paid ₹5000, Haasan was paid ₹30,000 and Rajinikanth was paid ₹2000.[10] The budget of the film was ₹10 lakh (equivalent to ₹3.0 crore or US$360,000 in 2023).[1]

Soundtrack

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The soundtrack was composed by M. S. Viswanathan and lyrics were by Kannadasan.[11]

Track listing
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Aadi Velli"P. Jayachandran, Vani Jairam3:46
2."Naanoru Kadhanayagi"P. Susheela, L. R. Eswari3:07
3."Vasantha Kaala"P. Jayachandran, Vani Jairam, M. S. Viswanathan3:20
Total length:10:13

Release and reception

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Moondru Mudichu was released on 22 October 1976, Diwali day.[12][13] Kanthan of Kalki called the pre-interval portions better than the post-interval ones.[14] The film became a success, and many of Prasath's traits became signature moves of Rajinikanth in his future films such as his tendency to flip cigarettes into his mouth; critic Naman Ramachandran felt that with Prasath's recurring Hindi catchphrase "Theek Hai?" (transl. Okay?), "the seed for future Rajini catchphrases had been sown."[13]

References

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  1. ^ a b Subramanian, Anupama (27 June 2016). "From small screen to big screen". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 17 February 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Ramachandran 2014, p. 50.
  3. ^ Narayan, Hari (25 February 2018). "Sridevi: a picture of divine grace". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  4. ^ Ramachandran 2014, p. 52.
  5. ^ a b "மறக்க முடியுமா? மூன்று முடிச்சு". Dinamalar (in Tamil). 11 May 2020. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  6. ^ "' 'கிழக்கே போகும் ரயில்' படத்துல நடிக்க பாரதிராஜா என்னைத்தான் கூப்பிட்டார்; நான் முடியாதுன்னு சொல்லிட்டேன்!' - நடிகர் சிவசந்திரன் பிரத்யேகப் பேட்டி". Hindu Tamil Thisai (in Tamil). 3 May 2020.
  7. ^ "'21 ரூபாயுடன் படத்தைத் தொடங்கினேன்' - இயக்குநர் ஜெயபாரதி நேர்காணல்". Hindu Tamil Thisai (in Tamil). 4 August 2017. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  8. ^ Ramachandran 2014, p. 53.
  9. ^ Narayan, Shoba (27 December 2014). "The rebels of Tamil cinema". Mint. Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  10. ^ "Did you know Sridevi was paid more than Rajinikanth for 'Moondru Mudichu'?". The Times of India. 26 February 2018. Archived from the original on 21 November 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  11. ^ "Moondru Mudichchu Tamil Film EP Vinyl Record by M S Viswanathan". Mossymart. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  12. ^ "தீபாவளி பண்டிகையும் ரஜினியின் அதிரடி ஹிட் படங்களும்!". Kungumam (in Tamil). 31 October 2021. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  13. ^ a b Ramachandran 2014, p. 54.
  14. ^ காந்தன் (21 November 1976). "மூன்று முடிச்சு". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 39. Archived from the original on 28 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.

Bibliography

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