Moondru Mudichu

Moondru Mudichu (transl. The Three Knots) is a 1976 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama 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
Poster
Directed byK. Balachander
Produced byR. Venkataraman
Based onO Seeta Katha
by K. Viswanath
StarringKamal Haasan
Sridevi
Rajinikanth
Music byM. S. Viswanathan
CinematographyB. S. Lokanath
Edited byN. R. Kittu
Production
company
RMS Productions
Release date
  • 22 October 1976 (1976-10-22)
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

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

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 movies, has been in a fire accident which has left her face permanently scarred. Overnight, Selvi's life undergoes a drastic change.

Prasath becomes kind towards Selvi and she comes to his house and lives as a maid. Prasath lives with his father and his younger siblings. His father wants Selvi to marry Prasath. In an attempt to salvage her life, Selvi decides to marry Prasath's father in the absence of Prasath. 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 movie 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

Production

Moondru Mudichu is a remake of the 1973 Telugu film O Seeta Katha,[1] and was Rajinikanth's first major role in Tamil.[5] Kamal Haasan, who portrayed a negative role in O Seeta Katha's Malayalam remake Mattoru Seetha (1975), played a different role this time.[4] This was the first film where Sridevi played an adult character, despite being 13 years old.[6] She was paid ₹5000, Haasan was paid ₹30,000 and Rajinikanth was paid ₹2000.[7]

Soundtrack

The music for the film is scored by M. S. Viswanathan and lyrics by Kannadasan.[8]

NoTitleSingersDuration
1 Aadi Velli Jayachandran, Vani Jairam 03:46
2 Naanoru Kadhanayagi P. Susheela, L. R. Eswari 03:07
3 Vasantha Kaala Jayachandran, Vani Jairam, M. S. Viswanathan 03:20

Release

Moondru Mudichu was released on 22 October 1976 and became a success. Many of Prasath's traits became signature moves of Rajinikanth in his future films such as his tendency to flip cigarettes into his mouth, and critic Naman Ramachandran felt that with Prasath's recurring catchphrase "Theek Hai?" (Okay?), "the seed for future Rajini catchphrases had been sown."[9]

References
  1. Ramachandran 2014, p. 50.
  2. 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.
  3. Ramachandran 2014, p. 52.
  4. "மறக்க முடியுமா? மூன்று முடிச்சு". Dinamalar (in Tamil). 11 May 2020. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  5. Ramachandran 2014, p. 53.
  6. Narayan, Shoba (27 December 2014). "The rebels of Tamil cinema". Mint. Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  7. "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.
  8. "M. S. Viswanathan, Vijaya Bhaskar, Ilaiyaraaja, V. Kumar – Kuppathu Raja, Thappu Thalangal, Bairavi, Moondru Mudichu, Aval Appadithan, Sadhurangam, Ellam Un Kairasi". Discogs. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  9. Ramachandran 2014, p. 54.

Bibliography
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