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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, 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 Chennai. 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 realizes Prasath's intentions when she finds out that he has seduced Menaka, 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 Selvi, Balaji and Prasath go for a picnic by the lake. Balaji topples over by accident. 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 Viswanathan, a wealthy man in Salem with four children, and applies for the same. However, Viswanathan refuses to marry a young girl like Selvi and asks her to take care of the kids instead. Impressed by her service, he requests her to marry his eldest son, who turns out to be none other than Prasath, who visits his father during the weekend.

Prasath continues to harass Selvi and orders her to marry him. He gives her a week to decide and returns to Chennai. In an attempt to salvage her life, Selvi successfully persuades Viswanathan to marry her before Prasath returns the next weekend. This puts Prasath in an uncomfortable situation, as Selvi taunts him back using her 'mother' status. Meanwhile, Selvi spots Menaka, who has given birth to Prasath's child, and brings them home and tries to convince Prasath to marry her, who rejects them.

Viswanathan accidentally finds out about the prior relationship between Prasath and Selvi and enacts an accident to make Prasath agree to his immoral past. Prasath repents for his mistakes and agrees to marry Menaka.

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.[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$350,000 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 appreciated the film for its cast performances, and 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 "Teek 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. Archived from the original on 2 September 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  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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