Muthu (Tamil: முத்து) is a 1995 Tamil film directed by K.S. Ravikumar. The film's score and soundtrack is composed by A. R. Rahman. The film stars Rajinikanth, Meena, Raghuvaran, Sharath Babu, Radharavi, Senthil and Vadivelu. The film was a big blockbuster and won a very huge applause due to its screenplay and direction. It also enjoyed commercial success upon release.

The film was dubbed in Telugu under the same title. The film was later released in Japanese as Muthu Odoru Maharaja (ムトゥ 踊るマハラジャ^?) which means Muthu - The Dancing Maharaja. The film was also dubbed in Hindi as Muthu Maharaja and was distributed by Eros Labs. The film became the biggest ever hit in Japan when released in the country in 1998.^{[citation needed]} The movie fetched millions of Japanese fans for Rajinikanth.

[edit] Plot

A lavish Maharaja (Rajinikanth) lived with his sister-in-law and stepbrother Rajasekhar (Raghuvaran), helping people incessantly. His sister-in-law has a son, to whom the Maharaja bequeaths a major portion of his property. At this juncture, a new baby is born to the Maharaja. His wife dies soon after. Brother Rajasekhar cheats the Maharaja as he fears that his son's property might be taken back and given to the Maharaja's own son. When the cheating comes to light, the Maharaja hands over all his property and his baby to his sister-in-law and brother and goes to the Himalayas, making his sister-in-law promise him that the baby should be brought up as a servant, not as a Maharaja. This baby is named Muthu (also Rajinikanth).

According to the promise tendered to the Maharaja, the son of the Maharaja's sister-in-law becomes a Prince (Sarath Babu) and Muthu works as his servant. A huge fan of drama, the prince regularly takes Muthu along with him wherever he goes. One day the Prince falls in love with a drama actress Ranganayaki (Meena). But Ranganayaki's heart lies with Muthu. Amidst all this, the Prince's Uncle (Radha Ravi), tries to capture all the property by killing everyone. But Muthu saves all and it is finally revealed that Muthu is the real Maharaja.

[edit] Cast

Special Appearance: K.S. Ravikumar as Kerala Village President^[1]

[edit] Reception

• The film grossed $6 million at the box office worldwide including $4 million from Japan.
• Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made a special note about the reach of this film among the Japanese in his speech at 'Diet' on 14-12-2006.^[2][3]
• Meena's charisma earned many fans in Japan and also became popular in the country.
• The movie is characterised by location shots in Kerala and was shot in numerous palaces.
• The Zamindar's palace in which the movie was shot, is the Lalitha Mahal Palace in Mysore.

[edit] Soundtrack

Muthu
Soundtrack by A. R. Rahman
Released	1995
Recorded	Panchathan Record Inn
Genre	Film soundtrack
Label	Pyramid
Producer	A.R. Rahman
A. R. Rahman chronology
Rangeela (1995) Muthu (1995) Indira (1995)

The soundtrack features six songs composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics by Vairamuthu.

• Kuluvalilae - Udit Narayan, K. S. Chithra, Kalyani Menon
• Thilana Thilana - Mano, Sujatha
• Oruvan Oruvan - S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
• Kokku Saiva Kokku - S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Theni Kunjarammal, Febi, Ganga
• Vidu Kathaiya - Hariharan
• Theme Music - Instrumental

This is the first Rajinikanth film for which A.R.Rahman wrote music. The soundtrack for this movie turned out to be a major hit and A.R.Rahman also gained popularity in Japan when the movie was released in Japanese.

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0140399/fullcredits#cast
2. ^ http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/15/stories/2006121506571400.htm
3. ^ http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=1&theme=&usrsess=1&id=140002

[edit] External links

• Muthu at the Internet Movie Database