(Mullum Malarum: 1978, directed by Mahendaran, starring Rajnikanth, Shobha, ‘Fatafat’ Jayalakshmi and Saratbabu; music by Ilaiyaraaja; cinematography by Balu Mahendra)
I had watched Mullum Malarum as a schoolboy. I recall
being vowed by the camera work and music. I recall vaguely being impressed by
the movie. The songs stuck to memory, with Senthazham
Poovil leading the pack. I recall thinking that the
movie differed significantly from the source novelette by the same title,
written by Umachandran, but don't remember the details.
It was a treat to watch it again.
To set the context, most Tamil movies in the late
seventies where prone to overacting and over-the-top emotionalism. MGR had just
acted in his last movie (and the movie was so bad that people should have been thankful!). Sivaji
Ganesan had been continuing his string of ill-chosen projects. Case in point
was Pilot Premnath, an incredibly bad made movie
that was released in the same year, 1978. (I personally believed he had
completely lost it until he redeemed himself with Mudal Mariyaathai in 1985, and
even better, Thevar Magan in 1992 but that is another topic). Kamalahaasan and Rajnikanth were emerging as
the front-line heroes, with movies such as Priya, Bhairavi, Aval appadithan, Sigappu Rojaakal, Shankar-Saleem-Simon, and Ilamai Oojnaladukidadhu. Senior actors such as Muthuraman and
Sivakumar were still playing the parts of young men, but struggling to do
justice. There were a few movies off the beaten track, such as Jayakanthan's Oru nadigai nadagam parkiral and Aval Appadithan. Rajnikanth was known
for his 'style' and action movies, but was mostly playing the bad guy. Kamal Haasan was vacillating between helping senior directors portray tough
roles and shallow action-romantic movies.
With most actors and directors coming from the
stage background, most movies were dramatic, suffered from verbosity, and
underused the visual aspects of storytelling. It's fair to say Mullum malarum came as a breath of fresh
air. The movie mixes dialogs and visuals. Balu Mahendra, through his camera, added
his own thread to the story. Ilaiyaraaja used a mixture of Carnatic music and
folk music for the soundrack, and a novel use of percussion instruments for the
background score.
With the benefit of hindsight, I can see that the movie has been
a pivotal one in Tamil cinema. Rajnikanth subsequently attained the stardom he
seemed destined for. Sarathbabu went on to play the “second hero” for a couple
of more decades. Balu Mahendra made his debut as a cinematographer, and went on
to several successes with his camera and direction.
The story is of a brother and sister, who are orphaned
young, and share a strong bond. Kali (Rajnikanth) is a ruffian, operates a
winch in a hill station. He dotes on his sister, Valli . He starts on the wrong
foot with his new boss, ‘the engineer’ Kumaran (Saratbabu). The relationship
turns sour. Kali gets drunk and loses an arm in an accident; and despite the Kumaran’s
efforts to help him, bears a grudge against him.
Valli plays the matchmaker and gets his brother
married to Manga, the new settler in the town. Kumaran approaches Kali and asks
for Valli’s hand in marriage. Out of spite, Kali refuses and hastily arranges
to get his sister married to Murugesan, the local shopkeeper with questionable
morals. Manga schemes to get Valli married to Kumaran. The story ends by revealing
the decisions of Kali and Valli as to whom the latter ends up marrying. Anything
more on the story, I might spoil it for you, so I’ll stop there.
The story winds around a small town and its
occupants, revealing their relationships a bit at a time. The sycophants, the
tattle-tellers, newcomers taking their time to find their role in the village,
the ruffian and his new boss – all characters are alive, real and almost
touchable. Every scene and every dialog makes sense. No scenes inserted to
appease the egos of stars. The movie ends at its high point – no anticlimaxes
for Mahendran! The remarkable thing was that it was a commercial success as well.
The title of the movie (credit to the author, Umachandran)
is a puzzle as well. Did he name his story to talk of a thorn and and a flower,
or did he mean to say a thorn could blossom as well?
The climax is one of the most effective, but
understated scenes. Both Rajnikanth and Shobha are stunning in the scene. No
long dialogs and punch lines. Just two people who show us what normal people
might do under difficult circumstances. Does anyone else think the dialog “Yaarunnu nenacha, Vallida!” is the
precursor to Rajnikanth’s more recent “Kabalida!”?
The new dialog got undeserving social media hype; I don’t recall the old one
getting any mention in the reviews.
The subsequent real life successes of Balu
Mahendra, Rajnikanth, Ilaiyaraaja and Mahendran were striking; the sad stories
of the leading ladies were even more remarkable.
Shobha, the teenage acting sensation, stole the
show. She held her own against Rajnikanth and the slightly more seasoned ‘Fatafat’
Jayalakshmi. As a contrast to most movies of that era when women in twenties or
thirties played schoolgirls, here was a movie which cast a teenager for the
role of a teenage sister devoted to her older-brother. What a novel idea!
Shobha is brilliant in portraying her happiness, despair at her brother’s
misfortunes and the conflict between her love for her brother and ‘the engineer’.
Sadly, she didn’t have too many years after the movie. She passed away in 1981.
She was 17.
‘Fatafat’ Jayalakshmi shines in a strong cast of
actors, effortlessly portraying the transition from a happy-go-lucky glutton to
the defiant housewife, doing the right thing regardless of what might happen to
her marriage. Stunning performance! Sadly, she too, passed away in 1980.
Ilaiyaraaja, despite his sterling work, had
courted some controversy with this movie. Padma Subramanyam, the Bharatanatyam
dancer, accused him of stealing the tune from her dance-drama for the prelude
of the soundtrack ‘Raman andalum’. I
believe Ilaiyaraaja's position is that he
composed the ballad for Padma’s dance-drama.
Coming back to the movie, I believe this is the
movie that made Rajnikanth. And his best movie to date. If his recent films are
any indication, he is unlikely to get close to beating it. If you haven’t watched
the movie, watch it!
