Mudhalvan

Plot

Pugazhendi aka Pugazh (Arjun) is a news reporter working for QTV in Chennai. One day, violence erupts in the city following a communal clash which disrupts normal life. The Chief Minister (CM) of the state, Aranganathan (Raghuvaran), informs the police over wireless not to arrest the protestors as they belong to his community and political party. Pugazh hears the CM’s message to police while covering the riots and records it. Pugazh meets a village girl, Thenmozhi (Manisha Koirala), and falls in love with her. But her father (Vijayakumar) does not accept the marriage proposal as he wants to get Thenmozhi married only to a government employee.

One day, QTV arranges for a live interview with the CM and the anchor does not turn up at the last moment. Pugazh is thrilled and excited as he gets the opportunity to interview the CM. During the course of the interview, Pugazh unmasks many events done by the CM and his party against the welfare of the state and for political reasons with necessary evidences. The CM gets angry and challenges Pugazh to accept his post for a day so that he will realize the pressures faced on a daily basis. Pugazh after brief trepidation accepts the challenge provided the constitution permits. Lawmakers confirm that such a provision is possible and Pugazh is sworn in as the CM for 24 hours.

To everyone’s surprise, Pugazh does not prefer speaking to the waiting media crew but gets into action immediately by collecting a list of irresponsible civil servants and issues suspension letters immediately. He helps poor people rightfully reclaim houses allotted by the government. He requests every Indian citizen to pay all required taxes even if it is for a day highlighting the effects of avoiding the same. Mayakrishnan (Manivannan), an honest official, is the government secretary and helps Pugazh through his one-day mission. Finally, Pugazh digs a case of corruption against the ruling party leading to the arrest of Aranganathan.

The next day, Aranganathan becomes the CM and cancels all orders issued from the previous day. He is furious and sends goons to kill Pugazh who escapes with heavy injuries. Aranganathan’s image is tarnished before the public and coalition parties withdraw their support resulting in dissolving the government and leading to another election.

A huge crowd gathers in front of Pugazh’s house requesting him to contest in the upcoming election. Other political parties also come forward to offer their support for their own reasons. Thenmozhi's father requests Pugazh to stay away from politics so that his daughter will have a peaceful life. Moved by the support pouring in from all corners Pugazh decides to contest the election. Pugazh’s party sweeps the elections and he resumes his mission again.

Aranganathan and other politicians unite as they are worried by the change of events. A bomb planted in Pugazh's house to kill him unfortunately claims the lives of his parents. Aranganathan has his men plant bombs across Chennai and informs Pugazh. Though the bomb squad diffuse most of the bombs, Aranganathan blames Pugazh to be the man behind the entire episode and claims it as a ploy to win public support.

Pugazh realizes he will be prevented from performing his duties and invites Aranganathan to his office. As their conversation progresses,Pugazh pulls out a gun and shoots himself without causing any major injuries. He throws the gun to Aranganathan who catches it out of reflex. At the same time security guards rush in hearing gunfire and see Aranganathan pointing the gun at Pugazh. The guards shoot Aranganathan to save Pugazh.

Pugazh feels glad he can continue his mission without being interrupted but also feels guilty for having staged a false incident to kill Aranganathan. He confesses to Mayakrishnan that even he has been forced to play the game of politics. Mayakrishnan supports him saying that it has only been done for a good cause. Thenmozhi's father consents to the marriage.

The movie ends showing Tamil Nadu as a developed state under the rule of Pugazh with world class infrastructures and free of violence.

Cast

Production

Following the success of Jeans (1998), Shankar chose to make a political action film. The lead role was initially written with Rajinikanth in mind, but he was unwilling to star in the film. Vijay was also considered by Shankar for the role, though the actor turned the offer down. Shankar revealed that he even approached Kamal Haasan for the film but he was doing Hey Ram at that time. Arjun, who had previously collaborated with Shankar in Gentleman (1993), was willing to offer bulk schedule dates for the film and was subsequently signed on. Shankar noted that he was interested in casting Meena in the leading role, but opted against doing so as the actress was working with Arjun in another film in the same period, Rhythm (2000). Subsequently, Manisha Koirala, who worked with Shankar in Indian, was selected to play Arjun's heroine. Raghuvaran was signed to play the chief antagonist in the film, while Vadivelu and Manivannan were also chosen to play other characters. Despite reports that Shilpa Shetty was added to the cast in February 1999, it was later clarified to be untrue. Laila, who had made her acting debut earlier in the year with Kallazhagar, was signed on to portray the role planned with Shetty instead. Originally her role was supposed to feature throughout the film, but Shankar shortened her character owing to her callsheet problems. Renowned muralist Natanam and Kalairani were cast as Arjun's parents. S. Sashikanth who went on to produce films like Thamizh Padam (2010) and Kaaviya Thalaivan (2014) and K. R. Mathivaanan who directed Aridhu Aridhu (2010) worked as assistant directors.

The film was launched in October 1998 at an event well attended by actors and technicians from the Tamil film industry, with noted actors Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan being the special invitees. Production continued for several months, with reports suggesting that the film was delayed due to Manisha Koirala's unavailability though Shankar later stressed the production work demanded such delay. Parts of the film were also shot in Bikaner, Rajasthan while the team also shot extensively in rural Tamil Nadu. The film's cinematographer later noted that the scenes involving crowds shot on Anna Salai, Chennai were among the hardest and most satisfying scenes he had worked on. The song "Shakalaka Baby" was the last song to be shot, with Sushmita Sen selected to feature in a special appearance for the song. Stunt master Peter Hein revealed that he worked as a body double for Arjun in the scene where he had to Run nude on the streets.

Reception

The film's release prints were 4,876 m (15,997 ft) long. Upon release on 7 November 1999, this high-budget production won positive reviews and was successful at the box office. The film was then dubbed and released in Telugu as Oke Okkadu and later remade in Hindi as Nayak starring Anil Kapoor. The film went on to run for over one hundred days in cinemas with an event being held at Kamaraj Hall on 25 February 2000 to mark one hundred days since release. The event, similar to the launch, attracted several people from the film industry with Kamal Haasan, once again, being the chief guest of the event.

On 21 November 1999, Ananda Vikatan in its review gave 43 marks and appreciated the film stating that: "One can see Shankar's grandeur in the way he presented a social problem magnificently. Shankar has approached a serious social issue with usual entertainment elements". The Hindu said "Shankar scores again". In regard to the lead performances, Arjun is described as having "acquitted himself with aplomb", while Manisha's performance was criticized with claims that she "lacks the freshness that one always associates her with". The critic also referred to Shankar's direction and Sujatha's dialogs as a "positive", while drawing praise to the videos of the songs describing that "every song and dance sequence seems a magnum opus by itself". The New Indian Express described the film as "absorbing" and praised certain scenes, although it criticized the videos of the songs as a "fiasco". Indiaglitz wrote: "Mudhalvan spoke about current affairs in India. With an absorbing screenplay and conveying the message of change in the political system, the film was a runaway hit."

Controversy

The political party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), ruling Tamil Nadu, were upset with the film. In the view of the DMK, the film suggested that their rule was worse than that of AIADMK's leader J. Jayalalitha's reign. They felt Raghuvaran, who played a venal chief minister and whose dialogue was delivered in a raspy voice, was taking off on then Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. Interestingly, while the Tamil Nadu ruling party reportedly viewed the film as an attempt to slur their "Thalaivar" (leader), in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, the reaction was the polar opposite. In Andhra Pradesh, thus, the protagonist who by force of circumstance becomes Chief Minister for a day and who, in those 24 hours, managed to do enough good to create a public outcry demanding that he enter active politics and take over as Chief Minister for good, was seen as a mirror image of Chandrababu Naidu. Thus, the Andhra Chief Minister invited director Shankar as his special guest, requested a special screening of the film and lauded the ideals the director had expressed in his film.

Themes and influences

The film dealt with the theme of a television cameraman who is forced to take over the duty of Chief minister for one day. It also dealt with the concept of opportunities for educated people in politics and demonstrated it is possible to bring change in the country. The film's basic idea was inspired from Nixon-Frost interviews which were broadcast in 1977.

Awards

Soundtrack

The release of the soundtrack was held at Satyam Cinema, Chennai, on 31 October 1999 with two songs from the film being performed on stage. The special guests for the event were actor Kamal Haasan and actress Sushmita Sen, who performed an item number in the film. The event was well attended by the cast and the crew of the film, with other guests including cinematographer P. C. Sriram, actress Sarika and actor Suriya.

The soundtrack features six songs composed by A. R. Rahman and lyrics penned by Vairamuthu. The song "Shakalaka Baby" was re-edited by A. R. Rahman and featured on the hit international musical production Bombay Dreams, which ran in Europe and North America from 2002 to 2005. This version was also released as a single. A Mandarin Chinese remix of the track sung by Singaporean singer Kelly Poon was featured in her album In the Heart Of The World (2007).

The soundtrack was a phenomenal success and the initial day audio sale alone was more than three lakh units. The song "Azhagana Rakshasiye" is based on Rithigowla Raga. Dhananjayan stated that: "Blockbuster songs gave a youthful look to a rather serious film [..] and helped tremendously in the film's grand success".

Legacy

The scene where a crowd gathers around the protagonist's house to persuade him to contest elections was included by Behindwoods in their list of "Top 20 Mass Scenes".

In popular culture

The scenes, songs and dialogues from the film has been parodied in Budget Padmanabhan (2000), Kandha Kadamba Kathir Vela (2000), Kanna Unnai Thedukiren (2001), Run (2002), Sivaji (2007), Singakutty (2008), Kaalaipani (2008) and also in Telugu film Dubai Seenu (2007).