The
film “Moondru Mugam” was a phenomenon.
Even today, this movie has a lot of attraction among
the masses, especially from Rajini’s fans.
The reason for this is the three different roles
performed by Rajini, viz. (1) Arun - a US educated
young entrepreneur, (2) Alex Pandian – a straightforward,
dynamic and hardcore DSP and (3) John – a
mischievous and funny youth.
It
is reiterated that the comparison is not based on
the story or the screenplay as such. The comparison
is only based on the three different roles performed
by the superstar in the two movies and their placement
and performance in the respective screenplays.
Comparisons:
1)
Both MM and EN begins very casually. MM begins narrating
how a young man who returned from US surprisingly
as a sannyasi, is converted to normal life style.
It takes about 25 to 30 minutes in the first half
of the movie, before a sudden twist turns the screenplay
unexpectedly and the pace of the movie jumps at
jet’s speed with fire cracking dialogues and
actions on the arrival of Alex Pandian into the
movie.
EN also begins on a usual and unconventional way
with Dr.Vaseegaran in the process of creating a
humanoid robot and putting it on practical experiment
for a while, which extends upto 25 to 30 minutes.
The screenplay gets momentum and seriousness inconspicuously
with Chitti being rejected by the AIRD Chief on
some pretext.
Thus, the first 25 to 30 minutes both in MM and
EN are revolving around the first character viz.
Arun in MM and Dr.Vaseegaran in EN.
2) The 2nd role in MM is the grand role –
Alex Pandian, whose introduction was received with
huge accolades. for about 30 to 35 minutes he is
in the movie, it is full of fireworks – both
in words and deeds – i.e. firebrand dialogues
and fighting sequences with the villain Ekambaram,
by whom he gets killed. As DSP, his walking, talking,
beating, staring, fighting, everything was in unique
style. His appearance was very attractive with curling
hair, buffed cheek and sharp looking in Police uniform,
wearing round black spectacles.
In EN, Chitti Version 2.0 (the villainy robot) claims
this credit. Right from his introduction (especially
the background music during the introduction) almost
upto the end of the movie, he rules the rust. His
handling of the hero, Dr.Vaseekaran in the marriage
hall and while searching for the “black sheep”,
are simply unimaginable and terrifying. In short,
it is something similar to watching Alex Pandian
in a negative role.
3) The 3rd role in MM is of John – a mischievous
youth who finally falls prey to the villain Ekambaram
@ Ambar. He is funny, playing spoilsport of the
efforts of Arun to bring Ambar to books, by impersonation
as Alex Pandian. At the climax, having understood
that Alex Pandian is the father of John and Arun,
John sacrifices his life fighting with Ambar and
saves Arun, his brother.
In EN, the initial Chitti role is comparable one.
Being innocent in the beginning, Chitti turns into
slightly mischievous on getting “feelings”
fed into the neural schema. Finally, it rescues
Dr. Vasi from the wrath of Law and gets itself dismantled.
4) Both in MM and EN, the introduction of first
character of Rajini is very casual and in a manner
which is unconventional to Rajini fans.
5) In the end, the death of John in MM and dismantling
of Chitti by itself in EN, brings wet in the eyes
of many.
6) Co-incidentally, both MM and EN were released
in the month of October. MM was released on 3rd
October, 1982 and EN on 1st October, 2010.
7) Both in MM and EN, the comedy sequence has been
predominantly carried on by the superstar himself,
though some comedy actors were available (Thengai
Srinivasan & Khaja Sheriff in MM and Santhanam
and Karunas in EN).
After
the above comparison one thing that comes to mind
is that it is highly impossible to remake “Moondru
Mugam” at present unlike other films. Only
the superstar himself can do those three characters
or even above those characters, which is evident
by superstar’s phenomenal performance in Enthiran.
The commitment and hard work exhibited in Enthiran
by superstar at the age of 62 is exemplary to the
young artists of today.
S.Jeyaraj, Madurai
yesjey2@rediffmail.com
