Muthirai (transl. Stamp) is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written by Aneez Tanveer Jeeva, wife of late director Jeeva, and directed by actor Srinath, starring Daniel Balaji, Nithin Sathya, Lakshmi Rai and newcomer Manjari Phadnis, whilst Kishore and Ponvannan play important supporting roles and Bollywood actress Rakhi Sawant makes a special appearance. The film was launched in May 2008,[1] and was released on 19 June 2009.[2]
Plot
Politician Azhagar Adhiyaman's party wins in Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. His brother Azhagar Thondaiman, the senior party leader Aadhikesavan, and Azhagar Adhiyaman discuss the posts to be held. Discussions turn into gunfire, during which all three of them get shot. Azhagar Adhiyaman dies, Azhagar Thondaiman falls into a coma, and Aadhikesavan is left with an injury. The state is brought under temporary Governor's rule until their party chooses the new CM.
Sathya and his accomplice Azhagu are highly successful petty thieves. Azhagu marries Kavyanjali once for money (under the mass-marriage programme). Kavya's father tries to make money with his daughter. Azhagu realises his mistake and tries to convince Kavya. Sathya cheats a woman named Aarthi by saying he is a CBI officer and makes her fall in love with him. Sathya and Azhagu stay in an apartment opposite to where Krishna stays.
The commissioner is appointed as the investigating officer for the case, and he finds that Krishna knows some information about the firing where Azhagar Adhiyaman was killed. He traces where Krishna stays and chases him. At the same time, in the opposite apartment, Sathya, Azhagu, and Aarthi host a birthday party for Kavya for Azhagu and Kavya to get together again. Krishna enters their house to escape from the police, and all five of them start running away from the police. While the police chases them, Azhagu, Kavya, Sathya, and Aarthi try to escape. Krishna also tries to get in the car and drops his laptop in their car.
Four of them flee and seek refugee in a hideout. They take out the laptop to find that Aadhikesavan has shot Azhagar Adhiyaman and his brother, and he shoots himself. Azhagu calls up the commissioner to hand over the witness, which fails because Aadhikesavan's men come and attack them in their hideout, and Azhagu thinks that it is the commissioner's men. Later, he calls Aadhikesavan and demands a ransom in exchange for the laptop. He also checks the commissioner's credit card transaction and mobile phone calls and finds that the commissioner has been getting a lot of money illegally from Azhagar Thondaiman, and he is appointed by him.
In the climax, Sathya comes to collect money from Aadhikesavan, where the commissioner also turns up unexpectedly. Azhagu comes with Azhagar Thondaiman, who was in the hospital. Azhagar Thondaiman explains his side of the story, that he also tried to kill his brother and had worn a bulletproof jacket to avoid the bulletproof. Krishna was a man appointed by him to take videos of incidents happening. The commissioner kills Aadhikesavan. When Sathya and Azhagu try to escape with the money, other police officers encounter them. They shoot the commissioner and arrest Azhagar Thondaiman. In the meantime, Sathya and Azhagu escape with the money and wish the other police officers good luck with their careers.
Cast
- Daniel Balaji as Azhagu
- Nithin Sathya as Sathyamoorthy
- Lakshmi Rai as Kavyanjali
- Manjari Phadnis as Aarthi
- John Vijay as Salman Bhai
- Kishore as Commissioner Muthuselvan
- Munnar Ramesh as Thangapandi
- Saravanan as Azhagar Adhiyaman
- Ponvannan as Aadhikesavan
- Anand as Azhagar Thondaiman
- Kadhal Dhandapani as Arivazhagan
- Chetan as Krishna
- Ajay Rathnam as Dhanraj
- Cochin Hanifa as Kavya's father
- Riyaz Khan as Aadhikesavan's assistant
- Nellai Siva as MLA
- Singampuli as Subbaraj
- Prajin as Police Inspector
- Chaams as Traveller
- Rakhi Sawant in an item number "The Night is Still Young"
Production
Muthirai is the first film produced by Vision Jeeva Studios.[3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, and released on 7 May 2009 at Sathyam Cinemas by director Gautham Vasudev Menon.[8] One of the female leads, Manjari Phadnis, a Maharashtrian by birth, sang one of the songs, the first time in Tamil.[9][10]
| Song | Singer(s) | Lyricist | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Om Shanthi Om" | Neha Bhasin | Na. Muthukumar | 4:44 |
| "Azhagana Neeyum" | Naresh Iyer, Manjari Phadnis | Snehan | 5:06 |
| "Night Is Still Young" | Krish, Benny Dayal, Preethi | Pa. Vijay | 4:42 |
| "July Madhathil" | Mohd. Aslam, Rahul Nambiyar, Tanvi Shah, Priya | Na. Muthukumar | 4:21 |
| "Uyire Uyire" | Javed Ali, Madhushree | Snehan | 5:08 |
| "Nenjukulla" | Shweta Mohan | Snehan | 2:32 |
| "Om Shanthi Om" (Remix) | Neha Bhasin | Na. Muthukumar | 5:11 |
| "Night Is Still Young" (Remix) | Krish, Benny Dayal, Preethi | Pa. Vijay | 4:35 |
Critical reception
Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff.com wrote, "Halfway through the film though, you begin to realize that despite a rather nice cast, comedian-turned-director Srinath seems to have lost track of whatever Hollywood screenplay he burglarised and settled down with a half-baked desi version."[11] Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu wrote, "For a better impact, the unravelling of the plot could have been more comprehensible and spaced out".[12] The New Indian Express wrote, "On the whole, Muthirai is a film that promised a lot and lived some what on paper".[13] Sify wrote, "Antony seems to have lost his magic touch as an editor. Still the film is engrossing in bits and pieces – Srinath has a winner due to his packaging and slick styling".[14]
References
- ^ "Stamping a Muthirai!". The Times of India. 4 May 2008. Archived from the original on 19 February 2025. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
- ^ Rangarajan, Malathi (19 June 2009). "The stamp of will". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 22 June 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
- ^ Warrier, Shobha (22 January 2009). "'Item songs are necessary for all films these days'". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2025. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ Warrier, Shobha (22 January 2009). "'For now, I will make Tamil films and will only move towards Hindi films later'". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2025. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ Warrier, Shobha (22 January 2009). "'Rakhi Sawant didn't know who Jeeva was'". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2025. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ Warrier, Shobha (22 January 2009). "'Everything begins and ends with Jeeva for me'". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2025. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ Warrier, Shobha (22 January 2009). "'I never really had any ambition or aspiration for myself; it was all Jeeva and his career for me'". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2025. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ "Mutthirai audio launch was short and sweet!". Sify. 7 May 2009. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
- ^ Raghavan, Nikhil (22 May 2009). "Singing sensation". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
- ^ Mukherjee, Shreya (29 April 2017). "Manjari plans to release her debut single". HT City. Archived from the original on 1 August 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2025 – via PressReader.
- ^ Srinivasan, Pavithra (19 June 2009). "Muthirai: Wasted potential". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 27 November 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ Rangarajan, Malathi (26 June 2009). "Sudden shift in gear -- Muththirai". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
- ^ "'Muthirai' fails to impress". The New Indian Express. 20 June 2009. Archived from the original on 17 February 2025. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
- ^ "Mutthirai". Sify. Archived from the original on 22 June 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
