Mudhalvan

N. Pugazhendi "Pugazh" is a news reporter in Chennai. One day, a riot occurs between students and bus drivers in the city. The Chief Minister of the state, Aranganathar, tells the police not to arrest the protesters as they belong to his community and political party, in a conversation recorded on video by Pugazh. Pugazh also meets Thenmozhi and falls for her honesty and bravery, but her father does not accept his marriage proposal as he disapproves of his daughter marrying someone who is not a government employee. Some days later, Pugazh interviews Aranganathar on television and confronts him for various actions by his party as well as his choice of inaction at the riot. Aranganathar claims that Pugazh does not understand the pressures a Chief Minister faces and challenges him to act in the post for a day, which Pugazh accepts. In his allotted 24 hours, Pugazh takes action to reduce corruption and increase welfare in Tamil Nadu, assisted by an honest government secretary called Mayakrishnan. Pugazh's final action of the day is to bring corruption charges against the ruling party; Aranganathar is arrested but is bailed out by the attorney general. Upon his release, Aranganathar sends goons to kill Pugazh, but he escapes with minor injuries. Pugazh visits Pooncholai and is applauded by the villagers before spending his day with Thenmozhi in peace. Meanwhile, Aranganathar's public image is tarnished, and the coalition parties refuse to support his reinstatement, resulting in the dissolution of the legislature, and precipitating a general election. There is enormous public support for Pugazh to become Chief Minister, but he initially refuses due to his desire to lead a normal life. Mayakrishnan eventually convinces Pugazh sacrifice his comfort and run for election, and he wins a huge majority and all legislature seats. Pugazh gets to work developing the state and improving welfare standards while Aranganathar and other politicians' anger increases, culminating in them hiring a hitman to kill Pugazh. Pugazh sneaks away to visit Thenmozhi and is almost caught by the hitman. Thenmozhi's father tells Pugazh that he must choose between the Chief Minister job and a relationship with his daughter. Pugazh's parents agree to speak to Thenmozhi's father to attempt to convince him otherwise. Mayakrishnan phones Pugazh to inform him that a bomb has been planted in his home just as the bomb explodes, killing Pugazh's parents. Pugazh travels to confront Aranganathar and learns of the latter's plan to plant bombs across Chennai. Pugazh and Mayakrishnan send for a bomb squad, who manage to reach and defuse all except one of the bombs. Aranganathar blames Pugazh for the incident, claiming it to be a ploy to win public support. Pugazh invites Aranganathar to his office. While they talk, Pugazh pulls a gun and shoots himself, but does not sustain any major injuries. He then throws the gun to Aranganathar. Security guards hear the gunfire and enter to see Aranganathar pointing the gun at Pugazh. The security guards shoot and kill Aranganathar, who recalls the initial television interview in his dying moments. Pugazh is conflicted, glad to continue his mission of improving the state but guilty for his part in Aranganathar's death and feeling forced to play the game of politics. He is comforted by Mayakrishnan, who insists he only played the game for a deserving cause and that Aranganathar deserved his fate. Thenmozhi's father finally appreciates Pugazh's successes and agrees to the marriage. Pugazh's work leads to the people of Tamil Nadu enjoying a high level of development and freedom from violence and corruption. == Cast ==

Following the success of Jeans (1998), S. Shankar chose to make a political action film, which would later become Mudhalvan. 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 as the lead actress, 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 that role. 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 appear in the film. Originally, her role was supposed to feature throughout the film, but Shankar shortened her character, owing to her call sheet problems. Renowned muralist Natanam and Kalairani were cast as Arjun's parents. S. Sashikanth, who went on to produce films like Tamizh Padam (2010) and Kaaviya Thalaivan (2014), and K. R. Mathivaanan, who directed Aridhu Aridhu (2010), worked as assistant directors. The film was jointly launched by S. Shankar and his co-director R. Madhesh in October 1998 at an event attended by actors and technicians from the Tamil film industry, with 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 Anand 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. == 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 and also inspired by Indian actor Sivaji Ganesan being named the honorary mayor of Niagara Falls, New York for one day during his visit to the United States. == Soundtrack ==

The soundtrack features six songs composed by A. R. Rahman and lyrics penned by Vairamuthu, except Shakalaka Baby which Shankar wrote. The song "Shakalaka Baby" was re-edited by A. R. Rahman and featured on the 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 release of the soundtrack was held at Sathyam Cinemas, 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 was a critical and commercial success; the initial day audio sale alone exceeded three lakh units. The song "Azhagana Rakshasiye" is based on Rithigowla raga. == Release ==

The film's release prints were long. The film was released on 7 November 1999 while the Telugu dubbed version, Oke Okkadu (: Only One) released on 9 November 1999 which was also a blockbuster. Upon release, the film won positive reviews and was successful at the box office. It was later remade in Hindi as Nayak. 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. == Reception ==

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 criticised with claims that she "lacks the freshness that one always associates her with". The critic also referred to Shankar's direction and Sujatha's dialogues 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 criticised the videos of the songs as a "fiasco". Aurangazeb of Kalki praised the screenplay and certain scenes which make impact but panned the visual effects and felt the film has a documentary feel which is both positive and negative. == Accolades ==

Songs from the film's soundtrack inspired a number of Tamil film titles. Rama Narayanan directed a film titled Shakalaka Baby in 2002. A film titled Lukku Vida Thonalaiyaa, a line from the song "Shakalaka Baby", also began production in 2002 but was not released. A dialogue from Mudhalvan, "Sushma, saamaan nikalo" inspired the title of the song "Saroja Saman Nikalo" from Chennai 600028 (2007). The scenes, songs and dialogues from the film have been parodied in Budget Padmanabhan (2000), Kandha Kadamba Kathir Vela (2000), Kanna Unnai Thedukiren (2001), Run (2002), Dubai Seenu (2007), Sivaji: The Boss (2007), Singakutty (2008), and Kaalaippani (2008). The film has also been spoofed in Star Vijay's Lollu Sabha with the same title with Santhanam as the main character. In 2017 film Kavan, the interview scene was inspired from this film. Kavan was directed by K. V. Anand, who was the cinematographer of Mudhalvan. == See also ==