Moondru Mugam

Moondru Mugam
Poster
Directed by A. Jagannathan
Produced by Thamizhazhagan
G. Thyagarajan
Written by Peter Selvakumar (dialogues)
Screenplay by Kanaga Shanmugan
P. L. Sundar Rajan
Thamizhazhagan
Ratha Veerannan
Story by Peter Selvakumar
Starring Rajinikanth
Delhi Ganesh
Senthamarai
Thengai Seenivasan
V.Gopalakrishnan
Poornam Viswanathan
Haja Shareef
Sathyaraj
Raadhika
Silk Smitha
Vasantha
Rajalakshmi
Kamala Kamesh
Music by Sankar Ganesh
Cinematography Viswam Natarajan
Edited by K. R. Krishnan
Production
company
Sathya Movies
Distributed by Sathya Movies
Release date
 1 October 1982
Country India
Language Tamil

Moondru Mugam (English: Three Faces) is a 1982 Tamil-language action film directed by A. Jagannathan. The film stars Rajinikanth in three distinct roles as Alex Pandian, Arun and John. The film ran for 250 days in theaters. It received the Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize in 1982.

The film was remade in Hindi as John Jani Janardhan with Rajinikanth again reprising his roles, in Telugu as Mugguru Monagallu with Sobhan Babu, and in Kannada as Gedda Maga with Shankar Nag.

Plot

Arun, the son of a rich businessman Ramanathan, returns to India after 10 years in America, but as a saint. His shocked father enlists a charming press reporter, Rekha, to change him back to normal.

Rekha first sets up an interview, which he thwarts. Later, on the pretense of taking him to a temple, she plans another set up. On the way to the temple, she pretends that the car has broken down and he leaves to roam around a bit when sees a crying child and offers a chocolate. Suddenly he is swarmed by more children and other villagers who confront him of being a child-kidnapper. Using the event, Rekha cuts Arun's beard off, a symbol of piety. After a few more set up events, he renounces his sainthood.

Later, Arun goes to work and is puzzled about why his father has been sending money to a woman named Sagaya Mary for over twenty years.

In a parallel scenario, a man informs Sagaya Mary that someone has proposed to her nephew John. When asked about John's parentage, she opens up about her brother and John's father, Alex Pandian.

A flashback ensues that explains Alex Pandian's story. Alex Pandian is a scrupulous police officer. He is ruthless on criminals and clashes with notorious mob boss, Egambaram. After repeated confrontations, Egambaram fatally stabs him. With his last breath, Alex Pandian vows that he will be reborn to take revenge.

When Alex Pandian dies so does his wife after giving birth to twins. Ramanathan's wife gives birth in the same hospital but the child dies, as with her previous three pregnancies. Sagaya Mary hands over one of Alex Pandian's children to them and he is christened Arun, while she raises the other child, John.

On Arun's 25th birthday party he gets a divine epiphany that makes him realise he is the reincarnation of Alex Pandian. He is asked to meet a woman named Asha at a hotel but it proves to be a set up. In the ensuing battle for survival, he kills the attacker and goes to jail. He comes to court to reveal the truth when suddenly a man claiming to be Alex Pandian shows up and says that he is not in fact dead but had been in Sri Lanka the whole time. The man posing to be Alex Pandian is in fact Arun's twin, John. Unknown to Arun, he is working with Egambaram, the man who murdered his father.

Later, Arun says he concocted the fact that he was an incarnation of Alex Pandian to draw the killers out. Soon, John finds the truth about Alex Pandian and Arun and fights to save his brother. However, John is fatally wounded by Egambaram who he eventually kills and throws into the sea, the same way his father was killed. The film ends with Arun and Rekha getting married.

Cast

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack and background score were composed by Sankar Ganesh with lyrics written by Vaali, Muthulingam and Vairamuthu.[1]

No.TitleSingerLength
1"Devamrutham"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Vani Jairam05:23
2"Aasaiulla Roshakara"Vani Jairam03:53
3"Naan Seitha Kurumbu"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam04:26
4"Yethanaiyo"Malaysia Vasudevan, S. Janaki04:56

Awards

This film received the Best actor award (for Rajinikanth) in 1982 from the Tamil Nadu Government.

Legacy

The character "Alex Pandian" became one of the memorable characters in the career of Rajinikanth.[2] The character's name inspired a 2013 film of same name starring Karthi.[3] The title of the film inspired two series on Polimer TV and Zee Tamil.[4][5]

References

  1. ↑ "Moondru Mugam (1982)". Raaga.com. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  2. ↑ "Khaki rule in Kollywood". 27 February 2015 – via The Hindu.
  3. ↑ "A win-win formula". 10 November 2012 – via The Hindu.
  4. ↑ "air supply". 19 February 2012 – via The Hindu.
  5. ↑ "Moondru Mugam". 20 August 2010 – via The Hindu.
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