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5.0 out of 5 stars
A Life-Changing Movie, October 24, 2006
My life changed when I first saw Rajinikanth and his enchanting moustache flip onto his horse-drawn chariot and sing the first few lines of "Oruvan Oruvan." Part music video, part fairy tale, this Tamil Cinderella rags-to-riches story changed the way I saw cinema and music forever.
Muthu (played by Rajinikanth) is the servant of Raja who's addicted to the theatre. When he takes his yejaman (boss) to the theatre instead of the temple where he's supposed to go, Muthu somehow gets involved in upstaging the performance of the beautiful "drama artiste" named Renga (played by Meena), who Raja falls in love with at first sight. Raja however is being pressured to marry the lovely Padmini, whom he doesn't really care for. But Muthu is as untouchable as dirt. Could Renga ever love him? And what's Muthu's real identity?
Set in the gorgeous lush green hillsides and jungles of Kerala, Muthu is an action-packed adventure filled with beautiful, sparkling cinematography and inspiringly erotic (but always tasteful) dance scenes. Playful and light-humored with a good, strong moral and dramatic tension in all the right places, Rajinikanth will dance and karate-chop his way right into your heart like he did mine. Some scenes will remind you of "Spartacus." Others will remind you of your favorite Bruce Lee flick. But the dance scenes will remind you that you're indeed watching a 3-hour film from rhythm-loving India. Look for the titilating and romantic songs "Kulivalele" and "Kokku Saiva Kokku." It was these songs that got me hooked on the music of Tamil genius A.R.Rahman, who did the music for other great Indian movies like "Padayappa" and "Lagaan."
It might be hard to find this DVD in the U.S. My version is from Japan with Japanese subtitles. It would pay to shop around the international versions of Amazon to find this gem, possibly my favorite Indian movie of all time.
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