This article is about the Tamil film. For the character in the Bengali novella, see Devdas.
| Chandramukhi | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | P. Vasu. |
| Produced by | Ramkumar Ganesan Prabhu Ganesan |
| Written by | P. Vasu (screenplay) Fazil (screenplay) Madhu Muttam (story) |
| Starring | Rajinikanth Prabhu Ganesan Jyothika Saravanan Nayantara Vadivelu Vineeth Nassar Malavika Vijayakumar K. R. Vijaya Sonu Sood |
| Music by | Vidyasagar |
| Cinematography | Shekhar Joseph |
| Distributed by | Sivaji Productions |
| Release date(s) | 14 April 2005 |
| Running time | 166 minutes |
| Country |  India |
| Language | Tamil |
| Budget | Rs 19 crore[1] |
| Gross revenue | Rs 60 crore (worldwide)[2][3] |
| Followed by | Chandramukhi 2[4] |
The film starred Rajinikanth in the lead role, making Chandramukhi his "come back" film after the controversy regarding his previous film Baba. The title role was played by Jyothika Saravanan while Prabhu Ganesan and Nayantara were also given lead roles. Vadivelu, Nassar, K. R. Vijaya, Vijayakumar, Vinaya Prasad, Sonu Sood, Vineeth and Malavika were given supporting roles. It was released on 14 April 2005, coinciding with Tamil New Year, to become the largest opening in Tamil cinema at the time.
Following its original release, Chandramukhi was successful enough to be released in several other languages. It was subsequently dubbed into Telugu and released on 14 April 2005 with the same title. Later on, it became the first ever Tamil film to be dubbed into German and it was released in several German-speaking countries as Der Geisterjäger (lit. The Ghost Hunters). On 29 February 2008, producer A. M. Rathnam dubbed and released the film in Hindi, despite Bhool Bhulaiyaa, the Bollywood remake of Manichithrathazhu directed by Priyadarshan, being already released on 12 October 2007.
Since its release, Chandramukhi has become one of the highest grossing Tamil films ever, beating the previous record set by Rajinikanth's previous film, Padayappa.[5][6] As of 25 June 2007, it became the longest ever running South Indian film, and still holds this record, completing 800 days at Shanthi Theaters (owned by the producer) in Chennai, passing the record of the 1944 devotional film, Haridas.[7]
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[edit] Plot
The movie opens with Saravanan (Rajinikanth), an Indian-American psychiatrist coming to India on vacation. He meets up with his friend and foster brother, Senthilnathan (Prabhu Ganesan), and his wife, Ganga (Jyothika Saravanan). Senthil and Saravanan's mother Kasturi (K. R. Vijaya) wanted Senthil to marry his paternal aunt, Akhilandeshwari's (Sheela) eldest niece Priya (Malavika), daughter of Kandaswamy (Nasser) to reunite the two families after 30 years of separation. They separated because their father was supposed to marry his intimidating older cousin, Akhilandeshwari, who is the bachelorette family head of her late parents' family, and Priya's paternal aunt and foster mother. However he marries Kasturi. Saravanan learns that they have bought the Vettayapuram Palace, despite a fear of the place and attempts by the elders to dissuade them. Saravanan moves in with them. Akhilandeshwari is jealous of Saravanan and with her assistant, (Sonu Sood) she tries to destroy Saravanan.When they go to a temple, a priest reveals why everyone is frightened. When King Vettayan lived in the palace, he took a trip to Andhra Pradesh and met the dancer Chandramukhi, instantly falling in love with her beauty. However, she would not return his love because her heart was already set on the dancer Gunasekaran. Vettayan kidnapped her and brought her back to his palace. Chandramukhi, without letting the king know, had Gunasekaran stay in a nearby house. When the king found out, he killed Gunasekaran on Durgashtami and burned Chandramukhi alive. Chandramukhi's spirit continued to remain in the palace so as to take revenge on the king. Legend had it that her soul was locked up in the southern room along with a king cobra. Shortly afterward, Saravanan helps Priya with her love affair with their neighbour, dance professor Viswanathan (Vineeth), and persuades her parents and aunt to speak with him to arrange their marriage.
When Ganga learns of Chandramukhi's story, she wants to go to Chandramukhi's room because she thinks that this story was made up to scare thieves from stealing costly treasures which she believes is in Chandramukhi's room. She gets the key and opens the door. Subsequently, strange things begin happening in the household: a ghost is scaring the people in the house, things are inexplicably breaking, and Ganga's sari catches on fire. Suspicion turns towards Durga (Nayantara), the gardener's granddaughter. Senthil calls Saravanan for help with the mysterious events. The night Saravanan returned , a mysterious being made an attempt to kill Priya. As someone tries to kill Senthil, once with poison, and another time by pushing a fish tank a mysterious voice sings in the middle of the night, and Saravanan tries to figure out what's happening. The night of Priya and Viswanathan's wedding reception, Ganga mysteriously disappears from the canopy. When Saravanan notices he goes to look for her. But he ends up almost getting killed by the goon sent by Akhilandeshwari for arranging her niece's marriage. He knocks the goon out, and with Senthil's help, they find Ganga, supposedly being sexually harassed by Viswanathan. Saravanan then informs Senthil and Viswanathan that Ganga has split personality of Ganga and Chandramukhi. The reason she tried to kill Priya and Senthil, and frame Viswanathan for sexual harassment was because in Chandramukhi's eyes, Viswanathan is her lover Gunasekaran, who looks just like him. The only way to stop it is to make her believe Saravanan is dead. This is because Chandramukhi was killed by King Vettayan, who looked just like him. Then Saravanan says that he will act as the king and let Chandramukhi kill him and get Chandramukhi out of Ganga's body, with the help of world-renown exorcist Ramachandra Acharya. The reason he will sacrifice his life is because he looks just like the king and he went up to Chandramukhi's room and she saw him. Akhilandeshwari hears his idea, realising that she was wrong to try to destroy Saravanan and begs him for forgiveness. Later, in the dance hall, the family and Ramachandra Acharya did what Saravanan asked them to do. They let Chandramukhi pour oil on him so she can burn him alive and when she lights the match, Ramachandra Acharya blows the smoke and ash in her face. Then Senthil opens a trapdoor to let Saravanan fall down and a cardboard figure of him gets burnt. Chandramukhi thinks that the king is dead and leaves Ganga's body. Ganga is cured. After 30 years of separation, the two families are reunited. Saravanan and Durga have a love affair. And finally, Sorna and Murugesh (Vadivelu) are parents after 8 years of marriage.
[edit] Cast and characters
- Rajinikanth as Dr. Saravanan and King Vettaiyan. The role of Dr. Saravanan is a charismatic and highly social psychiatrist who goes about discovering the problems happening at the mansion and curing Ganga from her mental illness. He later disguises himself as Vettaiyan to trick Chandramukhi and curing Ganga. Rajinikanth's dual role and performance was well acclaimed in the film; it lacked his usual mass appearance as a hero and this time acted very versatile.
- Prabhu Ganesan as Senthilnathan. Senthilnathan is a road contractor who moves to the town of Vettaiyapuram with his wife, Ganga, to buy the Vettaiyapuram Mansion. He married his love interest Ganga abruptly without letting his mother know, when he was already proposed to his cousin, Priya. In fright of Akhilandeswari, they decide to live at the Vettaiyapuram Mansion. He denies rumours that he hears about the haunted household and has no belief in ghosts or other superpowers. In order to possess Viswanathan, who she thinks is her lover Gunasekaran, Chandramukhi tries to kill Senthilnathan twice with no success.
- Jyothika Saravanan as Ganga Senthilnathan and Chandramukhi. Ganga is found suffering from split personality disorder, where her second personality is the ghost of Chandramukhi. Ganga has a very curious and mischievous character. Married to Dr. Saravanan's friend Senthilnathan, she unlocks the ancient rooms of Vettaiyan and Chandramukhi, only to find her family with more trouble and having herself turn into the personality of Chandramukhi every often, causing mysterious havoc in the family. The dual roles of Ganga and Chandramukhi was initially given to Simran Bagga, who later opted out of the project because of her pregnancy.
- Vadivelu as Murgesan. The clumsy younger brother of Akhilandeswary and Kandaswamy. He is often irritated by Saravanan who occasionally socializes with his wife.
- Nayantara as Durga. Durga is the granddaughter of the mansion's gardener, also the love interest of Dr. Saravanan. Her first few encounters with Saravanan went with arguments, as she later had interest in him, also needing his help to prove herself not guilty. She helps out Ganga in her adventure to explore Chandramukhi's room and is later wrongly accused by Senthilnathan and Kandaswamy of causing troubles in the family. When she is informed about Ganga's mental illness by Saravanan, she agrees to take as many blames as possible in order for Ganga to be cured.
- Vineeth as Viswanathan and Gunasekaran. Viswanathan is a dance tutor who is also the principle love interest of Priya who let him live in another portion of the mansion. When their love was exposed by Saravanan, it was disliked by Akhilandeswari, who initially disliked the doctor. Viswanathan is looked apon by Chandramukhi as her lover Gunasekaran, who was beheaded by Vettaiyan. Viswanathan disguises as Gunasekaran during the climax when curing Ganga.
- Malavika as Priya Kandaswamy. Priya is the daughter of Kandaswamy who was mostly raised by her paternal aunt, Akhilandeswari. She was initially proposed for marrying Senthilnathan but her love for Viswanathan was later found out by Saravanan. Priya is also one of Chandramukhi's targets of killing in order to have Viswanthan, who she thinks is Gunasekaran, for herself.
- Sheela as Akhilandeswari. The intimidating older sister of Kandaswamy and the bachelorette family head. She is very arrogant who wants things to be done her way. Her characteristics are highlighted when she often shows her dissatisfaction for Saravanan. She initially gets the urge to take revenge on Senthilnathan and Ganga for cheating on Priya and makes everyone live with the couple at the mansion. She tries to get rid of Saravanan through her mute servant whom she refers to as Oomaiyan.
- Nassar as Kandaswamy. The brother of Akilandeswary and Murugesan and father of Priya. He initially thinks that Saravanan is actually Senthilnathan, who was his soon-to-be son-in-law, but later he was proven wrong when it was clarified by his sister Akhilandeswari. Kandaswamy accuses Durga for causing problems in the family and also shows arrogance against Saravanan for socializing with his daughter.
- Vinaya Prasad as Lakshmi Kandaswamy. The obedient wife of Kandaswamy and mother of Priya.
- Vijayakumar as Thottakaarar. The poor gardener of the Vettaiyapuram Mansion and grandfather to Durga. He advises Senthilnathan about the mansion prior to purchasing, but Senthilnathan refuses to listen.
- K. R. Vijaya as Kasthuri. In a cameo role, veteran actress K. R. Vijaya plays Kasthuri, mother of Senthilnathan. She married Akhilandeswari's in-law which caused a family dispute for nearly 30 years. To end the dispute, she planned on proposing her son Senthilnathan to Akhilandeswari's niece Priya, which also didn't happen.
- Sonu Sood as Oomaiyan. The mute servant of Akhilandeswari who is always shown giving cunning smiles to himself. He is sent by Akhilandeswari at one point to kill Saravanan, which turns out to be unsuccessful for her.
[edit] Soundtrack
The soundtrack consists of 6 songs composed by Vidyasagar.- "Devuda Devuda" - S. P. Balasubramaniam
- "Kokku Para Para" - Tippu, Manicka Vinayagam and Rajalakshmi
- "Aththinthom" - S. P. Balasubramaniam and Vaishali
- "Konja Neram" - Asha Bhosle and Madhu Balakrishnan
- "Annanoda Pattu" - Krishnakumar Kunnath, Karthik and Sujatha
- "Raa Raa" - Binni Krishna Kumar and Tippu
[edit] Remakes
The original Malayalam film Manichithrathazhu was consecutively remade in several other languages and still found success in the respective regional cinemas. Chandramukhi is the second remake of Manichithrathazhu after the Kannada version, Aaptamitra, which was also directed by P. Vasu. Rajmohol (2005) in Bengali and Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2008) in Hindi followed later on. Below is a character map of the lead characters in the story of Manichithrathazhu and its remakes.| Manichitrathazhu (Malayalam) | Aaptamitra (Kannada) | Chandramukhi (Telugu) | Chandramukhi (Tamil) | Rajmohol (Bengali) | Bhool Bhulaiya (Hindi) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Sunny Joseph (Mohanlal) | Dr. Vijay (Vishnuvardhan) | Dr. Eeswar (Rajinikanth) | Dr. Saravanan (Rajinikanth) | Dr. Raghu (Prasenjit Chatterjee) | Dr. Aditya Shrivastav (Akshay Kumar) |
| Nakulan (Suresh Gopi) | Ramesh (Ramesh Aravind) | Kailash (Prabhu Ganesan) | Senthilnathan (Prabhu Ganesan) | (Abhishek Chatterjee) | Siddharth Chaturvedi (Shiney Ahuja) |
| Ganga (Shobana) | Ganga (Soundarya) | Ganga (Jyothika) | Ganga Senthilnathan (Jyothika) | Deboshri (Anu Chowdhury) | Avni (Vidya Balan) |
| Sreedevi (Vinaya Prasad) | Soumya (Prema) | Durga (Nayantara) | Durga (Nayantara) | (Rachana Banerjee) | Radha (Amisha Patel) |
| Thampy (Nedumudi Venu) | (Satyajit) | (Nassar) | Kandaswamy (Nassar) | Badrinarayan Chaturvedi (Manoj Joshi) | |
| Unnithan (Innocent) | Mukunda (Dwarakesh) | Basavaiah (Vadivelu) | Murugesan (Vadivelu) | Batukshankar Upadhyay (Paresh Rawal) |
[edit] Controversy
Though the movie was a remake, the story did not credit Madhu Muttam, who wrote the story for Manichithrathazhu; instead the story was credited to the director P. Vasu himself.[citation needed] The same controversy happened in Vasu's Apthamitra. Vasu however stated that the script was revised and was different from the original, although very slightly. The problem however was taken seriously for Priyadarshan's Bhool Bhulaiyaa as it's script followed the original and thus, Muttam was credited. Also, music director Gurukiran was not credited for the song "Raa Raa" which he had composed for Apthamitra.[citation needed][edit] Sequel
See also: Nagavalli (film)
A sequel to Chandramukhi, tentatively titled Chandramukhi 2 in Tamil, has been proposed by P. Vasu, who also directed the sequel to Apthamitra, titled Aptharakshaka. In 2008, Vasu recited the script of the film to Rajinikanth, who initially expressed desire to take up the same dual role as Dr. Saravanan and Vettaiyan. However, in 2010, it was reported that Rajinikanth suggested Ajith Kumar to do the dual lead role.[8] Sameera Reddy was also rumoured to have been approached for a role in the film.[9]A sequel to Chandramukhi in Telugu is currently being made in the same language as Nagavalli, starring Daggubati Venkatesh in the lead along with Anushka Shetty, Richa Gangopadhyay, Shraddha Das, Poonam Kaur, and Kamalinee Mukherjee.
