Aug 30 2012
Coming Soon – Mugamoodi
2012 has seen Tamil cinema give us movies in many different genres with romcoms, psychological thrillers and period films all having been released so far this year. This Friday sees a film in an exciting genre that has seen very few entries – a superhero film. While the uniqueness of the genre alone would make Mugamoodi a big film, the fact that it is directed by one of our best directors and stars one of our talented, young actors makes it a film we can really look forward to.
Ever since Superman, superhero movies have been a staple of Hollywood. Their popularity has skyrocketed in recent times with every year seeing several superheroes – sometimes many in the same movie! – killing bad guys and saving Earth. But Indian cinema has had very few entries in this genre with Krrish being our only genuine superhero film. Tamil cinema hasn’t had any real superhero movies(barring Rajni movies ofcourse 
) and though films like Guru and Kandhasamy featured our heroes wearing masks and harboring secret identities, their protagonists didn’t fit the traditional definition of superheroes. So Mugamoodi, which is supposedly a traditional superhero flick, could well be a trendsetter.
Making a superhero film has been a long-time dream for Mysskin and he will see his dream come true tomorrow. But the new genre is certainly not a surprise coming from him since he has been very versatile in his directorial efforts so far. Starting off with a romance(Chithiram Pesudhadi), he has since made a cop movie(Anjaathey), an emotional drama(Nandhalala) and a psychological thriller(Yudham Sei). He is once again venturing into new territory with Mugamoodi, a superhero flick. But whatever the genre the film is set in, Mysskin has been able to present it with his own stamp, whether its in the serious tone, the unique camera angles or the one-of-a-kind item number. Its that stamp, that vision, that we will be looking forward to the most in Mugamoodi as he presents his take on the superhero story.
Jiiva wears the superhero garb here. He has so far proved to be a director’s actor. While he is a good actor and hasn’t really given a bad performance, he has recently been able to find success only in films made by established directors(Nanban by Shankar, Ko by K.V.Anand) while his films with newer directors – Singam Puli, Rowdram and Vandhaan Vendraan – bombed rather badly. He has supposedly worked hard for his role here, wearing an uncomfortable, heavy suit and learning martial arts and must be hoping that it pays off. Narain, who seems to be one of Mysskin’s favorite actors, having worked with him before in both Chithiram Pesudhadi and Anjaathey, plays the villain. A strong villain is a must for an entertaining superhero film and hopefully, Mysskin has understood this and given Narain a strong role. Pooja Hegde gets quite a high-profile debut and seniors like Nasser and Girish Karnad are also part of the cast.
Music director K made an impressive debut in Yudham Sei with a strong background score that enhanced the atmospheric thriller. Mysskin has gone with him again for Mugamoodi. K has delivered a good soundtrack with Vaayamoodi Summa Iruda… already becoming a big hit.
With its unique genre and a strong team both behind and in front of the camera, Mugamoodi has a lot going for it. Let’s hope it flies high at the box-office…
14 responses so far
Is there a difference between a masked vigilante and superhero? I get the feeling from the trailers that this is more of a vigilante movie than a superhero one. In which case we have some precedent in Thamizh movie – M.G.R’s Malaikallan, Rajini’s Naan Sigappu Manithan, Kamal’s Indian and Vijaykanth’s Ramana (I haven’t seen this one though).
In Hindi, we had Mr.India which had all the ingredients of a Superhero movie.
The only thing that turned me off of this is the blatant similarity to Dark Knight. The marketing team has used it to its full advantage, with the similar cloud background, “rises” terminology, the superhero costume…also a glimpse of a “clown”.
And yet, I’m gonna go watch it tmrw.
Mmmhhh… Looking at the trailers I am not too convinced this is going to be any good. I hope it’s not another Kandhasamy! Wish I am wrong.
Hopefully Myskin continues his winning streak….”Yudham Sei” was a masterpiece imo…
Barring the costume am really questioning the genre… Nevertheless in trying to cautiously veer away from Hollywood hits myskin might have a winner.. Waiting for yor review! (I wrote a similar preview for behindwoods but later thought of converting it to a review of sorts… How well it measures to our expectations)
The movie has got uniformly bad reviews. Myskin has completely lost it. Even all that stealing from Hollywood didnt help.He should go back to working at Landmark for a while.
Yudhdham Sei was a mastermokkapiece, with the second half being ridiculously funny and straight out of a bad 80s revenge masala.
On a side note I am pleased to report that Illayaraaja’s soundtrack for “Neethane En Ponvasantham” is probably his best since either “Mumbai Express” or “Virumaandi”. Barring a brutally awful “college song” (sounds way too old school), the other songs are pretty solid. The melodies DO sound a little old-fashioned but that’s to be expected. As the movie is high budget the orchestration is pretty lush. I think (especially since you are a much bigger Illayaraja fan than me) you will like it.
Gautham Menon is a lucky man..none of his movies have had a bad soundtrack yet!…and he’s used 3 music directors so far….
An additional warning: Yuvan sings TWO full songs in the soundtrack.
First of all, the movie doesn’t belong to superhero genre. Myskin has tried to do a commercial movie in his own style and suceeds to a larger extent. Bad reviews are only because no one expected a commercial movie from myskin. Everyone expected an out of the world movie from him .
There are lot of negatives. He didn’t get the screenplay right which is the weakest link in the second half. I expected lot of action towards climax but the movie seems to be ended up in a hurry. Everyone was talking “Mugamoodi” became TN’s superhero but there was not even a single scene to justify it. Some scenes are also cliched and not convincing. Even the so called twist looked cliched.
Hats off to Jilva for his dedication. He is simply amazing. Narein too done his part well but his screen space wont be more than for 30 minutes. Heroine looks beautiful but doesn’t have a meaty role to play. Naaser as usual is good but the final press conference is unintentionally funny.
I was entertained but expected a lot from myskin. But still can’t understand what made the marketers to market it as a superhero movie on the likes of batman, spiderman etc.,
Neethane en ponvasantham album is bloody awesome. This is Raja sir’s best in the last 10 years. Each and every song offers something interesting. Ennodu vaa vaa is truly vintage raja. Definitely this song is gonna be the song of the year. Kaatrai konjam is equally good with 90’s style music. My pick is vaanam mella, Raja sir’s voice is electrifying. Mudhal murai is another excellent song,sunidhi chauhan is truly mesmerizing and that “neethane en ponvasantham “bit gives a heart wrenching feel. pudikale maamu is a kuthu track in raja’s style. the starting music is absolutely rocking. Saindhu saindhu and pengal endral has got good tune and great orchestration but yuvan spoils it. Satru munbu is also a good melody. Overall an outstanding album for the music lovers. Sore the album has got a place in all the time best albums of TN list. Big thanks to Gautham for taking raja’s music to the next generation.
Asura,
While you may have not liked Yudham Sei, it’s a bit ridiculous to call the second half “funny”…I liked the second half a lot..and esp the way the movie ended (not to mention the amazing twist)..the first half was more of a police procedural while the second had a lot of emotional force….
Saw this movie yesterday. Won’t give away spoilers, but it was sorta average.
Mysskin is really good at setting up a scene, there were quite a few good ones, but he always tries to bring in the ‘Mysskin touch’, which doesn’t mesh with superhero theme at all.
Also, Narain is quite irritating.
Vijaykumar, I guess its difficult to draw the line between superhero & vigilante movie when the protagonist doesn’t have super powers. I’m thinking Batman will be the right comparison for the superhero in Mugamoodi.
Suresh, I surely hope not.
Meera, if done well to suit our milieu, the genre could easily work. Hope Mysskin approaches the genre in the right way.
Asura, yeah disappointing to see all the -ve reviews.
Wasn’t too fond of YS 2nd half but didn’t think it was that bad.
Vimal, heard a couple of songs so far & liked them. Love Ennodu Vaa Vaa…. Didn’t like Yuvan’s singing in Saaindhu Saaindhu… and not sure hearing the full song will change my opinion!
madhan, will review after I see it. but regarding ur last time, it wasn’t just the marketers who publicized it as a superhero movie. Mysskin himself talked about it being a superhero movie, his long-time dream, etc. in every interview.
Nikitha, haven’t seen it yet since we came on a trip over the long weekend. Hoping to catch it this week though.