Fazhil’s malayalam superhit Manichitrathazhu becomes Chandramukhi in tamil. What could be a more welcoming move than this ?
If Manichitrathazhu can be judged as one of the best yester-year classic, it’s adaptation should be sized-up more than it. This is second Fazhil‘s film being adapted for Rajini, the first one being Thenmaavin Kombathu which was re-made as Muthu, a few years back.
I have often wondered why Manichitrathazhu, was never re-made into tamil. Mohanlal‘s psychiatrist role can feed Kamalhassan‘s quest for better roles. Now, when it is adapted for Rajini, it would probably change to acknowledge Rajini’s image in Tamil Nadu but we can be sure it will be outright entertainer. Finally, a Rajini fan’s wish for a full-time comedy movie is met. Happy.
kirukkal.com 
28 responses to “Manichitrathazhu becomes Chandramukhi”
Thenmanvin kombathu is not by Fazil. It is by Priyadarshan
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Thought Chandramukhi was a remake of the Kannada hit Aptha Mithra(n)…
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Manichitrathazhu is a masterpiece.the movie climax and subsequent denouement is one of the best in Indian cinema…but I just cant fathom Rajini doing the psychiatrist role..Mohanlal was simply splendid (as always) in the original..
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I always thought Rajini had more sarakku than what he showed in his routine final movies. Maybe this is his way of proving a point, and vanishing into the chennai smog.
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வணக்கம்,
Excellent blog! Now I can catch up with my favorites – தமிழ் cinema and Chennai. Keep up the good work!
நன்றீ,
Harish Mohanbabu
……………………………………
தமிழ் என் தாய் மொழி – அது என் உயிர்
தமிழுக்கும் அமுது என்று பெயர்
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வணக்கம்,
Excellent blog! An excellent place to catch up with my favorites – தமிழ் cinema and Chennai 🙂 Keep up the good work!
நன்றீ,
Harish Mohanbabu
……………………………………
தமிழ் என் தாய் மொழி – அது என் உயிர்
தமிழுக்கும் அமுது என்று பெயர்
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So, the Tamil-girl from Tanjavur in “Manichitrathazhu” wud become a Mallu one 🙂
Can expect one more Mallu-kutty…some omanakutty [in Vivek’s style]??
Let’s see how well Rajini performs an “actor’s” role and balance the “hero” too, his piece of cake. Hope he executes this with grace and pass on generously, the “superstar” mantle to Vikram.
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Dude, Thanks for the info. Still couldn’t confirm that on the net. But yeah it could be. Thenmaavin Kombathu was a romantic movie and was converted partly to suit Rajini.
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Lazy – Thenmaavin Kombathu was directed by Priyan..Fazil was in no way associated with that movie..
Talking abt Manichitra.. and chandramukhi, Rajini had done a faintly similar kind of role many years ago in the film Aayiram Jenman gal…the plot goes like this…Vijayakumar and latha are the husband and wife.Latha gets possessed or something on those lines and Rajni, her brother, manages to exorcise her from the possession in the grand finale….anyone remember the film??
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the hindu says that its a remake of a kannada hit…where is manichitrathazhu here?
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/009200410011962.htm
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Capriciously_me – Aptha Mithra is a scene-by-scene remake of Manichitrathazhu..so Chandramukhi is technically a remake of the latter..
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I went to rajini’s fan website http://www.rajinifans.com and it says that rajni told them it is not a remake. He did say it is a challenging role.
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Who will play the role of Shobana ( Malayalam ) or SOundarya ( Kannada ) ?
Forerunners are Simran, Sneha and Reema Sen, i heard.
I am not sure if either of them can play the role as good as Shobana or SOundarya.
They will need a new face, preferrably a dance, to play full justice to the role.
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Reema sen?? OMG?!!!What are these film folks thinking? The only person I can envision right now doing a semblance of justice to the role would be Sneha, because she has learnt Bharathanatyam – assuming Bharatanatyam would still be the classical exponent in the film – and this would be a good showcase of her dancing prowess.. wat say you folks?
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That’s certainly news to me..Didnt know Sneha knew classical dancing. Shobhana had emoted so well in that movie-her eyes speak volumes .I cant think of a doe-eyed damsel in the TMF(is it now :-)), who can pull it off as well Shobhana did.But I think Sneha will suit the role.
Meena would be good to, but I guess she’s too ‘old’ for Rajini.hmm what abt Nandita Das?
If its certainly a remake of Manichithrathzh, I sincerely hope they keep the story-line intact and not go off on a philosophical/political tangent just coz Rajini is doing the role. Not another Baba, please
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I think chandramukhi is going to break the box-office and beat all the other releases. Sachien will also do the same an come second. Anniyan seems like a good story but looks crap. Rajini will prove that he’s still the superstar. Vijay is sure the next superstar. Now that chandramukhi is half done we ca check more news on the net.
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For hot discussion on this Chandramukhi, Malayalam and Kanada verison, please go to
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/Rajinidotcom/
My Comments:
Last Saturday, Singapore TV Telecasted Mohanlal’s Manichitrataazh. Chandramukhi is expected to remake this movie. Therefore i made myself watch the movie fully. The first initial part was quite boring and the second part was quite intersting once Mohanlal appears in the movie. He is a relaxed and jolly type psychiatrist. This is the first time i am seeing Mohanlal Malayalam movie and i really enjoyed his acting. Very natural!
Ok, first of all will this movie suit our superstar? If they follow exactly like this movie definately it will not suit our SS or even other actors. This type of screenplay will not suitable for Tamil audience. Looking at the Rajini’s stills, i can see that CM will be entirely different but the base story of the film will be same as Manichitrataazh.
Two things i would like to highlight on this movie.
Mohanlal was acting as psychiatrist and he handle the patient ( shobana) in a cool and jolly manner. I hope this will be great chance for Rajini and i think Rajini can even do better with his own style and with his own comefy and stylish speech. I can see from the CM stills.
Second one, which i don’t like whereby Mohanlal finds out the reason for Shobana’s (in CM Jothika)mental disorder (due to grandma story…) and the way he handle her to resolve her disease. Hope, something will be changed for our CM as this is the important part of the ending section. If not it will be like Baba whereby Amirish Puri and Sakthi Kodu song combination which most of them doesn’t like.
Please share your thoughts if you have seen the Malayalam and Kanadam movie.
Regards
Shajahan
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I beleive the kannada film is better than malayalam version . rajnikanth who was in bangalore watched APTHA MITRA which is a splendid film and was so impressed that he watched it 5 times at one of bangalore’s main theatres. Anyway hats of to aptha mitra troop for bringing about such a splendid film
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i have to say i disagree
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Hi Friends:
“Chandramukhi” though a remake no doubt will do a wonder in the Tamil industy due to Rajini’s character-oriented superperformance. Tx for the malayalam director or story writer to such a good story.
Hats off
Love Rajini
Ravee…
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just watched chandramukhi. really disappointed at the way it turned out!
rajni hasnt gone into the character. the whole movie has been embroidered just to fuel his superstar image!
comparatively, mohanlal in manichitrathaazhu has done such a good job as the psychiatrist and still maintained the superstar image.
shobhana dint need any special effects (jyotika needed light effects to accentuate the chandramukhi in her..) anyways.. shobhana won the national award.
and there is zilch graphics used in the entire manichitrathaazhu. ppl are not looking for special effects or how many bad guys the hero can twist and subject to antigravity.
really disappointed at how such a classic movie has been grotesquely transformed into absolute jingoism!
bad!
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Friends,
I am a great fan of Rajanikanth. But i am living in Bangalore since last 6 years and I had watched “Apthra Mithra” 4 months back it selfe. And last week i watched Rajani’s movie Chandramuki also. To be honest, “aptha mithra” is much,much better than Chandramuki. Kannada version is really lively. Songs were superb in Kannada version. And Soundarya,wow! she has acted very well. Vishnuvardhan and Ramesh were pefect in Kannada version. Somehow Tamil version didn’t impress me much. in banglaore, still “Aptha Mithra” is going strong like anything.
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whats really interesting is that i watched ‘chandramugi’ without any prior info abt Manichitrathazhu or Aptha Mithra… Found it impressive n all. Jyothika was really excellent in comparison to her past roles. the only negativity was her inability to dance classical dance without looking awfully clumsy…especially nxt to that guy (whatever hid name might be) ….. Now tht ive learnt bout the kannada and telugu version… Cant wait to see them. kep y’all up to date k
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ChandraMukhi SUX!!!!!!!
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Why all mallus & kannadians are not agree the success of chandramugi means it is going successfully and breaks all the collection records. even chandramugi beats in collection with mohanlal’s latest file which one released with same day with chandramugi. east or west Our Superstar is always the Best !!
-Superguy
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Yes, Aaptha Mithra is super duper success for Kannada Industry. It is running for more than 270 days and is still hot. It is a big bonus for the Kannada industry. Infact other languages were raking in the moolah. I read an article by the director of Aaptha Mithra and Chandramukhi, both directed by P Vasu. He agrees that he made certain changes from the original malayalam movie to suit the local audiences. I have watched Aaptha Mithra for more than 5 times and still love it for the script, songs and superb acting by Vishnu and Soundarya. It is indeed a record that this film in their respective language were a super hit.
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hmm i watched the ending of the malayalam version of chandramukhi..as in the part when the girl wants to kill the guy and they pour oil on mohanlal..man shobana acted really awesome because numb 1–she can dance….numb 2–as someone had mentioned earlier..her eyes alone are adequate to bring out the chandramukhi’s emotions..no light effects are needed unlike the tamil version of it.
I’m not saying that jothika can’t dance..she can but classical dance simply dosen’t suit her ya know(i mean she’s too bubbly and all)..and i think her hair and garments were so messy that she looked more like some escaped lunatic from the mental hospital rather than a graceful and at the same time revengeful dancer…so yes i agree shobana portrayed the role better…and yes i also agree to the fact that rajini took up most of the important parts in the movie..there is certainly room for improvement…overall the movie would have been way better if it did not entirely revolve around rajinikanth..and chandramukhi’s dancing surely could have been improved..perhaps a flashback would have been nicer..well that’s all…both movies are nice but i’d prefer the malayalam version..(shobana’s eyes can really capture the audience’s attention! at least in my case it did!)
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Chandramukhi… another hit movie for SuperStar Rajinikanth. Perpahs… its for those just watch rajini movies for fun and entertientment wise. But then I feel its something wrong in that story, which people sees from different aspect and widder view. If u comphere Chandramukhi and other ghost movie in different language “Chandramukhi” behaves like a stupid ghost and non strong enough. U can comphere wat I mean if u see Raaz (Hindi) and C’mukhi!
Does 150 yrs old saree just stays like that!!! normally its almost in a dissolve condition!When Nasir and vadivelo entered the room with the feak prist, dont tell me “c’mukhi” didn’t notice thier pressence and cant a ghost stuck them inside the room with her extraordinary power? How could really C’mukhi forget the face of the King and her ex-boyfriend?? Does’t a ghost have no power to open a door which has been nailed by Rajini?? If a spirit cant hold a heavy bed in just 1 hand cant the ghost open a door which is just nailed by a wood and nail?? Other than that C’mukhi ony talks in telugu, how can she suddenly talk in Tamil when rajini was defining about the “Kollese” with jyothika??
It has no sense when rajini brief about the ghost to prabhu which he claims “split character”, the correct word is “Poccessed”. Split Character is refered to character like Kamal in Aalavanthan which changes character from Good Nanda Kumar to Evil Nanda Kumar.Meanwhile the story of Jyothika’s past life has nothing got to with C’mukhi entering to her body. As far as religious concern those who r impious are the one easily will be poccessed by evil spirit.
To me Chandramukhi dosent make good sence of logicness at all. Hope Rajini could do something better in future… hope not either!!
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