In which I compare ‘MMKR’ with ‘Apoorva Sagodharargal’ (with good reason, I hope), come down hard on Madan, and wish for more of Raju and Kameswaran.
Michael Madana Kama Rajan, which turns 30 on today, is one of those gifts that keeps on giving. Let’s begin with screenwriter Kamal Haasan and his Kamal-isms. This is the story of four brothers: if you note the company sticker on a car, it says “Sri Ramajayam”, and what is that epic if not the story of… four brothers. (Some of this is discussed in the video below.) And these are identical-looking quadruplets, which means we also get several identical-looking scenarios. The now-legendary “meen” (fish) stretch that introduces the now-legendary Kameswaran is matched with a situation where Manorama tells Madan that her daughter (Rupini) makes a mean meen kuzhambu. Another echo with Manorama: she is introduced in the garb of a widow, which is a match with Urvashi’s kleptomaniac grandmother (an ass-kicking SN Lakshmi). Raju is into Tamil theatre, as are the Manorama/Rupini characters. There’s even a bit of mathematical matching, with the numbers 6 and 25. Avinashi (Nagesh) embezzles Rs. 25 lakh, of which he “returns” Rs. 6 lakh. Raju borrows a mere 6 thousand, which has now ballooned, with interest, to 25 thousand. You could go on.
Read the rest of this article at the link above.
Copyright ©2020 Film Companion.
Baradwaj Rangan 
ravenus1
October 17, 2020
I think this piece is missing the glossary for colloquial phrases you normally provide. You should accept now BR, that your fame extends beyond the dyed in the wool tamizh padam fans and extend the courtesy to us poor subtitle readers :p
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MANK
October 17, 2020
The last line sums it all up: “MMKR has aged, but its comedy hasn’t.”
The Kameswaran portions are comedy gold, the chemistry between Kamal and Urvashi is awesome. Urvashi was one of the best comic actresses the country has ever produced
MMKR was the real beginning of Kamal’s excess. where 2 could do, he wanted to stick 4, This philosophy would finally lead to the atrocity called Dasavatharam
i wouldn’t be so hard on Madan as you do, after all he showed us the first laptop PC on Indian screen. The Michael character was the worst, or rather the the one that really stuck out of the narrative. Even Kamal’s performance in that role is a bit labored.
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Rahini David
October 17, 2020
I agree with MANK, if there was no Michael there would have been more time for Madan-Bheemboy. I guess you can completely lift Michael away without reducing the drama in any way.
Also always thought of ashtalakshmi as a crazy-ism rather than a kamalism.
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Madan
October 17, 2020
MANK: “MMKR was the real beginning of Kamal’s excess. where 2 could do, he wanted to stick 4, This philosophy would finally lead to the atrocity called Dasavatharam” – Ha, I came to say exactly that after reading the article. Also agree that Michael was the worst. Such a bland villain after the incredible anti hero turn Kamal had just done in Aboorva Sagotharargal (or even compared to his pure villain role in Sigappu Rojakkal).
AS is also special because it has more direction (as in the filmmaking discipline, but it does also have a better grip on the proceedings) and less dialogue. MMKR is like a greatest hits of Crazy Mohan compilation. It is better watched by selecting your favourite scenes and watching them standalone. Because as a one-sitting movie affair, it doesn’t cohere completely, not as well as AS at any rate. Ofc Raja delivered with another great soundtrack and many memorable motifs, seemingly oblivious to these issues.
But the climax…yes…and unfortunately preceded the many Priyadarshan comedies which involve bringing all characters under one roof for one last comedy of errors. Contrast that to the theatrical yet poignant and hard hitting climax of AS. It’s the context that sets apart AS – it has a deep melancholic, even bitter core with all the Raja plus Janakaraj comedy. There is no core already in MMKR. It’s pure Kamalism. And this would continue with the many other Crazy/KSR comedies Kamal would work on. All good films and classics for pure comedy. But not much more than that. Basically, more like Ace Ventura or Nutty Professor than Mrs Doubtfire.
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KaaviyaThalagani
October 17, 2020
“Birth and separation of multiple kamal-s” hahahahah
Aasome aasome.
Please also give link to the (allthingskamal I think) write up you wrote for the 50th anniversary and you spoke of Apoorva Sagotharargal.
Would love to read it again along with this!
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KaaviyaThalagani
October 17, 2020
Aha! Found it on the blog. Man, you’re so diligent, I love it. And this piece reads even better than I remember.
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Satya
October 17, 2020
If we have no Madan or lesser Madan, Raju and Kameswaran will not shine. To highlight the absurd, you need a saner contrast and Madan provides that. So yes, for me, Madan didn’t overstay his welcome. But Michael did.
And, I am that part of the minority who could not appreciate the film. It isn’t bad at all. I just don’t feel like revisiting it unlike AS or Nayakan or Thevar Magan.
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brangan
October 17, 2020
Satya: If we have no Madan or lesser Madan, Raju and Kameswaran will not shine. To highlight the absurd, you need a saner contrast…
Oh, I agree that a FOIL is necessary to set off the things that stand out. But my point is that even as a foil, Madan is boring, bland. He doesn’t get interesting things to do.
But take the foil-Kamal in INDIAN… He gets tons of stuff to do. He still is “interesting” as a character. He is corrupt, for one. He blames his father…
Or even in comedy, take THE ODD COUPLE. Walter Matthau is the foil to Jack Lemmon’s quirk-filled comedy character, but again, he still is interesting on his own.
Also, agree with Madan in that this was a badly staged movie — even without comparing it to AS. It’s basically the screenplay/dialogues and the performances that make it work.
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Anu Warrier
October 17, 2020
I’m incapable of critically analysing MMKR. Seriously. It’s up there with the madness that was AAA. But I also love AS dearly, so I think I will just stick to watching them over and over again. 🙂
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gnanaozhi
October 17, 2020
One reason that I think that the Kamarajan and Raji sequences are so stellar is they they live in their own dense universes populated by brilliant supporting characters.
Michael and Madan don’t have this. Take Michael, the only person in his universe that gets any screen time or is relevant is his step father. Madan has Bheem boy, Nagesh and his lackluster love story. Avinasi / Nagesh is not restricted to Madan as well.
Now compare this with Kamarajan, from Varadhu kutty to the thirutu patti to even the damned Grocery store owner (yellam +2 and that snide grin Crazy in his cameo gives), Kamarajan is just one element in this comedic jigsaw puzzle and Kamal’s comedic genius simply gets elevated to the stratosphere.
To a lesser extent the same applies with the Raju character.
Side note -just watched Puthum Pudhu Kalai (the anthology on Prime) and was blown away by just how natural and funny Urvashi is in this also.
And M S Bhaskar, man can get the tearbuds cracking just by showing up on screen.
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Ex. Voldemort
October 17, 2020
I love both MMKR and AS and this was such a treat! Thanks for this beautiful piece BR!
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Enigma
October 18, 2020
Oh man I am so tempted to watch MMKR again. What a fantastic movie, I am not sure how any times I would have seen this comedy classic. I agree that Madan was quite boring but, as MANK said, thans to him for introducing the laptop to the tamil movie audience. He was super cool when he flashed that laptop, looked up some Lotus worksheet and accused Nagesh of “misappropriating” cash. That was also the first time that I had heard that word. Speaking of Nagesh, he was just brilliant – his greatest work in the Kamal – Crazy Mohan universe.
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Odiyan Hater
October 18, 2020
I had a lecturer in college who once asked, “What is the use of fiction books? Everything you require is already there in Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana.”
Any time a case has to he made for the utility of creative works of art (and even within the realm, the much less respected comedy genre), Kamal – Krazy Mohan comedies are the trump cards in one’s arsenal. And I am saying this as a non – Tamil who watched these movies without subtitles so probably a lot of the jokes got lost on me.
Personally speaking Michael Madana Kama Rajan is a movie that saved my life. It is one among the works of art which gave me the strength to stay alive during a depressive phase in my life. It gave me hope of a better tomorrow and was to me the charm of a lazy summer afternoon turned into a movie.
I haven’t seen Aboorva Sagotharangal so I really don’t know how MMKR fares vis a vis that film but to me the first time I watched MMKR it seemed perfect and hence I’d like to make a case in favour of Madan.
1) Madan to me (and my friends as they later told me) is the definition of cool. This is Kamal at the peak of his good looks and looks the most magnificent any Indian actor has ever looked on screen.
2) Though the movie can be seen as just an entertainer, it wouldn’t be far fetched to say Kamal Hassan has found a way to ingrain his personal centrist ideology in this movie too and Madan is central to how Kamal (Singeetham, Panchu Arunchalam, and Crazy too are contributors but I’m singling out Kamal due to the consistency of ideology in his films) has chosen to integrate his ideology into this film. Madan is a shrewd capitalist and the movie is unapologetic about it. This is especially refreshing considering how even now a mainstream commercial hero can’t be seen as rich unless it’s a rags to riches tale/ he’s a gangster/ he’s a farmer. MMKR juxtaposes the lives of the different Kamals in different strata of the society and shows us how life can be enjoyed/survived regardless of one’s social standing. It is highly probable that the movie was born out of makers trying to explore how a person’s behaviour and personality are shaped by his/her upbringing and circumstances and then decided to use the classic masala trope of bachpan mein kumbh ke mela main bichcde hue bhai trope to execute the same. And with Singeetham involved it had to be a comedy and it being a comedy Kamal had to have Crazy on board.
3) Also, Madan’s romance too is essential to Kamal’s ideology. KH (and Singeetham and Crazy too) as has time and again shown that he believes in equality and one of the ways he’s found to integrate the same in this movie is through the romances.
The high flying foreign educated Madan falls for a poor stage artist while an average joe like Raju manages to woo Kushboo who is a high society intellectual artist type. Now it is not uncommon for romances to play up this opposites attract notion but what the makers here have done here is put two such romances together wherein if swapped, the partners would be considered ideal for each other in the society. Probably this was a decision they took while designing the characters – maybe this kushboo character was initially designed to be with madan and Raju with Manorama’s daughter.
Madan’s romance also does the task of loosening up the character so that it doesn’t seem all that too unbelievable for a tough as nails corporate guy like him to act the way he does when he gets involved in the ridiculous situations towards the end of the movie. The romance makes him appear soft, vulnerable and shows that he is not immune to manipulation.
“and it doesn’t help that the milieu he’s chosen is a generic one, as opposed to the colourful circus milieu of Apoorva Sagodharargal.”
I disagree. As someone born 3 years after the release of this movie and as someone who watched it only about half a decade back, I find the milieu pretty fascinating as it takes me back in time, to simpler times when you didn’t have the convenience gadjets/technology/mobile/internet but life was also slower and less competitive and complicated.
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Madan
October 18, 2020
“I disagree. As someone born 3 years after the release of this movie and as someone who watched it only about half a decade back, I find the milieu pretty fascinating” – I am not sure I understand THIS disagreement. BR is saying in COMPARISON to AS, the mileu is generic. Which it is, in the sense that it is more typical of the Tamil cinema of the time, especially a certain middle-upper middle class oriented urban movie. You have said you didn’t watch AS so you would probably understand his (or my) arguments better after watching it. It has a circus, animals, magic tricks and gadgets and these innovations are brought together in a far more tightly written movie.
AS is really a consummate masala film in the Salim-Javed tradition, one of the last masala classics and one of the greatest (and most underrated), with nods to more Tamil traditions like the Janakaraj or Manorama comedy as well as some invocations of ‘Amma’ and ‘Annan-Thambi’ sentiment (but a lot, lot less of this than the typical Tamil film of its time). MMKR is an out and out comedy film which is great in its own right but does not quite pack the punch that AS does. This is not so much a criticism of MMKR, to suggest that it is anything but at least a really good film, as a comparison of say Agassi and Nadal or Jayasuriya and Lara. You can make strong arguments for the former if you are so inclined but ultimately the numbers don’t lie.
The numbers don’t lie in this case too (even though MMKR didn’t deserve to be a flop). AS was one of Kamal’s biggest hits while MMKR a middling affair at the BO.
Regarding Kamal-cooleth, the problem for us long time Tamil cinema fans is that this version of Kamal-cool had already been done before by him many times. Never better than in Sigappu Rojakkal but also in Ulaasa Paravaigal, Tic Tic Tic, young Kamal in Oru Kaidhiyin Dairy, arguably even Kaaki Chattai. So the Madan character does not hold for us the novelty value that it seems to for you because we know this posh accent Kamal very well by now and he does not bring anything particularly new to that characterisation. It works better in contrast with the Pallakaatu Iyer Kamesh or the Saidapet (?) type played by Raju. But left to himself, the Madan character is quite plain.
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rsylviana
October 18, 2020
I felt so elated when I saw that you had written about the terrific MMKR that too something worth 8 minutes but, I can’t lie, I was disappointed that you hadn’t written much about the songs especially the “Paer Vachaalum” number! Seriously if you had to exemplify the exuberance and hilarity of the Kamal-Crazy combo into a musical , it would sound like the “Paer Vachaalum” song. Much like their movies, you can’t help but have your spirits lifted whenever you listen to this song, no matter what mood you were in when you caught it.
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MANK
October 18, 2020
Regarding Kamal-cooleth, the problem for us long time Tamil cinema fans is that this version of Kamal-cool had already been done before by him many times. Never better than in Sigappu Rojakkal but also in Ulaasa Paravaigal, Tic Tic Tic, young Kamal in Oru Kaidhiyin Dairy, arguably even Kaaki Chattai.
Oh man, that’s exactly what i wanted to say too 🙂 By the time in the 90s, Kamal’s English accent has reached the state of parody, there was beginning to be a lot of jokes about it,
Also, i think Kamal was at the height of his glamourous good looks during the Kakki chattai, mangamma sabatham, Vikram phase; for me, he looked the best in Vikram. By the time of MMKR, his looks had begun to wane. Also the above said phase finds him at his most agile and physically fit. The dances and fights in Kakki chattai, Vikram and Saagar are his best – Singari sarakku, yunhi gaathe raho, enjodi manjal kuruvi etc…
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Satya
October 18, 2020
But my point is that even as a foil, Madan is boring, bland. He doesn’t get interesting things to do. But take the foil-Kamal in INDIAN…
You are right. Indian’s Kamal – the son – is pretty grey role though frankly speaking is only an agent of conflict that helps the screenplay. That way, Madan might be too functional. A better love story might have helped in projecting him at least as a boring ladies man.
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V
October 18, 2020
Soakkaa ezhudhirka saar. Idhelaa thaana vardhu dhaan la!
I can understand the love for Kameswaran & Raju and also fathom why Michael failed to impress. But wasnt this Madhan one of its kind back then? Now, we are used to our Gautham Vasudev Menon heroes, who have that refinement. Or even Prashant from Kannedhirey Thondrinaal or Jeans. Or Ajith from Kandukondein Kandukondein or Arvind Samy from all, but Thaalatu!
Was there any other suave, upper class hero who lived in a real palatial house (and not the Thoongathey Thambi Thoongathey chandelier vecha house or Netrikann rendu side staircase house), who couldnt get his tongue to roll around Chinna Gramani Street, who carried a laptop (ofcourse), who has an AC caaru, who grimaces at Raju’s special tea or even willing to let go of 25 lakhs if Avinashi confessed (25 lakhs could get you a nice independent house any where in Madras back then) – these things were quite novel then. Born with a silver spoon kinda hero…who till the end remains one, with no deviations!
In 2020, all this seems pretentious or even normal, what with even namma Vemal playing a cool, hip software engineer in some movie!
Back then it was a new milieu. Namma ooru Richie Rich types that I found cool.
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KayKay
October 18, 2020
Another great article, B, but I’ll ask you the same question you asked yourself: WHY compare AS & MMKR? Apart from the fact they’re both from the same Actor-Writer-Director combo, I’d hardly put them in the same category.
AS is your traditional all-rounded (and perfect, let’s get that out of the way) masala I’d compare to Thoongathey Thambhi Thoongathey, Sakala Kala Vallavan or Kakki Chattai.
MMKR is an out and out comedy I’d slot in the same bucket as Avvai Shanmughi, Kadhala Kadhala or, and I know this isn’t a Kamal movie, Ullathai Allitha.
I can’t even remember if MMKR had a proper villain, that essential component of a good masala. Opportunists and Con Artists aplenty, but one of those dastardly conniving repellant asshole(s) whose just comeuppance you thirst for? Hardly.
MMKR has only ONE major flaw in my opinion, that’s the tiresomely protracted “Tilting House” climax. I watch this movie often and turn it off just as the film gets to that scene. Everything else is oodles of fun. I don’t find Madan the chronic bore you make him out to be, as I essentially always saw him as the straight man to the more rambunctious Raju and Kameshwaran. Michael could have used more screen time is all, and I liked his chemistry with Santhana Bharathi (in a cine culture that deifies parents to the point of absurdity, Michael slapping his Old Man was a moment of genuine hilarity).
And credit the film for this: It centres around that time-honored trope of separated siblings but ends without the requisite teary reunion scene. I believe the film ends without Michael, Madan, Kameshwaran or Raju ever realizing they’re brothers.
And finally, where else but in the Kamal-Verse do you get a scene where a mother actively pimps out her daughter to the hero and it’s played for salacious laughs?
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dagalti
October 19, 2020
At first glance this comes across as a rather middling article actually 😐
I honestly expected more from you when writing about THIS film.
Much as I am among the last remaining irksome fans (witnesses?) of ‘Arre O SambAr’ – I felt the choice of tone didn’t serve this article well. I imagine this would have worked so much better had it been a focused serious piece with Brang-acuity , without yielding to the temptation of making light and earning a chuckle at every other sentence.
If there is a film that deserves studious analysis, it is this one. Beyond being quote happy, that is. I don’t mean that negatively, we can’t quote this movie enough, but this is so much more isn’t it?
Now, I’ll read the article again….
Btw,
K – Guruvayurappan bless his soul – is a delight and would fit in many a movie.
Whereas, R IS the movie. #அவ்ளொதான்ல
I shall leave it to my betters to articulate this point which I thought was fairly axiomatic but I observe with concern that it isn’t.
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Rahini David
October 19, 2020
KayKay: Regarding the I believe the film ends without Michael, Madan, Kameshwaran or Raju ever realizing they’re brothers.
Nope. You think that because you don’t see the house-tilting scene. It doesn’t stand to repeated viewing. But I saw it very recently.
Raju recognizes his mom as “Road side la partha Amma”. For which she replies, “Illa pa. Naan un Amma pa”.
To which Michael says, “Yes, she is your mom, She is our mom. I thought I was an orphan but I found my family”.
Not to mention Santana Barathi says, “If that is your dad, then am I not your dad. Michael, I don’t have anyone but you.” when Michael attempts to save his father. The climax is not as bad as people make it out to be. Michael especially needs that micro-redemption arc, if we are to accept that he is going to inherit the fortune just the same as MKR.
To me the downer is the 2 guys who hang from the tree tops at the end. I always felt they need not have gone there.
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(Original) venkatesh
October 19, 2020
Is the this the signal of the End-Times ?
For once I am actually in agreement with @KayKay.
Kaliyugam sir , me and KayKay in agreement after 10 years bein on the same board 🙂
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Madan
October 19, 2020
“MMKR is an out and out comedy I’d slot in the same bucket as Avvai Shanmughi, Kadhala Kadhala or, and I know this isn’t a Kamal movie, Ullathai Allitha.” – I agree completely but that is the very reason why I don’t think it compares as a film to AS. OTOH the only thing AS has in common with Kaaki Chattai, Thoongathey Thambi or Sakalakalla Vallavan is that they are all Kamal starrers operating in the masala genre. But AS is far, far superior to those films. It’s not even close imo. Whereas MMKR is kind of substitutable with the other Kamal comedies that would come after it. It does have the distinction of being the trailblazer. And of being better than most of those films, and of having a far, far superior soundtrack. But that’s it. The elements that would dominate Kamal comedies, even say a Sathy Leelavathy directed by Balu Mahendra (and not KS/Crazy/Singeetham), are already in place in MMKR. You could watch any one of MMKR, Pammal K, Thenali, Panchathantiram, Kadhala Kadhala and they would deliver roughly the same experience. It’s almost like a Pink Panther comedy franchise. Which is brilliant in its own right. But it makes it a bit like Kanchenjunga next to Everest.
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KayKay
October 19, 2020
(original) venkatesh; WTF, dude! You make it sound like you and I have been having epic spats here for the last decade, when I’m struggling to remember a single point of disagreement 🙂
Anyway, think of you and I being in synch not as Kaliyugam, but the start of a new Pralaya directly after. It’s all good 🙂
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Anonymous Violin
October 20, 2020
@Madan:
With all due respect, I think it’s unfair to say MMKR/Panchathanthiram/Avvai deliver the same experience the likes of PKS/Kaadhalaa Kaadhalaa. The latter two are more forgettable imo.
Also can someone who’s more familiar with Madras Baashai answer this:
Is Kamal’s accent as Raju(MMKR), Raja (Vasool Raja), etc. over exaggerated/inaccurate?
If so, is it just comic exaggeration (like Kameshwaran or Balram Naidu) or does it verge on annoying?
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Madan
October 20, 2020
Anonymous Violin: Well, ok, you can degroup some films from that bunch but either way, the point is MMKR is the beginning of a series of comedy films that had many elemental similarities while AS is unique. Not everyone can essay that dwarf role. It’s one of the greatest achievements of Kamal’s career.
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shaviswa
October 20, 2020
@Anonymous Violin
The Madras baashai is exaggerated. But the exaggeration is to make it sound comical. OTOH even in Madras, Madras baashai is waning and not as prevalent as it used to be when we were kids. So that may be a reason why it sounds odd today than it did when MMKR was released.
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Anonymous Violin
October 20, 2020
@Madan:
I’ll definitely agree with you on that. AS is superior. Especially the revenge sequences.
And yet I have seen MMKR so many more times. One of the perks of an out and out comedy, I suppose 🙂
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(Original) venkatesh
October 20, 2020
Amen 🙂
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Dora
October 24, 2020
wow, looks like I will be in the minority here. This film is so beloved to us (me, my family, my friends), it is almost beyond reproach. Not sure if this can be compared with AS, which was a rather serious movie, beneath all the comedy. MMKR On the other hand was a full blown comedy. While Kameshwaran is easily one of the most adored characters, Madan was pretty cool too. His laptop (I don’t think we even had a landline phone in our house around that time), his English, his chemistry with Nagesh and Manorama and Bheem boy, everything was perfect. He did not feel like a bland foil at all.
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Honest Raj
October 25, 2020
I’m not a big fan of MMKR. Even as a full-blown comedy the film is not a patch on Sathileelavathi/Magalir Mattum. My biggest problem with this film is that it hasn’t aged well at all (in terms of look and feel). It’s difficult to believe that it came out in the 90s. The song-picturisation (except, may be “Sundari Neeyum”) is dull even by the prevailing standards of the time in Tamil cinema. In this regard, a film like Kizhakku Vaasal would put this one to shame.
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Honest Raj
October 28, 2020
Not just in terms of looks – watch from around the 6:57 mark in the video below – but in terms of dancing abilities too, he was at his peak during the phase (between 1981 and ’86). Although his obsession for makeup started in the late 70s, it was only after Nayagan things went haywire. In the 90s, he looked great in TM, Kalaignan and Mahanadi. The ’80s Kamal resurfaced onscreen in Magalir Mattum and Mahanadi (the flashback portions).
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MANK
November 7, 2020
Wishing Kamal Haasan a very happy birthday. It’s a pity that in the last decade and half he could not give us anything great. Virumaandi continues to be his last great cinematic achievement
https://bit.ly/369IPEm
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