| Kudaikul Mazhai | |
| Director: | Parthiban |
| Producer: | Parthiban |
| Starring: | Parthiban Madhumitha Sriman |
| Cinematography: | B L Sanjay |
| Editing: | Ram Sudharsan Suresh Rajan |
| Music: | Karthik Raja |
| Studio: | Bioscope Film Framers |
| Country: | India |
| Language: | Tamil |
Kudaikul Mazhai is a 2004 Tamil-language drama film written, directed and produced by Parthiban. He also stars in the lead role alongside Madhumitha, while Sriman portrayed a supporting role. The film released in September 2004 and was a box office bomb
Venkat (Parthiban) finds himself in a spot when suddenly a young, modern, good-looking Madhumita (Madhumitha) follows him everywhere, proclaiming her love for him. He knows that she's too big a catch for him and even tells her so, but when she goes on in a romantic vein, he yields to the temptation. And that spells his doom for it has been a charade all along. The shock is too much for the mild mannered Venkat. The affected, cobwebbed mind begins to develop schizophrenic tendencies.
The film was originally titled Nee + Naan, though Parthiban chose to rename it Kudaikul Mazhai as the story was about his character's first love and felt that the experience metaphors an experience of rain inside an umbrella.[1] The scenes were shot with a steady cam and 435 cameras, using sophisticated techniques, with scenes usually filmed at night.[2] Many of the scenes were shot at a huge set erected at Pallavaram by art director R K Vijaymurugan.[3] The film was completed with little publicity and promotion, with Parthiban noting he did not want his audience to come to the cinema halls with preconceived ideas about the film.[4]
The music was composed by Karthik Raja. The lyrics were written by Na. Muthukumar and Parthiban.[5]
Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu said the film "is a marked deviation from formula fare. Parthiban the creator has slogged to provide a new menu for the audience. And he has, as far as the theme goes."[6] Sifys critic noted "within the commercial format and he has done his best to make a different film".[7] Visual Dasan of Kalki called the film a visual poem and praised Parthiban for breaking the cliches of Tamil cinema.[8] Chennai Online wrote "It's a novel experiment in scripting and narrative style as far as Tamil cinema is concerned. A daring attempt by Partibhan as a producer, script-writer-director-hero to experiment with an unusual, hitherto untouched concept by film-makers here: To make the scrip revolve around just two characters, and have just two artistes in the frames for the most part. And to plan the scenes in just two main locations".[9]
The film however met with a "cold response" at the box office, with Parthiban suggesting that the film was "far ahead of its time".[10] Madhumitha's performance in the film was well received and she was offered several Tamil films soon after the release of Kudaikul Mazhai.[11]