Mutham Explained

Mutham
Director:S. A. Chandrasekhar
Producer:M. Arul Moorthy
Cinematography:R. Selva
Editing:L. Justin Roy
Music:Bharani
Studio:Digital Magic Productions
Runtime:130 minutes
Country:India
Language:Tamil

Mutham (Kiss) is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language slasher film directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar. The film stars Arun Vijay (known at the time as Arunkumar), Sathyan, Nagendra Prasad, Ajayan, Charulatha, Nanditha Jennifer and Anjali. The film, produced by M. Arul Moorthy, was released on 6 December 2002.

Plot

Joseph (Ajayan) and Sudha (Anjali) get married against their parents' wishes and they elope with their friends' help. Sudha's father (Vincent Roy), a politician, wants to kill Sudha and her friends. They arrive at a beach resort where they meet an old man (Thalaivasal Vijay) who warns them about the dangers at the resort. He tells them that the place is haunted and murders can take place. The friends arrange for the couple's honeymoon, ignoring his pleadings to vacate the place. However, in the forest, all the friends get murdered one by one, it turns out that the old man was the one who committed these killings as he explains his flashback of his granddaughter getting killed in the name of sacrifice by unscrupulous businessmen for the sake of buying the forest where the resort has been built as for that he kills each and every person who visits this resort. In the end, the old man gets stabbed and Arun and his lover escape from the place being worried about the situation.

Production

The film was developed under the title Muthamidalaama and was touted as India's first digital film made for theatres. The film was shot for fifty days in forests across Tirupati, Hogenakkal Falls, Yelagiri hills and Alappuzha.[1]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Bharani.[2]

Song Singer(s) Lyrics Duration
"La La La" 4:59
"Laiko Laiko" 4:56
"Orampo Orampo" Snehan 4:54
"Oru Murai Nee Yennai" Newton 3:31
"Saturday Sunday" Tippu 5:05
"Tigirtana" Harish Raghavendra, SwarnalathaNewton 5:17

Reception

A critic from Sify wrote that "S.A.Chandrasekhar’s blend of tacky horror mixed with Alphonsa’s dance number in the jungle is all intolerable".[3] Tulika from Rediff.com wrote that "As a film, Mutham is eminently forgettable. But at the technological level, it could turn out to be the trailblazer that changes the way films are shot in India".[4] Malini Mannath of Chennai Online wrote that "But while they've [Hindi filmmakers] borrowed the main plot, they've worked on the script and added their own interesting touches. But Chandrasekhar has not been able to do that, with both his inspirations turning out to be just bad copies".[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mannath . Malini . 7 October 2002 . Muthamidalaama . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20030927084402/http://www.chennaionline.com/location/mutham.asp . 27 September 2003 . 6 October 2015 . Chennai Online.
  2. Web site: Muthamidalama . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230622041534/https://www.jiosaavn.com/album/muthamidalama/VNANSbbXdnI_ . 22 June 2023 . 22 June 2023 . JioSaavn. 13 October 2002 .
  3. Web site: Mutham . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130628134515/http://www.sify.com/movies/mutham-review-tamil-12200621.html . 28 June 2013 . 26 December 2012 . Sify.
  4. Web site: Tulika . 25 January 2003 . Kiss of the future . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20100419064020/http://www.rediff.com/movies/2003/jan/24mutham.htm . 19 April 2010 . 26 December 2012 . Rediff.com.
  5. Web site: Mannath . Malini . 13 December 2002 . Mutham . https://web.archive.org/web/20021217023112/http://chennaionline.com/Moviereviews/tammov233.asp . 17 December 2002 . 21 April 2022 . Chennai Online.