Moodu Pani

<p>Chandru, a wealthy businessman in , has an uncontrollable hatred for prostitutes, a consequence of having watched his mother being beaten by his father frequently after he spent a night with a prostitute. Raghunath, a police inspector, knows Chandru and his mother. His son Ravi is engaged to Rekha, the daughter of his friend. Haunted by memories of the prostitute, Chandru lures two prostitutes to lonely places and murders them as he sees that woman in each of them. Rekha’s friend Pallavi comes to Bangalore to meet her, and telephones her for her residential address. The conversation is overheard by the Madam of a , who misleads Pallavi. Instead of being taken to Rekha’s house, Pallavi is taken to the brothel and forced into prostitution. Rekha and Raghunath search for Pallavi. Chandru comes to the same brothel, takes Pallavi in his car and later kills her. Rekha learns of Pallavi’s murder through Raghunath; neither are aware that Chandru is the murderer. Bhaskar takes pictures of his lover with a motorbike in the background. Chandru, who had come on that motorbike, had parked it there and murdered a prostitute who enticed him near the same location, then rode away. Reading about the murder in a newspaper, Bhaskar shows Raghunath the pictures with the murderer’s motorbike in the background. Raghunath investigates and learns that the owner has lent it to his friend. Troubled by his constant anger, Chandru meets with a psychiatrist who advises him to marry soon so that he will no longer be lonely, saying the loneliness is leading him to dwell on his past and indulge in extreme acts. Chandru meets Rekha at a theatre and then at a book stall. He proposes to Rekha and even pleads with her to marry him. Surprised at his extreme pleading, Rekha politely tells him that she loves someone else (Ravi), and their marriage is already fixed. Raghunath is startled when Rekha tells him about Chandru’s marriage proposal. Chandru keeps following Rekha; one day he makes her unconscious and takes her away to a in . When she regains consciousness, he tells her that he had purchased this house in Ooty only for her, and again asks her to marry him. When Rekha refuses and begs to be freed, he asks her to stay for at least a month so that she can understand him better, and then reduces it to a week. He makes all the arrangements to ensure that she cannot escape. Rekha later slams Chandru with a spade and runs away. He manages to catch and imprison her in the garage of his house, but is hospitalised for his injury. Raghunath visits Chandru’s office for an enquiry and learns that he has gone to Ooty. He also meets Chandru’s psychiatrist and learns about his hatred for prostitutes. He immediately connects this with the recent news of the prostitutes murdered in the city. Raghunath visits Chandru’s house and, hidden in the garage, he finds the motorbike photographed by Bhaskar. With his suspicions growing stronger, he arrives in Ooty to meet Chandru and visits the police station, where he finds Chandru’s car. The area’s inspector tells Raghunath that an unknown person came in the car to the hospital and was admitted; the car was brought to the police station for safety. Raghunath visits the hospital, but finds that Chandru has left. Raghunath is joined by Ravi, and both rush to Chandru’s house. Meanwhile, Rekha escapes from the garage and enters the room where Chandru earlier claimed his mother stays. However, she finds only a skeleton and is cornered by Chandru, who tries to assault her. Ravi and Raghunath hear Rekha screaming and rush to the room. Raghunath subdues Chandru, who collapses and reveals that the skeleton is his mother’s. Raghunath understands Chandru’s love for his mother and his traumatic childhood, which had made him develop a hatred for women with loose morals. Chandru is arrested, while Rekha and Ravi unite. The uncredited cast includes: After directing and writing two original films: the film (1977) and the film (1979), decided that his third directorial venture be based on a published novel. The film, which would later be titled , was an adaptation of , a 1978 Tamil novel by Rajendra Kumar, and , a 1963 English novel by . Mahendra said he based 40% of the film on , and 60% on . It was produced by Raja Cine Arts, and edited by D. Vasu. In addition to writing the screenplay and directing the film, Mahendra also served as the cinematographer. The producer of the film is not credited, while K. R. Shanmugham is listed under “Thayarippu Nirvagam” (production administration). , who previously collaborated with Mahendra on , was cast as Chandru, the mild-mannered and psychopathic of prostitutes. Mahendra’s wife , who had appeared in both and , was chosen to play the female lead, with Mahendra claiming the film was “specially made” for her. She was credited in the opening titles as “Shoba Mahendra”. , who later became a leading actor in Tamil cinema, made his debut in Tamil with this film, playing the still photographer Bhaskar. It was his second film under Mahendra’s direction after , and he was credited as “Kokila Mohan”. for began in January 1980 and ended in late April, a few days before Shoba’s suicide on 1 May, making this the last film she acted in; the last song to be filmed was “Yen Iniya Pon Nilavae”. The film was shot primarily in , and . Mahendra shot the film in hilly places “to capture that misty feel”. During the post-production phase, Anuraatha Rajkrishna was chosen to dub Shoba’s voice; in preparation, she “spent days on an empty stomach” to get the right speaking style. In making , Mahendra faced the challenge of distinguishing it from ‘s (1978), which had a similar theme. The final length of the film was 3,848 metres (12,625 ft). Although is officially based on , it is widely discussed as also having been inspired by ‘s thriller (1960). R. Ilangovan of stated that while Mahendra was inspired by , his camera work, the “mist-covered nights” of Bangalore and Ooty, and the “weirdness” of the subject made the film “unique”. While and its author were acknowledged in the opening credits of the film, Hitchcock and were not. According to , there is a strong similarity between and as the male leads in both films keep the skeletal remains of their respective mothers, which they continue to communicate with. Chellappa of compared to and as all three films depict their leads as committing murders to achieve peace of mind. Mahendra’s disciple noted the elements between Chandru and his deceased mother. Mahendra described the film as a suspense thriller, while N. Venkateswaran of described it as a . Devika Bai, writing for the , referred to it as a film. In the 2017 book , Mithuraaj Dhusiya likened it to a because of the numerous prostitutes murdered by Chandru. K. Hariharan, director of the L. V. Prasad Film & TV Academy, noted that sexuality and the repression of desire were the dominant motifs in , expressed through the mysterious misty atmospheres of Ooty where the protagonist confronts their psychological antagonist. He also noted that , like many of Mahendra’s films, borrowed its themes and stylistic devices from and styles of filmmaking. Ilangovan noted that Chandru’s character, which was depicted as having flashes of wickedness bordering on perversion, was new to Tamil cinema. Crime fiction writer considers , along with and (1984), to explore the personalities and behavioural traits of psychopaths in detail. The film’s soundtrack and score were composed by , this being his 100th film, and was released under the label . It was also the first film in which he collaborated with Mahendra; Ilaiyaraaja would later compose for all of Mahendra’s films until (2013), the director’s last film before his death in February 2014. “Yen Iniya Pon Nilavae” was written in January 1980, and is set in , a . According to , who wrote the song, it was one of the hardest songs in the album to write. Mahendra wanted a song depicting Chandru playing the guitar and asked Ilaiyaraaja for a tune; Ilaiyaraaja played the “scratch notes” of the song that would become ” “, but Mahendra was not pleased and asked for another tune; Ilaiyaraaja gave him the tune of “Yen Iniya Pon Nilavae”, and this was retained; would sing it. Like “Yen Iniya Pon Nilavae”, the song “Paruva Kaalangalin” is also set in Natabhairavi. was released on 6 November 1980, during the holiday frame. Despite facing competition from other Diwali releases such as and another Pratap film , the film was commercially successful, running for over 200 days in theatres. received critical acclaim, with critics praising the performances of Pratap and Shoba. , in its review dated 30 November 1980, said that half the dialogues in the film were spoken by the camera, and felt that when there was great cinematography, there was no need for screenplay and dialogues. Soundara Kailasam of appreciated the film for various aspects, including Shoba’s performance, Ilaiyaraaja’s music, the fewer songs, and the cinematography. Naagai Dharuman of praised the cinematography, direction, acting and music. For some reason, despite names like Balu Mahendra and Yesudas being associated with this song, people get reminded of me when they listen to this. I have no idea what I did so well in this song to deserve that. This was also my last song with Shoba. I remember how we looked into the sky just before the line, ‘Panneerai Thoovum Mazhai’. Balu Mahendra made me listen to this song for the first time in . I learned just then that he got married to Shoba. I told him that this song was so beautiful, that it was a great wedding gift for him from Ilaiyaraaja. After , there was a resurgence of the thriller genre in Tamil cinema, as evidenced by films like . According to film producer and writer , the film “inspired a generation to take up film-making”. M. Suganth of stated that Mahendra “changed the landscape of Tamil cinema with his distinctive visuals and eclectic films” such as . Following Mahendra’s death, K. S. Sivakumaran of described the film as “halfway between and merely entertaining.” Pratap recalled in January 2015 that it was the simultaneous release of and that made him a star. However, both (which depicted Pratap as an eccentric director obsessed with an actress) and led to him being in similar roles. “Both roles caught the public imagination, and I admit I cashed in when I was offered similar stuff. Now, unless I’m offered an unreasonable amount of money, I doubt I’ll accept these roles,” he said in 2014. In (2006), Azhagu (Abhay) keeps the skeletal remains of his mother and frequently talks to her; Sify compared this plot detail to that of and . Malathi Rangarajan of , in her review of (2003) a film about a mentally deranged woman ( ) who saves an accident victim ( ) from death, nurses him in her own home and also falls in love with him, but holds him captive there, stated that the film had “shades” of . Actor stated that he watched in preparation for his role as a psychopath in the thriller (2011). Reviewing (2014), K. Siddharth of Sify praised its cinematographer for “showcasing Ooty in trademark [Balu Mahendra’s] way” in the style of . In (2008), when ‘s character first sees ‘s character and with her, he takes his guitar and performs “Yen Iniya Pon Nilavae”. Pratap expressed appreciation for Suriya’s version of the song in a May 2015 interview, saying that he had “enjoyed it”. In June 2014 during Ilaiyaraaja’s 71st birthday, singers and collaborated to make a video in which they performed some of Ilaiyaraaja’s songs as a tribute to him; one song was “Yen Iniya Pon Nilavae”. Although no of is known to survive, the film is still available on home video.</p>