Moodu Pani

Moodu Pani
File:Moodu pani poster.jpg Theatrical poster
Directed by	Balu Mahendra
Produced by	Raja Cine Arts
Starring	Shobha Pratap K. Pothen
Cinematography	Balu Mahendra
Edited by	D. Vasu
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja
Release date	6 November 1980
Running time	131 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Moodu Pani ([The Mist] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) is a 1980 Indian Tamil psychological thriller film directed by Balu Mahendra and produced by Raja Cine Arts. Starring Shoba and Pratap K. Pothen in the lead roles, with N. Viswanathan, Gandhimathi, Mohan and Bhanu Chander in supporting roles, it is based on the 1978 novel Idhuvum Oru Viduthalai Thaan by Rajendra Kumar. The film tells the story of Chandru (Pothen) who has a strong hatred towards prostitutes, and would kill any such woman who he encounters. He falls in love with Rekha (Shoba) and believes marrying her will end his psychological distress.

Moodu Pani was the third directorial venture of Mahendra, who also scripted it and worked as the cinematographer. It was the last produced film to feature Shoba before her death in the same year, and the first appearance of Mohan in a Tamil film; he would later become a successful actor in the industry. Moodu Pani was shot mostly in Bangalore and Ooty The soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, while his brother Gangai Amaran was the lyricist.

Moodu Pani was released on 6 November 1980 to critical acclaim, with praise directed at the way the story was told through the camera with minimum dependence on dialogues and acting, though Pothen did receive wide praise for his performance. The film was a commercial success, running for over 250 days in theatres. It was also responsible for a resurgence of the suspense thriller genre in Tamil cinema at that point. Although no print of Moodu Pani has survived, the film is still sold on home video.

Plot

Chandru (Pratap K. Pothen), the managing director of an exports company in Bangalore, hates prostitutes since childhood, as he was the victim of a prostitute who ruined his family by taking his father away from his mother. Raghunath (N. Viswanathan) is an inspector who knows Chandru and his mother. Raghunath's son Ravi (Bhanu Chander) is engaged to Rekha (Shoba).

Haunted by memories of the same 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 contacts her for the address. This is overheard by the Madam of a brothel (Gandhimathi) and she misleads Pallavi. On the pretext of taking her to Rekha's house, Pallavi is taken to the brothel and is forced into prostitution. Rekha and Raghunath search for Pallavi. Chandru comes to the same brothel and takes Pallavi in his car, but kills her. Rekha learns of Pallavi's murder through Raghunath, neither are aware that Chandru is the murderer.

Still photographer Bhaskar (Mohan) takes pictures of his lover with a bike in the backdrop. Chandru, who had come on that bike, had parked it there and killed a woman (Vijaychandrika) 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 bike in the background. Raghunath investigates about the vehicle and learns that the owner has lent the vehicle to his friend.

Worried about his constant anger, Chandru meets a psychiatrist, who advises him to marry soon so that he will no longer be lonely, saying the loneliness is leading him to continuously think about 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 informs 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 when she goes to visit her friend, he makes her unconscious and takes her away to a bungalow in Ooty. When she regains consciousness, he tells her that he had purchased this house in Ooty only for her, and requests her to marry him. When Rekha refuses and pleads to be freed, he requests her to stay back for at least a month, so that she can understand him better, and then reduces it to a week. He makes all arrangements to ensure that she cannot escape. One day, Rekha slams Chandru with a spade and finally runs away. He however catches her and traps her in the garage of his house, but gets hospitalised for his injury.

Meanwhile, 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 correlates this with the prostitutes murdered in the city. He visits Chandru’s house; hidden in the garage, he finds the same bike 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 Inspector informs Raghunath that an unknown person came in the car to the hospital and got admitted. The car was brought to the police station for safety. Raghunath visits the hospital, but Chandru had left by then. Raghunath is joined by Ravi, and both rush to Chandru’s house.

Meanwhile, Rekha escapes from the garage and enters the room where Chandru claimed his mother stays. However, she finds only a skeleton and is cornered by Chandru. Ravi and Raghunath hear Rekha screaming and rush to the room. Seeing them, Chandru collapses and reveals that the skeleton is his mother’s. Raghunath understands Chandru’s love for his mother and the problems he faced during his childhood, which made him develop hatred for women with loose morals. Chandru is arrested, while Rekha and Ravi unite.

Cast

• Shoba as Rekha
• Pratap K. Pothen as Chandru
• N. Viswanathan as Raghunath
• Gandhimathi as the Madam of the brothel
• Mohan as Bhaskar
• Vijaychandrika as the prostitute
• Bhanu Chander as Ravi (uncredited)

Production

Moodu Pani, which was Balu Mahendra's third feature film and second in Tamil after Azhiyatha Kolangal (1979), was based on Rajendra Kumar's 1978 novel Idhuvum Oru Viduthalai Thaan, It was produced by Raja Cine Arts and edited by D. Vasu. In addition to scripting and directing the film, Mahendra also served as the cinematographer.

Pratap K. Pothen was cast as Chandru, the serial killer of prostitutes. Shoba was chosen to play Rekha, the female lead. This was her last produced film; she died after filming was complete. N. Viswanathan was cast as the police inspector Raghunath, and Bhanu Chander was chosen to play Rekha's fiancé Ravi (although he was not credited) while Gandhimathi was cast as the madam of a brothel; she would later play a similar role in Moondram Pirai (1982), also directed by Balu Mahendra. Actress Vijaychandrika appeared as a prostitute murdered by Chandru. Mohan, who later became a leading actor in Tamil cinema, made his debut in Tamil with this film, playing a still photographer. It was his second film under Mahendra's direction, following the Kannada film Kokila (1977).

The film was shot in 30 days in Bangalore with 36,000 feet of negative film. Shooting also took place at Ooty. In the post-production phase, Mahendra had dubbed the voice for Pothen. The final length of the film was 3,848 metres.

Themes

Although Moodu Pani is officially based on the novel Idhuvum Oru Viduthalai Thaan, it has frequently been described as having been inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Psycho (1960). According to Rukmini Krishnan of Daily News and Analysis, it was Psycho that inspired Mahendra to make Moodu Pani. While Idhuvum Oru Viduthalai Thaan and its author were acknowledged in the opening credits of the film, Hitchcock and Psycho were not.

According to K. Hariharan of The Hindu, sexuality and the repression of desire were the dominant motifs in Moodu Pani and Balu Mahendra's later film Moondram Pirai, expressed through the mysterious misty atmospheres of Ooty where the protagonists confronted their psychological antagonists. He also cited that Moodu Pani, like many of Mahendra's films, borrows its themes and stylistic devices from French New Wave and New Hollywood styles of filmmaking.

Music

Untitled

The film's soundtrack and score were composed by Ilaiyaraaja in his 100th film. It is also his first film with Balu Mahendra. The soundtrack cover shows a scene from the song "Yen Eniya Pon Nilave" involving Chandru (Prathap Pothan) and Rekha (Shoba). The scene shows his dream of being together with her, even though she actually dislikes him because he has kidnapped her and taken her to Ooty, and she seeks to escape.

Moodu Pani marked A. R. Rahman's first association with Ilaiyaraaja; the former (then known by his birth name Dilip) worked as a keyboard player in the film. During the re-recording of Moodu Pani's soundtrack and score, Ilaiyaraaja fired his original keyboard player owing to the person's drinking behaviour. At that time, another one of his troupe members requested Ilaiyaraaja to meet up with a boy named Dilip, who knew how to play the keyboard. Ilaiyaraaja accepted the request and sent for Dilip and instructed him about the notes and tune he had to play. Dilip, under Ilaiyaraaja's supervision, successfully completed the re-recording process.

"Yen Iniya Pon Nilave" was the song that had the longest prelude and interlude using a guitar. The songs were praised for their superior quality over other Tamil songs. Ilaiyaraaja had composed the song "Ilaya Nila" which was first supposed to feature in this film, but Balu Mahendra rejected it, and chose "Yen Iniya Pon Nilave" instead. However, "Ilaya Nila" was subsequently used in Payanangal Mudivathillai (1982). Ilaiyaraaja's brother Gangai Amaran was the main lyricist of the soundtrack, except for "Sing Swing" (written by Vijay Manuel), while the lyricist of "Aasai Raja" is not credited.

Due to the popularity of its music, Moodu Pani became the first Tamil film for which a cutout was made for Ilaiyaraaja and displayed in theatres. According to G. Dhananjayan's 2011 book The Best of Tamil Cinema, Ilaiyaraaja was the first music director to have been honoured with a cutout. The first soundtrack edition did not feature "Aasai Raja", sung by Uma Ramanan; it was however included in the 1981 re-edition. A remix version of "Yen Iniya Pon Nilave" is featured on music artist M. Rafi's album Aasaiyae Alaipolae.

Tracklist

Side 1

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Yen Iniya Pon Nilavae"	Gangai Amaran	K. J. Yesudas	4:10
2.	"Paruva Kaalangalin"	Gangai Amaran	Malaysia Vasudevan, S. Janaki	3:00

Side 2

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Sing Swing"	Vijay Manuel	Kalyan	4:57
2.	"Aasai Raja"	uncredited	Uma Ramanan	1:04

Reception

Moodu Pani was released on 6 November 1980 and ran for 250 days in theatres. The film received critical acclaim, with critics praising the way the story was told through the camera with minimum dependence on dialogues and acting. On 30 November 1980, Ananda Vikatan said, "Half the dialogues in the film were spoken by the camera... Balu Mahendra's camera challenges and asks when I am there, where is the need for screenplay and dialogues..." Behindwoods called the film as "one of Tamil cinemas best in the film noir genre", and rated Prathap Pothan's "psycho lover" performance as "among the finest performances in Tamil cinema history". English journalist Phil Hardy in his book The BFI Companion to Crime (1997) said, "Finally, given the tendency in Indian cinema to remake successful Hollywood films, it is worth signalling Balu Mahendra's remake of Psycho in Tamil, Moodupani (1980)."

Bhama Devi Ravi of The Times of India said, "With his easygoing manners, Pothan was brilliant as a serial killer, and the last few minutes of the film were rivetting." IndiaGlitz said, "in eighties there were very few romantic thrillers - Bharathiraja's Sigappu Rojakkal and Balu Mahendra's Moodu Pani - among others which are best till date in this genre." G. Dhananjayan in his The Best of Tamil Cinema: 1977 to 2010 called the film "a sleek thriller", appreciating it for its "quality of making and camera work". In February 2014, S. Saraswathi of Rediff.com named Moodu Pani as one of "The Best Films of Balu Mahendra". K. S. Sivakumaran of Ceylon Today described the film as "halfway between artistic and merely entertaining".

Legacy

After Sigappu Rojakkal (1978), there was a resurgence of the suspense thriller genre in Tamil cinema through films like Moodu Pani. According to Dhananjayan, the film became a "benchmark for every cinematographer on how it was shot frame by frame." Pothen recalled in 2015 that it was the simultaneous release of Moodu Pani and Varumayin Niram Sivappu (another film featuring him) that made him a star. However, both Varumayin Niram Sivappu — which depicted Pothen as an eccentric director having an obsession for an actress — and Moodu Pani led to him being typecast 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 a 2014 interview. In the film Iruvar Mattum, Azhagu (Abhay) keeps the skeletal remains of his mother and frequently talks to her; Sify compared this plot detail to that of Moodu Pani and Psycho.

Balu Mahendra's 2001 film En Iniya Pon Nilavae was named after the song of the same name. Veena player Rajhesh Vaidhya's 2005 album was also titled En Iniya Pon Nilaave. In 2006, Yesudas performed "Yen Iniya Pon Nilave" during a programme held at PSG College of Technology, organised by Helpline Arts Academy to sponsor the education of underprivileged children in and around Coimbatore. In Vaaranam Aayiram (2008), when Suriya's character first sees Sameera Reddy's character and falls in love with her, he sings "Yen Iniya Pon Nilave" while playing the guitar. In June 2014 during Ilaiyaraaja's 71st birthday, singers Shweta Mohan and Aalap Raju collaborated to make a video where they performed some of Ilaiyaraaja's songs, as a tribute to him; one song was "Yen Iniya Pon Nilave". A song in Thirudan Police (2014) written by Vaali, was named "Moodupani". Although no print of Moodu Pani has survived, the film is still sold on home video.

Bibliography

• Dhananjayan, G. (2011). The Best of Tamil Cinema, 1931 to 2010: 1977–2010. Galatta Media. ISBN 978-81-921043-0-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Hardy, Phil (1997). The BFI Companion to Crime. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-304-33215-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (2014) [1999]. Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-94318-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Moodu Pani at IMDb