The American mappillai () also known as America mappillai, is a stock character in
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood' ...
, a
NRI
NRI or Nri may refer to :
* Kingdom of Nri, an Igbo kingdom that flourished between the 10th century and early 20th century
* National Radio Institute, a now defunct post-secondary vocational correspondence school
* National Resources Inventory
* N ...
man who is portrayed as a potential suitor of the female lead character but is often turned down in favour of the
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
lead character.
Characteristics
D. Arachi of ''Fully Filmy'' noted that American mappillais are often characterised by their attractive looks, tallness, fair skin, ownership of an expensive car and better grasp of English than the film's Tamil protagonist. Variations of the American mappillai also appear in Tamil films, such as the Delhi mappillai, Dubai mappillai, London mappillai and Bangalore mappillai.
Film critic Anuja from ''Behindwoods'' noted that an American mappillai was "an affected gentleman with a penchant for branded clothes or stifling suits worn in the peak of a tropical summer and of course, a horribly pretentious accent". She added, "his spoken Tamil is enough to make the ears bleed and his ego is usually the size of Texas", while noting the character typically "provides a lot of fodder for comedy".
In her thesis ''Watching from an Arm's Length: The Foreign Hand in Tamil Cinema'', Preeti Mudliar notes "the foreign mapillai (groom) finds that his status as a foreign-returned groom is undermined by either his villainous intentions, his fundamental inferiority to the values and virile appeal of the local son of the soil, or the comic relief he provides as a misfit in the changed landscape of the society he was once a part of. In short, the foreign-returned groom is frequently the loser in the romantic toss".
Referring to his 1997 film ''
Minsara Kanavu
''Minsara Kanavu'' () is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language musical romantic drama film that was co-written and directed by Rajiv Menon. The film stars Arvind Swamy, Prabhu Deva, and Kajol in her Tamil debut, and revolves around Priya (Kajol), a con ...
'',
Rajiv Menon
Rajiv Menon (born 20 April 1963) is an Indian filmmaker who has worked as a film director, director and cinematographer in several Indian regional film industries. After making his breakthrough as a film cinematographer with Mani Ratnam's drama ...
noted "the privilege of the foreign automatically makes the groom a suspicious person when he comes to bride-hunt", explaining why
Arvind Swamy
Arvind Swamy (born 18 June 1970) is an Indian actor, model, entrepreneur and television presenter known for his work in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam films. He was introduced as an actor by Mani Ratnam with the blockbuster ...
's character in the film eventually lost out on the woman.
Examples
Actor
Karthik Kumar
Karthik Kumar (born 21 November 1977) is an Indian stand-up comedian and actor in the Tamil film and television industries.
Biography
He studied chemical engineering in Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering.
After earning his Bachelor's d ...
has portrayed such characters in ''
Alai Payuthey
''Alai Payuthey'' ( ) is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written, co-produced and directed by Mani Ratnam, starring Madhavan (in his Tamil debut) and Shalini. The film explores the tensions of married life between two young p ...
'' (2000) and ''
Kanda Naal Mudhal
''Kanda Naal Mudhal'' ( there) is a 2005 Indian Tamil language romantic comedy film written and directed by newcomer V. Priya, who had earlier assisted Mani Ratnam. Produced by Prakash Raj under the Duet Movies banner, the film stars Prasanna ...
'' (2005). The actor briefly announced his retirement in 2016, suggesting he was tired of being typecast in such roles.
Director
M. Rajesh
M. Rajesh is an Indian film director and screenwriter, working primarily in the Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. Known for making comedy films, he made his directorial debut with ''Siva Manasula Sakthi'' in 2009 and followed it up with ''Boss ...
has used the character several times in his films, such as through Arun (
Arya
Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...
) in ''
Siva Manasula Sakthi
''Siva Manasula Sakthi'' () also known by the initialism ''SMS'', is a 2009 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by debutant M. Rajesh, a former assistant of director S. A. Chandrasekhar. It stars Jiiv ...
'' (2009),
Shiva (
Jiiva
Amar Choudary (born 4 January 1984), known professionally as Jiiva, is an Indian actor and film producer who works mainly in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi films. He is the youngest son of film producer R. B. Choudary. He began his career as a ch ...
) in ''
Boss Engira Bhaskaran
''Boss Engira Bhaskaran'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by M. Rajesh who earlier directed ''Siva Manasula Sakthi'' (2009). Starring Arya, Nayanthara and Santhanam in lead roles, the film is produce ...
'' (2010),
and Sanjay (
Narayan Lucky
Narayan Lucky is an Indian actor, who has worked in the Tamil film industry. He debuted as the lead role in the campus film ''Inidhu Inidhu'' (2010), before portraying supporting roles.
Career
Narayan's elder brother was selected to portray M ...
) in ''
Oru Kal Oru Kannadi
''Oru Kal Oru Kannadi'' () abbreviated as ''OKOK'' is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by M. Rajesh. It stars producer Udhayanidhi Stalin, in his acting debut, Hansika Motwani, Santhanam and Saranya Ponvan ...
'' (2012).
Other prominent examples include Diamond Babu (
Madhan Bob
S. Krishnamoorthy (born 19 October 1953) professionally known as Madhan Bob, is an Indian actor and comedian, appearing in many Tamil films in supporting roles. Madhan Babu is known for his amusing facial expressions, laughter and protruding ey ...
) in ''
Thenali
''Thenali'' is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language comedy film co-written and directed by K. S. Ravikumar. The film stars Kamal Haasan, Jayaram, Devayani and Jyothika, with Delhi Ganesh, Charle, Ramesh Khanna and Madhan Bob in supporting roles. It rev ...
'' (2000), Samuel (
Abbas) in ''
Minnale
''Minnale'' () is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language romance film directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. The story was written by Menon and Vipul D. Shah, starring Madhavan, Abbas, Reema Sen (in her Tamil debut), Vivek and Nagesh. The film tells the st ...
'' (2001),
Arvind Singh (
Prakash Raj
Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam-language films, he is the recipient of several ...
) in ''
Azhagiya Theeye
''Azhagiya Theeye'' is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Radha Mohan that stars Prasanna and Navya Nair. The film was produced by Prakash Raj, who also played a significant character in the film, while R ...
'' (2004),
Mithun Tejasvi
Mithun Tejasvi (born 16 December 1979) is an Indian actor who has acted in Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern I ...
in ''
Sandai
''Sandai'' () is a 2008 Tamil-language action comedy film directed by Sakthi Chidambaram. The film stars Sundar C, Nadhiya, Namitha and Ramya Raj, while Vivek, Lalu Alex, and Mithun Tejasvi, among others, play supporting roles. The music was c ...
'' (2008),
Roy (Benito) in ''
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa
''Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, starring Silambarasan and Trisha. Jointly produced Elred Kumar, Jayaraman, VTV Ganesh and P. Madan under the bann ...
'' (2010), Rakesh (
T. M. Karthik
T.M. Karthik is an Indian actor acted in stage plays and feature films. He made his acting debut in films with ''Guru'' (2007).
Career
Since 1994, Karthik has acted in over 60 productions and been on stage over 500 times to perform. Before beco ...
) in ''
Nanban Nanban may refer to: Japan
* Nanban art
refers to Japanese art of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries influenced by contact with the or 'Southern barbarians', traders and missionaries from Europe and specifically from Portugal. It is a ...
'' (2012),
Gautham (
Rajeev Ravindranathan
Rajeev Ravindranathan (also known as Rajeev Ravindranath) is an Indian actor and comedian who works in Hindi and Tamil-language films. He is known for his roles in ''3 Idiots'' (2009), ''English Vinglish'' (2012), and '' Rocketry: The Nambi Effe ...
) in ''
Vettai
''Vettai'' () is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film co produced, written and directed by N. Linguswamy. The film stars Arya, Madhavan, Sameera Reddy, and Amala Paul while Ashutosh Rana, Thambi Ramaiah and Nassar played supporting ...
'' (2012),
Deepak (
Rahul Ravindran
Rahul Ravindran (born 23 June 1981) is an Indian actor, director, and screenwriter who works in Telugu films. He made his lead debut in the Tamil film '' Moscowin Kavery'' (2010), before playing leading roles as a man with cerebral palsy in '' ...
) in ''
Vanakkam Chennai
''Vanakkam Chennai'' () is a 2013 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by debutant Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi. Produced by her husband Udhayanidhi Stalin under the banner Red Giant Movies, the film stars Shiva and Priya ...
'' (2013) and
Ashwin Kumar Lakshmikanthan
Ashwin Kumar Lakshmikanthan is an Indian actor who works in Tamil and Telugu films and television productions. He played the lead roles in Star Vijay serials ''Rettai Vaal Kuruvi'' (2015) and '' Ninaikka Therintha Manamae'' (2017), and had sup ...
in ''
Oh Manapenne!
''Oh Manapenne!'' ( ) is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film directed by Kaarthikk Sundar in his directorial debut and written by Deepak Sundarrajan. A remake of the Telugu film ''Pelli Choopulu'' (2016), it stars Harish Kalyan an ...
'' (2021).
Legacy
Arachi drew comparisons with another stock character in Tamil films, "London ponnu" (), that is often typecast as "a character with modern outfits (at least in the first half)" who then changes tones from "stubborn to submissive in the later half."
In 2018, a streaming series titled ''
America Mappillai
America Mappillai () is a 2018 Tamil-language web television series, starring Raja Krishnamoorthy, Leela Samson, Arjun Chidambaram, Namita Krishnamurthy, Rakesh Ram and Gokul Anand. It premiered on ZEE5 from 2018. The show was writer by Raja Ra ...
'' was released, with the director announcing that he hoped to "destroy the stereotype".
References
Further reading
*Mudliar, Preeti and Pal, Joyojeet ''Watching from an Arm's Length: The Foreign Hand in Tamil Cinema'' (2015)
{{Stock characters
Male stock characters
Tamil cinema