''Kudaikul Mazhai'' () is a 2004

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

-language

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

written, directed and produced by

Parthiban R. Parthiban (born 14 October 1958) is an Indian actor and filmmaker who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has directed 15 films, produced 13 films and acted in more than 70 films. He started his career as assistant director for K. Bhagyaraj in ...

. He also stars in the lead role alongside

Madhumitha Madhumitha (born Swapna Madhuri on 20 August 1981) is an Indian actress who appears in Telugu and Tamil films. Career Madhumitha started her acting career under her birth name Swapna Madhuri with the 2002 Telugu film ''Sandade Sandadi'' (2002 ...

, while

Sriman Sriman () is an epithet of the Hindu deity Vishnu. It refers to the deity being the possessor of Sri, both referring to his consort Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, as well as the material and non material aspects of fortune. Literature Sri ...

portrayed a supporting role. The film released in September 2004 and was box office bomb

Plot

Venkat (

) finds himself in a spot when suddenly a young, modern, good-looking Madhumita (

) 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.

Cast

as Dixon Raj *

as Madhumitha *

Deepa Venkat Deepa Venkat is a Tamil film and television actress. Besides being an actress, she is also a popular dubbing artist and a radio disc jockey at Hello FM Chennai. She has played leading roles in over 80 television serials and a few Tamil movies. ...

Production

The film was originally titled ''Nee + Naan'', though Parthiban chose to rename it ''Kudaikul Mazhai'' ( en, Rain inside an umbrella) as the story was about his character's first love and felt that the experience metaphors an experience of rain inside an umbrella. The scenes were shot with a steady cam and 435 cameras, using sophisticated techniques, with scenes usually filmed at night. 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 the film.

Soundtrack

An underrated album of Karthik Raja. Particularly the songs "Enga Poi Solluven" and "Adiye Kiliye" are really good numbers as well as the BGMs. The lyrics were written by

Na. Muthukumar Nagarajan Muthukumar (12 July 1975 – 14 August 2016) was a Tamil poet, lyricist, and author. Best known for his Tamil language film songs, he received the most Filmfare Awards for Best Lyricist in Tamil and was a two-time recipient of the Nat ...

and

R. Parthiban R. Parthiban (born 14 October 1958) is an Indian actor and filmmaker who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has directed 15 films, produced 13 films and acted in more than 70 films. He started his career as assistant director for K. Bhagyaraj in ...

Release

The film opened to positive reviews from critics with Malathi Rangarajan of

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

noting 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." Sify.com's critic noted "within the commercial format and he has done his best to make a different film". The film however met with a "cold response" at the box office, with Parthiban suggesting that the film was "far ahead of its time".

's performance in the film was well received and she was offered several Tamil films soon after the release of ''Kudaikul Mazhai''.
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References

2004 films 2000s Tamil-language films Films scored by Karthik Raja {{2000s-Tamil-film-stub