Michael madana kaama raajan
Michael Madhana Kama Rajan (Tamil: மைக்கேல் மதன காம ராஜன்) is a 1990 Tamil comedy film directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao and written by Kamal Haasan, with Crazy Mohan penning the dialogues.
The film tells a story of quadruplets, Michael, Madhanagopal, Kameshwaran, and Raju, all played by Kamal Haasan. Kamal had distinguished each of those characters with his body language and language lingo. Michael has a husky voice, Madan has an English accent, Kameshwaran speaks Palakkad Tamil and Raju speaks Madras Tamil in keeping with their diverse upbringing as per the plot.
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Plot
Years roll by and the lives of all the four kids grow up and even though all of them physically look alike, they have completely different mannerism and personalities. The father of the quadruplet, raises Madhan and treats him as his own son, unknown to the fact that Madhan is, in fact, his son. On the eve of Madhan’s Arrival after graduating London Business School, the father’s brother and nephew (Nassar) collude and kill him before Madhan is named as the owner of the father’s company publicly. But unknown to them, the will has already named Madhan as the owner. Madhan comes back to Bangalore from abroad to take care of his father's company, much to the annoyance of his uncle and his cousin, Nasser. There he meets Avinashi (Nagesh), his father’s assistant, who misappropriated a huge sum of money. Avinashi pleads that he knows nothing about the funds and has the burden of marrying off his eight daughters. Madhan refuses to agree and asks Avinashi to own up to his mistakes owing to which he will be forgiven but failing which he'll be forced to call the police. Once, while printing counterfeit currency, Michael and his father, Santhana bharathi escapes from the police in a car which crashes into the electricity unit in a convention centre where Shalini's (Kushboo) paintings are being displayed for exhibition. The building catches fire and along comes Raju, a firefighter, and saves Shalini and her paintings. The two become friends and Raju falls in love with her. Raju had taken a loan from a Pathan (Afghani money-lender) to stage a play when he was young and the Pathan comes to Raju's house to demand the loan plus interest. Raju tries to pacify the Pathan by giving him some biscuits and dried fish but the Pathan throws it out in the street and it falls on Kameshwaran.The movie opens with a ballad sung by travelling singer singing a tale. The tale of a rich industrialist is secretly married to a woman, who is expecting their child. His brother, wishing to eliminate any potential rivals to the family property, sets her up to be killed by hired goons, who are also ordered to kill the babies. The leader of the goons, (Santhana Bharathi), having no desire to kill the identical quadruplets, takes one with him (Michael), drops one in an orphanage (Raju), one in a temple (Kameshwaran) who is picked by Palakkad Mani Iyer (Delhi Ganesh), and one in a car (Madhan) that belongs to the babies' father.
Kameshwaran, assuming the fish to be vegetables, shouts at the Pathan and reaches the wedding hall where his father is doing the catering service for the wedding. He accidentally drops the fish (which had fallen in his shirt pocket) in the sambar and a hilarious sequence follows. In the wedding hall he meets Thiripurasundari (Urvashi), whom he thinks is a thief. But apparently her grandmother (S. N. Lakshmi) is a kleptomaniac who happens to steal everything from tumblers to an old man's artificial teeth to Delhi Ganesh's chella petti, and Urvashi goes behind her replacing everything her grandmother stole. Kameshwaran holds Urvashi's hand, brings her to the main hall and tries to bring it to everyone's attention that her grandmother is a thief, but intelligently Lakshmi changes the scene and claims that Kameshwaran had tried to misbehave with Urvashi. As the days go on, Lakshmi buys all the groceries in Kameshwaran's account and when he goes to their house, a series of rib-tickling dialogues follow. Finally Urvashi reveals her bitter fate about tackling her grandmother's kleptomania. Kameshwaran pities her and falls for her. Eventually they get engaged. Madhan gets a phone call from a lady in Chennai saying that his dad's death wasn't an accident, but that it was planned. The caller also gives him an address in Santhome, Chennai asking him to meet her at a specific time. Avinashi, who hears this conversation from another line, conveys the conversation to Nasser and his father in hopes of getting some money. But they act nonchalant in front of Avinashi, not to arouse suspicion but send their thugs to take care of the situation.
Madhan comes to Chennai and when in hotel, he gets another call asking him to meet her at a different address. Madhan goes there to meet Chakkubai (Roopini) and Gangabai (Manorama). Chakkubai is a mentally retarded blind girl pinned to a wheelchair that imagines untrue things about the deaths reported in newspapers, tracks the deceased's relatives and creates confusion by saying the death is not natural. Madhan pities her and comes back to the hotel. While watching TV, he sees Chakkubai dance in a TV programme and she looks perfectly sane with good eyesight. Madhan finds them in a stage drama programme and they confess that they were asked to act that way and were given money for it. Madhan then realises that the first call he received in Bangalore was true and goes to Santhome. There he meets Sushila Jayabharathi who is about to tell him about his father. But a car comes to kill them and they escape with the help of Madhan's assistant Bheem. Sushila runs off in the chaos. Bheem is overpowered and the goons set off after Madhan. Madhan, along with Chakkubhai and Gangabhai, are on the run and hide in a restroom. The goons mistake Raju, who happens to be in the same restroom, for Madhan and try to kill him. But Raju easily overpowers them. Madhan sees this and picks up Raju’s wallet which had fallen earlier during the fight. Madhan gives a guesthouse address to Chakkubhai and Gangabhai and asks them to stay there. Madhan gets Raju's address from the wallet and goes to his house. Madhan meet’s Raju and he agree to repay Raju's debt, but in turn ask Raju to impersonate him and go to Bangalore while he stays in Chennai. Having failed earlier, Nasser and his father hire a thug to kill Madhan before Madhan reaches Bangalore. The thug turns out to be the middleman to hire Michael.
Raju, while leaving his hotel, meets Shalini and her dad (Venniradai Moorthy) whose flight to Bangalore has been delayed. Raju offers to take them along with him in his car. In the meantime, Michael pulls off the brake wire. Sushila, who had come to the hotel in search of Madhan, sees this but before she could warn Raju, they drive off. She follows them in a taxi. Michael is astonished to find that Madhan/Raju looks just like him sans his beard and is upset that he has killed the goose that lays the golden eggs. But the real Madhan, after seeing off Raju to Bangalore, walks past Michael. Thinking that Madhan was not in the car that drove away, follow him after paying up the middleman and forcing him to leave. Madhan goes and stays in the same guesthouse that Chakkubhai and Gangabhai are holed up in. In the car, the brake fails to work but Raju climbs out of the speeding car and makes the break work. This causes the car to get into a minor accident but none of them are injured. Sushila catches up to them and wants to talk to Madhan. Raju gives her the address of the guesthouse Madhan is staying at and tells her that “he, Madhan” will be there. Although confused, she still goes to the guesthouse. Raju, Bheem boy, shalini and her father arrive at Madhan’s house in Bangalore and Raju insist that Shalini and her father stay at the house for a few days. Avinashi, heeding to the earlier warning about his misappropriation of funds, admits that he had taken the money and all he has left is the 600,000 Rupees cash that he shows to Raju and asks to be forgiven. Raju, takes the cash and asks Bheem boy to put it in the safe and tells Avinashi that he has changed his mind.
In the guesthouse, Gangabhai encourages Chakkubhai to flirt with Madhan. As she does, both she and Madhan get intimate. But Sushila arrives and asks Madhan to leave with her. They are followed by Michael and his dad, who are followed by the middleman who used to work for them, who is followed by two of Nasser’s goons. Sushila takes Madhan to her home and Madhan is surprised to see his father alive. Although the father appears to “talk funny” he still tells Madhan about attempt on his life by his brother and Nasser but coincidentally he meets Sushila, who was his long lost wife from years prior and escapes with her help. Michael and Santhana bharathi arrive at the scene. Sushila recognizes Santhana bharathi as the goon who had taken her quadruplets and realizes that Michael and Madhan are her sons as they look alike and Michael calling Santhana bharathi as his dad. But before she could say anything, Michael and his father beat all of them unconscious and kidnap Madhan. The middleman arrive moments later, promises to help Sushila and Madhan’s father in return for a large sum of cash and follows Michael in a car. Nasser’s goons, who had followed the middleman, now learn that Madhan’s father is still alive and they again follow the middleman. Avinashi, who was to give the 600,000 Rupees as a dowry for one of his daughter’s wedding, chances upon Madhan’s look alike Kameshwaran. He pay’s Thirupu’s grandmother and asks Kameshwaran to impersonate Madhan for a few minutes. The grandmother, in her greed, tricks Kameshwaran that his father too thinks it’s ok to act as Madhan. Avinashi brings Kameshwaran, Thirpu and her grandmother to Bangalore. Michael takes Madhan to a cabin at an edge of a cliff in Bangalore and shaves of his beard to look like Madhan. He soon finds Sushila, her husband and the middleman spying on the cabin having followed him, knocks them cold and ties them up in the cabin. He and his father then go to Madhan’s big house to loot it. Nasser’s goons, who have seen this, inform Nasser.
Raju and Shalini plan to meet each other without the knowledge of her father. Avinashi, drugs Raju’s soup but in his haste to meet Shalini, he asks Bheem boy to eat the soup. Raju and Shalini meet and profess their love for one another. Michael and his father reach the house and find a safe but Bheem boy who has eaten the drugged soup, startles them but fall unconscious near the safe. Michael see’s Raju, mistakes him for Madhan and thinks that Madhan has escaped from the Cabin. He goes to kidnap Madhan again before he could call the police. Michael hits Raju in the head and leaves him unconscious. Avinashi sees the unconscious Raju and brings Kameshwaran into the house to get his money from the safe. A drunken Santhana bharathi accidentally hits Michael in the head and knocks him unconscious and takes the unconscious Raju back to the cabin. Kameshwaran is mistaken for Raju/Madhan by Shalini who tries to get intimate with him. Thirupu and her grandmother want’s none of that and drag Kameshwaran away. But Shalini witnesses Kameshwaran hugging Thiupu. This enrages her as she thinks that Raju lied to her. Chakkubhai and Gangabhai also arrive at the house in search of Madhan and Chakkubhai introduces herself to everyone as Madhan’s fiancé. This causes Shalini to take a decorative hunting rifle and hold everyone to gunpoint. Avinashi and the rest try to tell her that kameshwaran is not Madhan/Raju but she doesn’t believe them. Michael wakes up, goes to the safe. Bheem boy too wakes up and helps Michael to get the cash from the Safe. As he is leaving, everyone sees Michael and shouts for him. Meanwhile, the real Madhan has escaped the cabin with his mother and dad and comes to the house. In the confusion, Michael escapes in the same car in which Sushila and her husband are in and goes to the cabin. The rest of the crew all follows them back to the cabin.
Nasser has arrived earlier to the cabin and holds everyone at gunpoint as they arrive one by one. All the brothers finally are in the same room and Sushila tells them that they are her quadruplets. The arrival of Bheem boy and the presence of all the people in the small cabin causes the cabin to lose it’s base and start to tilt over the cliff edge. The bad guys are knocked out and the four brothers work together to safely get everyone out of the cabin. Everyone is happy as they are finally together. As the credits roll, the travelling singer is shown as moving on to his next spot.
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Cast
- Kamal Hassan as Michael (small time crook), Madhan (a wealthy and brooding heir), Kameshwaran (naive cook) and Raju (a happy-go-lucky, street smart firefighter).
- Kushboo as Shalini. Shalini is a painter who falls in love with Raju.
- Urvashi as Thiripurasundari . Thiripurasundari marries Kameshwaran.
- Rupini as ChakkuBai, dancer, and stage artist. She plays Madhan's romantic interest.
- Manorama as GangaBai, ChakkuBai's mother
- Delhi Ganesh as Palakkad Mani Iyer, a cook, Kameshwaran's father
- Nassar as RamGopal, Madhan's cousin
- Venniradai Moorthy as Shalini's father
- SN Lakshmi as Thiripurasundari's grandmother
- Jayabharathi as Suseela (mother of the 4 boys)
- R. N. Jayagopal as Madhan's uncle
- Nagesh as Avinashi, Madhan's manager
- Praveen Kumar as Bheem, Madhan's bodyguard
- Santhana Bharathi as Michael's foster father
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Soundtrack
The soundtrack consist of five memorable songs composed by Ilayaraja. The Sundari neeyum song was sung by Kamal Hassan. This song is particularly striking for the PalakkadMalayalam lyrics thrown in for good measure. This was the first song in Indian Cinema to run in slow-motion full length. Rum bum bum is yet another fast melody and is a huge hit in college setting till date.[1]
| Michael Madhana Kamarajan | |
|---|---|
| Studio album by Ilayaraja | |
| Released | June 30, 1990 |
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack |
| Label | Ayngaran International |
| Producer | Ilaiyaraaja |
| No. | Song | Singers | Lyrics | Notes | Characters Featured |
| 1 | Kadha Kelu Kadha Kelu | Ilaiyaraaja | Narrator (Singeetam Srinivasa Rao) | ||
| 2 | Rum Bum Bum Arambum | S.P.Balasubrahmanyam, K.S. Chithra | Raju and Shalini | ||
| 3 | Suba Rathiri | K.S. Chithra, Mano | Madhan and ChakkuBai | ||
| 4 | Sundhari Neeyum Sundhara | S. Janaki, Kamal Hassan | MalayalamLyrics | This was shot by playing the song at twice the original speed. | Kameshwaran and Thiripurasundari |
| 5 | Vechalum vekkama ponnalum | Malaysia Vasudevan, S. Janaki | Raju and Shalini |
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Legacy
Along with Thillu Mullu, it is widely considered to be the best comedy movie in the Tamil film industry. Kamal Haasan's performance as all four quadruplets is top class and he showcases his versatility in a single movie. He has four different types of body language and four different slang terms for the roles. The film was a massive hit and ran for over 175 days in many theaters. Made with less than Rs 1 crore, this comedy flick made nearly Rs.13 crores It also won Kamal Haasan many accolades and recognition for his versatile acting and comic timing. Comedy has always been Kamal Hassan's most appreciated aspect of film making. The thinking genius that he is, Kamal time and again comes up with movies that are far beyond their times and revolutionary in their theme. Consequently, some of those have failed at the box office. But a Kamal comedy almost never fails to appeal among the Tamil masses. While Kamal never criticizes the audience's shortcomings in real life, the character of Raju says once in the movie that since the story was revolutionary, the drama flopped!
The hit pair of Kamal and Oorvasi hits of tremendously in this movie, delivering some of the most memorable comic punches in the history of Tamil cinema. Oorvasi is regarded by many as one of best female actors in Indian cinema. The only person who could lay claim to the throne, Manorama, has also performed wonderfully in this movie, constrained only by the length of her role. The ever-so-beautiful Kushboo Sundar comes in for some nice titillating jokes from Kamal.
Similarly the comic timing between Delhi Ganesh and Kamal Hassan in the movie is appreciable. Delhi Ganesh once in an interview remarked that Kamal has such love for Ganesh, that before signing any movie, Kamal makes sure Ganesh is also signed for the movie. So is the case with S.N. Lakshmi. The 'tiruttu patti' in the movie does a brilliant yet effortless essay of her role, which explains why she has been a crucial part of numerous memorable Kamal movies including Mahanadi and Thevar Magan.
The interactions of both Kamals Madan and Kameshwaran with Avinasi(Nagesh) tickles the funny bone to the limit. The nupital night scene when Avinasi enters the bedroom of the couple is just yet another example of what two of the best actors in Indian cinema can do when the share the screen. The late Nagesh is still revered by Kamal as one of his gurus!
