Review of Muthu

Introduction

A warm and entertaining film that pleased most Ranjikant fans and continues to do so presently. While there are some loopholes to the plot, it still keeps us enticed with the performances, songs, fight sequences & overall technical values.

K.S Ravikumar, whose credits includes the excellent Thenali (2000) & Padiayaapa (1999), delivers full marks for his style of film-making which crossed over to the Hindi cinema sector in the form of many David Dhawan movies. His use of melodramatics & sentiments could be considered over the top but that is a normal feature of many of hs films, so audiences who see them know what to expect. The comedy here is quite toned down in some scenes when compared to his other movies, yet they still deliver the laughs. The scene when a love note is passed around to all the people in the palace, who mistake it from their romantic partners, is a classic and evokes the highest laughs.

Some of the fade-outs to scenes, which are normal trademarks of K.S. Ravikumar, are a bit weak. However that is the only weakness of the editing which were innovating, at the time of the films release, in terms of telling the audience what to feel. The flashcuts of the two Ranjikant characters, and some impressive camera movements, showed every signs of Tamil cinema overtaking Hindi cinema in its use of technology. The music score is also very well composed by the wizzkid A.R. Rahman, and is one of his most memorable with the masses with song scores like Thillana & Kuluvallie. Also the music score itself is very emotional that helps the film in a comic and dramatic situation.

Performances are top-notch from the cast, especially from Ranjikant who proves to the superstar that he is. Overall view on this film:- a wonderful feel good movie.........nothing more, nothing less.

Video

The DVD is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.25:1 which has been cropped from it`s original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The cropping is not as badly affected when viewing as most of the cinemascope frame is kept on this DVD. The transfer is presented in an anamorphic mode and adds detail to the overall picture, and once again Ayngaran have kept upto my expectations.

The 35mm print negative source used for this DVD appears to be in excellent condition. The source used was that of the interpositive negative as major wear and tear blemishes was not to be found on this disc, giving the film an overall fresh look. A couple of scenes did reveal small white and black dots, but they aren`t at all a distraction to the eye as seen on pervious versions of this film.

The DVD had no major signs of compression artefacts nor of any film grain. However some shimmering and edge enhancement was detected, most particularly during the cart race scene (chapters 7 & 8). But these are minor factors, which can be overlooked as the shimmering is not as bad as seen on other discs, and requires you to have a very large television screen to make it out.

The film has some excellent sharpness detail which has given this film a new lease of life for the home format, with picture information as clear as ever. Also the colour fidelity and saturation adds a new dimension when viewing, and presents no colour problems like bleeding or over saturation. Never has the hills shot on this film, have so many shades of green! Contrast levels and dark details are good and brings out further picture information in the harshest of light conditions.

Audio

The 5.1 Dolby Digital sound is basically mono but the mono sound remains mostly on the centre channel, which is clear and audible to the ears. The only time the other channels kick in is during the song and music score. Some light hissing is heard, but that is due to poor keeping of the original negative and time as the film is over six years old.

Features

The menus are impressive in design and the English subtitles are improving, although a change in fonts and some space between each word is still needed.

Conclusion

After the poor Pyramid DVD version Ayngaran have done this film justice for the digital format! A decent transfer indeed...