J Mahendran's Mullum Malarum

The Other Banana

To restore parity after discussing an old Kamal Haasan film we thought we must do a Rajinikanth film. Ok, that's not the reason but we felt this Rajinikanth film must be discussed.

This is 1978 and Rajinikanth's early years in Tamil cinema. It's the year he stamped his authority and signaled the coming of a legend of Indian cinema. Mullum Malarum, directed by Mahendran with cinematography by Balu Mahendra and music by Ilaiyaraaja had Rajinikanth, Shoba, Sarath Babu and Jayalaxmi. The film was based on a novel by Uma Chandran. A seminal film in not just the crew's and Rajinikanth's careers but to Tamil cinema itself, the film informed the direction Tamil cinema took from there on and also colored the future characters played by the superstar.

To talk about all that and more we invited two of the biggest fans of the film. Shakila Zamboulingame, more popularly known by her account 1916tamilcinema on Instagram which contains some of the most original takes on everything Tamil cinema. Joining her is journalist Kavitha Muralidharan who is participating in our podcast for the third time.

Participants:

Aditya

Anantha

Shakila Zamboulingame

Kavitha Muralidharan

Edited by ABVan