Mozhi (film)

Mozhi (Language) is a 2007 Indian Tamil

language musical romantic comedy film
written and directed by Radha Mohan
and produced by Prakash Raj. The film
features Prithviraj and Jyothika in lead
roles along with Prakash Raj and
Swarnamalya in supporting roles. The
film's plot is about Karthik (Prithviraj)
who works as a musician in films falls in
love with a deaf girl, Archana (Jyothika),
but she considers him as her friend and
disapproves of his love. Rest of the story
revolves around Archana accepting
Karthik's love.
 Mozhi

Poster

Directed by Radha Mohan

Produced by Prakash Raj

Written by Viji (Dialogue)

Screenplay by Radha Mohan

Story by Radha Mohan

Starring Prithviraj
Jyothika
Prakash Raj
Swarnamalya
Music by Vidyasagar

Cinematography K. V. Guhan

Edited by Kasi Viswanathan

Production Duet Movies
company
Distributed by Oscar Films
Release date 23 February 2007
Running time 155 minutes

Country India

Language Tamil

Budget 2.5 crores

Box office 20 crores

The film was launched in 2006 and

shooting was held at several locations in
India and Mauritius. Vidyasagar scored
the music while lyrics were written by
Vairamuthu. Mu. Kasivishwanathan
handled the editing and K. V. Guhan
worked as the cinematographer. The
dialogues were written by Viji. The film
was released on 23 February 2007 and
emerged a critical and commercial
success, despite facing stiff competition
from Paruthiveeran at the box-office.

The film was the last film that Jyothika

signed up for, as she retired from acting
after marriage. Her performance made
her one of the close contenders for the
National Film Award for Best Actress,
however she lost the award to Umashree
for the Kannada film Gulabi Talkies.[1]
The film was dubbed in Telugu as
Maatarani Mounamidi.

Mozhi was the first Tamil film receiving

the fastest launch in the home video
market. The producers had tied up with
optical disc maker Moser Baer for the
release. The film was premiered in the
Non prize section of 2007 Cannes Film
Festival.[2][3]

Plot
Karthik (Prithviraj) and Viji (Prakash Raj)
are close friends, who are keyboard
players in music director Vidyasagar’s
team. They are brilliant in their work of re-
recording and background scores. They
are fun-loving, witty and share a great
rapport. They come to live in an
apartment complex building where they
meet a handful of interesting people.
Their neighbour and flat secretary,
Ananthakrishnan (Brahmanandam) is not
too happy about Karthik and Viji
occupying the flat and asks him to
vacate as bachelors are not allowed to
live there. Preethi (Neelima Rani), a girl
from one of those apartments, is head
over heels in love with Karthik.

One day, Karthik sees a girl on the road

and he is quite impressed by her attitude
and guts. Later, he finds out that the girl
is Archana (Jyothika), a deaf and mute
girl who lives in the same apartment.
Karthik falls in love with her, and along
with Viji, try to find out more about her
from her best friend Sheela
(Swarnamalya). Karthik learns sign
language from Sheela so that he can
communicate with Archana. He wants to
have her as his life partner, though she
considers him as a good friend.

Archana gets angry with Karthik

eventually. She thinks that her baby will
be disabled just like her. Her father
abandoned her after he found out about
her handicap, and she is afraid that
Karthik will leave her as well if their baby
is like her. Karthik tries to reason with her
that her father was unaware of her
condition, so it took him by surprise.
However, he is ready to accept her and
their future children because he knows
and understands them. However, his
pleas are to no avail. Archana begins
avoiding Karthik, and Karthik is
heartbroken.

At the same time, Viji also falls in love

with Sheela, who is a widow. Sheela's
parents agree to the marriage, and their
marriage date is fixed. On the day of Viji's
wedding, Archana confesses to Karthik
that she does indeed love him. The story
thus concludes.
Cast
Prithviraj as Karthik
Jyothika as Archana
Prakash Raj as Vijayakumar (Viji)
Swarnamalya as Angeline Sheela
Brahmanandam as Ananthakrishnan
M. S. Bhaskar as Professor
Vatsala Rajagopal as Archana's
grandmother
Sriranjini as Ananthakrishnan's wife
Neelima Rani as Preeti
Geetha Ravishankar as Professor's
wife
E. V. Ganesh Babu as Pichumani
 Ramya Subramanian as Pannaiyar's
daughter

Production
"As a boy, I had seen such a girl living in my
colony. She looked cute and moved about
cheerfully. I would wonder what `sound'
meant to her. So later I felt it would be
interesting to have a musician opposite this
role".

 – Radhamohan, in an interview with The

Hindu in July 2007.[4]

Radhamohan revealed that idea of the

film came from a little girl who stayed in
his neighbourhood. He also told that he
had Jyothika in his mind while writing
down her character,[5] she initially refused
to act but later agreed after hearing the
script.[4]

Many actresses refused to play the

character of Jyothika's friend,[4] finally
Swarnamalya was selected to play the
role, Swarnamalya agreed after hearing
the script which gave equal importance
to women characters.[6][7] Elango
Kumaravel who earlier appeared in
director's previous films did not acted in
this film instead he worked as a dubbing
artist lending his voice for
Brahmanandam.[4] Prithviraj was
selected after director was impressed
with his performance in Paarijatham.[4]
Prasanna was originally selected for the
role which was eventually portrayed by
Prakashraj.[8]

Brahmanandam, Neelima Rani and M. S.

Bhaskar were selected to portray
supporting roles.[9][10][11]

The film's climax was shot at the church

called "Church of Our Lady of Angels"
situated at Pondicherry.[12]

Music
 Mozhi
Soundtrack album by Vidyasagar

Released 02 February 2007

Recorded Varsha Vallaki Studios

Genre Feature Film

Soundtrack

Length 26:02

Language Tamil

Label Sa Re Ga Ma

Producer Vidyasagar

Vidyasagar chronology

Kaiyoppu Mozhi Periyar

(2007) (2007) (2007)
The soundtrack was composed by
Vidyasagar. Acclaimed poet Vairamuthu
has penned the lyrics for all the songs.
The song Kannal Pesum is a modification
of the song Elamankanniloode... I am
thinking of you from the Malayalam film
'Satyam Sivam Sundaram'(2000).
Vidyasagar gave the music for the
Malayalam movie too. All the songs were
well received especially "Kaatrin Mozhi"
and "Sevvanam".[13]

A segment of Harry Belafonte's version

of the popular Jewish folk song Hava
Nagila is played during the comedy
scene between Prakash Raj and
Brahmanandam.
The audio was released on February
2007 at Sathyam Cinemas.[14][15]
Soundtrack received positive reviews
from critics.[16][17] Indiaglitz praised the
soundtrack stating that: "To put it simply,
Vidyasagar has given music as much for
your soul as he has done for your
ears".[18]

Song Title Singers Duration

Kannal Pesum Penne S. P. Balasubramanyam 04:43

Kaatrin Mozhi Balram 05:52

Sevvanam Selai Katti Jassie Gift 04:45

Mouname Unnidam Srinivas 01:16

En Jannal Therivadhu Karthik 00:56

Pesa Marandhaayae Madhu Balakrishnan 04:44

Aazha Kannaal Tippu 01:09

Kaatrin Mozhi Sujatha 05:53

Release
The satellite rights of the film were sold
to Kalaignar and it was premiered on
channel's launch date September 15,
2007.[19] The film was given a "U"
certificate by the Indian Censor Board.
The film was released on 23 February
2007. The film's official website was
created by entertainment portal
Indiaglitz.[20]

N Achyutha Kantha Rao of Indus

Inspirations purchased the theatrical
rights of Telugu dubbed version. The film
was released in Telugu under the title
Maataranai Mounamidi.[21]

Dropped Remake
Boney Kapoor has acquired the Hindi
remake rights of the film in 2008.
According to initial reports Abhishek
Bachchan is considered to do the lead
role that Prithviraj had done with
considerable ease while Kareena Kapoor
is earmarked to do the potential dumb
and mute act of the female lead, which
was done by Jyothika in the original.
Radhamohan himself would direct the
remake, however it failed to materialize
.[22]

Home media

Mozhi has been released in VCDs and

DVDs by Moser Baer Home Video.[23]
Reception
Critical reception

Mozhi received positive critical acclaim

for its clean content, performance and
music. Sify wrote, "Director Radha Mohan
has once again proved that he can make
a pucca family entertainer with
characters that you can relate to. Mozhi
is indeed gutsy, feel-good, real solid
movie within the framework of
commercial cinema."[24] Now running
wrote, "Mozhi is not a regular masala
flick but a straightforward, heartbreaking
and refined tale of love. The power of this
film resides in its story, strong and
believable narration, genuine sadness
and tour-de-force performance by all
central characters — Prithviraj, Jyothika,
and Prakash Raj".[25] Indiaglitz praised
the film stating that: "Mozhi is a clean
entertainer that justifies the tagline that
is found in the promotional materials of
the film. "It is not the expression, but the
emotion".[26] Behindwoods wrote: "Radha
Mohan does it once again. His
uncompromising attitude in delivering a
neat and family entertainer is
remarkable".[27] Rediff wrote: "Mozhi is a
groundbreaking movie for Tamil cinema
in many ways. It does not over-
sentimentalise physical handicaps [..]
The story is no-nonsense and without
any unnecessary frills. Strong
characterisation and excellent
performances from the cast make this
truly a remarkable film".[28] Hindu
wrote:"Mozhi is surely a film its producer
can be proud of [..] Conceiving a simple
yet poignant line, creating a screenplay
that takes you along smoothly, and
helming it, director Radha Mohan
presents `Mozhi' with panache".[29]

Rajinikanth praised the film stating that

such films make him feel proud and
happy that he is part of the Tamil film
fraternity.[30]

Box-office
"The success of `Mozhi' is very heartening.
[sic] All of us knew what we were doing and it
was an opportunity for us to say, "Hey, we're
capable of this" and the audience have in turn
said, "Guys, we love you." They won't forgive
us if we do a clichéd movie".[31]

 – Prakashraj, in an interview with The Hindu

in April 2007.
Released on 23 February 2007, Mozhi
faced competition from Paruthiveeran,
which was released on the same day.
The film took a big opening at the
Chennai box office,[32] The film continued
to rank at first at the Chennai box office
for five successive weeks,[33] being
ousted only by the Hollywood production
300 during the Easter weekend.[34] The
film was produced on a budget of
$500,000 and it became a surprise hit
grossing $2 million and declared one of
the most commercially successful Tamil
films of the year.[35][36][37] The positive
response of the film has led to the
generation of additional prints.[38] The
film completed a theatrical run of 100
days. The film's 100-day function was
held in the open air club house attached
to Mayajaal multiplex on the ECR. Anjali
Arora, a visually challenged lawyer,
working as a legal advisor to the Ministry
of Civil Aviation, Balu Mahendra, Ameer,
Lingusamy and Sundar.C attended the
function.[39]

Legacy
Mozhi became an important film in the
career of Prithviraj and Jyothika. The film
proved that the people would accept
stories based on disability if the film was
presented in a new and innovative
way.[40][41] The film continued the trend of
films with different themes that focused
on realism.[42] K. Jeshi of The Hindu
placed the film in the category of films
that propagate social issues along with
other films like Sethu (1999), Kaadhal
(2004), Veyil (2006), Imsai Arasan 23am
Pulikesi (2006) and Paruthiveeran
(2007).[43] Behindwoods stated that
humour helped the film "to become one
of the biggest money-spinners in
Kollywood" and also added "Prakash
Raj’s witty dialogues ensured a merry go
ride".[44]

Director J. Mahendran listed Mozhi as

one of his favourite films.[45]
Documentary filmmaker Swarnavel says
films such as Kaadhal, Veyil, Mozhi and
Paruthi Veeran have pushed the envelope
of mainstream Tamil cinema.[46] Actress
Revathi stated that: "young film makers in
particular have come up with some
wonderful, well-researched movies
featuring disability, such as Mozhi, Black,
Deiva Thirumagal, Beautiful, and many
others. These films, with their accurate
detailing and brilliant portrayals don’t
paint disability as a tragedy, but show it
as a part of life".[47] In an interview to
Times of India in 2008, Keerthi Chawla
revealed that: "I’m looking for a role on
the lines of the one played by Jyotika in
Mozhi and Sridevi in Moondram Pirai".[48]
P. B. Ramasamy, head of Big FM, Chennai
told to Hindu that: "Mozhi was a
wholesome entertainer and I never got
bored even for a minute. The movie
made me smile throughout and for the
first time while watching a film, I felt the
urge to watch it all over again".[49] Dancer
Shweta Prachande who portrayed deaf
and dumb character in a short film called
Notes of Silence said she was inspired by
Jothika's performance from the film to
portray the character.[50]

Scenes from the film have been parodied

in Thamizh Padam (2010). Shiva's love
signals, Disha Pandey's introduction
scene and her friend character has been
based on the film.[51]
Accolades
At the 55th National Film Awards
according to Sibi Malayil, one of the jury
member of feature film, Jyothika was one
of the front runner for National Film
Award for Best Actress, along with Meera
Jasmine for the Malayalam film Ore
Kadal and Umashree for the Kannada
film Gulabi Talkies.[1] However during the
final round Umashree merged as the
winner with a narrow margin of votes.[1]

2007 Vijay Awards

Won - Best Supporting Actor - Prakash

Raj
 Won - Best Story, Screenplay Writer -
Viji
Nominated - Best Film - Prakash Raj
Nominated - Best Actress - Jyothika

2007 Tamil Nadu State Film Awards

Won - Best Second Feature Film -

Prakash Raj
Won - Best Actress - Jyothika
Won - Best Music Director - Vidyasagar

55th Filmfare Awards South

Won - Best Tamil Male Playback Singer

- S. P. Balasubrahmanyam for "Kannal
Pesum Penne"
 Nominated - Best Tamil Film - Prakash
Raj
Nominated - Best Tamil Director -
Radha Mohan
Nominated - Best Tamil Actress -
Jyothika

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External links
Mozhi on IMDb

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Mozhi_(film)&oldid=837075436"

Last edited 4 months ago by Kaila…