Mookuthi Amman

After his successful political satire LKG, RJ Balaji brings us Mookuthi Amman, a fantasy comedy film with touches of politics and mythologies in it. RJ Balaji proves his brilliance as a director in Mookuthi Amman by blending interesting content with his usual comedy elements. Despite the illogical scenes, he keeps the engagement factor on by creating enjoyable moments for the audience. This is not the typical Amman movie that we have seen in the late 90s. It's a film that brings us a strong vision of people's religious beliefs. RJ Balaji stays true to the content and adds a lot of relevant elements to make it more appealing to the family audience. Mookuthi Amman has everything to shine brighter but it feels a little too slow. It takes a lot of time in establishing the characters before eventually entering the main core plot. It's after the interval that we get what we need from the film. Nayanthara is essaying the role of the lord Mookuthi Amman and she is the one who makes the film more interesting and pleasant to watch. She has a very limited screen presence but she does perfect justice to her role. RJ Balaji plays the main protagonist and his role is quite similar to the one in LKG. He is entertaining, entertaining, and really entertaining in the film. Urvashi is the one who makes us watch this film thoroughly. Her hilarious performance in the first half and her emotional performance in the second half keeps the audience engaged. Ajay Ghosh who plays the godman Bhagavathi Baba has a fine role and does his best in it. Besides the performances of the actors, Mookuthi Amman offers us a strong message towards the end which is a much-needed one for today's generation of people. Still, Mookuthi Amman has some flaws that could have been avoided for a better venture. First of all, the film starts off as a comedy entertainer but it later shifts into a serious political drama. The transition between the tones seems to not work properly and it looks like two different films. Except for the performances of the actors, we don't have really interesting moments to cherish in the second half of the film. Everything seems to be rushed and we just get the intended message towards the climax. Well, it was the only interesting portion of the entire second half. We don't need songs in this film because it doesn't fit in perfectly. It slows down the pace of the film. Overall, the performances of the lead actors will make you watch this fun entertainer which has a social message towards the end.

A refreshing take on devotional comedy. God knows we've had to live through bad VFX with the goddesses performing paltry magic tricks, insanely loud laughter and pet snakes popping out of nowhere. Glad Tamil Nadu is catching on with the trend of OMG in Bollywood. The movie is highly relatable to urban and rural audience in one neat little package. Every RJ Balaji dialogue in the movie reflects the candor and naiveite of a common man. Urvashi killed it with her quick wit and uncanny performance. The sister asking for a day's leave would resonate with every household. Finally, the god herself, Nayanthara's expressions with the BGM would put all heroes of TN out of business. The subtle hit on Christian missionaries in the name of schools, hospitals and prayer centers could have been more of a loud bang. Overall, the movie does not have one dull moment. Hope Kollywood dishes out movies like this for festivals like Diwali and Pongal rather than stereotypical hero worship movies.

Urvashi mam. Ohhhh what an acting. She acted in two extremes for soorari pottru and mookuthi amman.

Mookuthi Amman starts off with an alluring promise. Over 43 km of land is being bought by a so-called swami, much like Osho did in the US back in the 1970s. RJ Balaji plays a reporter named Engels (named after yes, Engels, co-writer of the Communist Manifesto). At this point, I thought we were off to a great start. Balaji's going to tackle both religion and snidely attack political ideologies. But, that's not where the rest of the movie goes.

From the minute, the titular Mookuthi Amman arrives onscreen, the whole movie witnesses a tonal shift. Till the end, I never knew if they were still doing this with satire on their minds. By they and their, I refer to the makers. Whatever the case may be, I was not pleased with the post-production. The dubbing and lip-sync is terrible in a lot of places. Balaji's over-the-top comic-riddled performance didn't help either.

There are some interesting things to talk about but the question remains "is the movie any good?" The answer, after a lot of hesitation, is no. Mookuthi Amman is largely a misfire. I assume this was because of a lack of focus. With LKG, they seemed to have a script that knew what it was talking about. Here, it feels like a hotchpotch of many ideas stuffed into a piggy bank made out of clay.

Movies speaks truth straight but harshly. Well done and Nayanthara aptly suited for the role. There is nothing against Hindu religion in this movie.