Watching Sivaji Ganesan’s ‘Muthal Mariyathai’ on the big screen after 38 years

A digitally remastered version of filmmaker Bharathiraja’s 1985 classic is now running in the theatres, and fans are out to celebrate

(Originally published in The Hindu on March 25, 2023)

Music maestro Ilaiyaraaja and late singing sensation Malaysia Vasudevan welcome you with Poongatru Thirumbuma as the frame closes in on an aged man on his deathbed. Within minutes, you feel a lump building in your throat. In the very next scene, a flashback, he steps out of his toxic household to take in the fresh country air. He looks at the birds flying above and the trees that seem like they are dancing to Ilaiyaraaja’s ever-melodious score. Life seems good. The wide 16: 9 screen turns into a portal to a hamlet in the 1980s. A few more minutes into the film, we hear the full version of Poongatru… and the lyrics go, “Aaathaadi, manasukulla kaathaadi parakkudhe…” Watching Muthal Mariyathai feels like a kite fluttering in our hearts.

38 years since its silver-screen debut, Bharathiraja’s Muthal Mariyathai is now back on the big screen, in a new digitally-remastered version, thanks to the efforts of Rama P Jeyakumar, an engineer and ardent Sivaji fan who bought the rights from Bharathiraja and invested more than 21 lakhs into the restoration. This Friday, an unassuming evening at a multiplex turned into an experience for a lifetime to an interesting mix of demography — from a young couple to an ardent fan who had to sing the ‘Paattu satham kekkalaya…’ section of the song Eratha Malai Mele loudly. But no matter who, one can assume that everyone in the hall was moved by the film’s climax, as it did 38 years ago.

“The last ten minutes feels like poetry,” says G Kandasamy, a retired government employee, who vividly remembers a packed theatre audience in 1985 giving a standing ovation after the climax. Muthal Mariyathai tells the story of how……

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