Muthu (film)
Muthu () is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language masala film written and directed by K. S. Ravikumar, and produced by Kavithalayaa Productions. The film stars Rajinikanth, Meena and Sarath Babu; with Radha Ravi, Senthil, Vadivelu, Jayabharathi, Subhashri and Ponnambalam all acting in supporting roles. It is a remake of the Malayalam film Thenmavin Kombath (1994). The film revolves around a zamindar and his worker falling in love with the same woman who, unknown to the zamindar, loves the worker exclusively. After Rajinikanth narrated the outline of Thenmavin Kombath, he told Ravikumar to develop the screenplay of the remake without watching the original film. Although largely written to suit the tastes of Tamil-speaking audiences, the remake retains the core premise of the original, while adding new plot details and characters. Ashok Rajan acted as the film's cinematographer. Principal photography began in June 1995 and took place in Mysore, Madras and Kerala. The film was edited by K. Thanikachalam and the music composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics written by Vairamuthu. Muthu was released on 23 October 1995, during the Diwali holiday period. It became a silver jubilee hit. Rajinikanth won various awards for his performance, including the Tamil Nadu State Film Award and the Cinema Express Award, both for Best Actor. A dubbed Japanese version titled Muthu Odoru Maharaja () was released in 1998 and became the highest-grossing Indian film in Japan until it was surpassed by RRR (2022). The film sparked a short-lived boom of Indian films released in Japan and helping Rajinikanth gain a large fan following there. The film was remade in Kannada as Sahukara in 2004. Plot 
Muthu is a charioteer working for zamindar Raja Malayasimman. While watching a play, Raja falls in love with an actress, Ranganayaki, when the garland she throws inadvertently falls on him. When Raja sees another of her plays and witnesses her being harassed by a local village chief, he tells Muthu to rescue her. Muthu fights the village chief's goons and rescues Ranganayaki. When more goons appear, Raja advises Muthu to take Ranganayaki safely away in their two-horse chariot while he manages the goons. Muthu agrees and escapes with her. Ranganayaki dislikes Muthu's company but is forced to continue accompanying him. They both become tired and leave the horses to seek their own route, landing in Kerala. Muthu, not knowing Malayalam, gets into trouble for asking passersby for a kiss as wrongly tutored by Ranganayaki. Finally, she comes to his rescue. After learning what she had meant, Muthu surprises Ranganayaki by kissing her. They fall in love and return to Raja's palace. Ranganayaki is secretly escaping her abusive brother-in-law, Pratap Rayudu, who killed her sister and is now searching for her. So, she requests to continue staying at the palace. Her associates also join. Raja's maternal uncle Ambalathar, keen to take control of Raja's wealth, plans to get his daughter Padmini married to Raja. Raja's mother Sivakamiyammal keeps requesting her son to marry, referring to Padmini. But Raja, dreaming of marrying Ranganayaki, nods his head, and Sivakami sends word to her brother Ambalathar. When Ambalathar arrives and speaks of marriage, Raja reveals his intention to marry Ranganayaki. Angered, Ambalathar brings Rayudu to the palace, who forcibly tries to take Ranganayaki until Muthu subdues him and sends him away. To remove Ranganayaki and Muthu from the palace and get his daughter married, Ambalathar provokes Raja, through his informer Kaali at the palace, by alleging that Muthu is romancing Ranganayaki. Kaali deliberately misinterprets the discussions between Muthu and Ranganayaki (who are at a distance) as Muthu compelling Ranganayaki to marry him. Believing Kaali's words and what he had seen, an enraged Raja throws Muthu out of the palace after having him beaten up by Kaali. Muthu, who is in shock, does not fight back. Sivakami, who had gone to a temple with Ranganayaki, returns and is shocked on learning what happened. She berates Raja, revealing the fact that Ranganayaki loves Muthu (not Raja) as well as the truth about Muthu's past. Years ago, Muthu's father was the zamindar of the estate. Since he was childless, he named Raja, the son of his cousin Rajasekhar, his successor. Soon after, his wife conceived and died while giving birth to Muthu. At Ambalathar's instigation, Rajasekhar fraudulently obtained the zamindar's signature on blank papers and forced all of the property to be transferred to his name. Oblivious, the zamindar donated land to the villagers who returned to complain that the lands were not in his name. The zamindar realised what happened, but instead of punishing Rajasekhar, handed over the entire property to him and decided to leave the palace with his infant son Muthu. Sivakami pleaded that she be given the responsibility of raising Muthu. The zamindar agreed but said that his son must be raised as a commoner. After the zamindar left, a remorseful Rajasekhar committed suicide, and Sivakami moved to another village. Sivakami says she had lied to the public that the zamindar's son had died, and that the zamindar currently lives nearby as a mystic nomad. Raja, realising his mistake, decides to go meet the zamindar and bring him back. Kaali, having overheard this conversation, reports to Ambalathar, who decides to murder Raja and frame Muthu so that he can take over the property. Kaali beats Raja, throws him into a waterfall and informs everyone that Muthu killed Raja. Muthu beats Kaali and makes him reveal that Ambalathar asked him to kill Raja. The villagers chase Ambalathar until Raja arrives with his bride Padmini. Raja was rescued by the zamindar and decided to marry Padmini. He forgives Ambalathar. Raja tells Muthu of his true identity, and Muthu rushes to meet his father, only to find that he has already left the place. Muthu becomes the new zamindar but prefers to identify as a worker. 