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Chandramukhi () is a 2005 Indian Tamil language-language psychological comedy horror film written and directed by P. Vasu. It is a remake of Vasu's Kannada film Apthamitra (2004) which itself was based on the Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu (1993). The film stars Rajinikanth, Prabhu and Jyothika along with an ensemble supporting cast, including Vadivelu, Nayanthara, Nassar and Sheela. It revolves around a woman who suffers from dissociative identity disorder that affects a family, and a psychiatrist who intends to solve the case while risking his life.
Chandramukhi was produced by Prabhu and his brother Ramkumar Ganesan through their company Sivaji Productions, and is the company's 50th film. The soundtrack album and background score were composed by Vidyasagar. Cinematography was handled by Sekhar V. Joseph and editing was done by Suresh Urs. Principal photography began on 24 October 2004 and was completed in March 2005.
Chandramukhi was released on 14 April 2005 on the eve of the Tamil New Year. The film became a major box office success, the highest grossing Tamil film of the year with a theatrical run of 890 days at Shanti Theatre. The film won five Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, four Film Fans' Association Awards and two Filmfare Awards. Jyothika and Vadivelu were each awarded a Kalaimamani Award for their work on the film. A sequel Chandramukhi 2 was released in 2023.
When the family visits their ancestral temple, the chief priest reveals the reason everyone fears the mansion. Around 150 years ago, a king named Vettaiyan travelled to Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh, where he met and lusted after a dancer named Chandramukhi. However, she did not reciprocate his feelings as she was already in love with another dancer named Gunasekaran. As a result, Vettaiyan took her back to his palace by force. Unknown to him, Chandramukhi made arrangements for Gunasekaran to stay in a house nearby the mansion and met him secretly. When Vettaiyan discovered this, he beheaded Gunasekaran on Durga Puja and burnt Chandramukhi alive. As a result, Chandramukhi's spirit started haunting the palace in a desperate attempt to kill Vettaiyan. Vettiyan however summoned high priests and powerful sorcerers from all over the country who were successful in sealing Chandramukhi's tormented spirit, keeping it confined in a room located in the palace's south-west corner and guarded by a 30 foot king cobra. Shortly, King Vettaiyan too dies. This story moves Ganga who persuades to move to check the locked room. Meanwhile. Priya is in love with Vishwanathan, a dance professor who reciprocates her feelings. Their love is supported by Saravanan, who requests Kandaswamy to arrange their marriage.
Ganga, who thinks that Chandramukhi's story was fabricated to keep thieves from stealing treasures in the room, wishes to open the room. Saravanan receives an email to attend a patient and assures Senthil to call him if anything happens before leaving. Ganga works with the gardener's granddaughter Durga to forge a duplicate key to Chandramukhi's room and successfully opens the door hereby breaking the seal and releasing Chandramukhi's spirit. Subsequently, strange things begin to happen in the household: a ghost frightens the people in the house, things inexplicably break, and Ganga's sari catches fire. A local priest who enters the room with Kandasamy and Murugesan gets attacked by unseen spirit inside the room. Suspicion turns towards Durga as she spends the most time with Ganga. Senthil immediately calls Saravanan to solve the case and as soon as Saravanan returns, a mysterious figure tries to kill Priya. Saravanan also investigates other incidents such as the attempts to kill Senthil made by poisoning his coffee and pushing a glass fish tank off of a balcony to fall onto his head. One night, Saravanan hears loud singing and dancing from upstairs in Chandramukhi's room that is closed from the inside. Attempts to open the main door stops the sound.
Akhilandeshwari seemingly approves the marriage of Vishwanathan and Priya but asks her brother to organize the betrothal to be organized only in the palace. In order to prevent Chandramukhi to create ruckus during the function Kandasamy requests a well known spiritualist and exorcist named Ramachandra Acharya. Acharya visits them but devises several rules to be strictly followed by the family.
Kandaswamy and family prepares for Priya and Vishwanathan's wedding his sister Akhilandeshwari rejects the proposal saying the groom is a poor. During the betrothal party, Ganga mysteriously disappears. Saravanan notices her absence and searches for her, but is attacked by Oomaiyanwho has been sent by Akhilandeshwari. Saravanan subdues Oomaiyan and with Senthil's help finds Ganga, who is supposedly being sexually harassed by Viswanathan. Next day, Viswanathan comes to the palace and reveals the truth to Saravanan that only Ganga was behaving abnormally with him. Saravanan believes him but Senthil intervenes and argues with Viswanathan. Saravanan defends Viswanathan by telling Senthil not to scold or harm him. Senthil becomes emotional and chides Saravanan for offending Ganga.
Meanwhile, Kandaswamy enters the spot and get physical with Saravanan due to his personal vengeance to which the latter bleeds. Ramachandra Acharya eventually intervenes the fight, and defends Saravanan by telling the family that he is not only a psychiatrist, but also a great disciple of Dr. Bradley from the States. Ramachandra Acharya tells the family that Saravanan prefers to cure Ganga despite getting insulted and beaten by Kandaswamy. He also reveals that if Ganga needs a peaceful life, then Saravanan must die at the hands of Chandramukhi. Saravanan, as advised by Ramachandra Acharya, informs Senthil and Viswanathan that Ganga suffers from split personality disorder following the traumatic death of her parents. He also reveals that she heard legends from her grandmother and imagined herself in the positions of the main characters, only worsening her disorder. Ganga's mischief and inquisitiveness made her enter Chandramukhi's room and started imagining herself as Chandramukhi which resulted in the personality of Chandramukhi to enter Ganga. The personality of Chandramukhi sees her lover Gunasekaran in Vishwanathan while Priya and Senthil being obstacles getting in between them, for which The personality of Chandramukhi tried to kill Senthil and Priya and framed Viswanathan for sexual harassment in order to stop his wedding to Priya. Saravanan explains that the only way to completely eliminate Chandramukhi is to make her believe that she killed Vettaiyan on Durgashtami, letting them know that he would have to sacrifice himself on Durgashtami, since Saravanan impersonated Vettaiyan and disrupted one of the pujas conducted by the exorcist Ramachandra Acharya by conversing with Chandramukhi to know its wish. Akhilandeshwari overhears Saravanan's idea of self-sacrifice and apologises to him.
On Durgashtami, before carrying out his plan, Saravanan asks Senthil to trigger Ganga and see for himself whether she turns into Chandramukhi or not. When Senthil does so, she turns into Chandramukhi, which shocks him. A worried Senthil shouts at Ganga, stunning her back to normal. She falls unconscious and Senthil lets her rest, but once left alone, Saravanan, Senthil and Vishwanathan can hear the sound of Bharatanatyam anklets coming from the mansion's dance hall. They bring the family there for Ramachandra Acharya's rituals, where he allows Ganga (in her personality of Chandramukhi), to burn Saravanan alive. Ramachandra Acharya then blows smoke and ash on Ganga's face when she is given a torch to burn Saravanan, distracting her momentarily. Senthil then opens a trapdoor to let Saravanan escape, and an effigy of Vettaiyan gets burnt instead. Convinced that Vettaiyan is dead, the personality of Chandramukhi leaves Ganga, thus curing her. The large cobra protecting Chandramukhi's spirit too leaves the palace as a result. The two families are reunited after 30 years, and Saravanan lets them know that he and Durga have been in love for a long time. Paintings of Chandramukhi and Vettaiyan are removed from the haunted manor. Durga leaves happily with Saravanan, and the couple Swarna and Murugesan become parents after eight years of marriage.
Ramkumar telephoned Vasu, who was offering worship in a temple in Guruvayur at that time, informing him of Rajinikanth's wish to do Apthamitra in Tamil under his direction. Vasu reworked the script he wrote for Apthamitra to suit Rajinikanth's style of acting. The film dealt mainly with the concept of dissociative identity disorder, commonly known as "multiple personality disorder" (MPD) or "split personality disorder". Another film titled Anniyan (2005), which was released two months after Chandramukhi, was also based on the same disorder.
Thota Tharani was the film's art director, and also designed the costumes. Regarding the designing of the Vettaiyapuram palace, he watched both Apthamitra and its source Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu (1993) to get the basic idea of the film's plot. Vasu wanted Tharani to make the sets more colourful and grand and did not want the realistic look of the original film. Tharani designed Chandramukhi's room and placed a corridor in it, which was noticeably different from the original and its Kannada remake. The corridor resembled those commonly seen in palaces in Kerala. Sidney Sladen did additional costume designing in the film.
For the roles of Ganga and Chandramukhi, Simran was initially cast. She ultimately refused to do the project, as her role required a lot of dancing and cited her pregnancy at that time as another reason for her refusal. Aishwarya Rai was later offered the role but declined. Sadha and Reema Sen were also considered as replacements. The role finally went to Jyothika, who allotted 50 days of her schedule. Vasu wanted her to perform her scenes in a manner different from that of Shobana in Manichitrathazhu, enacting the scenes himself before they were shot featuring Jyothika. Nayanthara was selected to portray the role of Durga after Vasu was impressed with her performance in the Malayalam film Manassinakkare (2003).
Vadivelu portrayed the comic role of Murugesan. Rajinikanth, at the film's 200th day theatrical run celebration function, said that it was he who recommended Vadivelu to Vasu for the role and had asked Ramkumar to get Vadivelu's dates before planning the filming schedules. Sheela played Akhilandeswari, the intimidating older sister of Kandaswamy (Nassar) and Murugesan. When Sheela was signed on for the role, she was requested by the producers not to divulge details about her role to the media. Avinash Yelandur reprised his role of the exorcist Ramachandra Acharya who talks with the spirit Chandramukhi from Apthamitra.
The picturisation of the song "Devuda Devuda" focused on a variety of professions, especially janitors, sewage cleaners, farmers and washer folk. According to Ramji, who helped the production unit look for locations for the song "Konjam Neram", Ramkumar Ganesan and Vasu chose Turkey, making Chandramukhi the first Tamil film to be shot there. The production unit flew to Istanbul from Chennai via Dubai on 25 February 2005. The filming of the song was completed after the audio launch. "Konjam Neram" was shot in segments in Ephesus and Pamukkale. Shooting in Ephesus took six hours. The segment in Pamukkale was filmed in an amphitheatre in the ancient city of Hierapolis, which is located close to Pamukkale. The last segment was shot in the Cappadocia region, a 10-hour drive by bus from Istanbul. "Raa Raa" was choreographed by Kala and took four days to be completed instead of the planned seven days.
Chandramukhi was screened at the 18th Tokyo International Film Festival in Japan on 23 October 2005 and 28 October 2005 as part of the 'Winds of Asia' section. It was the first public screening of the film in Japan. The film opened the 7th IIFA Awards Film Festival held at the Dubai International Convention Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, becoming the first South Indian film to open the Film Festival. In November 2011, it was screened at the International Tamil Film Festival held in Uglich, Russia alongside Thillana Mohanambal (1968), (2007), Angadi Theru (2010), Boss Engira Bhaskaran (2010), Thenmerku Paruvakaatru (2010) and Ko (2011).
Though the film was a remake, Madhu Muttam, who wrote the story for Manichithrathazhu, was not mentioned in either the opening or closing credits. Instead, the story was credited to the director P. Vasu. Vasu defended himself by stating the script was not a Shot-for-shot remake of the original and that only the basic plot was used.
Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan said in its review, "Rajni's films normally revolve around him but in this case, Rajni is in a script which goes around several people ... Rajni as Vettaiyan is the highlight of the film ... After many years, Rajni has shown that he does not confine to his personality cage through this film." and gave the film 40 marks out of 100. The Sify reviewer wrote that Chandramukhi was simply "a remake of P. Vasu's Apthamitra from Kannada with some additional songs, fights and comedy scenes thrown in to further boost the superstar's image" but like Ulaganathan, commended the comedy scenes of Rajinikanth and Vadivelu, terming them the film's highlight. A. Ganesh Nadar of Rediff said the film would become "a certain hit" and,"the star will be happy, his fans will be happy and producer Prabhu will giggle all the way to the bank".
V. Gangadhar of The Tribune wrote, "As in all Rajni films, Chandramukhi is a one-star attraction and Rajni plays to the gallery, There are no political messages in the film and that should come as some relief. With Nayanthara and Jyothika in the female leads, there is plenty of glamour in the film. But the message is clear, King Rajni is back. His legion of fans can not ask for more." Karthiga Rukmanykanthan writing for Daily News Sri Lanka said, " ... the long anticipated delight Chandramukhi has made itself the box-office hit of the year". Grady Hendrix of Slate appreciated Rajinikanth's characterisation in the film, calling the character, Saravanan's ability to read minds "well-trained" before concluding, "Rajinikanth's movies are crammed with comedy, action, and musical numbers and they take great delight in kicking narrative logic in the face."
The film's theatrical run lasted 890 days at Shanthi Theatre, beating the 62-year record set by the 1944 film Haridas, which ran for 784 days at the Broadway theatre, also in Chennai. The New Indian Express estimates that it grossed 650 million (US$14.3 million in 2005). It was the longest running South Indian film, until surpassed by the Telugu film Magadheera (2009), which completed a theatrical run of 1000 days in April 2012.
| Filmfare Awards South | 53rd Filmfare Awards South | Best Female Playback Singer | Binny Krishnakumar | ||
| Best Comedian | Vadivelu | ||||
| Tamil Nadu State Film Awards | Tamil Nadu State Film Award – 2005 | Best Film | Chandramukhi | ||
| Best Actor | Rajinikanth | ||||
| Best Actress | Jyothika | ||||
| Best Art Director | Thota Tharani | ||||
| Best Choreographer | Kala | ||||
| Kalaimamani Awards | Kalaimamani – 2005 | Honorary | Jyothika | ||
| Vadivelu | |||||
| Film Fans' Association Award | 55th Annual Film Fans' Association Award Cine bests of 2005 | Best Entertainment Movie | Chandramukhi | ||
| Best Actress | Jyothika | ||||
| Best Lyricist | Vaali | ||||
| Best Comedian | Vadivelu |
Sivaji Productions joined Galatta Media and eBay for an online auction of the film's memorabilia, becoming the first South Indian film to auction film merchandise. Ramkumar Ganesan said the proceeds of the auction would be given to the Sivaji Prabhu Charity Trust and that 300,000 (US$6,650 in 2005) would be given to Papanchatram Middle School. Sophie Atphthavel from France bought Rajinikanth's sunglasses, which he sported in the film, for 25,000 (US$554 in 2005). According to Girish Ramdas, chief operating officer of Galatta Media, all the items had certificates of authenticity signed by the film's producers. Bidding for the items ranged between 10,000 (US$222 in 2005) and 20,000 (US$444 in 2005).
In a statement by eBay, the articles made available for bidding were Rajinikanth's blue shirt worn in the song "Devuda Devuda", Jyothika's saree worn for the climax scenes, the peach-coloured saree worn by Nayanthara in the song "Konja Neram", and the Vettaiyan Raja costume and ornaments worn on set by Rajinikanth. Rajinikanth's dress, which he wore in "Devuda Devuda", was sold for 25,000 (US$554 in 2005). His Vettaiyan costume and ornament set were sold for 32,000 (US$709 in 2005).
Prabhu's line, "Enna kodumai Saravanan idhu?" (What atrocity is this, Saravanan?) became popular. It is usually used to express irony or surprise. The line was often parodied by Premgi Amaren, who altered it slightly to "Enna Kodumai Sir Idhu?" (What atrocity is this, sir?) and used it in most of his featured films, subsequently becoming the actor's catchphrase. Prabhu, in an interview with Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu, expressed appreciation for the way his "serious line" was made into a comical one.
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