Udhavikku Varalaamaa (transl. May I come for help?) is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language comedy film directed by Gokula Krishnan.[1][2] The film stars Karthik, Devayani, Sangeetha and Anju Aravind, with Janagaraj, Pandiyan, Vadivukkarasi, Manivannan, Kovai Sarala and Jaiganesh playing supporting roles. The film was released on 16 January 1998 to negative reviews and became a failure at box-office.[3][4] This was Gokula Krishna's last film as director and continued as dialogue writer before his death in 2008 and also was his last collaboration with Karthik after Poovarasan and Muthu Kaalai.
Udhavikku Varalaamaa | |
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Directed by | Gokula Krishnan |
Screenplay by | Gokula Krishnan |
Story by | G. Kavitha |
Produced by | M. Gafar |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Jayanan Vincent |
Edited by | K.R. Gowri Shankar T.R. Sekar |
Music by | Sirpy |
Production company | Taaj International |
Release date | 16 January 1998 |
Running time | 150 minutes |
Country | India |
Language | Tamil |
Muthurasu (Karthik) has come to the city to earn money to finance his mother's (Vadivukkarasi) operation and asks for ideas from his friend Annamalai (Janagaraj). To rent a place owned by a Brahmin couple (Manivannan and Kovai Sarala), Muthurasu transforms himself into a Brahmin Pichumani and also falls in love with Mythili (Devayani), the couple's daughter. Getting a job at a company owned by a devout Muslim (Jaiganesh) makes him put on the garb of Hussein, a Muslim. Things get more complicated when an unsafe situation makes him take on the role of Pastor James, a Christian and Stella (Sangeetha), his secretary in the office where he works as Hussein, falls in love with him.
The film score and the soundtrack were composed by Sirpy. The soundtrack, released in 1998, features 5 tracks with lyrics written by Palani Bharathi.[5][6]
Song | Singer(s) | Duration |
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"Thottu Thottu" | Mano, Swarnalatha | 4:23 |
"Ennodu Edho" | Mano, Sujatha Mohan | 4:06 |
"Salakku Salakku" | Mano, Swarnalatha | 4:54 |
"Neethan Neethan" | Deva | 4:16 |
"Singapore" | Krishna Raj, Devi | 4:00 |
Aravind of indolink.com, criticized the film and actor Karthik : "Karthik should spit out whatever he has in his mouth before delivering the dialogues. His mannerisms are also getting on people's nerves."[3]
Balaji Balasubramaniam gave 1.5 out of 5 and he said : "The director's flair for comedy is obvious at several places but unfortunately, is not sustained throughout the movie. But the segments where Karthik shuffles his identities are not as hilarious. The unnecessary, shortlived diversion into 'masala' elements hurts the movie even more. And the introduction of a villain and the fight in the bottling factory are needless and serve no purpose other than padding the running time."[4]
A reviewer from Screen magazine called the film "a total farce which taxes the patience of the viewers", noting it was a "washout" at the box office.[7]