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Thunai Mudhalvar (transl. Deputy Chief Minister) is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language political satire film written by K. Bhagyaraj and directed by R. Vivekanandan. The film stars Jayaram in the lead roles while Shweta Menon, Bhagyaraj and Sandhya among others form an ensemble cast. Music for the film was composed by four different music directors and the film opened to negative reviews in April 2015.

Cast

• Jayaram as Chinna Paandi
• Sandhya as Rukmani
• Swetha Menon as Thangam
• K. Bhagyaraj as Periya Pandi
• Junior Balaiah
• Tarun Kumar
• Mohan Raman
• Kovai Senthil
• Nellai Siva
• Manobala
• T. P. Gajendran
• Ranganathan
• Sembuli Jagan
• Gowtham (vijith)
• Koshr
• Raju Jeyamohan

Production

During the audio launch of Bharathiraja's Annakodi (2013) in January 2013, Bhagyaraj announced that he was working a script titled Thunai Mudhalvar Unopposed and that he was finalising the cast for the project. The film was launched in December 2013, with Jayaram signed on to appear alongside Bhagyaraj in the lead roles, while newcomer Vivekanandan would handle the film's direction. Shweta Menon was also signed on, marking her fourth film in the Tamil film industry, as was Meenakshi, and the team began shoot in Pollachi.

Bhagyaraj "ghost-directed" the film, often changing the script and dialogues of the film on location. Meenakshi later opted out of the project and was replaced by Sandhya, who played Jayaram's wife in the film.

Soundtrack

Music composed by Jai; Balaji; PradeepHarish-Jai.

Release

The film opened to negative reviews in April 2015, with a critic from The Hindu noting it "is an outdated film that verges on the obscene" and that "its plot, its setting, its pace, its depiction of women — is dated". Likewise, a critic from The Times of India noted "the whole enterprise feels like some badly made TV serial", particularly criticizing the film's depiction of women.

References

1. Ramamurthy, Sudarsan. "Thunai Mudhalvar - Brain Damage - Desimartini.com".
2. "Thunai Mudhalvar Review: Truly Unopposed". 11 April 2015.
3. "Bhagyaraj's next is Thunai Mudhalvar Unopposed - KOLLY TALK". 22 January 2013.
4. "Bhagyaraj & Jayaram team up". Archived from the original on 31 January 2018.
5. "I am a mad person and I like to work with mad people!". The Times of India.
6. "What is the story of Bhagyaraj and Jayaram's 'Thunai Mudhalvar' - Only Kollywood". 19 June 2014.
7. Srinivasan, Sudhir (10 April 2015). "An outdated film that verges on the obscene". The Hindu – via www.thehindu.com.
8. "Thunai Mudhalvar Movie Review, Trailer, & Show timings at Times of India". The Times of India.
9. "Bhagyaraj Out of Sync with Audience Tastes".

• 2015 films
• 2010s Tamil-language films
• 2010s Indian films
• Indian political satire films
• Films with screenplays by K. Bhagyaraj
• 2015 directorial debut films