'Kaali' was a landmark role in Rajini's career and has never done a role as such ever. That 'Rajini' is sadly missed since then. Mullum-Malarum saga was interesting as to how it happened and the way it ended. It started with poor reception and by sheer wom, it capitulated to success. Rajini and the movie won awards as well ....
From the wiki ..
"Mullum Malarum's release encountered problems, but Haasan intervened[31] and it was released on 15 August 1978—India's Independence Day.[1][32] The film's commercial performance in the first two weeks of its release was poor. Chettiar relinquished hope of the film's success and refused to give anymore publicity for the film, saying "A good product needs no publicity, whereas a bad product cannot be pushed in the market however much you publicise it" and thought he was "doomed". In the third week of release,[33] crowds visited theatres in large numbers after the film received positive reviews in magazines and word of mouth appreciation spread, making it a huge commercial success and the film ran for 100 days in theatres
After watching the film, M. G. Ramachandran—the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu—told Mahendran:
I have no words to express my happiness. With this film, you have set a new trend in Tamil Cinema. You have achieved a milestone, which even if l had desired, l could not have achieved. You have demonstrated clearly that Cinema is a visual medium and have succeeded in that also. The films which came till now on brother-sister relationships were full of dramatics, including mine. However, this film stands apart and stands tall in realism. The last scene is new not only to Tamil Cinema but also to Indian Cinema. l felt like getting up and clapping. Rajni has acted wonderfully and realistically and this film will mark a big turnaround in his film career.
Chettiar also apologised to Mahendran and offered him a blank cheque, which Mahendran politely rejected, instead thanking Chettiar for "letting him make a movie with Rajinikanth".[34] Rajinikanth's mentor director K. Balachander, after watching the film, wrote a letter of appreciation to Rajinikanth saying "I'm proud to have introduced you as an actor."[36] The letter has been described by Sify as Rajinikanth's "most prized moment and possession".[37] Owing to its success, Mullum Malarum was later remade in Malayalam by Sreekumaran Thampi as Venalil Oru Mazha (1979) and in Hindi by Bapu as Pyari Behna (1985).[19] A Telugu-dubbed version, titled Mullu Puvvu, was released on 26 October 1979.[38] The film was remade in Telugu as Seethamma Pelli (1984)."
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