Rajni’s Chandramukhi breaks all records

Rajnikant’s film Chandramukhi breaks a record held for 73 years by running for 800 days in cinema halls

S Suresh Kumar
Rajnikant’s Tamil film Chandramukhi has been running in the theatres for as many as 800 days already and it still has an audience. The demand for this film has broken the record created by the previous all time hit Haridas, which starred the late Thyagaraja Bagavathar. The film was released in 1944 ran in the theatres for 770 days.
To celebrate this new record created by the Chandramukhi team, Shivaji Productions has planned a grand party on June 25. Team members Ram Kumar and Prabhu approached the chief minister of Tamil Nadu to be the chief guest.
Of late, a film crossing its 50-day mark itself is a tough task, what with all the innumerable number of problems faced by the industry. For a film to complete as many as 800 days is a big deal.
After the failure of his earlier film Baba, Rajinikant was desperate for a blockbuster. When he watched Kannada film Apthamitra, which starred Vishnuvardhan, Ramesh Arvind and Soundarya, he decided it would be the right film for his comeback. And the remake, Chandramukhi, proved him right too.
Apthamitra too happens to be a remake of the Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu. The film was directed by Fazil in the year 1993 and starred Mohan Lal, Shobhana and Suresh Gopi.
Chandramukhi
Rajinikant portrayed the character Saravanan as a psychiatrist.
Prabhu and Vadivelu also pitch in with their accurate comic timing. Jothika's best work is seen in her role in Chandramukhi.
The use of the famous dialogue Laka laka laka in complete Rajinikant style is the ultimate in the movie.
All about Haridas
The multi-talented late Thayagaraja Bhagavathar played the lead in Haridas. T R Rajakumari played his leading lady.
At that time, there was a footage restriction (of about 11,000 ft) on films because of the war.
The Royal Talkies distributed the movie and the film created the record box office hit in Tamil Nadu. The film ran for more than 110 weeks in Chennai.
Multi lingual
There’s got to be something about this film. While it’s Kannada version, Apthamitra, did extremely well, Chandramukhi in Tamil and Telugu fared well too. Now, director Priyadarshan has decided to remake this film in Hindi.
The film is called Bhool Bhulaiya and stars Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan and Shiney Ahuja.

Films that have run for more than a year...
Tamil
Baasha
Karagaattakaaran
Payanangal Mudivadhillai
Nenjatthai Killaadhae
Oru Thalai Raagam
Telugu
Pokri
Adavi Ramudu
Bobbili Puli
Premabhishekam
Osey Ramulamma
Kannada
Jogi
Apthamitra
Bangarada Manushya
Nagarahavu
Premaloka
Malayalam
Manichitrathazu
Chitram
Godfather
Karumaadikuttan
Vanaprastham