Here’s how Rajinikanth’s Muthu became a sensational blockbuster in Japan

Muthu, which hit the screens in 1995, is widely regarded as one of the finest films of Rajinikanth’s career. The masala entertainer emerged as a blockbuster and attained cult status because of its effective presentation. Moreover, the AR Rahman-composed songs too became quite popular among the masses. While everyone is aware of Muthu’s legacy, not many may know that the Tamil classic proved to phenomenal success in Japan and helped Rajinikanth emerge as an icon in the country. Today, let us take a look at the events that helped Muthu break the language barrier and open new avenues for Tamil cinema.?

Here’s how a critic helped Muthu mania grip Japan

Rajinikanth gave strong proof of his star power when Muthu hit the screens in 1995 and opened to a thunderous response at Indian box office. It went on to emerge as a major commercial success in the country and soon attained cult status. In 1996, Jun Edoki– a film critic from Japan– came across the film in a store in Singapore. And, not surprisingly, he was simply blown away by Thalaivar’s screen presence and the presentation. He then requested several distributors to release the film in Japanese theatres.

?Jun Edoki’s efforts paid off and Muthu eventually found a distributor. The film was ultimately dubbed in Japanese under the title Muthu Odoru Maharaja in 1998 and the rest is history. The film collected Rs $1.59 million during its 23-week initial run at Rise Cinema in Tokyo. Following this, the film was given a wide release in Japan. It went on to collect $3.06 million and emerge as the highest-grossing Indian film in Japan. This record remained unbroken till RRR stormed into Japanese theatres in 2022.?

About Muthu

Muthu, directed by KS Ravikumar, was a masala entertainer that revolved around the events that unfold when Rajinikanth’s character, a charioteer, learns about his identity. The narrative featured action scenes, romance and a shocking twist. The cast included Sarath Babu, Meena, and Tiger Prabhakar. Muthu was based on the Malayalam film Thenmavin Kombath, which starred Mohanlal and Shobana.?

Coming back to the present, Rajinikanth is set to turn 74 on December 12. The promo of Jailer 2, a sequel to Jailer (2023), is likely to be released on the special day. ‘Superstar’ also has Coolie, co-starring Shruti Haasan, in his kitty.?

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