Though it dealt with a sobering subject, overall the movie was an entertainer and had made light moments added to it by Moulee.
Well-supported by Kamal Haasan, Sarath Babu and Sumithra, there wasn’t much to be done by a young girl who happens to be a maid-servant and transitions to being an unwed young mother. It was meant to be her debut Tamil movie as well. Nizhal Nijamagiradhu (Illusion becomes reality)Ī KB film is by default a bonus for the female lead of the film.
Mounika balu mahendra skin#
The movie is a tribute to her acting prowess and her ability to get into the skin of her character. Her borderline performance between the ‘girl-next-door’ to the independent young woman living life on her own terms adds depth to her character. She portrays a caring relationship with her fiance – Pratap Pothan – that is a mixture of companionship and tradition. Shobha’s role as a young teacher who makes a lasting impression of the teenagers is light-hearted and natural. The movie is a bildungsroman tale focused on 3 young boys in a village. Shobha’s performance still stood out for quite a few reasons – she was not fazed about matching up to Rajini’s performance of a life-time, her character was well-etched and she portrayed it well, and she got lucky to have a memorable song like ‘Senthazham Poovil …’ as well.īalu Mahendra is the director and cinematographer.
Yet it was meaningful cinema that came to be known as the ‘Magical Mahendran’ touch. There was minimal of melodrama, verbose dialogues, fight sequences and moral outrage. And the movie took a rather tepid opening at the box office.Īnd it still succeeded by re-defining the grammar of Tamil cinema – it rode on amazing visuals and cinematography backed by lilting BGM and powerhouse performance of Rajini and the ensemble cast.
Mounika balu mahendra full#
It was full of big names – Mahendran’s directorial debut film, he was being assisted by cinematographer Balu Mahendra, Ilaiyaraja was composing music and BGM, Rajinikanth was the hero much to the chagrin of the film’s producer Venu Chettiar. Mullum Malarum (The Thorn and the Flower)Īn iconic film that became a trendsetter by being everything that wasn’t expected of a Tamil film touted to be a melodramatic tear-jerker showcasing the affectionate relationship between a brother and a sister. Possibly a long and successful film career was abruptly cut short and we wonder why she couldn’t just be as strong as the female protagonists essayed by her onscreen. She won the National Award for Best Actress for Pasi at the young age on 17 – such a sad loss of talent at a tender age when she couldn’t cope with the pulls and pressures of stardom and personal life. She had quite a few popular Tamil songs to her credit – Poonthenil Kalanthu and Yenunga Maapillai (Ennipadigal), Poovannam (Azhiyatha Kolangal), Senthazham Poovil and Adi Penne (Mullum Malarum), Yen Iniya Pon Nilavae (Moodu Pani) readily come to one’s mind. Her characters such as Valli in Mullum Malarum, Indumathi Teacher in Azhiyatha Kolangal have stood the test of time. She was a natural in emoting the characters on-screen and often noticed for a bright, cheerful smile. She was unconventional in her looks and in her movie choices as well. She worked across the South Indian movie industry and did films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. Shobha was a very successful and popular star. Lucky in reel life, she was rather unlucky in real life and decided to end it all.
Shobha made these transitions with ease and was at the peak of her movie career when she died. Young n Talented actress – Shobha Image Courtesy – hotnsourmoviechannel Often successful child stars fail to transition to being stars when they re-launch themselves as adults. Talented actresses too have had to struggle till they got a breakthrough movie and established themselves.