Pearl)[a] is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language masala film[3] written and directed by K. S. Ravikumar, and produced by Kavithalayaa Productions.

The film stars Rajinikanth and Meena, with Sarath Babu, Radha Ravi, Senthil, Vadivelu, Jayabharathi, Subhashri and Ponnambalam all acting in supporting roles.

After Rajinikanth narrated the outline of Thenmavin Kombath, he told Ravikumar to develop the screenplay of the remake without watching the original film.

Although largely written to suit the tastes of Tamil-speaking audiences, the remake retains the core premise of the original, while adding new plot details and characters.

Muthu – The Dancing Maharaja) was released in 1998 and became the highest-grossing Indian film in Japan, a record it held for 24 years.

When Raja sees another of her plays and witnesses her being harassed by a local village chief, he tells Muthu to rescue her.

Muthu, not knowing Malayalam, gets into trouble for asking passersby for a kiss as wrongly tutored by Ranganayaki before she comes to his rescue.

But Raja, dreaming of marrying Ranganayaki, nods his head, and Sivakami sends word to her brother Ambalathar.

Angered, Ambalathar brings Rayudu to the palace, who forcibly tries to take Ranganayaki until Muthu subdues him and sends him away.

At Ambalathar's instigation, Rajasekhar fraudulently obtained the zamindar's signature on blank papers and forced all of the property to be transferred to his name.

The zamindar realised what happened, but instead of punishing Rajasekhar, handed over the entire property to him and decided to leave the palace with his infant son Muthu.

Kaali, having overheard this conversation, reports to Ambalathar, who decides to murder Raja and frame Muthu so that he can take over the property.

The project did not initially have a producer, so Rajinikanth offered to take care of financial matters, but Ravikumar refused.

Ravikumar developed the screenplay at the Woodlands Hotel with help from his assistant directors including Ramesh Khanna, while occasionally going to Rajinikanth's office.

[12] After completing three-fourths of the script, Ravikumar got permission to watch Thenmavin Kombath and was shocked to see the film's lack of resemblance to his screenplay.

[12] New plot details and characters were added, including the protagonist's zamindar father and flashback scenes revolving around him.

Arvind Swamy was initially approached to portray Raja Malayasimman but was hesitant to act the scene where his character would slap Muthu.

[12] Vadivelu and Radha Ravi were cast as Valayapathy and Ambalathar, characters not present in the Malayalam original but created by Ravikumar.

[30] He added, "We'd pack up by night and the technicians would change the colour of the entire set overnight, and be ready for shoot at 7 am again.

[36] The songs from Muthu were later retained in its Kannada remake in 2004, Sahukara, though Rajesh Ramanath was credited for its music.

[38][39][40] Writing for PopMatters, Ranjani Krishnakumar felt that Muthu singing "Katchiyellam ippo namakkedhukku, kaalathin kaiyyil adhu irukku" (transl.

"[42] Muthu was released on 23 October 1995, during the Diwali holiday frame,[43][44] and began screening during the openings of Kuruthipunal and Chandralekha.

[47] Though Ravikumar initially feared the film would fail since screenings were declining during the third week of its run at Udhayam Theatre, Rajinikanth was confident it would succeed; it ultimately ran there for over 88 days at full capacity and became a silver jubilee hit.

[51] D. S. Ramanujam of The Hindu gave a mixed review, comparing it unfavourably to Thenmavin Kombath and criticising the "wishy-washy" screenplay, but appreciated the flashbacks focusing on Muthu's father and the cinematography.

[3] Muthu Odoru Maharaja initially had a limited release, starting on 13 June 1998 at Cinema Rise in Tokyo's Shibuya district, where it completed a 23-week run.

The success of Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman and Muthu sparked a short-lived boom of Indian films released in Japan, ending in 1999.

Aana vara vendiya nerathula correcta vandhuduven",[38] and the Malayalam dialogue "Eruki anachu oru umma tharum" (transl.

[67] Sivasakthi Pandian used the profits he made from distributing Muthu to finance his first film as a producer, Vaanmathi (1996).

[74][75] A dialogue by Muthu, "Indha thummalu, irumalu, vikkalu, kottavi, nalladhu, kettadhu, pasi, thookkam, porappu, irappu, panam, pattam, padhavi, idhellam thaana varum.

Cough, hiccups, yawning, good, bad, hunger, sleep, birth, death, money, title, position, all these things will come on their own.